I’m Off

Well, here goes. I leave Chico tomorrow (that is, 8/17) at 5:29 AM, and probably won’t return until December of 2010. Luckily, though, I have a bit more information about what exactly I will be up to. So here’s a brief schedule of what the next couple of months will look like for me:

8/17:  Depart Chico at 5:29 AM (PST), arrive in Washington D.C.

8/18-19:  Attend “Staging” event (basically, a four-hour orientation, lots of paperwork, and some immunizations). Depart for Johannesburg at 5:40 PM (EST).

8/20-21:  Arrive in Johannesburg (after a brief stop in Dakar) at 5:20 PM (GMT +2). If you’re trying to figure it out, that’s a 17-hour flight. I’ll stay there for the night, and fly to Windhoek (capital of Namibia) in the morning. I should be arriving there at 10:45 AM (GMT +1) after a quick 2-hour flight. After this, take a drive to the training site in Okahandja.

8/22-9/12:  A more thorough orientation, followed by “intensive training” in language, nutrition, culture, and other work-related topics. On the 28th (or thereabouts), I will be informed which permanent site I’m assigned to, and move in with a host family (there will be hostel-like lodgings until then).

9/13-26:  Check out my permanent site, and have some on-the-job training.

9/27-10/15:  More training in Okahandja, followed by final proficiency tests in the last week.

10/16:  Final swearing-in and departure to permanent site (assuming I pass the proficiency tests).

Good times, right? I don’t even know what language I will be learning…although they’ve narrowed it down to Afrikaans, Rukwangali, Silozi, Otjiherero, Khoekhoegowab, or Oshindonga. This is good news to me—it means that I’ll be on the same level as everyone else. I mean, if I were going off to someplace where everyone spoke a more common language, I would be competing against the go-getters in my class who went out and bought the Rosetta Stone for that language three months before departure and are already half-fluent. I know, I know, it’s not a competition. But it might make me feel a bit more confident when my pronunciation of “Khoekhoegowab” is just as ridiculous as the next guy.

Also, you may have noticed that the “shifty November-December mark” from my last post has been moved up, and is now October 16. Yes, it surprised me too. Other modifications from my last post include, but may not be limited to:

1) My mailing address. The last address will probably work (they aren’t that different), but here’s the new one:

Stephen Martin, PCV
Peace Corps Office
PO Box 6862
20 Nachtigal St.
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek
Namibia

Yes, it’s slightly longer. Seriously, 7 lines. Keep your words small, or you’ll be writing all over the postage.

2) The nature of the mailing address. Namely, the fact that this address may still deliver mail to me after October 16. Originally, it was said to me that this is my “pre-service training address”. I initially took this to mean that it would not deliver mail after swearing-in. However, more recent information just called this address my “mailing address”, so I don’t think you’re in any danger if you send a letter in late September or something. This is further supported by the fact that the “PCT” (Peace Corps Trainee) has been changed to “PCV” (Peace Corps Volunteer). So I’m thinking that any mail sent there would probably just get forwarded to me periodically. I’ll keep you posted, though, when I get a new, “permanent” mailing address.

3) My hunger. I no longer feel hungry about the mail system. It’s complicated.

All right, this post is far too long. I’ll write again when I get the time (and internet) over in “The Land of the Brave”.

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