Well...

In a little over a week, I will be flying to the Peace Corps staging event in Philadelphia. Then, three days later, I will be flying to South Africa to begin the 2 month training phase of my 26 month commitment to the Peace Corps... and I haven't even started packing yet!

If I have regular access to a computer, I hope to post my thoughts, observations, and photos in this blog. The road to joining the Peace Corps has not been a smooth one by any stretch of the imagination. Going from Hamilton College to Washington, DC to South Africa to home and now back to South Africa again has been quite the journey, full of excitement, good friends, close calls, good decisions and bad decisions. Now, I am on the eve of going back to South Africa and I feel confident that it is the 'right' decision. It kills me when people say, "I don't wanna get my hopes too high... only to get disappointed." I think if you don't have high hopes, then you will be in for disappointment. So, I have extremely high hopes for South Africa. I laughed the other day when Jon (my good friend from South Africa) remarked to me, "Bro, stop wasting time in America... it's time for you to come home." Danvers, Massachusetts will always be my home, but South Africa is that home home away from home that I've been searching for in these post-Hamilton years. I don't think many of my friends or family truly understand why I (a seemingly sane person) am going to South Africa... why a country wrought with violence, dangerous wildlife, AIDS and poverty is so interesting to me. Yes, poverty, AIDS and violence are a part of everyday life... but, people live how they lived on the continent like their ancestors have for thousands of years before... before oppressive governments, before wars, before money, before AIDS. There is an energy, a vibe, a rhythm in Africa that sucks you in... grounds you... opens your eyes to the world... opens your eyes to life. I'm not pretending that my Peace Corps service will change Africa... on the contrary, I want Africa to fully 'suck me in.' I want to be humbled by this experience. I want to be an ambassador for America, but I hope to become an ambassador for Africa and my host community. I really believe in my heart of hearts that Peace Corps is a giant open door asking me to walk through and discover what is on the other side... I know that the 'other side' won't be all sunshine and rainbows... that I am taking a considerable risk... a risk of having very rough days, lonely days and desperate days... but, this is a risk that I'm taking with an open mind, an open heart, and a belief that what I am doing is right.

Now, I need to go pack!