Away We Go...for real!

Everything is looking peaceful and beautiful in the Gambia and surrounding area so we should be all a go this time!
I'll be leaving Erie late Friday (the 30th) afternoon to spend the next couple days in Lancaster with one of my Grandmothers. From there my parents and I will be heading to Philadelphia to turn me in. I report on Tuesday (the 3rd) and fly out Wednesday (flight info below). It's looking like a good group of volunteers. Several married couples, an older woman (more common in the Peace Corps than you'd think) and a bunch of girls. I'm sure there will be more to meet upon arrival in Philly! I feel very ready to begin, I guess I should since I'll be leaving a year and 3 days after I received my first official assignment packet! Of course there are the clump of nerves that accompany a big life change/adventure, so continued prayers are still very much welcomed!
Also included in this post are a few Gambia related websites (some sent in previous updates) and a link to the USPS website for anyone looking to send mail (address below). Mail will always be welcomed and I will do my very best to send you something in return! Mind you, though, the process of getting mail to a volunteer is slow so don't send anything that can spoil. Trust me, stale cookies are just about as bad as no cookies!
My estimated return to the States is early January 2012 (maybe for your birthday Erin Georgic!).
I really enjoyed one more East Coast fall and am happy to skip winter and go right into 90 degree weather! Thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement. I will miss you all and am already excited to catch up when I get back. BUT I do want to know how YOU are doing too. Keeping up on folks back home will help me feel more normal and happy.
Take Care!
Katie

Flight Info:
Nov 4th
Depart Newark 6:35p
(7hr 15 min flight)
Nov 5th
Arrive Brussels 7:50a (1:50a EST*)
Depart Brussels 11:35a (5:35a EST)
Stop in Dakar, Senegal
(8 hr flight)
Arrive Banjul, Gambia 6:35p (1:35p EST)
*I think these times are right and adjusted for daylight savings

Mailing Address:
Katie Cahoon, (PCT or PCV)**
C/O Peace Corps/The Gambia
P.O. Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa
**PCT goes after my name from Nov-Jan while I'm in training.
From January on, PCV goes after my name.

Websites:
Mail: http://www.usps.com/prices/welcome.htm
Gambia:

• Time, weather, and other random tidbits http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=30
  
• Time Converter for anyone like me who has trouble switching time zones: http://www.worldtimeserver.com/convert_time_in_GM.aspx
• (unofficial) Peace Corps Volunteer website for the Gambia. Lots of pictures, language lessons if you'd like to give it a try, and other day to day information http://gamlangs.googlepages.com/
• Official PC Welcome Book for the Gambia. Pretty much anything you'd want to know about the history, the programs, and volunteer topics http://www.peacecorps.gov/welcomebooks/gmwb635.pdf
• Other informational websiteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambia, http://www.gambia.gm/, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/the-gambia

Happiness is a really good black cat

FRUSTRATION

After Madagascar's cancellation, I was reassigned to Mauritania to leave June 16th. That was then postponed because the soon to happen elections there shut down administrative offices and our visas couldn't be obtained. While I waited for the new date of Aug 11th to arrive, I worked at a summer camp as a lifeguard and went on family beach vacation. Midway through the summer, I got a call that Mauritania was canceled. They didn't want to send us there with Al Quida being around...although they said it was because of the visas. So I've been reassigned to the Gambia and leaving in early November. Of course, already there is stuff going on there that makes me feel less than hopeful about leaving. If I don't go this time, I give up.

PUNK'ed peace corps style

Yesterday we all (37 of us) arrived at the hotel in Philly for our pre-departure staging event. We signed a few papers and sat down. In walked Rosie, the Associate Director for Volunteer Recruitment and Selection. She didn't look very happy and had the displeasure of telling us that as of that morning the political situation in Madagascar was too unsteady to send us. Here's a link to the news related to the issue: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7931293.stm
So we're all still here. The placement officers are diligently working to get us all reassigned. I hear we are "top priority" and should know soon. Tomorrow or this afternoon I will check in and perhaps have a new assignment. There actual Madagascar program could go on in the future but things there are just so unsteady that I could be waiting for that for a long time. The current volunteers are all safe and it sounds like they will be safer to stay put in their rural villages than getting to the capital or other major airport to leave. In regards to placement, there are still a lot of unknowns, but when I do know more, I'll pass it along.
Personally, I feel okay about it. The things that make it only "okay" and not "good:" I was ready to go, I don't want to go through good-byes again, I'm not sure what to do with myself in the waiting time, I got invested in one place and it is less than happy to have to change courses mentally..especially safety wise - as in, I felt like ecologically Mada was a rather safe place. The things that make it only "okay" and not "bad:" it really re-emphasizes that the Peace Corps holds safety first and makes me trust them even more (although some volunteers felt otherwise yesterday), life happens and things like this always happen for some reason, I'm still doing Peace Corps, perhaps I'll get to go to the Africa with Lions instead of Lemurs (although they would have been very cool too) which is where I really wanted to be in the first place.
I appreciate all of the well wishes and prayers. I realize that things like this could quite possibly be linked to all those praying for "safety" over this Peace Corps class. So I'm around for more visiting if you want to make it to Erie or if you have some greater destination I might be game!
I'm back in erie and will be completely crazy in no time I'm sure. Hopefully I'll know a new placement soon.

Happiness is in the adventure of it all.

Wait for it....wait for it...

Since last Monday (Jan 26th) I've been very attentive to the Malagasy news. There have been some political riots (I guess that would be the proper classification) which have caused the Malagasy government to be unstable. Through news translation, either about 44 or 100 people died in the initial riots on Monday, the President was over thrown by a mayor who looks, and was criticized for being, very young, and now the President is trying to be back in power but it seems like he's willing to work things out in a more calm manor. The good news about this, as it relates to me, is that the Peace Corps is very on top of the situation and has the safety of their volunteers at top priority. This means that the current volunteers are all safe and it sounds like some are hidden away until it all gets better and those of us waiting to go are going to wait a little bit longer.
Having an extra month is a good thing I suppose, especially if it means a safer situation for me and my fellow volunteers. My thoughts while waiting to hear our fate were filled with just as many nerves about my dental paper work going through as they were about our departure date. Now that I've been through the ringer with all this dental stuff (really earning my stripes if you ask me) and feeling under pressure to make the deadlines, I feel some more relief that there's now more time for everything to get processed.
I'm also glad to have another month with Buttons and Boo (although Buttons has made several attempts to sit on the keyboard as I'm typing right now and is running my patience low-it's a good thing she's funny and cute and can get away with it), telephone conversations: fortune and glory kid, fortune and glory, hopefully time to get to camp and work on a project there, more time with family, and more time to put on a few more pounds as Vicky is quite concerned about my low weight holding me through two years of rice! It's nice to feel like I'm doing the right thing by eating doughnuts and cookies! So I'll be trying to keep busy for this next month. I would like to get a job, but as I told Chris last night, I don't want to not be able to visit with people in this month because of work because I'll have two years of that excuse.
I also think the delay is okay because I'm not sure if I was really ready for departure as planned. I'm not sure what it was, maybe because my teeth were still potentially going to delay me even more. But I'm sure by March I will be good to go. I feel like I need to do more reading and last minute learning. This will be good. BUT, I am tired of the snow.

Happiness is safety first.