Our Hut Is Your Hut: Welcome to our Blog!

Hello! We have officially entered the Blogosphere!  In keeping with the third and final goal of the Peace Corps mission, “To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans,” Peter and I will be chronicling our time in Senegal through this blog.  We aren’t exactly sure yet what shape it will take, but our intent is for this to be a place to share our experiences, to promote discussion, and to help us stay in touch with family and friends. Our hut is your hut!

We have spent the past 6 months whittling down and organizing our personal belongings and preparing to move abroad for 2+ years, working on farms, traveling around the East Coast and Midwest for all manner of celebrations- graduations, reunions (official and otherwise), weddings (official and otherwise)- and spending time with family and friends along the way. It is a spring and summer we will forever cherish, and we are incredibly grateful to our families, who have been so supportive of this dream and helped make it a reality.  

Highlights include time with the Fritsches and Josts in Colorado; working on Many Hands Farm with the Palumbo/Bravesnows; driving to Grinnell, Iowa (via the Adirondacks) to see Sally Fritsche graduate from college; driving to North Carolina for the Schwonder wedding festivities; staying with the Curries for Memorial Day

Driving north from NC to ME with Caroline and Peter for our 5 year Bowdoin reunion (time flies); working on Fieldsong Farm with the Collinses; spending time with the Fritsches, Gardners and Santoses in Matunuck, RI; learning how to process chickens with Uncle Gene; 

Vibodeo’s wedding on the Vineyard; attending Stuart’s college Parents’ Weekend in Uncle Rick’s stead and staying with Nana in Woodstock; sailing the Maine coast with Lindsch and Chris; spending time with the Maeders and Hammersleys in Maine; Meemaw's 90th (!) birthday party weekend in Indiana; spending some time in Sarasota with Mom and Dad; seeing Pat and Ash in Jax and Alex and Linh in Orlando; and having several fabulous goodbye parties with our beloved friends. Phew!

The hardest part of the transition thus far has been saying goodbye to Tybee, our dog. For the past 3 years, she’s been central to our daily routine. She’s an absolute joy- the best snuggler, traveler, rodent exterminator, and adventure partner you could ever imagine. She’s now living the good life with Sue and Phil Hammersley (my parents), Lily (pug) and Elliot (devil cat) in Florida, and possibly getting more treats and attention than she did here in Maine with us. She’s loving chasing all the lizards and squirrels and accompanying my Mom around town (she’s already been to a waterfront restaurant and Home Depot!). They've been enjoying long walks in the mornings, before it gets too hot. It’s comforting knowing she and my parents have each other, but I know we will continue to miss her each day. Keep the Tybee updates coming, Mom!

       

We are now winding down from our domestic adventure, and gearing up for our departure to Senegal on September 24, 2013!  We’re slowly learning survival Wolof (lingua franca in much of Senegal), per our Country Director’s request, with the hope that we will have a leg up on language learning and able to at least properly greet people when we arrive.

Before we take off on September 24th, we will attend a 48-hour Peace Corps Staging Event in Philadelphia, where we will meet others in our “stage” (others headed to Senegal with PC- we expect there will be around 50 to 60 people), attend seminars on the history of Peace Corps, what is expected of volunteers, and what we should expect upon arriving in-country. We’ll fly straight to Philly from Missouri, where we’ll be delivering our darling old Subaru, Blaze, to the Fritsches.

Once we arrive in Senegal, our Pre-Service Training (PST) begins.  For 9 weeks, we will rotate between a home-stay family and the Peace Corps Training Center in Thies (about an hour east of Dakar), focusing on 5 training components: language, technical, cross-cultural, personal healthcare, and safety and security.  If we successfully meet the training requirements, we will be sworn in and “installed” at our permanent sites in late November/early December (we won’t know where our permanent site will be until 5-6 weeks into PST, but we know we will be placed together).  Then, after 3 months of practicing language skills, building relationships, and conducting a needs assessment at our site, we will reconvene for PST2, the more in-depth technical phase of our training, which I believe is 2 weeks or so.  After that, we’ll be trained and ready to go!

We obviously have a lot of learning ahead of us, and are both excited and a bit nervous about all of the upcoming challenges. But, with each other’s support, and that of our families and friends, we feel well equipped to take on the joys and frustrations of PST and beyond. Please be thinking of us; we will certainly be thinking of all of you!

Jamm rekk (Peace only, in Wolof),

Kait and Peter