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Published: September 3rd 2008
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2 Sept 2008
Tuesday
22:00
PCT - Peace Corps Trainee = what I am until Nov 21st when I am sworn in as a….
PCV - Peace Corps Volunteer = what I will be from 21 Nov 2008 until Nov 2010, when I will then become…
RPCV - Returned Peace Corps Volunteer = I will be for the rest of my life...
Ag/Aggie - Rural Development Agricultural Extensionist = my job
Nica48 - 48th class of PCT’s sent to Nica since 1991
Okay, so we’re not in Nica yet…
I feel like this entry is going to be full of ellipses… as so much is as yet unknown… Actually, that’s not true. I know a helluva lot more NOW than I did two days ago!
I’ve been at my PCT Staging in DC for the past two days. There are 40+ of us leaving to go to the Nica tomorrow. We are all either Ag or Environmental Educationists. In our group, there are far more women than men, only one married couple over the age of 50, and the majority just graduated in May.
Actually, funny story about the reach of PCV’s. So I was
sitting in the Chicago airport waiting for my flight to DC. I’d been on the lookout for people that I thought might be other PCT’s headed to DC the whole day. Well, this guy sits down next to me - he’s wearing Chacos and a Camel backpack with tastefully ripped cargo pants. And I though, huh, bet he’s a PCT! So we were sitting next to each other, and I was thinking that maybe I should pull out my PCT paperwork and see if there was any reaction. Of course, as soon as I started to reach for my bag HE pulled out his Nicaragua paperwork. So I was like, “hi, um, I’m going to the Nica, too!”
WM is from Iowa and, as we started talking about being PCT’s, the guy on the other side of me was like, “Hey you guys are going into the Peace Corps? I just got back from Mauritania a year ago.” This guy took the Foreign Service exam while he was serving and got a job with the State Dept a month after finishing and becoming a RPCV.
So, small world, the Peace Corps.
WM and I flew together to DC and managed to finally get to the hotel - very late as our plane was delayed 4 hours, but we got here!
Other small world moments: Met another woman rugby player. Met someone with my same birthday, Sept 29th. Met another girl from Missouri. Met someone who knows other Baade’s in Chicago and Wisconsin. All in 40+ people from around the USA.
Other highlights: We got to meet and speak with the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the USA, Arturo CRUZ Sequeira, Jr, which was interesting. The Nicas definitely are forthright and brutally honest. It was a good intro. Also, one of the trainers here was a PCV in the Nica, so the general Staging info got some real examples that will be useful to us in the next few weeks. Also, as we arrive in Managua tomorrow, we will be met by like the whole exec Nica PCV staff at the airport and will get to meet the American Ambassador to Nicaragua in the next few days.
Oh! And last night I went to meet Molly & Mel BMC ’02 for a burger and a beer. That was an adventure all
in its own right, but it was great to see them and catch up and to realize that life does go on.
Okay, need to get to bed soon. Yes, I know it’s only 22:00. But we are checking out of the hotel at 3:30am tomorrow morning… or really just later tonight as we have to get up at 2:30am. After a 2hr flight to Miami and layover - where there will hopefully not be any hurricanes - we have another 2hr flight to Managua.
We stay in Managua for a 3 day retreat… which I guess to be about the same as this Staging in DC but in-country and more relevant. After those three days, us Ag PCT’s head up to towns near Esteli for our next three months of training, which will consist of Spanish lessons, technical training so we can BE competent Agricultural Extensionists, health and safety training, and cross-cultural training. Also, during these three months, we live with a host family.
I am both excited to live with a host family and extremely nervous to do so. I am concerned with my beginner Spanish - and use of Channish - but super excited
to re-immerse myself into a Spanish speaking country and to be competent by the end of training, and hopefully able to have deep conversations by the end of my two years as a PCV. Many of the things that scare the living bejesus out of me are also the most exciting parts of this future experience.
And on that note, here is a quote that they had written on the wall that I identify with to a very great extent:
“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to.” - Georgia O’Keefe Well! Not sure when I’ll get to be online again! Just assume that no news is good news, okay? Ugh time to repack… awesome!
signing off,
Not-quite-in-Nica-YET
also: LB deargod BE CAREFUL and get the hell outta dodge if more hurricanes threaten the Red Stick! Law school schmaw school just GO! Love you MWA!
Abeytawife: Soon I will speak the el spanisho and our wanglish will be unintelligible! ps roadtrip plans already forming…!
family: no news is good news, no worries! xoxo
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Mom
non-member comment
Onward, then, to Nicaragua!
Am guessing that if all goes as planned, this'll be your last blogging from USA soil (concrete) for some time. Glad you had these lasting little pleasures to take along with you, Molly. Yes,...both scary...and awesome. Take care of each other and remember that we love, miss, and admire you. Hope to see you 'soonish'! Be safe. Be happy. Learn as you teach. And, ENJOY!