Staging

As I was reading about all of the things I should expect from the Peace Corps, details about staging were something I haven't read much about. Staging is a seminar-like event. There are two groups here at the Hotel in Philly. One group is going to Cameroon and the other to Togo. Cameroon group is rolling about 30 deep, and there are 31 of us Togolese volunteers. Within the Togo group are those of us doing Girls' Education and Empowerment and others doing Natural Resource Management. Everyone is about the same age, 23 +/- a year or two, and it seems to be split pretty evenly between men and women. We've played games and did little skits after learning all of the rules of the Peace Corps and learning about what we should expect and how to handle certain situations. I feel like I've really gotten to know a few of the other people... more so than I thought I would. People are literally from all over the country and even the world. Just about all of us have at least traveled to other countries, some people have lived elsewhere for long periods of time.


Tonight most of us are going out to dinner at a restraunt here in center city. Everyone seems to be on the same page and I can tell that we will all support each other through some of the tough experiences we will find ourselves in.

Tomorrow we get to be stuck with needles, eat lunch, and then we get shuttled off to the airport. Tomorrow will be a long day. This may be one of the last times I have both access to the internet and freetime to write in the blog so you may not hear from me for a while.