Burkina Faso--Here I Come!!

So the moment has arrived...in less then 5 hours I leave for Philly. To my surprise, as well as my family's, I am all packed with time to spare. If you would ask any one of my family members or friends they would tell you I am the biggest procrastinator. Of course, my dad keeps trying to unpack my suitcases to make sure I have everything and/or to make sure I haven't gone over the weight limit. It's not like the suitcase has gained ten pounds since the last time we weighed it (but that's Pompilio for you). But let me tell you....trying to pack for two years is quite hard when you're trying to fit random things like a diva cup and a mosquito tent into your suitcase. I am even wearing my bike helmet to the airport tomorrow because there is no room in my luggage. I'm pretty sure I'll just tell people I suffer from seizures and then maybe they will feel bad enough for me and help me with my luggage. Tomorrow I will start the first phase of my Peace Corps service aka Staging. Actually, it's not really a phase, it's more like one day of meeting other Peace Corps members and getting poked with a million different syringes. Then off to Burkina Faso where I will be an honorary African for the next two years. I haven't quite yet fathomed the loneliness that I will come to feel while I am in Burkina Faso. So to receive emails, letters, FB wall posts, etc. will make it seem like it's Christmas. Once I get to Burkina Faso I will post my address so that you may send me letters if you'd like. Now I am off to take my last hot shower for what will be the next 27 months...eek.

Reflections

Wow. With only 10 days left before my departure, the realization of what lies in my future is quite daunting. The hardest thing about leaving is knowing what I am leaving behind and knowing that life will go on....without me, that is. Upon my return, friends will be finished with graduate school, a few years into their careers, or perhaps even married. Then there will be me...dun dun da duh...just starting out. Oy. While I realize the next two years of my life will be incredible, I still fear the isolation and lonliness that will come to embody my Peace Corps service. Additionally, I often wonder how effective my presence in BF will be. In 10 days I leave to teach the Burkinabe culture on malaria/AIDS/nutrition, and yet, I know their culture will have more of an effect on me than I will on them. But nonetheless, I look forward to having no running/hot water, no electricity, no eating utensils, no showers, no bathrooms/toilet paper(okay, maybe not this one), and best of all living in a mud hut in 110* weather. Okay maybe not the latter one either. I get cranky and let's be honest here, I turn into a biiotch when you mix bugs, heat and a lack of food! For the first time in my life, I will be living on my own, without a roommate, and with no one around to speak English with. Exciting, isn't it?