Manahoana!!!!!! (Hello!)

Tuesday Itinerary:

9am Board Bus for NYC - JFK Airport
4pm Meet at Gate for departure
5:20pm Depart for Dakar via South African Airways
5pm (Wednesday) Arrive in Johannesburg, SA (Michelle's B-day!!!!)
3pm (Thursday) Depart to Antananarivo, Madagascar
7pm Arrive in MADAGASCAR!!!!! Spend the night at PC Respite House
Friday - Vaccinations and Interviews and then travel to training center where I will be for the next 2.5 months!!!! (no Internet / telephone access!!!)

OMG. No words to expain this!!!!!!!!!!! Lots of love, peace, and besos to you!!!!

Veloma! (Goodbye!)

I will now refer to myself as the most materialistic Peace Corps Trainee EVER.

That's right friends and family. I have just arrived at staging in Philadelphia with 79.5 lbs of checked luggage and apparently a carry on and timbuk 2 bag filled with lead weights, AND this doesn't even take into account the pile of clothes,books and knitting supplies I left at home, including my cool and comfy pjs I discarded to make the weight compliance in the airport...thanks mom for sending so much stuff to me!!!!!!(I'm thinking I should have set up a support fund for you all do donate $$$ to cover the shipping to region 7; aka the place the post service charges you your first born to send anything and then requires you to pay a tax on it when you get there...clearly I've digressed.)

So here I am, (I'm actually wrote most of this on the plane...) I met 3 other volunteers at the airport and we when our hotel shuttle arrived it was full of other trainees, not Chili's, i had a burger. and then off to a pub for beers and conversation. It's really great to be near others headed into the same boat i am...I'm definitely more at ease and not so stressed being around all of them.

Being that it is almost midnight here, I am ready for bed...mostly because the best sleep I've gotten in the past few days was today on my flights...30 minutes from Redmond to Portland and then i was basically asleep by take off in pdx, but made myself stay awake to get one last glimpse of Portland. I mostly slept the day away...asleep at 9am awake at 3 pm...but i did lose three hours in time difference. and thanks to dad for finding my purple blanket in the attic and making that nap possible and incredibly restful. :D holler!

Aside from packing and sleeping and meeting some new friends not much to report. but i will provide you with my address for training in case you would like to send my some snail mail:

Whitney Swander, PCT Peace Corps
Corps de la Paix, B.P. 12091
Poste Zoom Ankorondrano
101 Antananarivo, Madagascar

Some notes about mail. like most places out of the developed world it's slow, unpredictable, and expensive. But I am totally worth it. :D If you do send me letters and/or packages:

1) number them, that way I'll know if I missed something and can inquire with the post office and let you know.

2) Write AIR MAIL or PAR AVION on everything, and there is even some special lightweight paper you can get that will save you some $$$ in postage.

3) in the case that you do send me a little something other than just a card or letter, use a PADDED not just regular envelope. it will be treated like a letter so it will come sooner, and the letter rate is much less expensive than the package rate, and if it's in a padded envelope apparently customs, or the postal service or whoever won't just slice open the envelope and take the little goody you sent.

After I get my site placement I'll post my new/permanent (weird!!!) address.

I guess this is goodbye for now. I'm told there is no Internet access at the training site. So I will be away from technology, the modern world, and inevitable you until late August and then have little guarantee if my access will be monthly, quarterly, or more frequently...”it all depends on your site.” but I look forward to emails, myspace/facebook posts, and comments on my blog to keep you all in the loop with me over the next few years, (wow that seems a little scary right now) and will do my best to respond to you all personally, but mostly my communication will be mass-style. Take care!

with much love and respect.

Whitney