Site Visit

  I went on site visit this past week, and I think my site is a good fit for me. I'm a little nervous about it because very soon I will be about 4 hours away from most of the friends I have made during PST. (Pre-Service Training). However, the fact that I like my village so far helps. A large portion of Werda's population consists of youth and many are orphans, and the social work office I'll be based at works on meeting the needs of these children. There are also two schools in Werda, and it sounds like the clinic/ social work office are trying to get more involved with the youth in the community again, which is something I'm very passionate about so I'm glad that opportunity exists. I also really like my house. It is tiny, but it is cute and has electricity and running water. I can't wait to decorate it! I've never lived completely on my own. I've always had latest one roommate and have spent a lot of time living in apartments with multiple people so living completely on my own is going to be a big change. I think it will be good for me though. I will even be able to have internet set up at home, which I think will be helpful because I'll be able to stay in touch with family and friends from home as well as other volunteers who are further away. It is also not far from where I will be working and the bus, which is convenient. Also, there are ambulances that go into a larger village fairly often so shopping for food shouldn't be that difficult despite the 1.5 hour trip. The store I will be grocery shopping at even has vegetarian foods and boneless chicken! I'm looking forward to being able to cook for myself very much! I think my first meal will be an attempt at buffalo chicken.  I never thought that I would look forward to cooking so much. There are also some safe places to run in Werda, which was a relief to hear because I've been trying to get back into running and have been feeling better since I have. Something else that will help me adjust to change here is all of the media that I now have on my external hard drive. You can judge me all you want and make jokes about the ridiculousness of caring so much about having American media in a small, African village, but until you've lived in a foreign country, far from family and friends you can not understand the importance of having access to familiar things. I didn't expect electricity or running water, but since I am lucky enough to have these things, I am going to take advantage of them. Reminding myself of all of the positives of the situation helps to put my mind at ease and adds to my enthusiasm.