10 days left!

Hey all,

I'm finding that I'm getting nervous! I'm not sleeping well and I think it is linked to Nica. I have never taught successfully and I'm scared to be doing it for two year straight. I keep telling myself that they will train us but it is still daunting. I know that i will do well and that i have nothing to fear. Now if only my body will follow my mind. Oh well that is normal and it will be an amazing experience. I'm also apprehensive of my host family. Peace Corps just changed the rule that all incoming volunteers must live with a host family for the whole 2 years. I am nervous about how my family will like me and vise versa. I am also afraid that my village will judge me on my family and not on who i am. The first impression is that one that lasts after all. At least we are allowed to change our families if we want to. I know that it is for our own safety but I would rather live alone. I hope that i can still get a cat but that is something that i will have to work out with my family.

I would like to take this time to comment on the news that is around Peace Corps this past few months. Please remember that this is my personal opinion and does not reflect the ideology or opinion of Peace Corps or the US government. I feel that through my personal experience, Niger was one of the most safes places i have been. I felt as if i have a support network that i could work if something did happen. I felt like any concerns that i might have were met and i think others in my group felt the same.

Part of the culture of Niger is the lack of contact between men and women. So a simple brush of the arm could be a man coming on to you. Other cultures that might not be true. Each culture has there own way of dealing with things and what actions are considered right or wrong. This is one of the risks of going abroad whether it is to study, vacation, or Peace Corps. It is a risk that you are taking. A Peace Corps volunteer knows of these risks and accepts them as fact. Yet they also see the amazing aspect of such experience as well.

During our training we are given/explained to about situations and how to react in them. We had a skit about how to ward off unwanted attention and other incidences that could happen. They give you advice and plenty numbers to call if you need to. This is useful when you are at post but like the news said there were incidence with PC admin. However I found that I made some close friends with the PC admin and that I could go to that person if i needed. I keep this person in mind and call them if need be as well as the person you are suppose to call. this will gave me a person that I know I could trust to use if need be.

I feel that someone can be in just as much danger in an American city as they are in Peace Corps. There are incident all over the US and world it is one of the ugly parts of life. Yes Peace Corps could have handled some of the situations better than they did but every person/organization makes mistakes. There is no way that someone can predict the action of another. I am not justifying what happened or saying that Peace Corps was not in the wrong. All parts were at play here and everything has to be taken in to consideration and looked at from all sides.

Basically, I fell in love with my village in the short time I was there. I learned a lot about myself and them. I would not trade that experience and would recommend peace corps to anyone.