Swearing In!

Just a quick blurb until later. We found out yesterday that we passed our language test so we could be recommended to be volunteers. So, in less than four hours, Brian and I will officially be Peace Corps Volunteers! This is probably my largest life goal to date that I've reached. It may continue to be the largest for a very long time.

Yesterday we played a very fun versions of Double Dare and we had the last town hall meeting (talent show) of stage. There were quite a few very surreal moments during the talent show. I cannot believe how many talented people there are here. I didn't do anything, but then I don't really have a talent :-) This is such a great group of people and I feel so honored to be a part of this!

We're okay, don't worry!

Just a real quick update because I have to leave for a session soon but if you haven;t already heard there was a coup d'etat today. The uprising happened in the capital, Nouakchott so that is the only place that volunteers can't go right now. Everyone's safe, we haven't seen anything, so don't worry about us. Here's an article about it:

Troops stage coup in Mauritania

It's a pretty dull coup :)

Anyway, other than that, we've still been pretty busy. We got back from Kaedi a week or so ago, which will be our site for the next two years. We both love it there. It is swimming with culture. The region itself is gorgeous. There is so much plant life. Unfortunately, there are quite a few bugs too but the trade-off, I think, is worth it. One of our region-mates has a dog. Her name is Kelby and she is adorable. Even Brian likes her and he isn't a dog person. Speaking of region-mates, ours are awesome! They are a great group of people. They put up with a bunch of sick stagiers for a week and were still amazing. I'll be honest, I did not want to go back to training. I wish we could just jump in now and start our jobs. I think these next few weeks are going to be really tough because we know what's waiting for us and we can't wait to get there. We haven't found a house yet but we did see one that we really liked. It's under construction right now but hopefully it will be complete soon after we get there and we can afford it.

I've been really sick for the past four weeks but I am so much better now! I feel better today than I have in quite a while. Hopefully I can stay healthy now for the next two years. I'm a little more wary of the food and some other things but now I know what to look out for. Other than that this experience has been great so far. All 77 of us are still here and that's pretty impressive!

We had our married couples retreat this past weekend and it was a very well needed retreat. It was nice hearing from current volunteers that they faced the same issues we are and how they dealt with them (mainly privacy and complete lack of control over our lives in training.)

Well, I have to go, the battery's about to die.

I miss you all! Write to me...please. I would love to hear from more of you.

Oh, if you've posted a comment and I might not have your email address will you please email it to me. My email is draconismoon@gmail.com. Even if you think I have it, I might not since I haven't had this address very long.