I left early yesterday morning for staging in Philadelphia. Travel wasn't too bad. One of my bags was overweight but I told the guy I was moving to Africa for 2 years and asked if he could. He said as long as I put some weight from one bag into the other so they were about even that I would be fine and wouldn't have to pay the fee. We'll see if it works that well today! I figure even if I have to pay today it will be worth it since I'm embarrasingly attached to my stuff at this point!
Staging in the pre-departure orientation that all PCVs go through in the United States before heading abroad. It used to be 3 days but because of budget cuts it was shortened to 2. I'm not sure why it would need be longer since we didn't seem to have trouble getting through all the material. We turned in lots of paperwork and became official Peace Corps Trainees. We also went over policies, anxieties and how to cope, and broke into small groups several times to get to know lots of people. There are 31 volunteers headed to Burkina with me; some are health and some are small economic development. I'm the only Master's International student doing the grad school/PC program and there is one married couple. About 2/3 of the group is female.
This morning we woke up early to visit the federal clinic. Many had to get Yellow Fever Vaccines but I just had to show proof I had it and than get checked off. They also gave us all our first dose of malaria prophylaxis to begin today. We'll get the rest of the shots once we arrive.
We're flying out in a few hours and will be in Paris in the morning. We spend about 8 hours there before flying to Ouagadougou where I will spend Wednesday night. From there we're headed to Ouahigouya where I'll be in training for about 9 weeks. Not sure when I'll get on the internet but hope to be able to post later in the week that I arrived safetly!
1 comment:
Dear one,
Our son has completed his training and is now at his very remote site, teaching at the middle school level-math,science and chemistry. He has been at the new site since 9/1 and has just begun teaching as of last week. Everything is on B.F. time, so don't get discouraged. He,our son,is a little down due to the size of classes and his little grasp on French. Not to mention the local language of Moree.
But, GEEZ, we had no idea he could have received financial or other help. WE or He paid and are still paying for everything. Of course, he is worth it and we totally support him. And, now, you are added to my daily prayer list. All ya'll are amazing and we are proud of you.
mama duck(eileen duckworth, MS, USA)
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