Today is the end of staging, Peace Corps's 12 hour pre-departure orientation. I have spent the past two days bonding with my fellow PCVs. It's a little surreal to know that I will be close to all of these people, but we're not there yet. They're fun and friendly, and I think we'll be a great group. I had been concerned that I'd be the only west coast kid on the team. The best coast is extremely well represented. While Oregon is statistically about 1% of the U.S. population, 5 out of 36 volunteers in my group are Oregonians. Another 3 are from Washington state. Way to represent Pacific Northwest!
This is our last night in the U.S. Tomorrow we are taking a bus to New York and then an 18 hour flight to Johanesburg. We made sure to get our last taste of Thai food, since there isn't any in Swaziland. Good night America, I'm off to Africa!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
no, I'm not going to Switzerland
These are my final few days left in Oregon. On the 22 I will fly to Philadelphia for Staging, which is PC jargon for a 3-day orientation stateside. According to current volunteers I should be spending this time eating as much Thai and Mexican food as possible. Check.
Since I just graduated from college (3 days ago) I've been spending a lot of time answering the inevitable "what are you going to do now?" question. It's kind of nice to have a really cool answer. In fact, I've never gotten so much attention at parties as when I mention I'm going into the Peace Corps. Well, that pudding wrestling stunt got me a lot of notice too.
The first thing I've noticed is that not too many people know where Swaziland is off the top of their heads. Most people think I'm going to Switzerland (to guard the banks? chocolate?). Once I explain that it's in Africa, that ignites some new questions. So here goes,
Yes, I am excited. This might be the biggest adventure I have in my whole life, and I'm beyond thrilled to begin it. Yes, I am scared. I am going to a very foreign country without a single person I know, or have even met before. In fact, Swaziland is as far away from home as I can get without being in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Nearly half of all Swazis have HIV or AIDS and this amount of devastation terrifies me. I'm also quite worried that the other volunteers won't like me. And yes, it will be hard to leave for two years. The decision to just up and leave my family for that long feels callous, and I still haven't gotten used to it. I anticipate making a rather embarrassing scene at the airport on Sunday. Even though I know I can home early, I don't really think this is an option for me. I made a commitment to my country, Swaziland, and the United States Peace Corps. I believe in commitment, and if I am at all able, I will remain for the whole two years.
all right. . . back to the packing.
Since I just graduated from college (3 days ago) I've been spending a lot of time answering the inevitable "what are you going to do now?" question. It's kind of nice to have a really cool answer. In fact, I've never gotten so much attention at parties as when I mention I'm going into the Peace Corps. Well, that pudding wrestling stunt got me a lot of notice too.
The first thing I've noticed is that not too many people know where Swaziland is off the top of their heads. Most people think I'm going to Switzerland (to guard the banks? chocolate?). Once I explain that it's in Africa, that ignites some new questions. So here goes,
Yes, I am excited. This might be the biggest adventure I have in my whole life, and I'm beyond thrilled to begin it. Yes, I am scared. I am going to a very foreign country without a single person I know, or have even met before. In fact, Swaziland is as far away from home as I can get without being in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Nearly half of all Swazis have HIV or AIDS and this amount of devastation terrifies me. I'm also quite worried that the other volunteers won't like me. And yes, it will be hard to leave for two years. The decision to just up and leave my family for that long feels callous, and I still haven't gotten used to it. I anticipate making a rather embarrassing scene at the airport on Sunday. Even though I know I can home early, I don't really think this is an option for me. I made a commitment to my country, Swaziland, and the United States Peace Corps. I believe in commitment, and if I am at all able, I will remain for the whole two years.
all right. . . back to the packing.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Some fun facts about Swaziland and the Peace Corps
Swaziland is the smallest country in Africa. It has slightly more than a million people in a land mass the size of New Jersey. It was the world's last absolute monarchy. There is now a constitution and some democratic representation, but most of the power rests in the hands of King Mswati III.
Some statistics disagree but according to UNICEF about 42% of Swaziland's adults are infected with HIV/AIDS. This is the highest infection rate in the world. Their life expectancy has been estimated to be as low as 27. That is only 5 years older then me.
The official language of government is English, but most people speak SiSwati. SiSwati is related to other Bantu languages such as Zulu. I will be learning to speak SiSwati.
The Peace Corps was establised in 1961 by President Kennedy. We are a branch of the Federal Government, and part of the United States foreign aid. A Peace Corps stint is 27 months long, 3 for training, and then 2 years of service. Volunteers work in various sectors such as education, health, environment, business, technology, and agriculture.
Currently, there are a little over 8,000 volunteers in 74 countries around the world.
Some statistics disagree but according to UNICEF about 42% of Swaziland's adults are infected with HIV/AIDS. This is the highest infection rate in the world. Their life expectancy has been estimated to be as low as 27. That is only 5 years older then me.
The official language of government is English, but most people speak SiSwati. SiSwati is related to other Bantu languages such as Zulu. I will be learning to speak SiSwati.
The Peace Corps was establised in 1961 by President Kennedy. We are a branch of the Federal Government, and part of the United States foreign aid. A Peace Corps stint is 27 months long, 3 for training, and then 2 years of service. Volunteers work in various sectors such as education, health, environment, business, technology, and agriculture.
Currently, there are a little over 8,000 volunteers in 74 countries around the world.
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