"Where ever you go, there you are."

Well, we are deep into week 7 of training and so far, so good. My Twi language is coming along relatively well and the environment sector has the best training sessions out of all the other sectors. In about three weeks we will be sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers and I turn 23. I am both elated to finally start my two years of service but saddened to say good bye to all the new friends that I have made. Though I knew nothing of them before training, there is something special about the human bond that forms through spending continuous hours after hours together, experiencing the same stress and revelations. Northern Volta has some of the worst roads in the country so I do not expect to see any other volunteers very frequently. But in the end, it is comforting to know that there are others going through exactly the same experiences and we still have each other to lean on.

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful nights I have experienced. For the past week and a half we were staying at a Catholic monastery surrounded by glorious rocks that rise above the tree line. Last night, we dragged a mattress up those rocks and watched a movie under the moon. Afterwards we pretty much laid up there listening to Oasis and watching the most wondrous clouds I have ever seen, softly kissed by the moon. I realize that joining the Peace Corps is probably one of the best decisions I haveever made.

For lack of better sentence structure, here is a string of word/phrases that reflects my Peace Corps training thus far:

Flip charts. Crackers. Juice boxes. Bug bites. Peace Corgy. Is this Asian proof? Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. You make my top five. Adon de day… Dallin, monastery voice. Goddamn it, Joe! Forever young, I want to be forever young. What’s love got to do with it? Thoughts pad. Honeymoon photoshoots. Typical ____ behavior. Douchebaggery. The Prophet. Hot. Less hot. Wrap it up, boys.








She is Love - Oasis