Last Song

Well, it's my last night in the US. I landed in DC bright and early, with not nearly enough sleep, for our quick Peace Corps tutorial. I was very excited to meet Rachel, a fellow Syracusian, at the airport. We were of course talking a mile a minute and it felt so good to know that there was at least one person feeling the same way as me. Even about funny little things, like stuff we'll miss or random thoughts we've had. In fact I'm excited about the group as a whole. I knew I'd be in good company... I mean are all crazy enough to do this...but it's been great so far meeting everyone. We even have two returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs), which I think is awesome. The whole thing is slightly reminiscent of my IA scholars orientation. Everyone is excited, there's lots of info and silly ice breakers. It'll just be great getting to know everyone, because everyone seems to have done such cool things already.
As far as the actual event and logistics ting have been a bit different. Di got me checked and kept me from standing in the wrong line, I then promptly repaid her by giving her the wrong directions back to the house. However, being a great best friend she still loves me. Then I discovered my fears about over packing were confirmed. I definitely had more luggage than Rachel and Abbey, another volunteer from the area. In fact, Abbey only had one checked bag, which made me instantly jealous. I looked ridiculous and kept refusing help saying "no! I need to do this now because I have to do it later." To paint a picture, I have my huge hiking backpack strapped to my back, then I'm hugging my green army bag in the front and my bookbag is just slung somewhere. I look like a walking duffel bag. And of course me being 5'2" only makes the whole scene even funnier. I kinda just teeter as i walk because leaning too far in any direction will cause an immediate tumble to the ground. I'm definitely not looking forward to dealing with all of it tomorrow, but at least it'll be funny...later...when i look back on it..hopefully.

As if my baggage trouble weren't enough I volunteered to be a group leader. Yes that's right I'm trustworthy enough to help orchestrate our travels to Senegal. How I'll see around the bags to do all of this is entirely unsure to me. However, before you congratulate me on my super impressive promotion I must confess I'm just in charge of making sure everyone is checked out, and on the right bus. Let's hope the next blog post is not about how we all ended up in Detroit by mistake. That is definitely the worst of all possible outcomes, YUK!! M*CH*GAN!!

Well, It's now nearing midnight so I need to TRY and get some shut eye...who am I kidding, I'm too excited/nervous. I'll just lie very still in hopes that I eventually fall asleep.

Finally, as my last American made entry I want to say to all my friends and family. I love and miss you all already. Stay in touch. If you ever catch yourself thinking of me in a random moment or wanting to tell me something that seems very unexciting, PLEASE DO IT. Jump on that blackberry. I don't even need a full email, you can just put the thought in the subject line...my dad's been doing that one for years. I'll really appreciate and definitely respond to even the most mundane news or letters. So catch ya all later I'm on to Senegal....Watch out, they won't even know what hit them.