When all else fails....pass out

Well lets see where to begin....The orientation in Philly was awesome got to meet all the volunteers in my group, it was exciting to see that we all had the same thoughts, questions, and fears! During the flight to Paris I talked to Lauren, an Environmental volunteer from Reno, NV who is really cool. Unfortunately we talked pretty much the entire flight (wonder where I get that from :)) so I was absolutely exhausted! Our flight was delayed coming into Paris so we were hustled from our plane through to security on to the next flight to Cotonou....once I was on board I immediately passed out. I slept for about 5 hours of that 6 hour flight so it was awesome to wake up and be preparing for landing!!

We arrived in Cotonou, Benin around 8pm to a large group of PC Volunteers cheering for us! It was such a relief to finally get here and feel accepted!! The past 4 days have been filled with meetings on safety, health, language, project overview and cultural adaptation. I have learned so much in the last four days....we learned how to successfully ride a Zemidjan aka taxi-moto; probably one of the funniest experiences so far! I am apparently a Novice-High level of french (whatever that means), and saw a glimpse into Beninese culture with a walk through the marche. So far everything has been going along smoothly without much deviation from our intense schedule until this morning!!

Yesterday we received pictures of our new host families...our Mama and Papa, and I am so freaking excited to meet mine they look AMAZING! Apparently they both are English Professors and they have older children who live away but often come visit. Today we had to gather all our luggage (I am still amazed that I made it here with exactly 80lbs of luggage and technically 4 carry ones) and go through another meeting about safety and reporting incidents. Immediately after that we were to receive Typhoid shots....I have received many shots in my life so I wasn't worried but our first day here we received a meningitis shot and my arm was killing me and got bruised really bad so I asked the doctor if I could get the shot in my other arm. She started to tell me how bad it was going to hurt and I needed to get it in the other arm so both arms wouldn't hurt just one then I started to get nervous and my feet were sweating (along with every other part of my body) and I got my shot and it DIDN'T hurt but I was already worked up so I went to go sit down at my seat and I started feeling dizzy and knew it was already too late....I went down to sit Indian style on the floor and some other volunteers came to see if I was ok and I leaned over on one then the next thing I know I am passed out on the ground with the doctor in my face about to give me oxygen and 60 volunteers like WTF?!?!?! Seriously I am so lame......

After trying to explain that I have a habit of passing out during medicinal situations the doctor said that I have to stay in Cotonou at the Peace Corps Office in the sick room tonight to make sure that it wasn't a reaction to the shot. So recapping I don't get to go meet my host family like the rest of the volunteers but I do get Internet and AC for the night! I guess the bright side is the Peace corps do care about my medical condition and want to make sure that I am 100% healthy...even if there is nothing to be done about my mental issues :)

When I met with the doctor an hour ago she told me whenever I get another shot I have to remind them I am the "girl who passes out" so they can lay me down and monitor me.....oh joy!

Preparing for Departure

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog that will chronicle my experiences during my service in the Peace Corps. I leave in two weeks from today for Benin Africa. I am a Small Enterprise Development (SED) Volunteer and my official title is Organizational Development Advisor! I am so excited to finally have an opportunity to see the world and find out who I am and what I want out of this life!

The first three months of training I will be stationed in Cotonou, Benin. It is their financial capital that is on the south coast of Benin. There are apparently 70 other volunteers in my group!! They will be doing different things like education, health, agriculture, and community development. I received a ton of information regarding our training and packing and basically anything you could think of! During training we will be learning language skills, cultural customs, technical skills to complete our project, and how to stay safe and healthy.

In case some of you are wondering exactly what responsibilities are covered under "Business Development" it is: providing training and management advisory services to individuals and groups, identifying new entrepreneurs, providing information to local populations on financial services such as savings and loan, developing training programs for target sectors and making frequent visits to entrepreneurs to work with them on improving their management skills. Most volunteers also take on second and even third projects so I can't imagine what all I am going to be doing.

Since I received my assignment back on June 10, 2010 I have been trying to figure out how you pack for two years....trust me its pretty stressful! One of the packing lists I have been referring to told me to pack underwear for two years....how many is that exactly??? I guess each person has their own interpretation!! Some things I'm packing include: frying pan, fan, water bottles, multi-tool, sleeping pad, mini radio, flashlights, duct tape, measuring cups, spices, can openers, and many other things like clothing!

I have also been trying to see as many friends and family members as I can. It hasn't really set in that I will be in a foreign environment for two years alone away from everyone I know and love....hopefully that doesn't hit me while I'm on the plane with 70 other volunteers....haha talk about embarrassing.

Well hopefully I can get myself packed and see as many people as possible before I leave! I will do my best to keep everyone updated and please feel free to email me or facebook me!

2 WEEKS....going to fly by better get back to packing!