I arrived yesterday (a day early) to stay with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin Sean, who is almost 4 and absolutely adorable. Had a Philly Cheesesteak, of course. Each time I come to Philly I always go to a different place because everyone in my family has their own idea of which place is the best. So yesterday was Tony Luke’s, as per my uncle.

 Today I will go to the hotel where I’ll have staging with the other 26 volunteers. I can’t wait to meet them! I have a giant hiking backpack and a rolling suit case, both being exactly 49.5lbs. I’m also carrying on a regular day backpack and my posters. I got a map of Africa and a map of the US. I’ve heard those are great things to show people in the villages, as it is not uncommon for some Basotho to have never seen a map before. I also bought two Renoir art prints, “Luncheon of the Boating Party” (my fav) and “Dance at le Moulin de la Galette.” With those art prints and a few pictures of friends and family on my walls, It will feel like home, right? 

During my last few days and Georgia, I was feeling very excited, maybe a little anxious, but still very calm. I was feeling a little sad though. There was one day when I felt almost exactly the same way as I did when swimming was ending during my senior year at GW. Luci know what I’m talking about, haha. I spent the days packing, saying goodbye to friends and family, repacking, taking care of my financial things, and then repacking again. I must have repacked 6 times until I got it right. Last night I went over the packing list that Peace Corps gave me, I feel like I didn’t get it right at all, but I’ve already started the journey… so oh well!

Today I’m feeling a little more anxious, which is not a surprise. I think that I will feel a lot better once I have met the other volunteers, then I won’t feel like I’m alone in this process. It’ll be a whirlwind once staging begins, I’ll be too busy to think about what’s happening. Except maybe on that 15 hour flight.

If any of you would like me to send you postcards and letters, then send your address to my email. I suppose I should have mentioned that earlier, but it’s never too late! You can find my mailing address and email under the Contact Info page, I would love to receive letters. I won’t be able to access the internet very often during my training, which ends August 6. So hopefully after I have moved to my site I can post more often. No guarantees, though!

Lastly, I want to say thank you to those who have supported me through out this process. There have definitely been a few people who have doubted me, didn’t care, and even made fun of me. But I feel like a majority of the people I care about have shown a lot of support and enthusiasm. I feel lucky to have those people in my life. And thank you to my parents who have been extremely supportive from the very beginning, making sure that I’m more than prepared for this adventure, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. Love you all!