288 hours to go

12 days left and I have become completely restless. It is hard to even think about the fact that in 12 days I will be hopping on a plane with my 2 bags which will contain all the things I need for 2 years. It is quite a liberating feeling. I finally get to live my dream and become a Hobo (but not one that lives under a bridge, Dan!) I thought before I left, I would leave you all with an outline of what I will be doing with my time spent in Uganda. Although, I have heard that the PC is very “flexible” with their dates, so all of this is subject to change.

Sept. 26, 2006 9:00am Board plane at O’Hare to Philadelphia
Begin registration for our 3 day Staging where we go to many seminars and participate in get to know you sessions with a group of volunteers headed for Uganda.

Sept. 28, 2006 Get on a bus and head for JFK Air Port in New York
7:50pm Flight leaves for Brussels, then from Brussels to Nairobi, Kenya, to Entebbe, Uganda!

Sept. 29, 2006 Begin Pre-Service Training in Mityana, a small village just north of the
capital of Uganda, Kampala. Here we will be living with host families so that we will have the opportunity to observe and participate in Ugandan culture and to practice my new language skills. We will be participating in long days aimed at preparing us with technical, language, health, culture and safety skills. So, basically, I get to go back to school! During this time many of the volunteers do not have much internet access, so I will do the best that I can at responding to letters, but just know that I will always be thinking of all of you.

Dec. 9, 2006 I will be sworn in as a PCV (peace corps volunteer). From here we will be
given an assignment somewhere in Uganda (see job description below) where I will spend the next 2 years of my life.

June 2007 Vacation time! Even PCVs get vacations, so I will be spending some of my
vacation by coming back to the USA for quality family and friends time, and of course, be a bridesmaid for Missy and Dave’s wedding.

Dec. 9, 2008 COS and return to the USA.

So in the meantime, for the next 288 hours, I will keep packing and re-packing. Right now my pack only weighs about 40 pounds! Impressive huh, but I think it may keep expanding. I will post a packing list for your enjoyment later, as soon as I finish packing. Uganda, ready of not, here I come!