Bridge to Pre Service Training

Today, or if you want to get technical, yesterday, we finished our Staging Event in Philadelphia. This event was a very odd/interesting/helpful/boring mix of sessions aimed at letting us know the Peace Corps organization. It seemed at time a mix of a professional business seminar and a children's summer camp. For example, we alternated between sessions dealing with serious risks to Peace Corps Volunteers like rape, assault, evacuations, etc. to creating and singing a song about service accompanied by the percussion instrument of hitting pens against pitched glasses of water to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". So it definitely didn't completely make me feel like an adult, but it also made sure to let us know we weren't children any more and our service entails real challenges, risks, frustrations, and hopefully goals, rewards, and aspirations.

As I wrote earlier, I came up to PA to visit my grandparents for my last night with my family (sans my wonderful sister Rachel who is at music camp in Sewanee, TN). Seeing them was wonderful, and I really had a nice time playing cards, eating too much food, and spending time with my extended family at their apartment. But the next day we drove into the City and dropped me off at the Sheraton for me to register as a Trainee and then start my Staging Event.

Like I said, Staging was a very multifaceted event which overall was very interesting and helpful, but much like College orientation, became tedious at points. We learned about how to cope with the various stresses and challenges of being an American in an area which has never seen one before. PCVs are given a tremendous amount of responsibility, and their role puts them in a position as a "citizen ambassador". What we say and do has a direct reflection on what the people and the country we are serving think and feel about the United States. I am honored and excited about this inevitability. That's what really makes teaching English as a PCV different from other programs. Rather than entering the culture as a complete outsider designated only as a spreader of American knowledge, PCVs understand and embody the idea that we (as Americans) have as much to learn from the people we serve as they have to learn from us. Check out the three missions of Peace Corps Service, they are one of the main reasons I am so excited to be part of it.

The other exciting aspect of Staging is the additional information about my service that I have been anxious to find out. My class of Volunteers I no (group K-16) going to Kyrgyzstan is a very diverse group that includes members from all over the states (including Alaska and Hawaii), three married couples, and, of course, a plethora of recent college graduates. Getting to know my fellow volunteers has been really exciting and rewarding. I think I will get along with them really well and look forward to working with them. I also now have my address for the first three months of my training, if you want it please email me or leave a comment letting me know and I will try and send it to you as soon as I can. Also, en route to Bishkek (capitol city of Kyrgyz Republic) we have an 8 hour layover in Istanbul. I just found out that we will indeed, for the visa fee of $20, have the opportunity to explore the city for a few hours! I am really excited at the prospect of seeing the city and eating delicious food!

For my last Fourth of July until 2011, I went into Central Philadelphia with a few other Volunteers and saw the events they were holding. I was impressed by a John Legend performance (his cover of "She's So Heavy" really won me over) and the fireworks, despite the rain and the subsequent obstructing smoke cloud, were an enjoyable end for the last night in the States.

Anyhow, I have to be up in 5 and a half hours, so I best be saying Dosvedonya, good night, and next time you hear from me, I will be an ex-pat.