The Beginning

My adventure has officially begun!  After a very long application process…clearance process…waiting for an assignment…waiting for departure… I am finally on my way to serving in the United States Peace Corps.  My assignment is Health Education Extension Agent in the country of Mali in West Africa.  Don’t know where Mali is?  Hint: think Timbuktu.  Yes, it actually exists, and it just so happens to be in Mali! 

As Peace Corps is kind of a culminating experience for me after 5 years of studying anthropology and public health, I thought it appropriate to start my blog with a quote from a famous female anthropologist.  I have long desired to make a difference in the world, and my education at BU taught me over and over that “making a difference” truly does happen on a personal level – by individuals, for individuals.  Here I go!

So what will I be doing in Mali?  Well, that’s pretty vague at this point.  My job title leaves my opportunities pretty open, which will give me the freedom to address the needs of my community, with respect to their situations and resources.  Generally speaking, from the words of Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams, “We work with local people to use local resources to solve their problems using their priorities.”  My 9 weeks of in-country training will provide me with training in language(s), technical, cultural, personal health, and safety and security.  For those of you who are worried about my safety, I hope to reassure you when I tell you Mali is one of the biggest and most successful Peace Corps programs in Africa, and I have heard nothing but wonderful things from both returned and current Mali PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers).  Peace Corps, both globally and locally, keeps a very close watch on potential threats (both natural and manmade) and takes care of us as the utmost priority.

So after several months of planning, packing, unpacking, and repacking, I finally made it to Washington, DC with all of my luggage (1 big hiking backpack, 1 “small” backpack, 1 duffel, and 1 carry on rolling suitcase) for Staging, or Orientation.  The 64 of us traveling to Mali all met at noon with several PC staff, and continued with Staging until shortly after 7pm, so it was a full day of introductions and information.  Highlight: for some awesome reason, my group was honored with the presence of both the Director of Peace Corps, Aaron Williams, and also H.E Mamadou Traor, the Mali Ambassador!  That’s definitely not the norm, so we felt pretty lucky.  Aaron Williams held a Q&A session with us and told us a few anecdotes about his own Peace Corps experience in the Dominican Republic.  I feel lucky that contacting my family and friends won’t be nearly as complicated as it was for him – write a letter home, say you’ll call in 2 months on this day at this time, please be home, and it’s super expensive to call so here are the talking points!  Nope, not for me.  I’ll be able to pick up my cell phone, call home, and then hang up so you can call me and I can save my pennies.  :) 

After our day of Orientation, I was able to go out for the night with friends both new and old (shoutout to you awesome people who met up with me for dinner/drinks!)  It was a pretty early night, as I’d only had an hour of sleep the night before!  The next day we didn’t meet till noon, so my lovely roomie/new best friend Ashley and I were able to grab breakfast and run a few errands, including sending my winter coat home.  I’m finally leaving behind “Snowmaggedon!”  The only real group goal we had that day (other than leaving) was going to the clinic to get a Yellow Fever shot.  We went to a fancy federal building and were instructed to leave all phones, cameras, Leatherman knives, etc in the bus and line up in alphabetical order to go through security and get our entry wristbands.  In the midst of all this rigid formality I made friends with a security guard when he asked me if I had a twin in the group and I thought he asked me if I had a twenty.  After that I decided that my new best friend Michaela is going to be my twin since she also has short hair, a nose piercing, and our names are kind of alike.  We figured we could have some fun with this!  Anyway, back to topic, I hate shots with a passion, but lucky for me the Yellow Fever shot lasts 10 years and I had one 4 ½ years ago when I went to Niger, so I was able to take a nap while most of everyone else got their shots.  Leaving the clinic officially ended our Staging!  Summary of Staging: I ceased to be a Peace Corps “Invitee” and am now a “Trainee!”

After arriving at the airport, we were greeted by awful news: the packing/luggage restrictions weren’t “guidelines” in any sense.  Air France is quite strict about their policies.  We were allowed to have 2 checked pieces of luggage, neither exceeding 50 lbs individually, and 1 carry-on and 1 personal item.  Unlike domestic flights, even a small backpack does not count as a personal item, and the carry-on can weigh no more than 24 pounds.  Remember the baggage I described myself packing?  My 2 checked bags were well within the restrictions, but unfortunately my 2 carry-on bags together clocked in at about 60lbs…whoops.  Oh, and did I mention the fees?  $100 for an overweight checked bag, and $200 for a third checked bag.  Needless to say, I about had a panic attack.  Believe it or not, my 2-month seasonal job at Target did not provide me with bags of money to blow on carting around 3 months of toiletries to Africa.  Luckily, I met my new best friend Andy who was only checking 1 bag and fantastically volunteered (after I begged him) to check one of my bags for me.  THANK YOU ANDY!!! 

It took forever and a day (actually about 2 hours), but eventually all 64 of us managed to get through security (some several times after realizing their required-for-entry immunization card was in their checked luggage) and finally were able to eat dinner, which we’d all been dreaming of for hours since our breakfast ran out.  I went all out for my last dinner, or at least as much as you can in an airport food court on a fairly reasonable budget: chicken sandwich with cheese (oh, how I’ll miss you!) and mayo, french fries, root beer, and my crowning glory: Yuengling.  Kudos to Dulles!  Oh, and a cookies and cream shake from Ben and Jerry’s.  I pretty much sloshed onto the plane.  Despite arriving at the airport almost 5 hours before departure, the time passed very quickly and soon we were boarding our flight to Paris!  I’ve definitely found my new favorite airline, despite their strict luggage restrictions: Air France, you are awesome.  It’s all the little things that make a difference, especially the free wine and the cup of chocolate pudding in my meal (yes, more food)!  One movie (Unstoppable, love you Denzel) later, I was happily passed out in my seat for most of the rest of the flight. 

Despite my trepidations for the Paris airport (which is basically a city and getting around is like taking a city bus) it actually only took about 20 minutes to get all of us through security and to our next gate, which was only a 5 minute walk from security – score!  Which leaves us here with 5 hours to kill.  We’re quite the motley crew, and have completely taken over the waiting area at our gate.  Sorry to the poor suckers leaving from anywhere near us over the next 5 hours.  Some of us are updating our people back home, some are reading, some are chatting, most have pulled up a lovely piece of airport floor for a nice nap.  I’m sure we’re a sight to see!  Unfortunately my carefully packed carry-on of fresh clothes and travel toiletries had to be checked (it was 32 lbs by itself and rather large…) but my new best friend Heather shared her toothpaste with me, and I did manage to keep my toothbrush and deodorant in my small backpack, so I’m relatively refreshed and ready for the next flight.  It’s funny, only a few trips of carrying all that luggage and my muscles are already way more sore than from anything I did (which in all fairness wasn’t much) in the 5 months since I left Boston.  I have sore shoulders and arms from carrying everything and even sore thigh muscles because in order to get my big backpack on I have to start sitting down, strap it on, and then struggle into a standing position.  But the moral of this story is that I can carry everything all by myself!  Of course I won’t complain if Andy offers to carry the duffel, which I think would be nice considering I let him check the blue bag and not the pink one.  ;) 

And so I will leave you here in Paris!  More updates to come as I can find the accessibility to provide them.  Our training center outside of Bamako has Internet access but we won’t be spending more than a few nights there before continuing on to our host families’ homes.  I’ll be sure to send out my contact information as I find out what it is.  I will have a cell phone at some point, and I can also receive mail at the training center.  (Will provide the mailing address soon).  Keep in mind that mailing packages to Mali is hella expesive, and in addition to the cost to you, I have to pay a customs tax to receive it, which varies by value and is determined by the person who opens the package for inspection before it gets to me.  Not that I’m trying to talk you out of sending me presents.  :)  If at any time you are interested in sending a package, send me an email and I’ll let you know all the fancy package-ing tips that I am learning/will learn.  Letters, of course, are pretty inexpensive and always welcome!!! 

I’ll end my first post with a great big “thank you” to all of you who helped get me here – particularly to my family who bent over backwards for months to get me ready, and also to everyone else for their contributions of presents, good wishes, love, support, and prayers.  Thank you!