Philly

Sweet nizzy!! This morning I received an email from the Peace Corps informing me that I'll be flying to Philadelphia on June 30 for my staging event. 'Staging' is a short, but intense, orientation that I have to attend before I'm shipped off the The Gambia. Lots of administrivia, shots (gotta watch out for rabid monkeys), and other semi-boring stuff to be sure, but I'm super pumped about meeting all my fellow trainees! 

Around lunchtime I set up my flight to Philly with the PC travel office, and I talked to a nice Indian-sounding guy that I could tell was a super funny dude in his native tongue, but the jokes weren't quite ready for American consumption. I'm going to be the American-Gambian version of that guy for the next two years. Apparently, one of my fellow trainees had just booked the same flights that I had, so I'll get a headstart meeting people on the way to staging.

I've only been to Philly once; A road trip with my bro and my friend Joe to see Primus. We drove 11 hours non-stop and waited outside all day to meet the band  (We did, of course). We drove home immediately afterwards and attempted to make it all the way back without stopping to sleep. It worked out fine, until 'BOOM!!!'...... I woke in the back seat with my life flashing before my eyes. It took me about 5 seconds to figure out that I hadn't actually died. "We just hit safety strip on road, we're good." Not according to side of the car. It had a huge gash along the entire driver side. I swear we must have stopped 10 times to take a nap after that, but we made it back. Maybe this time I might see a little more of 'The City  of Brotherly Love' than Primus, and get some sleep to boot.

I've started packing, or rather, buying a bunch of crap and making a big heaping pile out of it. I've got to whittle it down to 80 pounds and 107 linear inches, which is really about 2 small checked bags and a carry-on. I went to Europe for three weeks purely on carry-on baggage, so I think I'll manage.

                                                  

                           

It's really starting to hit me that this all for real. When I first got my invitation, I couldn't get things done fast enough; I was slightly overwhelmed (breath slowly........in......out.......very good).  I've got it all under control now.  

Salalmamleekum (Peace be upon you)

--Stevo