Riding a bus!

And if you know me, you know how much I like buses. (not at all.)

So just like that, I've officially completed staging, and have started transportation to Malawi! It's a little surreal. At least now that I've met my group of fellow volunteers, I'm hearing about how surreal everyone else thinks this is, and how anxious we all are. So for that, well done, Peace Corps. Staging accomplished the goal of bonding us together that way.

This morning before staging, I and the other early arrival volunteers went off to visit the Liberty Bell. And it was AWESOME.

(I'm trying to attach photos, but I'm doing this on my phone, so I have a feeling they're all going to end up at the bottom of this post)

We also made it to the house of the first congress, and wandered around the city a little bit. I don't know if the PC does this on purpose, but it's kind of nice to have staging in a place so full of American history. It instills a little extra civic pride and patriotism before we go off to another country for 2 years.

After we finished our meetings for the day, most of our group went out for some Philly cheesesteaks - delicious - but for the rest of the evening, I mostly hung out in my room, charging all of my electronics one last time, and watching a little TV on my computer. Netflix, I shall miss you.

Anyways, I'm not sure if I'm going to update again before I leave in the morning, so if I don't, farewell! I love you all! I miss you! Know that I am  experiencing the worst case of culture shock possible, eating corn for every meal, and having the time of my life. I'm pretty confident that I'm going to love it. For now, console yourselves with views of my luggage (unpacked and repacked), and my staging booklet.

Boker Tov, People!

That's good morning to you (in Hebrew, pretty sure I'm going to forget it all in Malawi so gotta get it out now) from Philadelphia!  That's right, I made it.  Special shout outs to my parents for following me through the maze of a security line in SFO (no crying, but possible misty eyes for both my mom and me, yes?  Or else we were having simultaneous allergy attacks), all of the people going home from the US Open for wearing their PGA gear, and Kayla for picking me up and taking me out in Philly!  That's right y'all, I had a personal chauffeur.  It was awesome.  We went to dinner in a super cool-swanky place with chairs that hang from the ceiling.

In terms of packing, be impressed.  Or don't, because I'm a pack rat.  I was going to post before and after pictures to demonstrate how the insanity in my brother's room became 2 suitcases, a carry on, and a backpack, but my camera phone doesn't want to share right now.  I'll try later using my blogger app!  Technology is so cool. 

Plans for today include: an attempt to walk over to see the Liberty Bell in about 15 minutes, followed by a mad dash for lunch, changing into business casual attire, and Staging (!!!) from 1-7.  Then I will repeat the great end-of-Birthright feat of not sleeping in a hotel room that I only have until 2am, before leaving to drive to an airport in another city (New York) and flying off in the morning!

Ok.  Off to go attempt to make friends with the people I'll be hanging out with for the next 27 months and bond over our country's history.

SEND ME YOUR KETCHUP PACKETS

And mustard, and soy sauce.  Ask for extra when you order food, and then stick them in the letter you've already written me!  When I open it, I'll already be super excited to hear from you, and then there will be extra condiments!

I almost forgot to do this myself when I was ordering my final in-n-out, but luckily I remembered just in time.

This is how I choose to bid California adieu.  I' m eating them RIGHT NOW!

In case you haven't been checking on the timeline tab at the top of the page, I leave TOMORROW!!!!  (Only for Philadelphia, where I'll be for about 2 days before leaving with my group of fellow volunteers at 2am for New York, to fly together to Malawi!  I plan on doing awesome things like seeing one of my friends from school who lives in New Jersey, eating a cheesesteak, and visiting the Liberty Bell in my spare time)

Naturally this makes for a really awesome Father's Day.  My dad is currently at work, so he can stay home tomorrow to take me to the airport.  Thanks, Dad!  Luckily we had an awesome brunch this morning:

Aren't we adorable?

Since then I've been attempting to pack, rearranging suitcases, and throwing stuff like rainboots and beef jerky into a box to send to myself soon! 

I should have free internet at staging in Philadelphia, so look out for a couple more updates before the Great Epoch of Silence otherwise known as Pre-Service Training, when I have zero internet.  But for now, back to packing!

Questions, anyone?

You should all send me questions to answer here before I leave on Monday.  I'll answer basically anything I can about the Peace Corps!

If you don't ask soon, though, it'll be a delayed response by a few months (but the answer might be more interesting)!

Packages

My mom and I just sent myself 2 boxes full of awesome stuff (read: cooking supplies and taco seasoning) to Malawi.  The postal worker had never sent anything there before, and eyed the religious messages we stuck on the sides of the boxes with suspicion, then laughed when we told her it was to ward off thieves.

Here's hoping it does the trick, and I get everything intact! 

Countdown: 6 days till staging in Philadelphia, 8 days till I leave for Malawi!

Hello!

Welcome, devoted followers, to my blog about my experiences in the Peace Corps!  My mother would like you to know that she came up with the the title.  My father would like me to not post personal information on the internet. 

Today, I still have 2 weeks before I fly off to Philadelphia for a day to get oriented with my fellow volunteers, and so hopefully you will all get a few more exciting posts before . . . dun dun dun . . . I leave for Malawi!  Check out the link to my Timeline at the top of the page (I'm really proud that I figured out this whole multiple-pages-within-a-blog thing; you should also check out all the nifty gadgets like the map of Africa I stuck on the side of this page.  Technology is cool) for more specifics about when and how this whole Peace Corps process took place.  I also cleverly added a Contact page, because I'm going to miss you!  And be lonely!  And need support and love and candy!  Eventually, I plan on making a page with a wish list of items for those of you kind enough to send me a package, probably full of things like non-perishable food and educational materials, but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.  I'll update that when I get in country and realize that I cannot possibly live without cheese, even if the only possible cheese that will make it to Malawi is velveeta.

Anyways, hopefully this blog will be a place where I can share stories, photos, and videos of my adventures!  Since the Peace Corps hasn't assigned me my final placement yet, though, and won't until I'm partway through my pre-service training, I really don't know how often I'll have access to the internet and electricity.  Therefore I'm semi-expecting/hoping to be able to update once a month or so.  However, I have this long list of semi-expectations that I basically expect to all be shattered once I get to Malawi and see how it really is.  So who knows.

Here's what I do know - a lot of people have asked me why I want to do Peace Corps.  That's a difficult question to answer, since I have a lot of little reasons that add up.  I love to travel, and I want to see the world.  I am passionate about learning about other cultures and societies, and I think that's the only way that we as a humans can become more peaceful and understanding of one another.  I believe strongly that it is important for the United States to have a positive presence in the world.  I personally want to have a positive presence in the world.  I also graduated from college not positive about my next steps, and this seemed like a good way to take a couple years to decide on those next steps, instead of sitting at home with my parents, unemployed, or working a mediocre job that won't end up advancing my career. 

I believe that the Peace Corps will change me as a person as well as my personal paradigm, and help me to grow in unexpected ways.  I'm trying not to have expectations or goals, at least not yet (hopefully in a year I'll have some goals for the rest of my service!). 

So . . . Let's see what happens!