Staging in Los Angeles

I arrived in Los Angeles today to begin my Peace Corps Staging. Staging is basically two days where they tell us about the logistics of our assignment, we meet the other volunteers, go over information about safety, and community development.
There are 28 of us in my group going to Micronesia. 27 are here in Los Angeles and one person will be joining us in-country that is being moved out of Georgia where her program was shut down due to the recent war troubles with Russia. Everyone seems really nice, and it is refreshing to be with a group of people who share some of the same dreams and aspirations as I do. The group is from all over the country from New York to Hawaii, and I think that over the next two years some of these people will grow to be lifelong friends. Hopefully when I'm in Micronesia they will be the people I know I can turn to for friendship, advice, and help if I'm stressed or need some connection with my home country.

It was very hard saying goodbye. Especially to my Steve.. and you can believe that getting onto the airplane took a lot of guts. It still doesnt seem real yet. I don't think it will seem real untill I step off the plane in Pohnpei. Then, on the other side of the world, it will be real. Untill then it just seems like some sort of dream. Like we're all here for summer camp or something, but this is real! I signed papers... it's official... I am now officially a Peace Corps Trainee.

During the next two months I'll be learning and soaking in as much information as possible, so that in November I can begin my real service to the community. Hopefully I will become accepted into my host family and community, and hopefully I can make some positive change, while at the same time learning and growing into a much more informed world citizen.

So that is that... tommorow is another day of staging in Los Angeles, then the next day to Honolulu, and finally Micronesia on the 12th. Wish me luck!