A manilla envelope ended my six month long paper-pushing hobby. Life, as always, imitated art- Inception style: the envelope I pulled out from an envelope within an envelope had the wealth of information I'd been wearing out my mailbox lock looking for. It held what I would spend the next few months pouring over- the details of my assignment to serve in the Peace Corps till August of 2013. Designating that as 'time zero' in the life of the spark of romance with an unknown continent, here three months later it has burned away everything else in my life as I prepare to stub my blind feet on the next step God has set in front of me. Departing for Sierra Leone on June 1st with fifty other volunteers, I go in the capacity of a science teacher to instruct secondary level students.
That complex of envelopes ended the long process of appeasing empty lines and boxes on seemingly unconquerable forms that had to be completed before I would be considered for service. Having talked to other volunteers since my own acceptance and invitation, I've found that my 6 month application-to-departure period is extremely expedited. In the thick of getting tuberculosis tests and having to get one of those physicals, I suppose it seemed like by the time I finished applying that every beauty pageant queen's dream of world peace and education would have become reality and I would've missed any front-line battle.
But here I am. Leaving in seven days. The education I've tried to give myself about Sierra Leone is probably only a fraction of one of the lessons I'm going to learn on the steps of the hard-knocks school, but my time since receiving the invitation has been more than enjoyable. Reading, packing, unpacking, reading, preparing, preparing.
I can't shake President Kennedy's hand to thank him for starting this program, but I can thank my family, friends, educators, defenders of this country, and ancestors for putting me in such a place of affluence that I am able to extend my education to others that might not otherwise have the opportunity. I'm grateful to them, the program, and God for integrating this opportunity into my path. If you'd like, you can stay tuned over the next 27 months- I'll keep you updated on myself as well as hopefully give everyone fair snapshots on another culture. I'm not sure at this point how often I'll be exposed to the internet, but you'll be hearing from me when I get the chances. To any other prospective volunteers out there in internet land, I'd be happy to answer questions if you're interested!
Now no joy but lacks salt,
That is not dashed with pain
And weariness and fault;
I crave the stain
I'm sure I'll look back with amusement at my current, overwhelming naivety, but I doubt there can be anything wrong with how excited I am to get gritty and start this next episode.
