The Staging Event

This will have to be a very short post, because I have limited time and access to email.

I have started orientation in San Francisco. So far, it seems like a very nice group of people are going with me to Cambodia. We come from all walks of life in about as many different places in the United States, but we seem to mesh well together over our common decision to join the Peace Corps. Everyone seems very friendly, intelligent and confident about the assignment. Yet we seem to be collectively nervous about the challenges that we are going to face when we get over there.

On the first day, we primarily discussed what the Peace Corps mission is, as well as what we can expect from ourselves and from our community during our assignment. There is some concern about disease and road accidents, but the Peace Corps officials keep reassuring us that they will teach us how to minimize the risks from both of those factors. There is also a clear message that by inviting us to become volunteers, they have invested highly in us. While you are not legally required to stay overseas for two years, it is a wasted investment for both the Peace Corps and the community, which you have chosen to serve, if you decide to leave early.

We have also gone over how to manage risk in Cambodia. While there are a lot of things that they have said could go wrong, we are taking precautions to minimize that risk.

In addition to this, I’ve learned a little bit more about what my life will be like in the next week or so. I must warn you that there is a lot of information to absorb.

I leave tomorrow for Phnom Penh, and life continues to move at a tremendous speed in a small duration of time.