The Night Before

This is my last night in Des Moines for roughly 27 months. My bags are packed.

A few hours ago my parents hosted a goodbye party for me, which was wonderful. I was so grateful to everyone who came. I was especially touched by all of my friends who drove the 100 or so miles from Iowa City to see me off. So, once again, thank you so much. I know that thoughts of my friends and family will be a source of strength and pride for me in the next two years.

Speaking of the next two years…

Tomorrow I will wake up at 3:45 in the morning. I will then take the 6:00 a.m. flight to Philadelphia from Des Moines International Airport, via Detroit. Philadelphia is the location of what the Peace Corps calls a staging event. The staging event will take place over two days and will introduce me to some of the basics of what it is to be in the Peace Corps. During the staging event I will also meet some of the other volunteers I will be training and working with. On the 29th of January, 2008 I will depart for Johannesburg, via Frankfurt, Germany.

Once in South Africa, we will take a two hour drive to a city called Mokopane, in the Limpopo Province. For the first ten days I will live in dorms somewhat like those in the U.S. After this initial period I will begin living with a South African family. I am especially looking forward to living with a family. My family stay will last until April 3, 2008 when I am officially sworn in as a Volunteer, rather than the previous status of trainee.

During my training period I will learn one of five languages: Sepedi, IsiZulu, IsiSwati, Xitsonga, or Afrikaans. I am not sure which one I will learn or exactly how they would even decide such a thing. I will be happy learning any of them. I will also learn more about the culture of South Africa and the nature of my eventual assignment.

What exactly I will be doing after April 3rd is something of a mystery to me. It is my understanding that my performance during the training period will have an impact on the assignment I am given. What I do know is that my task will last for two years and will involve HIV/AIDS prevention. I also know that I will be working with NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) that are dealing with HIV/AIDS in some form. It is very likely that I will move to some other part of South Africa after training.

My mailing address, at least until April, is:

Oliver Borzo
Peace Corps
PO Box 9536
Pretoria 0001
South Africa

Easier ways to get a hold of me include my email (oliverborzo@gmail.com), facebook, or the blog itself. My phone is now dead, my number lost to the wind.

So, that is the skinny. To say I am nervous or excited would be true but also a gross understatement. Mostly though, I think the overwhelming feeling I have is happiness. I am happy because I have incredible and supportive family and friends. I am also happy because Peace Corps is exactly what I want to be doing with my life right now. I feel blessed.

Thanks again for all of the support and encouragement I have been given over the last few months. It means more to me than I can properly express. And thanks for reading.