27 months of Unknown-ness

I read something funny today. Want to know what it was? Okay, here it is:
A pessimist looks at a glass of water and says "that glass is half empty." An optimist looks at the same glass of water and says "that glass is half full." A Peace Corps volunteer looks at the same glass of water and says "hey! I could take a bath in that!"

I suppose that is as good an introduction as any to the twenty-seven months of my life starting July 2009. That seems a lifetime away, but I'm sure the time will fly by. So, yeah... I've signed up for the Peace Corps and they're (tentatively) sending me to West Africa. In preparation, I have to learn French. HA! Fantastic, right? I have to admit, I kinda did want to learn some French. And the PC is a great excuse to sign up for French classes.

So the way this works is: I have sent in my application, references, and initial health forms. Then I had a phone interview with a guy in the Atlanta offices. That went well and he recommended me for "water and sanitation extension" project in west Africa. Now, I have to get a full physical and have my doctor sign off on lots and lots and lots of stuff and my dentist too. Then, once that is finished, I can send that in and when it is all cleared, I will be put in the pool of people cleared and ready for take off. I have been recommended for a project in the west Africa region dealing with water and sanitation. This can take many forms. None of which will be revealed to me until I clear the medical and dental stages. But I will most likely be working with water pumps (installation, maintenance and such) and doing some sanitation and hygiene education. And since I'll be in Africa, HIV/AIDS education will come into the picture as well. Which is good, that's what I want.

So, hopefully, in July of 2009, I'll be heading off on 27 months of unknown-ness. This could get messy. But I can't help be overly excited about it all. I get to learn French! For now, anyway. Once I get to where I'm going, I'm sure I'll also have to learn another language - some sort of local dialect of some obscure language. And then the fun begins. They sent me a little book of inspirational stories of past volunteers. It's precious. Maybe at the end of my 27 months of unknown-ness I can write about knowing something. ;-}