Less than a month before departure

Alright it's been about a month since I've posted anything so here is a brief update....

I finished teaching and moved from Wilmington about three weeks ago. The last few weeks of teaching was a little hectic as I was trying to keep the attention of sixth graders who were ready for summer break, cleaning and organing my classroom, and packing everything in my apartment. I don't know if realized how close I had become to some of the teachers I worked with. It was kind of a sad ending and hard to say goodbye to some of the friends I had made in Wilmington.

The month of June has been both busy and relaxing. I've spent a lot of time catching with old high school friends, meeting up with a group of teachers I went through grad school with, having lunch and shopping with a teacher I taught with in Wilmington, and spending time parents, brother, and extended family. I've been reading and relaxing quite a bit. I've also been able to talk with some fellow Peace Corps volunteers going to South Africa in the same group through a yahoo message board. It's been nice exhanging ideas, concerns, packing tips, and reading through blogs of current volunteers serving in South Africa.

Staging (2 day orientation) has been pushed back one week. I will now be flying to Philadelphia on Sunday July 23rd. On the 24th and 25th, we will meet as a whole group (both EDU and NGO volunteers) to briefly go over safety, a few Peace Corps policies, and get our shots. We will fly out of NY on July 26th, first landing in Dakar, Senegal, and next fly to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight totals 17 hours, however with the time change it will be approximately 6pm (US Eastern Time) to about 6pm the next day (South Africa Time). The first 8-10 weeks will be spent living with temporary host familys. Also during this training time we will be attending intense classes where we will learn local language, culture, food, safety, our primary assignment jobs, etc.