Less than a month to go!

   In less than 30 days, I will be in Botswana!  I got an email today with my staging materials and flight information, and found out that I will be leaving on April 10th instead of the 7th.  Apparently we fly into South Africa from Philadelphia, and where volunteers used to have a 10 hour bus ride from South Africa to Botswana, we will now have a 45 minute plane ride instead.  I know that this should be good news and that a 10 hour bus ride is usually something people would give anything to avoid, but I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed.  I'm not a big fan of flying to begin with, so a second flight is not good news for me, and I was looking forward to looking out of the bus window at my first view of Africa.  Oh well.  Just another reminder to not go into this with any expectations!
   Packing is going slowly, but it's coming along.  I have a pretty solid packing list as well as a shopping list, and I've been able to cross a few things off each.  I'm really just waiting until my non-packing related expenses (car, health, credit card, etc) are figured out before I go on a very large shopping spree to get everything I need.  If anyone is wondering what one brings to Botswana for 27 months, I'll post my packing list once it's final- hopefully soon!
   Everything is moving incredibly fast.  It's a strange feeling that can't quite be described, to know that in 27 days, my life will change so drastically.  I've been doing as much reading as possible, and the group of volunteers already in Botswana have been enormously helpful in giving advice and reassurance, but it doesn't change the fact that I can plan every minute of my life up until that date (and believe me, I have been - I'm running out of days to do everything and see everyone!), but once I get on that plane, all expectations and plans fly out the window.  I guess this could be seen as liberating.  My mom is constantly reminding me of how nice it will be not to worry about keeping up with the expenses and worries of having a car, and while I agree, I also have never experienced life without one.  A lot of people have been asking me specific questions about how I will be living.  "Will you have electricity?  Running water?  Internet?  Will you live in a real house?  How big are the bugs?  What will you eat?  What exactly will your job be?  What are the people like there? Do they like having volunteers there?  Is it safe?" - all good questions, but unfortunately my answers so far are unsatisfying.  Although Botswana is a fairly developed country and most people seem to have electricity, running water, and a "real house," not everyone does, and as a Peace Corps volunteer, I could be placed anywhere.  I have seen pictures of enormous bugs in other volunteers' photos, but I don't know if they're all like that.  I have no idea about the Internet, although it seems that most volunteers either have it in their offices or access it with varying degrees of frequency at nearby internet cafes.  As far as food goes, I don't know too much about it yet.  I get the impression that meals include a lot of starch and chicken or game meat when it's available.  Millet or sorghum porridge is apparently a popular meal, and veggies are available, but not widely eaten.  Yes, some people eat mopane worms.  Will I eat them? ......We'll see.  The last few questions, the ones pertaining to the people of Botswana and their attitude toward volunteers, are the ones that I have the most trouble answering.  For now, all I can say is that Botswana is one of the most stable, peaceful countries in Africa, and I don't have any more concern for my safety there than I would traveling anywhere new to me.
  A couple quick announcements before I sign off.  If you are a teacher of any grade or class type, and you think your class could benefit from correspondence with a Peace Corps  volunteer, ask me about WorldWise Schools.  It's basically a glorified pen-pal connection between a volunteer and a class, but the program also provides some related curriculum ideas and support.  I'm already signed up to work with a friend's class, but I'm sure I could handle more than one, or could pass it off to someone in my group if I find I can't.  Also, the time for collecting addresses of people who want letters from Africa has come.  Email me your home addresses, and I'll be sure to write!
  I think that's about all for today, especially since I have work in a half an hour.  Be on the lookout for a packing list soon!