I finally have more details about where I am going and when I am leaving. I will be saying goodbye to my family July 9th before I get on a flight to Atlanta, GA to report for staging with the rest of the departure team heading to South Africa. We will be in Georgia until July 11th. From there we will all get on a 15hr 50min flight directly to Johannesburg, South Africa. From there we will get on a bus and drive a little over three hours to Ndebele College of Education in Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga Province. We will be here for our first eight weeks of training. The first week we will stay in college style dorms before moving in with a host family for the remainder of training.
My address during training is:
Kelsey Lynch
Peace Corps
PO Box 9536
Pretoria 0001
South Africa
Who knows how long it will take for me to actually get mail, but if anyone wants to send me letters they recommend that you number them so I know if any got lost in between.
During the first week of training (which includes taking classes Saturday and Sunday) we will learn greetings in isiZulu, which I am proud to say I have mastered already, and Afrikaans, which I haven't even looked at. We will also be instructed on how to do a bucket bath. I thought I had mastered all of the bathing techniques I would ever need to know when I was little, but I guess I was wrong.
After a week we will move in with host families, who I really hope will teach me how to shop and cook the food. I am going to attempt making Malay Curry this weekend, which I am told is a common dish made in South Africa. My parents are going to have to endure my culinary experiments with South African cooking over the next few weeks so cross your fingers I don't screw them up too much!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Getting Ready
At this point I feel like there is still so much to get done but I'm not really sure where to start. So far I have gotten the most important things done. I have applied for my Peace Corps passport and visa, I have gotten my yellow fever shot (which I now have a huge red mark from), and I have tuned in my media release forms. This basically means that I am done with all the paperwork that needs to be turned in before I get to the staging event in Washington DC. There I will be getting the rest of the vaccinations that are needed to enter South Africa, my passport, and my plane ticket to Africa. The fact that I wont get the majority of the paperwork needed to enter the country until two days before I leave the US is kind of freaking me out, but at this point I guess I just have to go with it.
After all the paperwork, all I really need to do now is decide what I'm going to take with me. The packing process has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. The information that I was given said that in my main job as a teacher I would be required to wear dresses and skirts that cover my knees as well as my shoulders. Once again being tall is a curse. Girls in the US obviously don't dress to cover their knees because it has been so hard trying to find things that are long enough for me. I am also pretty unsure what is visually appropriate in South Africa. Right now all the styles are very bold colors and prints, which I don't know if that is ok to wear there. So at this point I have gone with neutral colors and will get new clothes there if what I have brought isn't right.
Other than packing I'm not really sure what else to do to prepare myself. I have started walking at least two miles a day to prepare myself for having to walk to school regardless of the weather, but other than that I'm not sure what to do. I guess that from here on out I will just continue doing research on South Africa and try to gain as much knowledge as I can before I am thrown into their culture.
After all the paperwork, all I really need to do now is decide what I'm going to take with me. The packing process has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. The information that I was given said that in my main job as a teacher I would be required to wear dresses and skirts that cover my knees as well as my shoulders. Once again being tall is a curse. Girls in the US obviously don't dress to cover their knees because it has been so hard trying to find things that are long enough for me. I am also pretty unsure what is visually appropriate in South Africa. Right now all the styles are very bold colors and prints, which I don't know if that is ok to wear there. So at this point I have gone with neutral colors and will get new clothes there if what I have brought isn't right.
Other than packing I'm not really sure what else to do to prepare myself. I have started walking at least two miles a day to prepare myself for having to walk to school regardless of the weather, but other than that I'm not sure what to do. I guess that from here on out I will just continue doing research on South Africa and try to gain as much knowledge as I can before I am thrown into their culture.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Official Invitation
Well it is finally here. I finished my application in August, I was interviewed in September, nominated in November, and finished my medical check in February. After months of waiting patiently I have finally received my official letter of invitation to serve in the Peace Corps!
I have been invited to be a school teacher in the Republic of South Africa. Now South Africa is one of the more wealthy African countries, however I will not be in those areas. South Africa is one of the most racially diverse and economically diverse countries in Africa, and I will be teaching science and HIV/AIDS prevention to primary school children in the rural areas, and I couldn't be more excited.
I will be leaving for orientation in Washington DC July 10th and meet the other volunteers I will be traveling and training with. From there we will travel to South Africa on July 12th to begin our pre-service training. Assuming that I pass the language and training I will begin service in my assigned village September 14, 2012!
Now that I finally know where I am going the hard part begins. I have two months to get everything that I need and be ready to go. Hopefully I can get everything done with as little stress and freak outs as possible, but I will keep everyone updated on how it is going.
I have been invited to be a school teacher in the Republic of South Africa. Now South Africa is one of the more wealthy African countries, however I will not be in those areas. South Africa is one of the most racially diverse and economically diverse countries in Africa, and I will be teaching science and HIV/AIDS prevention to primary school children in the rural areas, and I couldn't be more excited.
I will be leaving for orientation in Washington DC July 10th and meet the other volunteers I will be traveling and training with. From there we will travel to South Africa on July 12th to begin our pre-service training. Assuming that I pass the language and training I will begin service in my assigned village September 14, 2012!
Now that I finally know where I am going the hard part begins. I have two months to get everything that I need and be ready to go. Hopefully I can get everything done with as little stress and freak outs as possible, but I will keep everyone updated on how it is going.
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