Alive and well!

Greetings, earthlings!
It's been forever, I know. Today is really the first opportunity we've had for internet access. We are all hanging out in Niamey for the morning, as we've all returned from "Demystification" weekend, where we live with a current volunteer to see what their lives are like "in the field." It was fun but slightly overwhelming. Our volunteer had been away for a few weeks, so I think the combination of two additional "anasaras" coming into the village and our host vol having been gone made the villagers extra chatty. We spent about six hours yesterday walking around greeting people. You get to feel a little like either a politician or Justin Bieber. Everyone is super friendly and curious, so it's just something to get used to.
Things are going pretty well overall! We are so, so busy with training. We are up at the PC training site two days a week for "core" sessions, such as how to take (our own) blood samples for malaria testing(!) and "the ABCs of Islam." The other days we spend in our host village (we all basically live in the same one, though with different families) learning a new language (mine is Hausa). We have lunch and dinner each day with our host families, so I'm getting my fill of rice. Beans, too, when we are really lucky.
The weather has been a bit of an adjustment because although it's HOT, it's also like tornado-strength windy. There were a few mornings when I woke up with sand in my mouth. It's worth it to sleep outside though (under a mosquito net) because the stars are amazing.
I need to get off the computer for the sake of my fellow vols, but know that I miss everyone. I learned within approximately three minutes of landing at the airport to take things one moment at a time. It's a constant rollercoaster for sure, but certainly we are learning a lot. Each Nigerienne I've met has been extremely warm and welcoming, so that's an adjustment in its own way.
Toodles for now!

A l'aeroport!

Hello lovely readers. We're sitting in the Philadelphia airport waiting for our flight to Paris, then Niamey. Staging went well yesterday, though we left one tired bellhop at the hotel. Poor dude lugged our bags around like crazy, and apparently I was one of the few and proud who packed far less than the 80lb limit. One of our fellow trainees actually just brought one little backpack; I'm not sure how he managed that.
Everyone in our group (there are 33 of us) are AWESOME. I truly look forward to spending two years with these folks. Or at least in their proximity. Nice mix of ages, too.
We are all excited, although admittedly freaked out. Apparently there is a severe drought again in Niger this year, so we are a bit concerned about how that will affect our host communities. We shall see.

A little surreal

I can't quite believe I'm leaving in 4 days, but I'll be darned if these haven't been a great couple of weeks off, spending lots of time with my parents and friends (and HGTV, I can't lie). Thanks, Lauren, for a great day today.
Official packing begins tomorrow, as I have 99% of what I'm taking sitting on the floor of my room at my parents' house. One large backpack, one medium duffle, and one school-size backpack. These will contain my posessions for my two-year adventure. I highly doubt it'll all weigh anywhere near 80lbs, but I could be sorely mistaken. And I mean that literally, since I'll be toting all of it around.
My biggest dilemma is which pair(s) of Birkenstocks to take. Certainly the "dressy" pair is a given, but I'm not sure between the blue patterned pair and the orange ones. I'll stick out so much anyway, I doubt that orange sandals will make much of a difference. Bwa ha ha.

Packing Tape

I can do a few things well, but properly using packing tape is not one of them.

An ever-expanding to-do list

I firmly believe one of life's great pleasures is the creation of task lists and the subsequent crossing off of items. It is both cathartic and productive, the two factors by which I measure almost everything in my life.

The pre-departure list for the Peace Corps, as one may imagine, is lengthy and prone to additions. I just found out today that among my extremely-specific list of 20 or so things (besides the obvious ones like moving out of my apartment), I have to get a H1N1 vaccine before showing up/"reporting for duty" (the terminology of which freaks me out) in Philadelphia. I thought I was like the lone holdout on this vaccine, and darn it(!), I was successful for so long. I mean, I'm all for vaccines if it's something that could prevent irreparable damage (who could argue against the polio booster we had to get?) but flu-shmu. Whatever, though.

In any case, here are a few lists I've been pondering:

Things I most look forward to:
1. gaining a new family in the PC and in my community in Niger
2. this experience as an all-encompassing personal challenge
3. a slower pace of life with less technology and more focus on people
4. silence (the presence of which is pure conjecture and dependent upon my site placement, but a girl can hope)
5. letter-writing - with my best friend especially. We have a long history of written communication. It's very Austen-esque.
6. learning about plants and animals native to Niger/West Africa and somehow obtaining a friendly stray dog

Things I really, really dread:
1. saying goodbye to said best friend and her partner
2. driving to the airport with my parents. I'm tearing up thinking about it.
3. missing David Gray's Fall tour. I'm sorry, Dave, but if you could tone down your creative juices for the next two years, that'd be most advantageous.
4. No Sunday NY Times. I don't even care how pretentious that makes me sound.
Not sure what else to say, other than onward and upward, which seems like a good way to end any kind of list at all.

Pros, cons, and runny babbits

Lots and lots on my mind these past few weeks. Among other things, our office is also moving down the street, so I am packing in both my personal professional lives. Funsies! Not really. It blows chunklets, actually.

Besides saying toodles to everyone I know, I'm particularly sad to leave Evanston/Wilmette, where I've been quite at home for the last seven years. Gillson Park, I will miss our early morning encounters. You were so lovely and made me forget my slight disappointment in remembering, as my friend Scott once put it, that unlike an actual ocean, on the other side of Lake Michigan is.....Michigan. Most of my criteria for deciding whether I'd want to live somewhere (other than the quality of their public library) is the quantity and placement of its tree population and/or overall natural loveliness. Wilmette and Evanston fit that criterion perfectly. I certainly will miss all the rabbits I spotted (and waved to) each morning on the way out to the car, even though I would inevitably always think of the scene from Manon of the Spring when Gerard Depardieu was forced to massively dispose of his pet bunny population after the cistern ran dry.

There is the constant reminder that for everything I'm sad to leave or will miss, I eagerly anticipate something else. For example: Bunnies, no, camels, heck yes. I expect a different kind of beauty in Niger, but one that from all I read promises to be striking and marvelous.

On my way, or a brief history of the application process

What a whirlwind - already. The shiny blue packet of excellence (more commonly known as the invitation kit) arrived last Wednesday, just over eight months after my nomination. I promptly tore it open to discover my assignment:

Municipal and Community Development departing July 7th, 2010

Apparently the Nigerien government was completely centralized until about four years ago, so now that there are established municipalities, they need help creating/running non-profit-y type organizations to better meet the needs of community members. Basically government services. And clearly this is excellent for me, given my non-profitiness.

So I am simultaneously thrilled and scared to death. I completed my visa and government passport applications this weekend, though was slightly irked when my mom laughed at my visa photos. Who cares if I'm smirking?

Here, for Peace Corps Applicants of Tomorrow - or other interested parties who wish to be wowed by my patience and vigilance - is my application timeline:

mid-August 2009: submitted online application
August 24, 2009: interview with recruiter at Chicago office. I'm qualified for a few things and am asked to complete skill addenda for health extension, youth development (please God. No!), and business advising. Also instructed to take CLEP French exam to determine if I am proficient enough for west Africa.
Circa September 6th: Passed French proficiency test
September 15, 2009: Nominated for Business Advising in Francophone Africa for July 2010
October 15, 2009: Submitted medical paperwork
December 12, 2009: Medically cleared
March 5, 2010: Legally cleared
First week of May 2010: Am informed, following an email to the placement office, that my file is in preliminary review!
May 14, 2010: Phone call with Placement Officer. Given my non-profit background, she'd like to move me to NGO advising. Delightful, I say!
May 19, 2010: Invitation received via FedEx
May 20,2010: Accepted invitation
May 24, 2010: Emailed aspiration statement and resume to Niger Country Desk.