... moment of truth, yikes!

I'm sorry its been so long since my last post... Ive tried a few times to update it but the internet has not been cooporating. So instead of writing about the things that have happened in the last month I'm going to start from this past week and move on (for my sanity's sake).

Alright folks, site assignments are in and the verdits doled out this past Tuesday... A week from today I'll be packing my bags and spending my last night with my new family, in preparation for leaving Loitokitok on Monday morning (my home for the past two months, though it feels more like a lifetime in some ways). After spending a few days in Nairobi (our last days of training), come Friday, I will be on the road again. Destination: Garissa (my new home for the next two years). Dont worry, I'll give you a minute to open a new tab and check for it on the map - hint: find the intersection of the equator and the Somali Boarder and work your way in.

Ok, now that you've located it on the map... this is how it went down. We met at Outward Bound and sat excitedly while Joseph (our training manager) walked in with the envelopes containing our fate. He called Mary first, she is located in a supremely awesome site right on the coast. We were all green with jealousy even though we had no idea where we were headed at that point. My envelop came up about 5 people in (these people had been placed in Coast or Nyanza) and I was hoping he would call out Coast. Not so much... My thoughts when Joseph called out "Rachel... Garissa, North Eastern Province!" were exactly this: "Wha..." because my brain went into shock before I processed the last "t". I managed a quick acceptance speech to my fellow trainees which was the following "You're welcome..." read "now that its been announced that I'm going to Garissa none of you have to worry anymore". I wasnt really sure what to think at this point...

Just to put this into perspective for you, Garissa is the site that we have been taunting eachother with for the last few weeks. For example, if you do something wrong or are speaking too loudly during class to your neighbor, I might wisper to you "that's it, you're going to Garissa!!". We all got a really good laugh because of ti too, at least those of us under 50, because for the past month or so a rumor has been circulating that the person going to Garissa would be one of the 6 older people in our group. Although, my friend Dan, for some reason known only to him, was convinced he was destined to Garissa. He drew a nice little picture in class one day (of his fate): it was a sign post with a highway sign on it and two directional arrows, right: Garissa, left: happiness. On the up side, he told me I'll be getting it as a present for Christmas.No idea where the rumor began, but it made sense to us all because we had been told that the climate in the North Eastern province is not exactly the ideal place for a young woman - or so we thought. Therefore, I thought I was safe. Guess we (and the Peace Corps rumor mill - last time I trust that by the way, although, probably not) were wrong.

The rest of the afternoon we all looked over maps and found out who our closest neighbors would be of our group (of course "close" is relative for me considering it is 345 km down the road). People came up to me to ask how I was taking the news (similar to how you would approach someone whose close family member has just died) and I actually felt ok about it. Once the initial shock passed and I read about my assignment (working in a maternity home doing mother and child health work, also with malaria, HIV/AIDS, and sanitation - including female circumcisions/female genital mutilation) I actually started to be excited about my placement. We joked about it a lot too, of course since its just funny that given all the gossip I of all people am getting sent to Garissa. We hypothesized that becasue Mike (who is living on an Island and communitng to work on the mainland via boat) gets a lifejacket allowance that maybe I would be getting a weapons allowance (dont worry mom, its only a joke... I'm sure its very safe there). I've basically decided to take this placement as a huge vote of confidence on the part of the Peace Corps staff, they must have faith in my ability. Plus, I'm pretty sure this will give me all sorts of streed cred so I'm feeling pretty bad ass about that.

The more I find out about my site the more excited I am to be moving there. Its sounds absolutely perfect (even the sweltering heat is at least dry heat, unlike the coast or lake region) and I'm excited to test my self in new ways. I look forward to the challenges and therefore establishing a new sense of self - which is what the Peace Corps is about in a lot of ways. I'll be living on my own for the first time in my life and I'm excited that I get to do it in Africa. My house sounds great: electricity, a bathroom (toilet?), a bedroom, a sitting room, a kitchen... not too shabby. It'll be hard being so far away from my new friends, but there is a volunteer there currently so that's reassuring and another one half way between me and the coast (where my closest fellow trainees will be).

I've been reading a book lately called "6 months in sudan" you should check it out. I feel a lot of the same things, although its written by a doctor in MSF, it related to my life in a lot of ways: struggling to find beer and having to haul a few cases acrossed town without getting too much attention - for a 4th of july party, foam mattresses, same food day in and day out, and soon the oppressive heat. Plus just general outlook on life - though mine is filled with much more happiness than his. Its worth checking out.

Alright, I'd love to write more, but I should go so I dont use all my money. If anyone wants to start being my penpal (more are always welcome) send me your address. I miss you all tons!!

Oh, PS. I passed my language exam last week (yippee!) but since I'm on the coast-ish (actually, the only one from our group in the whole North Eastern provice, but who's counting) I'm staying with Kiswahili not learning a new language so I'll be testing again a week from now. I wont be as nervous this time so we'll se how well I can do. :)