TKID

"this is kiswahili dude" - Vivian, my lcf (kiswahili teacher)

Just a quick update to let everyone know I am alive and well. Tanzania is wonderful, the people warm and quick to smile, and the language extremely interesting. I'm in the middle of my 9 week long training right now, and hopefully will be proficient in Kiswahili by the end, though I know it will take some work.

Thats all for now, I'll write a longer post from my home computer, and upload it, hopefully sometime within the next week or two.

tuta onana baadaye

Staging

It's 7:30 the morning of my departure. The last week and a half seemed very hectic and went by quite fast, but I do feel like I'm ready. Packing was a major chore. I was attempting to fit the contents of the following two pictures,














Into the following bags,












It was a tight fit, but I made it. They're safely under the weight limits but still quite heavy.

Staging is today in Philadelphia, and then tomorrow I travel to New York for my flight to Dar Es Salaam. I'll update with more details once I arrive in country. To anyone I haven't seen before I left, good bye for a while, and if I did see you, good bye again. I'll miss you all.

Greetings

Hello and welcome to my blog. I offer this disclaimer up front: this is my first attempt at blogging and while I will strive to provide interesting and entertaining material, I make no guarantees.

Where things currently stand:
Last week, after months of agonizing silence and waiting, I finally received my Peace Corps invitation to serve as a secondary school math educator in Tanzania,with staging scheduled to begin late September. Now begins two months of packing, studying Kiswahili, and saying goodbyes. I will post any new developments as they occur, but if nothing is heard from me between now and staging, please assume all is well. For now, adieu.