Wednesday, July 25, 2007

What to write?

I keep thinking of things to put in this blog but I stop myself. At this point, I have no clue who will be reading my blog so I've been editing my thoughts based on who might be reading. Parents, friends, cousins, party buddies from college, co-workers, Peace Corps Volunteers (past, present and future), Peace Corps administration, ex-girlfriends, future girlfriends, my current boss (I have one more month of work) potential future bosses. Clearly, by editing for all of these people, I have been left with nothing to write.

The risk of posting anything on the internet is that anyone can read it. I've found other PC blogs and they've helped immensely regarding my mental preparation for Ghana. I'd like to do the same and in order to really share my full experience, I'll be sharing my thoughts and experiences while editing as little as possible. I've become accustomed to writing as though I'm writing an essay or writing an "HR appropriate," e-mail that it's hard for me to turn that internal edit off but I'd like to try. For all intents and purposes, this is my WARNING label. I hope not to offend anybody or make anybody uncomfortable. From what I've noticed reading other blogs, I'm sure a lot of my entries will be rushed and at times will try to compile 3 months worth of experiences into 3 paragraphs. I apologize in advance for grammatically incorrect sentences (they bug me so I'm sure they bug others), foul language and overt reference to my own bathroom experiences (seems to be a common topic amongst Ghana volunteers).

Potential future bosses, I'm sorry if I over expose myself here but if my Peace Corps blog somehow keeps you from wanting to hire me, I probably don't want to work for you.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Incomprehensible

It's 72 degrees in San Francisco today. For those of you who aren't familiar with the City, 70's in mid July is by no means guaranteed. 72 feels warm to me, I honestly can't come close to mentally preparing to live in 120-130 degree heat. I apologize in advance for what may very well be boring blogging. I don't leave for a 2 months and until then, I hope to put my hopes, dreams, expectations and fears into words so I can gauge how far off (likely VERY) my predictions will be from the truth.

I'm doing my best to understand the Peace Corps process through reading other blogs. It seems that I'll spend 3 days in Philadelphia getting shots, meeting fellow volunteers and undertaking some initial training. A 24 hour travel day will take my to Accra (the capital of Ghana) where current volunteers greet the newbies. The first few days in Accra involve additional training, icebreakers and from what I understand; a large group of doe eyed and touristy new volunteers (I'll try to avoid excessive photography but I'm not sure I can avoid the doe eyes). Additional training, a vision quest and some time with a Ghanaian family will fill the final 3 months preceding my moving to what will be my home.

For now, I'm trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can. Still going back and forth between sheer excitement, awe and fear as I look forward to what will undoubtedly be a life altering experience.