Hereeeeee we go! The journey to South Africa has finally began. Starting with a 1:15am checkout from our hotel this morning, a bus ride to JFK in New York, we are now eagerly awaiting our 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. Here's a photo of the group at 4:30am while waiting for check-in to open. For the past few days, I have been in Philadelphia for Peace Corps Staging and to finally meet my 33 fellow Peace Corps Trainees. We've had 2 full days of cultural introductions, ice breakers and various Peace Corps sessions. I'm very excited about our cohort, even though we just met 2 days ago, we already feel like a little family.
Our unique crew includes individuals from every corner of the United States (but only 1 from Wisconsin!), guys and girls, and with a age range of 23-63. We are all Community HIV Outreach volunteers, and will be spending nearly every day together over the next 3 months as we train to officially become Peace Corps Volunteers. We will land tomorrow in Johannesburg at 8:30am local time, and will then be transported to a conference center where we will stay until we are assigned host families. I'm not sure when I will be able to post again, but know that I will be safe with the PC Staff and other trainee's until then! Finally I want to apologize to all those that received multiple e-mail’s regarding my previous post. There was quite a mess up on my part and I hope it will not happen again. Goodbye for now USA! -Josie
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Hi Everybody!
I wanted to make a quick final post while I’m still in the USA. I don’t know where to begin, but over the past weeks and months I have been overwhelmed with support, love and encouragement from so many of you. From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank you all enough, and express how much it means to me. Although an opportunity like the Peace Corps is very exciting, it comes with the burden of hard goodbyes and leaving those that I care most about. Every letter, hug, visit, card, photo, e-mail, and all other gestures means more to me then I can ever express. Each has left a lasting impact on me that I will carry with me the entire time I’m away. I feel like the luckiest person on the planet to have so many loving and supportive people in my life, and it is because of this that I am able to do these types of things. So yes tomorrow is the day! I begin orientation in Philadelphia and meet the other 39 volunteer's in my group. We will travel together to Africa on Wednesday. Go Packers! Josie Hi Everyone! Thanks for checking out my blog! I have about 1 month until I leave for the Peace Corps to serve in South Africa as a Community HIV Outreach Volunteer. I am pretty freaking excited for this new adventure and I will do my best to keep this blog updated during my 27 months abroad. So, I guess I’ll start by talking about why I applied for the Peace Corps. For a while, I’ve known I wanted a career that allows me to be of direct help to others. I chose my major; Dietetics, because I believe that food and proper nutrition is a basic building block to a successful life. I hope to help others by establishing sustainable means of nourishing themselves and in turn, their lives. I attended my first Peace Corps meeting during my sophomore year of college (2011) and I just remember thinking that a 2+ year commitment was NOT for me. *Fun Fact: I grew up avoiding sleepovers because I hated the idea of being away from home for 1 night! Needless to say it took me a few years to consider joining the Peace Corps again. During my dietetic internship, I was lucky to spend time with a close childhood friend of my moms who is a returned volunteer. Hearing about her service and experience helped me decide that this was perfect for the next step in my life. I sent in my application back in May, had my interview a month later, and was accepted in August. It was quite a rush of mixed emotions receiving that e-mail! Sheer excitement that I’m taking steps towards the life I’ve dreamed, but again, couldn’t help but think that I just volunteered to move away from my family for 27 months. But as my departure date draws closer, I couldn’t be more sure about my decision. It is a crazy, scary yet exciting time in world, where cultures are combining, roles are reversing and history is being made. One of my favorite quotes from President John F. Kennedy is; “One person can change the world, and everyone else should try.” By no means do I think I’m going to change the world over the next 27 months, but hope that with this experience, I may make a small ripple in the world that could lead to bigger things one day.
That’s all for now. I’ll be leaving Wisconsin on January 22nd, and then heading to South Africa on the 25th. I hope to see as many of you as possible before then. Happy Holidays Everybody! -Josie :) |
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October 2018
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