18 More Days!

It's hard to believe that there are only 18 more days left until I leave.  With the amount of things I have left to do, it certainly feels like a lot shorter time than that.  I have not even begun to pack, although I have thrown everything I plan on bringing into massive piles. 

I have found out, for those of you that do not know, that I am going to be staging in D.C.  Staging is where all Peace Corps volunteers go and learn about what they're about to experience and how to stay safe while doing it.  We'll also be turning in our final paperwork, including life insurance, student loan deferment forms, immunization history, etc.  It'll be a chance for me to meet and get to know the people with whom I will be interacting, if only occasionally, for the next two and a quarter years.  Since the federal budget for the Peace Corps has been slashed, our time at staging has likewise been slashed.  Instead of being in Washington, D.C. from July 5-7, we are now only there July 6-7, and really only the July 6 is spent on staging, because we leave for Atlanta at 8:45 in the morning and from there we hop a plane to Johannesburg.  From there, it's about an hour to Pretoria, where we are then dispersed to wherever we will be doing our Pre-Service Training (PST). 

I have elected to spend an extra day in D.C.  I will be leaving from Milwaukee Airport at 8:10am and arriving at Reagan Airport at 11:00am.  I had a ton of Marriott Rewards points so I figured what the heck, I'll live it up.  One last night in a luxurious and posh hotel room before willingly placing myself in third-world living conditions.  I'm very excited to go to D.C. and see the National Mall, the Capitol Building and Supreme Court, the White House, the Smithsonian Institutions, and wherever else I can walk in the 10 hours I plan on walking around. 

Also, thanks to the budget crunch, we're to get our own Yellow Fever shots.  Not such a big deal, except for the shot costs close to $200 (and more, at some clinics and doctor's offices) and we've been given only a week to get this done and submitted to the Peace Corps.  Should we fail to meet the deadline, no plane ticket for us!  I'm not really bothered by the last-minute rush...I am a little peeved that the shot costs so much, though.  Oh well, I guess it beats getting the real thing!

I look forward to being able to update this post with more than just anxious ramblings.