Only 'til next time...

Dear Diar-... eh, no, I don't think I'll start it off like that...

Greetings and salutations!

Welcome to my blog. This blog serves two purposes: (1) to relay information back to family, friends and whoever else so they (you) can keep track of how I'm doing a third of the world away, and (2) to provide me with an out when things invariably get tough.

Speaking of tough: the last two days have been two of the most emotionally-challenging of my life. I have been blessed beyond reason with great and supportive parents, grandparents, extended family, friends and have an all-around stable life. What possesses someone to give all of that up in favor of being thrown 8000 miles away in uncertain conditions for the benefit (I hope) of an uncertain people? Frankly, I'm not certain. Saying goodbye (or, as I prefer, "'til next time") to the most important people in my life has been one the hardest things I've ever had to do, but nonetheless I am compelled to do it.

I wake up in three hours. Staging is in Philadelphia at noon and my fight departs at 6:59am. On Tuesday, my staging group departs Philadelphia and will arrive in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday evening (afternoon in Ohio). Following that, we'll be guided around Dar es Salaam for a week to set up the basics in-country and then we'll move north into the Tanga region near the Kenyan border for Pre-Service Training (PST). PST will last about ten weeks and involves intensive language (Swahili) and cultural training, during which I'll be staying with a homestay family - native Tanzanians who have offered to house Peace Corps trainees (like myself to this point) for the duration of training. Following that, we'll finally be sworn in as Volunteers. (Oh yeah, that's a capital V for Volunteer. Huzzah!) Sometime during that period, we'll learn what our specific assignments will be and where our sites will be located. I'll probably get back to this blog before that happens, but if not, you'll know I'm hard at work (or at least cursing in a new language).

One more note: once in Dar es Salaam, we'll probably be out of contact with those back home for upwards of three weeks, so it may be some time anyway before this blog gets an update.

'Til next time.