Peace Corps Staging (read: orientation) took place in a hotel in Philadelphia. My schedule was a bit hectic because I was coming back from Bangalore and got delayed for 22 hours in JFK airport. I finally made it to Washington DC and picked up my bags from Evan who was graciously storing all my gear and housing me. The Peace Corps had got me a train ticket on Amtrak’s Acela line from DC to PHL.
We had our staging in one long session on June 3rd, which covered the overall goals of the Peace Corps and expectations of volunteers. It was quite helpful for getting into the mindset of the organization, but not much of it was country-specific, and we were all joking that we are still pretty much in the dark as to what happens once we get off the plane in Mali. But that’s part of the fun!
On June 4th we all were handed our passports and loaded up onto a bus to head up to JFK. We’ve got a total crew of 28 people split between Water Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH), and Community Economic Development (CED). Our group comes from all across the country and it was fun to see some people in awe as they saw the NYC skyline for the first time – something I take for granted after spending 5 years in New England. We have a layover in Paris and then head down to Bamako where the adventure begins!