Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Adventure Begins....

As most of you know, I'll be leaving in a little less than 3 weeks to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, Africa. I'm very excited, but pretty nervous too. Since I just received my official invite on August 5th, I've been scrambling to get all my paperwork in order. I had to apply for an official Peace Corps passport, write an aspiration statement, resume, fill out a million forms, etc. I find more things I need to do every day.

I've spent the last week shopping for all the things I'll need. Imagine packing for a two year camping trip, where you may or may not have running water and electricity, and may or may not be able to wear pants.... You can imagine my difficulty. Do you know how hard it is to find floor length skirts in St. Louis in August?!? Luckily, after A LOT of stores, I was able to find all the clothes I'll need. I also bought sleeping bag (a must, since training is in the mountains and Moroccan homes don't have central heating), and fleece everything. Thank goodness I was able to get in touch with a current PCV in Morocco, who gave me advice on what to bring. I'm sure I will need things I didn't bring, and bring things I don't use, but hopefully I guess fairly well.

I also got my official address for mail during training. I hear that getting mail is what keeps stressed out PCV sane, so please write! My address will change in December, when I am assigned to my permanent site, but until then, I can be found at

Anna Hermann, Trainee
s/c Corps de la Paix
2, rue Abou Marouane Essaadi
Agdal, Rabat 10100, MOROCCO

Less than 3 weeks! I can't believe it!!!