Dumelang!

Greetings from South Africa! I've been in country for about three weeks now and its definitely been a rollercoaster. I apologize for the rampant mispellings and nonsense words that are bound to be part of this post. Blogging from a cell phone is an art I have yet to master. So quick rundown of my trip so far.

We arrived in south africa on July 8 after two days in DC. We drove in buses from the airport in Johannesburg to our first sight two hours away. when we arrived we were all exhausted and jet lagged. We got off the bus to be greeted by our LCFs (language and cross culture facilitators) who were singing and dancing. We stayed in dorms essentially for four days. During those four days we had group language lessons in four languages, got lots of shots and safety lessons. We also were totally spoiled with massive amounts of food and several tea breaks a day. One of our last days at that site we learned which language we would be learning and I was assigned Sepedi. My group is awesome and our LCF is amazing.

On the 13th we left the college to go meet our individual host families. The first few days felt a lot like summer camp but the first night of homestay was a reality check. I love my host family but that first night was the first time I really felt like I was really far from home. Things got easier as I adjusted to living with a South African family. My host mom is wonderful and is so patient with me. None of my skills from the states are particularly helpful here. I don't know how to cook food like them, do laundry or even bathe myself. Certainly a reality check for someone who considers herself pretty self sufficient.

Now were into the thick of our PST which is preservice training. Here is a rundown of my typical day of training.

Wake up at 630 and make my lunch. Then I get my bath ready by getting water from the stove or electric kettle. I then bathe which can be a painful process depending on the temperature. Then I eat breakfast and walk with Nick to our LCFs house where we have a language lesson. Then we walk to a nearby primary school where we have cultural sessions or observe at the school. Sometimes we have another language lesson and we end around five most days. Then I walk home and help prepare dinner for my family. After dinner I do dishes and then Generations is on! By the way Generations is a super popular South African soap opera that I'm hooked on already. After Generations I usually head towards bed since I go to bed pretty early here usually. Saturdays we sometimes have classes but today we went to Pretoria on a field trip. Its a pretty hectic schedule but I'm enjoying my language classes a lot.

I will try to post more often but I'm trying to do it all on my blackberry so its somewhat of a painstaking process. More soon!

Last Day in the United States for a While!

I got to Washington D.C. yesterday around 9:00 and got to my hotel. Staging was today and lasted about five hours. It was amazing to get to meet my fellow volunteers. I feel like I've known some of these people far longer than a few hours and I can definitely see us being great friends as our adventure continues.

Tomorrow we get up, check out of the hotel, spend a few hours in the airport, fly to Atlanta then off to Johannesburg! I get to South Africa at 5 pm. I'll probably not have internet or a phone for a while, so don't count on hearing from me for a while. I will do my best to update when I have internet, but no guarantees it will be soon.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this long application process, I'm finally off to live the adventure! It's definitely surreal to be so close to my dream, but now the real work begins. After a 16 hour flight I'll be on the ground in Africa for the first time in my life! Wish me luck. Love you all!

Final Post from the US for a while!

So the time has finally come. I'm getting on the plane for Washington D.C. in a matter of hours and I can hardly believe it. I'm excited, yes; but right now the sadness of leaving my wonderful friends and family is a little overwhelming. I love you all and I am eternally grateful for your love and support! This will be a short post, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again. Remember (especially you mom) one thing I've learned through this whole process with Peace Corps: "No news is good news". Oh yea and "Be patient!".

To conclude my farewell post, here are some packing pictures. Note: I'm almost embarrassed to post these since I've seen many of my fellow Peace Corps group members with far less stuff than me.. I want it to be known that I did my best and that the big bag is only about half full and has a big jacket and pillow in it.. Also, on the picture with everything laid out about a quarter of that stuff got cut and didn't make it into the final pack. Now on to the pictures!