When you spend almost all of your life in school, August is the start of a year. New hope and new beginnings. It's fitting then, that August 1st was my departure for the Peace Corps. A new start. A new adventure. A goodbye to the person I was, and a blank path laid in front of me as I start the process of who I will become.
Before leaving I had an incredible month of love from friends and family. I was able to have gatherings, parties, dinners out, and fun days with everyone who is anyone. I'm so thankful for each and everyone one who made my last few weeks warm and bright. I love all of you.
Every moment has the potential for growth on this journey, and my biggest challenge will be allowing myself to trust the process. Allowing myself to be open in the present and unsure of the future. To find the balance between the confidence to do my job and the humble attitude to learn from those around me. That process began the moment I stepped on the plane.
Bag 1+2 of 4!
Our flights over went well. In total I was in the air for roughly 20 hours. We had a quick stop in Newark for Staging, which included a fantastic last supper at a mexican resturaunt and a taxi/bus sideswipe on the way to the airport, before we all departed together for Botswana. Our cohort is massive--currently 76 volunteers-- and it is still a challenge to learn everyones names. It's reassuring to know that the people that are here understand why I am here. They get why it's worth leaving everyone I love for two years, why I would go halfway around the world to a place I've never been with limited amenities to work for people I've never met. They get why I spent months trying to figure out what to pack and still managed to pack the day before, and why, in Peace Corps, it's best to just roll with the punches. I'm glad to finally be welcomed to the family.
We arrived in country on August 3rd, after lugging around entirely too much luggage on entirely too little sleep. We spent the first three days in Gaborone (Gabs) where we went through our medical and immigration clearances as well as some extremely fast crash courses in Setswana (Dumela is Hello), the other official language in the country. We have had tons of great food and many ice breakers while we eagerly wait to go to Molepolole (Moleps). Greetings are very important in Setswana, and so we have been trying to practice with eachother before we meet our host families.
Tomorrow we will travel to Moleps to meet our host families and move into our new homes for the next 11 weeks. I somehow managed to repack my bags for our 6am boarding, although not as well as my saint of a mother did the first time. While in Moleps we will be in Pre-Service Training. During this time I am still considered a Peace Corps Trainee rather than a volunteer. If I make it through all 11 weeks and pass my language test, I will then be a Peace Corps Volunteer. So keep your fingers crosed, because if this is anything like French I'm going to need a lot of help!
While we are in Moleps, I will have very limited internet. Much less than I had while I was here in Gabs. They said to expect to have no internet for at least the first two weeks, and very limited thereafter. I know this will be good for me in order to disconnect and be present in Botswana, rather than feeling sad about the things I'm missing out on at home. Please feel free to continue to contact me electronically, and I'll simply respond when I gain access again. Pre Service Training is one of the hardest parts of the experience, but luckily all of the volunteers will be in it together.
I'm sorry for the lack of pictures this time around. I will be sure to add some in later when I have the proper technological access.
Sala Sentle,
Remain Well,
Bethany
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