t-minus 4 days...YIKES!

I've been promising myself I'd write a blog post for about two weeks now and I figured, with tons of packing to do and 17 hours still to go on Rosetta Stone, there's no time like the present... So here's the deal: on August 11th I'm off to Washington, D.C. to meet up with the 50 other fabulous Peace Corps Trainees for Senegal. We'll be in D.C. for a fun filled day of orientation and more shots than I care to think about, and then its off to Senegal on the 12th. If all goes to plan (and I certainly hope it does) we'll land in Dakar on August 13th and then take a bus ride to the Peace Corps' training center in Thiès (pronounced "chess"). I'll be taking my laptop with me and they have free wifi at the training center so feel free to send emails/write messages for me to read when I get there (hint hint). Anywho, we'll have 4 or 5 days of training type stuff in Thiès and then we're off to homestays in the area for more training and integration into the Senegalese culture. All told, training lasts for 9 weeks and once its done we'll swear in and transition from PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) to PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) sometime around mid-October.

In other news, I talked to the Country Director for PC Senegal today and he said that I will "more than likely" have electricity and running water once I get to my site (which will be a few days after swear in) so hurrah for that! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be internet as well, but I figure I better not push my luck. He also assuaged the fears of numerous members of my family who have voiced their concerns about my being able to get sunscreen in Senegal. I felt rather stupid for asking about it, but he assured me that "its the Peace Corps' responsibility to make sure you don't get skin cancer" so I'm set. Chris also mentioned that they are thinking about starting up some Junior Achievement programs in Senegal, which would be an awesome idea in my opinion. I taught a Junior Achievement class to 3rd graders in Champaign last spring and it was tons of fun. Nothing spells a great start to your day like a bunch of kids clamoring to give you a hug and tell you about what they learned from you last week.

Hmm, other info...oh, well I'll be serving as a Small Business Counselor in Senegal's Small Enterprise Development Program. Basically I could be working on any number of business related projects from teaching business classes to expanding the ecotourism industry to exporting the goods of local artisans. For more information (and because they put it much more eloquently than I could), check out the SED section PC Senegal's website.

Oh and last but not least, I've posted my contact info on the right-hand side, but I'll put the address here to. My address during training will be:

PCT Elizabeth Corkery

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 299

Thies, Senegal

West Africa

Some simple guidelines for sending letters/packages: Be sure to write "Par Avion" and/or "Airmail" somewhere on the envelopes so that they have a better chance of getting to me. Its also best to number your letters so I know what was written when in case they come out of order. As for packages, probably best to seal everything inside in plastic bags so nothing gets to them. Oh and write on the customs forms that everything inside is "Used" (and preferably not worth a high dollar amount) so it doesn't cost as much for me to get them back from the Post Office.

I think that's about all for now. I'll try to make my posts more entertaining/witty in the future but well, its me, so I make now guarantees. See you all in a few years!

P.S. Everyone (including the clerks at the stores where I've been spending all my money these days) keeps asking me how I'm feeling, so here it is in brief. At my graduation party a few weeks ago one of my uncles (and I'm sorry, I forget which one) asked me this same question and listed three possible answers: "excited, nervous, scared ****less?" Well let's just say, he hit the nail on the head with that last one!