2 days of Staging

I was so tired on Saturday morning. My body finally gave in to weeks of goodbyes, getting stuff and wrapping up things, and able to let tireness wash over me. We took some pictures in front of the house, then proceeded to the train station. Dad took some more pictures of me and the Peace Corps logo on my luggage tag. He is quite fascinated with me carrying all my belongings. Boy, there are HEAVY. Mom is rather quite and from what I can tell, she is trying to suppress her sadness. I gave them 2 hugs each. The farewell was very calm and business as usual. No different from any other times they've seen me off to go back to New York. There were not much words exchanged between us, but I preferred this way. I think we both know how much we care about each other and sad to part. Words needed not to be spoken.

I got to the hotel 2 hours ahead of schedule. Zach happened to be getting there around the same time. He is another volunteer I have been in contact with. It's nice to finally put a face to a voice I've heard on the phone. We grabbed lunch at a local pub where I had a philly cheesesteak, then walked around Penns Landing to kill some time. It was sunny and hot out today. We got back in the middle of afternoon to register and met our Staging staffs and the rest of volunteers. There are 16 of us, 9 women and 7 men. 4 Asians, 1 African American and the rest are Caucasians. Most people seem to be recent college grads. I expected this to be the case, but still can't help to wish that there were more people around my age. All seem nice, fun and brought with them all different perspectives.

Our training were lead by 2 returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCV). They did a great job with our brief orientation in Philly by incorporating lots of fun and interactive activities. We touched upon topics such as overview of the Peace Corps, how to be an effective volunteer, what is good development and how to achieve it, what are our aspirations and anxieties, identifying risks and ways to managing them, Peace Corps policies and logistics of departing and arriving at Guinea. The Staging pumped more uplifting spirits into us while giving us a balanced perspective on the struggle ahead. I am excited for all the trials and tribulations ahead, and I feel ever so fortunate to have the chance to serve.

We went out as a group and had pizza on Saturday night. Most of us turned in rather early after a tiresome day. On Sunday, it seems like none of the sushi resto is open for lunch, so I had Thai food for lunch. Hmm, it was good. Got to have my sushi fixing tonight.

I am still not nervous about going to Guinea compare to most of my fellow volunteers. I haven't been nervous about it for a few months now. I am actually worried the fact that I am so calm and feel that this feel so right for me. I am worried that I am being over confident.

Tomorrow we will be off to get a few shots and then off to New York to fly off.

That's it for now. I am off to pig out on sushi...