Hawaii

Aloha!

We landed here at 5:00pm Hawaii time (11:00pm EST) after a 5 hour plane ride or so....very smooth ride. Obviously only here for a very short while, we leave at 3:30am Hawaii time (9:30am EST) for the airport again, to depart for Micronesia, making 3 pit stops along the way.

We cross the dateline during this whole thing, so instead of being behind you all, I'll soon be ahead of you. When we land in Kolonia we will be 15 hours ahead of you: 2:30pm Pohnpei time on Saturday 9/13 is actually going to be 11:30pm Friday 9/12!

No more updates...nothing has really happened. Oh wait...a guy named Michael B. is joining our training class because his program in Georgia was suspended after all of the South Ossetia drama.

I'll hopefully have a post (with some pictures) later on tonight or when we're in Micronesia!

Peace,
Alex

Welcome to Staging Part 2

Our staging has been going pretty well. There are 27 of us who are training together here in LA, and the group dynamic looks pretty good, even though we are still in “honeymoon” stage. We got out at 7:15pm last night and all of us lined up at the ATM machine to withdraw our staging allowance and per diem - $180 for three days. Then 10 of us walked down West Century Blvd to Denny’s for dinner.

The time change turned my biological clock upside down, but I feel pretty rested this morning. We got a huge update of our next few days, so that’s what follows in short-form. I turn my phone off tonight for good (for 2 years).

9/11 we fly LA to Hawaii and stay overnight in Hawaii at a hotel. We leave Hawaii at 6am and touch down in the Marshall Islands of Majuro and Kwajelein and the FSM island of Kosrae. One half of the passengers will have to deplane at each stop with their entire carry-on luggage for a security sweep of the plane. After these three stops, we arrive in Pohnpei for Phase 1 of our training, at 2pm local time on Saturday, 9/13 (we cross the date line so we add a day).

9/13 & 9/14: Medical shots, interviews with training staff, getting to know trainers, learning about PC/Micronesia. We move to our training host families on Monday, 9/15.

9/15: Move in with first host family near Pohnpei. From my training manual: “Trainees will be assigned to host families in villages throughout the municipality that they will live with for the next three weeks. All of the families will have access to water and the washroom may be an “outhouse” type facility, a water seal toilet, or a more Western-type facility. Trainees will take bucket type showers. Trainees will have their own room, and will likely be the only person in the house with his/her own sleeping area. Sharing belongings is a cultural norm, so make sure to have locks on luggage if there are valuables you need protecting.”

This is Phase I of pre-service training. It includes general orientation, medical and admin training and orientation, water safety, and some basic technical training.

9/27: I find out my site assignment right around this date (which island I will serve on).

10/3 and 10/4: Move to the island of service to begin Phase II of pre-service training. Phase II training includes language, cultural, and more technical training. At this time, we will be living with our local family – the family with whom I will live for the next 2 years!!

11/14: Swearing-In Date: If all goes well, the volunteers will be sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers!!!

Welcome to Staging - Part One

I'm here in sunny LA, officially as of 1:15pm (PST). The plane ride was bumpy...very bumpy; one flight attendant blamed it on the weather (specifically the Hurricanes), but as I de-planed, I got the skinny ---- the baggage attendants in Atlanta did a "poor" job of loading the plane, which contributed to the bumpiness until we roller-coastered up to 38,000 feet. Adventurous....!

At any rate, I have a roommate named Morgan. I saw his stuff in the room, but I haven't met him yet. I am sitting at the hotel bar, enjoying a Gin & Tonic (I deserve it) and watching the pizza to my left get cold. I'll have more tonight after I register and we have our first training setting meeting.

Peace!