Peacing out

Its now T minus 13 hours till I am in the air (the flight leaves at 3:45pm) and for the first time I can be fully excited. Here's some things that have got me particularly jazzed:

- There are 76 other volunteers in my group
- There are 5+ other Environmental Education volunteers in my group
- To a person, every one is cool. Go figure!
- We are done with staging and nothing but a 9 hour flight and 6 hour bus ride lies between us and training
- The waiting is finally over now
- Mauritanian money is called Ouguiyas (oo-gee-yas)
- On July 21st site placements will be announced
- I will have a week of training before entering my homestay

At this point I feel like a lot of the unknowns about the Peace Corps have been answered or I have stopped thinking about them entirely. (more the latter) Either way, its a tremendously relieving feeling. Also for the first time, the experiences that are ahead seem accessible. I can picture them and that is very helpful.

Going through staging I noticed something interesting but it is also something I should have expected. I have always thought of the PC as a career move and a key part of my overall life plan, but there are a number of people in my group for whom it seems to be a thing to do mostly because they are not sure what to do. Of course, there is no particular problem for joining the PC for that reason as long as you commit to it, I only mention it because it has revealed to me another reason why I have not been wildly ecstatic about leaving. To me the PC is very much a job and I treat it as I do all other jobs, very seriously perhaps overly seriously according to some of my former WWF/IED friends. It is true that a certain amount of joviality is helpful in any job and particularly in one like this where the job literally includes all aspects of living your life as well. However, it is also true that approaching any job, including this one, with a certain degree of seriousness and professionalism is tremendously advantageous. My demeanor in this respect is something that I will benefit from balancing carefully.

Having said that, I'd like to include a funny story from today to keep this post jovial: (and yes that's my favorite word right now)
In Atlanta there is a park that was built during the Olympics and named, wait for it, Olympic park. (Telling you that in that manner is not absolutely necessary but it sets the stage) At said park there is a set of those fountains that are designed for kids to play in, the kind that shoots up streams of water in programmed patterns. (again, not necessary and I could just get to the point, but the point would not be funny then, and it is perhaps getting less funny with each of these comments. (maybe I should stop making them (what do you think? (that was a rhetorical question (really I like them even if you don't (and its my blog (so hah!))))))) Anyway, theres a park with a fountain with kids in Atlanta and I was there today. A couple of us were just watching the kids when someone pointed out that one little boy was grabbing his crotch. We were a little puzzled by this but that didn't last for long because he soon pulled down his pants and started peeing into the fountain. Just that alone was pretty funny but his older brother was standing next to him pointing at him while laughing almost doubled over. However even better yet, his dad was videotaping the whole thing with out any visible reaction whatsoever; no look of shock or attempt to stop the boy. It was pretty hilarious and somewhat adorable.

Logistically, its been confirmed that I will have periodic access to internet at the training site which I will be at for the first few days and then periodically after that. So look for periodic updates, haha. (That's really the most accurate prediction I can make). Also, as soon as I get settled / find a post office / learn how to mail a letter I will start doing so. I'm excited to share the novelty of sending a letter from Mauritania with a lot of you but remember there are a lot of you and it will take me a while to get to everyone on my list. Pure and simple, the best way to get a letter from me is to send me one first. There is one of me and a lot of you and people who have already send me letters get priority.

In the interest of keeping post length down and getting sleep, I will stop here.