One more week.
In a week, Markus and I are saying goodbye to everyone and flying to D.C. We're getting there two days before Staging begins because we just couldn't resist how perfect it would be to spend some time in the U.S. capital before becoming government employees. We're also going to get to visit Chris before we go, which will be a little slice of home before we leave for Crazy Town. I'm looking forward to getting my tourist on. After I told Markus that I'd like to walk around the Mall, he gave me a weird look, which I returned before I realized he thought I meant a shopping mall. Silly Austrian.
Staging will be a day and a half of activities with names like "Peace Corps Approach to Development" (snooze fest) and "Personal Definition of Success" (hug fest). After all the snoozin' and huggin', they're going to shoot us up full of exotic diseases and shove us onto a plane bound for Paris. Your government at work.
Whenever people hear that we're going into the Peace Corps in West Africa, they have one of two reactions: "You're going to have a great experience!" or "Wow, you're crazy." Right now I think the latter response is more accurate. Today I plunked down $700 to buy the equipment to make five peanut shellers. It's going to arrive at my parents' house in two 70 lb. boxes. Shipping it to Burkina might cost over $2000. What am I doing?!
Almost everyone I've talked to about this has complimented me on my initiative, which is very out of character for me. Up until now, the adjective that's best described me has been "slacker." That might have even been written under my senior high school photo, but I'm not sure because I was too lazy to buy a yearbook. I guess I've decided that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it big. Not many people get an opportunity to try to help people in one of the poorest countries in the world feed themselves more efficiently. I'd be crazy not to do this . . . right?
Staging will be a day and a half of activities with names like "Peace Corps Approach to Development" (snooze fest) and "Personal Definition of Success" (hug fest). After all the snoozin' and huggin', they're going to shoot us up full of exotic diseases and shove us onto a plane bound for Paris. Your government at work.
Whenever people hear that we're going into the Peace Corps in West Africa, they have one of two reactions: "You're going to have a great experience!" or "Wow, you're crazy." Right now I think the latter response is more accurate. Today I plunked down $700 to buy the equipment to make five peanut shellers. It's going to arrive at my parents' house in two 70 lb. boxes. Shipping it to Burkina might cost over $2000. What am I doing?!
Almost everyone I've talked to about this has complimented me on my initiative, which is very out of character for me. Up until now, the adjective that's best described me has been "slacker." That might have even been written under my senior high school photo, but I'm not sure because I was too lazy to buy a yearbook. I guess I've decided that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it big. Not many people get an opportunity to try to help people in one of the poorest countries in the world feed themselves more efficiently. I'd be crazy not to do this . . . right?