"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears." — Glenn Clark
As I sit at John F. Kennedy International Airport watching the ground crew load the plane outside the window with baggage and fuel. Conflicting emotions rush inside of me; in a few hours I will board a one-way flight to East Africa to start my journey as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. The day is finally upon me. My bags are stuffed to the fullest (100Ib seem so little when you have to pack two years of your life). This moment is the culmination of a year of anticipation and the realization of my dream to contribute efforts toward improving the world –to find the purpose for myself while working and living in a country that will claim my body for the next 27 months. A country full of magnificent culture, language, sunrises and sunsets as well as challenges and barriers. My brief but powerful scare attack earlier gave way to acceptance as I sat at my gate –with 35 other like-minded volunteers, all impatiently waiting. Nervous and uncertain about what the upcoming two years have in store.
I have not been able to gain access to the Internet the first few days when I arrived to Dar es Salaam. We are staying at a compound in the city for 7 days. Since we arrived it has been all orientation, (more) vaccinations, procedures, medical information and tea. Lots and lots of tea. It is amazing how just 24 hours ago I was meeting fellow trainees for the first time, bonding over conversations, coffee and exchanging aspirations and insecurities. Now, we are half way across the world preparing to train for Peace Corps service. My family for the next two years. We are preparing to begin our ten weeks of intensive in-country training in Muheza, a small town three hours north of Dar where trainees will learn the language, program-orientated skills, and complete cultural immersion living and working with a Tanzanian host family.
During this journey in Tanzania I am motivated to maintain video blogging to share my experiences with family and friends back in the states. I still do not feel completely comfortable with video blogging and I have no certainty of how easily I will be able to access the internet, but inshAllah (God-willing) I'll do my best to keep everyone updated. You can find me: YouTube, Instagram. Check back often!