Staging

Peace Corps flew me into Philadelphia on a USAirways flight. I met Mark at the airport and we split a taxi to the hotel and were surprised to find that we were roommates (not planned). We got a bite to eat and went swimming and called our loved ones, then called it an early night.

Staging was a straight-forward, uncomplicated process. We registered. I was nervous because my student loan servicers told me I would not be able to arrange a deferment until November, when I would be in Namibia. It wasn't a problem, though - apparently, pretty normal. We did some getting-to-know-you activities, then went through cross-cultural scenarios, reflected on our reasons for doing Peace Corps, then got a debit card with pre-loaded cash to withdraw for incidental expenses like food and "walk-around" money while in Philadelphia. Session lasted from 10am until around 4:30pm.

I went out for my last meal and had salmon with lentils. I figured salmon would be a food I wouldn't find easily during my stay in Namibia. We came back to the hotel and I began the laborous process of getting my checked luggage bag down to 50 pounds. The downside to not being charged excess baggage fees would be having to carry around lots of extra weight in my carry-on.

We convened in the lobby of the hotel at 2am, and boarded the bus that would take us to JFK in New York City, where our flight to Johannesburg would be leaving. We arrived at the airport around 4am, and ate donuts and drank water until the plane left at 11am. Leaving the United States was a surreal moment, and an unexpectedly emotional one. I cried a little bit during take-off. I thought of the family members and friends I wouldn't see for another two years, my ailing grandmother - sad things - but also cried tears of joy over my excitement about having a job that engaged all of my talents, two years in an entirely new and different culture, and because my heart was filled with love for the people I had yet to meet and the mission I was now a part of.