Quick Update

Awesome song: The Ruminant Band by Fruit Bats

How’s it going? Yesterday I received my PC staging information and travel itinerary. On July 1st – which happens to be my mother’s birthday – I fly to Philadelphia for a quick jam sesh AKA a brief orientation. July 2nd we take a bus to NY, then a plane to Amsterdam, then another plane to Nairobi, then another plane to Lilongwe (the capital of Malawi in/near which training will occur). How wild is that?

So now I try my best to prepare and pack. My room looks like a camp site exploded. A film of hiking gear and bags and solar chargers and headlamps and books and papers coats the floor. I feel kind of guilty about buying and owning so much stuff, but I know every item I bring to Malawi will be useful – there is not enough packing room for it to be otherwise.  Oh – MAIL:

Maria Genovese, PCT

Peace Corps

P.O. Box 208

Lilongwe, Malawi

Mail takes 2-3 weeks to arrive in Malawi.  Please write “Air Mail” and “Par Avion” on the envelope.  Packages take 6-9 weeks to arrive.  Please write!!  It’ll be a joy to get your letters.

Nice.  So I’m pumped!  A little nervous too.  I’m really going to miss my my fantastic friends and family.  I like to think of us all as expanding into the universe rather than leaving each other.

Good times.