Wednesday morning I get on a plane at about 7:30 am in Milwaukee and go to Philadelphia for staging. Staging is were all the people going to Mali come to prepare to leave the country. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning will be used to give everyone shots and get up to date with paperwork. Thursday evening we go to the airport in Philly and set off for Mali. Since there are no direct flights to Mali, we have to fly through Paris. We’ll have a layover in Paris for several hours and then fly to Bamako, the capital of Mali. All said, it will take us over 24 hours to fly from Philly to Bamako.
Once in Bamako, we go straight to a training facility a few miles outside the capital. At first we will spend most of our time at the training facility. The training will consist mostly of language training along with cultural and technical training. After about a week all the new Trainees will be divided up and sent out to satellite locations for community-based training. The idea is full immersion so that we are forced to speak the language. We’ll live with host families and spend a lot of time with locals and learn how to live in a strange new place.
After the first two months of training, all the new Trainees have to take some tests that evaluate our newly acquired language, cultural, and technical skills. Assuming I pass, at that point I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and will head out to my assignment post for the next 24 months. I don’t know where I’ll be posted yet. I’ll figure that out sometime during the training process.
A lot has happened so far this summer, but I’d be lying if I said I felt prepared for PC. Besides, that’s the whole purpose of staging and training anyway. What I can say is that I’ve enjoyed my time home. I’ve had the chance to see friends and family and enjoy the strange summer weather so far in Milwaukee.
I was thinking about posting some contact information, but I think I’ll wait to do that at a later date. I’ll still be checking email and the facebook. Those will be the best ways to contact me. I’ll have a physical address in Mali, so I will be able to receive mail or packages, but I’ll put that up when I’m ready to start getting mail. Also, apparently many Volunteers are now getting their own cell phones in Mali, so I may have a phone at some point.... but let’s not get carried away just yet.
And speaking of cell phones... I will no longer be using the cell phone number that I've had through all of college. The account will be closed and I'll get a new cell phone when I come back at the end of 2011. Please make a note of it and keep an eye out for one of those "I got a new phone number" facebook events down the road...
I said before that I would list all the things that I’m bringing with me to PC. This is most of what I’ll have. Keep in mind that while the list may seem like a lot of stuff, it all fits into an 85 liter backpack (size of a large suitcase) and an carry-on... and most things are very small items.
Packing List:
- 85 liter backpack
- 40 liter backpack (carry-on)
- 3 liter Camelbak
- Ipod
- TC2 Ipod charger
- digital camera & extra battery
- rechargeable AA batteries & charger
- power outlet converter
- short wave radio
- journals
- reading material
- toilet paper
- hygiene products
- 2 pair convertible pants (zip off into shorts)
- 2 pair khaki pants
- 2 pair running shorts
- rain jacket
- sweatshirt
- 2 dry-fit long-sleeve shirts
- cotton long-sleeve shirt
- cotton polo
- 3 cotton t-shirts
- 2 weeks undies
- 3 pair socks
- ASICS running shoes
- Chaco sandals
- soccer ball & pump
- 2 decks playing cards
- hand scrubber
- small frying pan
- silicon spatula
- mosquito net
- travel pillow
- inflatable sleeping mat
- broad rimmed had
- head lamp
- multi-tool
- pocket knife
- ear plugs
- xl travel towel
- sunglasses
- world maps
Looks like you've got a good list. Even though I don't know any of you new trainees, reading through the blogs makes me excited as I remember starting the exact same journey to Philly and then Mali about six years ago. Lots of emotions and you never feel prepared, but you're going to do fine. It's a great country and the PC Mali staff are awesome. They put a lot of effort into making your training period effective and useful, but it is up to you to take full advantage of the opportunity. If I had one piece of advice for a new trainee, it would be to jump in feet first and take every chance to speak the language, make a fool of yourself and just GO FOR IT!
ReplyDeleteI ni ce, i ni baara ji. Ala k'aw deme. :) (You can ask your new lang profs for a translation).
- koumba doumbia (pcv bamako 2003-2005)