I received a call the other day from The Gambia desk. Just when I thought that everything was set, more changes came my way. I guess that is lesson 933 in this adventure, that hasn't officially begun yet. The new changes, instead of going to Banjul, The Gambia (the capital) for 3 months of training starting January 4, 2012, I will now be traveling from staging, in a US city, to Dakar, Senegal, the "Paris of Africa" for training. Due to the infamous budget changes and ideas of combining the training in The Gambia and Senegal, the PC made this decision in the midst of inviting the newest Gambian class. There will be 18 of us in the 2012 Gambia class, 13 of which had already been invited, so lucky number 13 got to hear about these changes after they had already accepted the offer to serve. The 5 left to be invited will have this plan from the beginning. Also, my leave date has been changed to March 6, 2012 because of the change in location. We will be joining the 2012 Senegal class in Dakar for training. After talking to the Gambia desk staff, about the changes, I feel more comfortable then I did when I first learned of them. Apparently, the training facilities in Senegal are excellent and I was reassured that the PC wouldn't make this change without thinking this would be the best way to prepare us for our 2 years. Of course, I had my reservations in the beginning, it's not easy to because fixed on January 4th in Gambia, and have it all up rooted. But the great point was made that the boarder between Senegal and The Gambia is just a political, internationally recognized one, often cultures, customs, languages, social behaviors are similar between countries around the world. Although, I have done some background research on The Gambia and Senegal and have found many difference, I just have to have believe that the PC wouldn't put us into a country under-trained. This is the last change, hopefully, but with the PC you always have to be flexible. So final story as of right now, March 6th to Dakar, Senegal for 3 months of training and then to a village in The Gambia for 2 years.
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| Senegal and The Gambia |
Hi Sarah, my spouse and I will be joining you for Peace Corps training in The Gambia! We look forward to meeting you. You can view our blog at http://lambertrose.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteUntil we meet in person,
Darrin and Colette
Good morning how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favour:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Gambia? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Gambia in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and a original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Calle Valencia, 39
28903 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com, where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Hi Sarah, I just saw your post on my blog! I look forward to meeting you Best! Cristina
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, yes it is a panic but not to do without. Love life and all the adventures. I will meet you at staging I"m going to Gambia March 6/2012.Nice solar flare today .Gregory Spencer
ReplyDeleteHi Gregory! Less than a month now....see you in DC. Very exciting!
ReplyDelete