It's been a while, but I'm so close!

I have been away from writing for over a month now. Ideas were percolating, thoughts were a brewing, but I was so wrapped up in the moment to sit down for a second and reflect. With 18 short days left in good ole America I have begun to feel the growing emotions about leaving home, and starting my life in a new home thousands of miles away.

In 18 days from now I leave for Washington DC to start my Peace Corps adventure. Since the last time I have updated, my life has had some considerable changes. First off, I am now a college graduate! I finished all my finals, passed all my classes, and walked across the stage to receive my mock diploma. It is amazing to look back at the time I spent at the University of Colorado, and remember all the changes that occurred and the amazing experience I gained. Still, I was beyond ready to start a new chapter in my life, shown through completing my degree in three and a half years, with a few summer classes that pointed me towards the Peace Corps.

I then spent an amazing Christmas and New Years with friends and family. Santa brought some valuable items for my time in South Africa, and I spent New Year’s in style with my brother and sister-in-law with a weeklong trip to New York City. I was lucky enough to have a friend in Manhattan that let me crash on his couch for the week, and minus the frigid temperature, New York is everything it is cracked up to be.

So now I sit in my spacious Boulder apartment with a long to do list and shrinking time to do it in. The packing list has been developing for almost 3 months now, and I have shoved what I think I will need for 26 months into a suitcase, a large travel backpack and my school backpack as a carry-on. I even practiced carrying around my rather large “essentials” backpack which will be my lifeline for the first two months of training, and I must say that I am pretty satisfied with how it turned out. I’ll post my full packing list in a later post to give a full idea of what I am actually bringing. Many people have asked me what I actually needed or brought with me to Africa, so when I am completely finished I’ll give you an idea of what I am bringing.

My class going to South Africa is starting to take shape as Facebook groups and discussion boards are ripe with anticipation and excitement. I’ve also been given a clearer idea of the area I will be placed for two years of service and I now have an actual itinerary for travel to Johannesburg! The sites for our service, the 21st group to volunteer in SA, will be in one of two provinces, the KwaZulu-Natal or Mpumalanga province. This also means that my failed rolled Rs will probably not be an important aspect of the language, as we will be learning Tsonga, Zulu, or Swazi (not Sepedi or Setswana as previously thought). So now I must wait and wonder if any of my expectations are true, and soak up every second I can get with friends and family while I have them so close.