Taking Off

I'm writing from a sauna-like hotel business center in Philadelphia right now, where we've just completed our staging. Now I can give you the details on who is going with me.

Our group is 23 people, smaller than I expected honestly. Of those, 17 are women and 6 are men. Most of us seem to be either just out of college or a few years older than that. There is one married couple and two women who are probably in their 40s. Most people here seem to be doing Health/Community Development Projects or Agriculture/Forestry projects. I only heard one other girl call her project Environmental Education and Awareness, which I thought was interesting. I'm not entirely sure how the project titles relate to specific duties, so that will be interesting to find out.

Staging was really just a series of ice breakers and a run down of Peace Corps policies. What I took from it was really just getting a glimpse of the people who I'll be serving with for the next few years.

Tomorrow we get our yellow fever vaccines (which I've already had, so they just need to verify that) and then take off for the airport. We don't have any escort to take us there, so they're setting us loose. We'll arrive in Banjul and be met by a Peace Corps representative. Until then, thanks for the love and I will update you as soon as I can.