John's Next Step

Flag of Ethiopia Staging Great group of people at staging and on to Ethiopia After all the applications, medical tasks, and packing for an international flight there is one last step before getting to Ethiopia: Staging. All the applicants heading to a country as a training group meet in a US location for a type of orientation. It is a time to meet your cohort face to face, sign some papers, and receive some initial training. It is also one last time before the international flight to commit to sticking it out to the best of your ability for the next 27 months. From a logistic perspective staging is a way to make sure everyone gets on the same plane with everything they need. In our case that will be a straight flight from DC to Addis Ababa of something like 15 hours. Arrival in airport - Ethiopia At the hotel First week of Pre-service training Checking in to hotel After arriving in the country of service Peace Corps gives the trainees some time to g...

This is my third time packing for 27 months as a Peace Corps volunteer. Each country is different as is my packing list. I approach packing knowing that I don’t really need much and I could get what I NEED in country. Site bag As the backpack I’m using for my site stuff has a lot of external straps that could get caught on airport conveyor  belts, I got a duffle to cover it. This will also give me an extra bag for storage or something in country. Inside this bag is my large backpack, too many straps for airport machines that each them I’m not expecting to need about half of my stuff until I get to site so that is all going in one backpack. I have stuff for the kitchen including a set of knives from Theresa’s cousins in Canada and cutting boards and such. Most of this stuff has already been to Africa once and to the Eastern Caribbean and I didn’t see a need to buy new in Ethiopia since I have the space and weight. Knives, sharpeners, and of course a pepper mil...

So grateful to have been able to spend time with my amazing mom My previous post was August 4 and my apologies for the long pause. It was hard to get back to writing and when I’m in pre-service training I probably will not have time to write, and then I don’t know about internet once I get at site. So future pauses may be longer than this one. I first want to say that leaving Grenada was very hard and a big part of this break in writing. I miss my friends and students on Grenada and in the Eastern Caribbean. My apologies for leaving. Volunteers need to feel they are supported by the Peace Corps to stay and that may be difficult when there are major staff changes at post. Such a next trip up to Missoula to visit my daughter, her photographer husband, and her photogenic dog And yet, I think the universe conspires to open and close doors. My decision to leave (normal close of service COS rather than extend) has meant spending time with my family in Arkansas, particularl...