Peace Corps 101

Tonight is my last night in the States. I've been in Philadelphia since Sunday night, meeting my fellow travelers and going through orientation together. There are about thirty of us, all headed to Senegal, although to various assignments. The staging, as it is called, is mostly a preliminary transition, to finish last-minute paperwork and ease anxieties. Also, to get to know one another, although it's hard to tell at this point who will even be assigned to post near me. We will all be going through training together for the first eight weeks, though, so I imagine I'll get to know everyone pretty well.

We check out of the hotel tomorrow and take the bus to a clinic to get all our vaccinations; then we will take a bus to New York to catch an evening flight to Dakar (direct, thankfully). We will arrive in Senegal at about 6 am local time and go straight to Thies, where we will go through pre-service training. We spend three days at the training center, then spend 3-4 days visiting a Peace Corps Volunteer who is already at their post, so we can see what that's like, and then we head back to Thies to spend 7 weeks with a host family and to complete the preliminary training period, which will consist of cross-cultural training, health education, some very basic professional training, but above all, intensive language training. After the eight weeks of pre-service training, we will be assigned our post, and then we will learn more technical/professional skills for our assignment. More to follow from Senegal.