Sunday, October 9, 2011

Justtt Kidding....


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. 
   

Senegal and The Gambia