Arrival In Mad-a-who-ha!!! Mon Feb. 25

On Monday, we were instructed to call the PC Mad desk in Washington. We learned that all 32 new volunteers had arrived in-country safely. Corie at 22, and and one other girl are the youngest of their group. The oldest is early 30's. They were all safely at the training center in the high plateau area near Tana, which is good because 3 days earlier if you read the news, they had a severe typhoon hit Madagascar on the southern coast. It caused damage and 13 people died. The desk told me all the PC staff in that area were also safe and accounted for. **whew** Corie's first 3 months in training, she will live with a Malagasy family, eat breakfast with them and then attend classes until lunch which is typically a 2-hour break back at the home with the family. Afternoon means back to classes at the training center, a total of 3-5 hours daily language instructions and more classes 'til about 5pm. This happens 6 days a week for three months. She'll be frequently tested on Malagasy language and must pass proficiency tests before being sworn-in as an official Volunteer (rather than a trainee). Toward the end, she'll be interviewed repeatedly, then posted to an assignment! More as we hear word.

'Staging' in Wash DC, Feb 17-20

Corie called Tuesday, Feb. 19th, the night before she departed for Johannesburg, S. Africa. She was really excited about her time in DC. She arrived Sunday, 2/17 about 5pm, met another new trainee from Wash state at baggage claim, and they shared a taxi to their staging site, a Holiday Inn in Georgetown. They met up with a few more people and wandered Georgetown shops and restaurants, then hit the sack early as they planned to spend Monday am (Prez Day) on the Capitol mall before their first meeting at 2pm. They had a blast visiting the Natural History Museum, African Museum and a few monuments. She enjoyed the staging meetings and said it was great being with like-minded 'Nature Nerds' (her words) as they did many team-building and leadership touchy-feely/get-to-know-you type sessions. On Wednesday the plan was to get up at 5am, a few more meetings, then leave for the airport at noon for a 5pm depart for a 15-hour non-stop flight to Johannesburg. Spending Thursday night at a hotel near the Jo-burg airport where they were advised not to leave the premises due to high crime in the city. On Friday morning, they boarded another 4 hour flight to arrive in Madagascar.

Packing done...now get on the plane

Hi everybody...I'm Jim, Corie's dad. (my posts will be in blue!)

It's 5:30am on Sunday 2/17 and we just got back from the airport. Corie leaves at 6:30 to Seattle, then to DC, where she'll gather with the other 30 PC Madagascar Trainees for three days of 'staging' at a hotel in Georgetown. They get a night of free time in Georgetown, then dive into the staging on Monday morning. 3 days of that then depart on Thursday, 2/21 for a 15 hour direct flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. They will go through customs, stay overnight in Jo-burg and then a 4 hour flight to Antananarivo ("Tana" for short), Madagascar. *whew* jet-lag supreme! Cindy & I are so very proud of her. --more when we hear an update. stay tuned!

"commencing countdown, engines on..."

Yes, I did just quote a David Bowie song. (Extra points if you can tell me which one...love it!)

T-minus 15 days and counting. I'm ridiculously excited, but there are a couple minor things that make me slightly scared:
- Never been out of the country, and I'm going to the 4th most poverty-stricken nation in the world (so I've heard), and literally, about as far away from home as I could possibly go, without coming back around the other side of the globe (unless you count space travel)...can someone say, culture shock EXTREME! But that's kind of what I was going for anyways.
- I keep reading about these infamous madagascar bugs that lay eggs in your feet.
- I don't know any French, besides like, "bonjour" (is that even how it's spelled?), much less Malagasy...and I'm not particularly good at learning languages.

I was talking to a friend last night about life (so dramatic), and we were talking about how it's good to have long-term goals, but you can really only plan your next move because you never know what that choice will change in the overall direction of your life. All I know is that right now, joining the peace corps and going to madagascar is my next move. Who knows what doors it will open, and what I'll want to be doing after that. (But note to self: you like art. Do not forget that it makes you ridiculously happy).

When I talk about Peace Corps, people ask me if I'm scared. Sure, I'm scared... no one in their right mind wouldn't be scared in some way I think. Another thing people say very often is something along the lines of: "OH I wanted to do that too when I was your age, I wish I had done it." It's not so much about not being scared, it's about being scared and doing things anyways.

Ahhh! packing is driving me nutters. one pair of jeans for 27 months, when I go through them faster than a 5 year old wearing white? I have to start wearing skirts a lot? really?

Here is my address till May. Write to me! Trust me, I'm sure anything you have to talk about, even if it's just celeb gossip , will be more than welcomed simply because it'll be in english.

Corie Hinton
Bureau du Corps de la Paix
B.P. 12091
Post Zoom Ankorondrano
Antananarivo 101
Madagascar

Peace out homeskillets.