In a little over three months, I will begin a journey of a
lifetime. I have accepted an invitation
to serve in the Peace Corps, destination Guinea. I remind myself that this is only an
invitation, as I am still completing the exhaustive medical screening in order
to be medically cleared to serve. So
until I am cleared, I am cautiously optimistic, and my journey remains in the
"things I want to do pile."
In the time that remains, I plan to travel to France for 6
weeks to improve my French language skills, as French is the official language
of Guinea. I will be WOOFING it, working
on a small farm in southern France 20-25 hours a week in exchange for room and
board. In addition to improving my
French language skills, I also hope to learn a few new things about sustainable
agriculture. I will be returning to the
US mainland at the end of October, where I will spend my remaining time
preparing for my new life and visiting family and friends in case I don't come
back (just kidding!)
In case you are wondering what I will be doing in Guinea,
your guess is as good as mine. As I understand
it, the Peace Corps fields various requests for assistance, which are very
general. The Peace Corps then
"unceremoniously" dumps a "trained" and newly minted Peace
Corps volunteer at their site and high tails it out of there. I will be an Agroforestry volunteer, so I
will most likely be living in a rural area, without running water or
electricity. I think I will be using the
words "Aidez-moi!", or "Help me!" a lot in the first few
weeks in my village.
