September 15, 2006

I’ll be boarding a plane in just a few hours to arrive at Lima, Peru! I honestly can’t believe that it’s here. I’ve been at staging since September 12th and have met some amazing people who I’m going to have the privilege of working with over the next two years which have been a welcomed relief. For the last few months, thinking about the Peace Corps experience has felt a little isolating. No one I talked to regularly could really understand the anxieties that I was having or the hopes that I had for the coming years. But on the first day of staging, we each shared these same things with each other and realized that we are dealing with the same issues, and now we can deal with them together. It’s nice to know that all these friendly faces will still be with me tomorrow night. Now it feels like I’m not leaving everything behind.

Some super-cool new friends that are all leaving for Peru in the morning! Ten to one says they’re all asleep right now…. Yes, that’s the White House in the background.

Before I left! Look! I had long hair! Anyway, this is in New Mexico at the famous wine festival, so good that we had to try it twice!