Day 2

So I thought that I would be living here at the training camp for the 9ish weeks of Pre-service training (PST, I'm having to learn the acronyms and now you are too) but apparently we move to our training sites this Monday. Works for me. Makes more sense to train with the real deal instead of in this "kushy" camp. And by kushy I mean it has running water and toilets with seats. They said we're in training for 56 days and we'll only be at the camp for 15 of those days. The training site where we live with a host family will be anywhere from 5 to 60 kilometers from the training camp. They'll come pick us up when we need to come back to the camp for meetings and such. They said that we're quarantined here for the first 3 days but they took us on a few block radius tour today basically to show us where not to go. There's a large market 10-15 minutes walk from here that I look forward to exploring once the quarantine is lifted. I don't know why we're quarantined but I don't mind. I field punted an rather large, immobile rock today and split a chunk of my big toe off. I've since stubbed it on two other rocks bringing it to quite a gnarly state. So I'm content on sitting around studying today. I guess I should have taken the advice to buy the clunky, multi-strap, hideously ugly sandals but I opted for cute flip-flops. Vanity's a bitch.

What else? What else? The weather is great so sleeping wasn't a problem. I seriously dread the super hot season here. Hopefully it rolls in slowly giving me time to acclimate gradually. Wishful thinking. This morning we had "bean sandwiches" for breakfast. I thought they were kidding yesterday when they told me to look forward to them. Its basically spicy bean chili that is spread on a crusty baguette. Its pretty good but they rave about it like its a Denver omelet from the Ritz. Ain't no omelet. Peanut Nutella is an option too. Oh, Oh! We got our cell phones today! Its free for me to receive calls and texts from the States. Right now its not set up for me to make calls or send texts to the States and I won't be able to do so until I get to the "Orange" store and buy an international SIM card and even then it will be expensive. I'll probably just use Skype for outgoing calls and texts. Bottom line: You can call or text my cell; I will only call or text from Skype. It probably wouldn't be expensive (maybe 50¢) for you to text me from your cell but I would recommend using Skype to call if you're concerned about the pricing from your cell. My number is (221) 776720361. Keep in mind I'm 5 hours ahead of you but realistically I'll be excited to hear from you even if its the middle of the night.

We had our "tech interviews" today. They basically ask you what you're good at, what you think you're weaknesses are, and where you would like to live. I told them that I'm good at logistics, burning asparagus, problem solving and that I'm resourceful. I told them I'm bad at snow skiing, learning languages and I'm whiney when I'm sick. I asked if there are opportunities to do admin work and they said there is and asked if I would like to do correspondence work between the Peace Corps and NGOs. Couldn't have designed a better job myself. Won't know what I'll be doing until the end of training. If I do get an admin job I'm pretty sure that means I'll live in a big city. Keeping my fingers crossed. We also had medical interviews with 2 more shots and our malaria medication, and our language interview in French. I rocked the French.

So I'm trying to write a lot now because once I move to site on Monday I probably won't have internet very often unless I'm in the center of Thies. I'm hoping for once or twice a week if I am in a rural area. Actually I'll make sure once a week happens. So, Mom, don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while. You can ring my celly. =) Alright, I guess that's it for now. Hope everyone is doing well on your side of the pond. xoxo