A Letter from "W" and Answers to Some of Your Questions

So this is funny...there must not be many Republicans who choose to go into the Peace Corps - here's why I believe this. My invitation packet was filled with too many forms to count, handbooks (my favorite is one called "A Few MINOR Adjustments"....minor?), and instructions for the next 4 months. Also included in the packet was a nice little letter on stationary that included the words "The White House" and a good old personal electronic signature from former President George W. Bush. I didn't think much about it, just chalking it up to the hectic times that abound during a transition of power in governments and not enough time to take care of small items such as switching out these letters so they are from President Obama, but then I noticed the date of the letter.....July 18, 2001. It almost felt like there hadn't been a Republican to serve as a volunteer since 2001 and when I got invited they had to search to the bottom of their files to pull this out and send it to me to make me feel officially congratulated. Probably not funny to most of you....but I got a little chuckle out of it. So thanks George for the encouragement, your letter from 2001 was inspiring then and still is today.

Many of you have asked some very similar questions about the Peace Corps so here's my first attempt to answer some of them.

1. When will you get to Mauritania? I have orientation somewhere in the US, yet to be determined on June 14-15. During this orientation I will meet up with all of the other volunteers going to Mauritania, get my shots and malaria pills, fill out more forms and then fly to Mauritania on June 16th. From June 16-August 20 I will be training with everyone in the city of Rosso, located near the Senegal border to the South. After training I will be placed somewhere else, won't know that until I'm actually over there.

2. What will you be doing as a volunteer? My primary job will be to teach English to secondary level students (middle and highschool) and help strengthen links between the schools and parental involvement through extracurricular activities. During the school breaks I will be responsible for creating my own "secondary" project based on the needs of the community where I'm placed. Some examples are girl mentoring programs, english clubs, library development, etc.

3. What will you wear? Well, given that this is a Muslim country "conservative" is the key word here. My packing list provided me with suggestions and it included ankle-length skirts (I have no idea where those are sold), no tank tops (my shoulders must be covered) and then some general normal clothing. Having clothes made over there is very inexpensive so I probably won't take that many clothes and just have things made over there.

4. Where will you live? I will live with a host family most likely as it's highly encouraged for female volunteers. As to what amenities I will have, I just don't know at this point. I could be placed in a larger city where I would have electricity and running water, or I could be in a very rural village where neither of those luxuries exist. I might have a toilet or I might just have a hole in the ground. It's a crapshoot.

5. Will you have internet? This has been the #1 question. I will. How often I don't know. From what I can gather after following several blogs of PCV currently overseas, it looks like I will be able to update the blog and check email about once a month. It could be better or it could be worse, I just won't know until I get over there.