So right now I am chilling in my Peace Corps-subsidized Holiday Inn bed, complete with pillows labeled "soft" or "hard" so I don't have to actually feel them to decide which I want to use. I fully realize how much I should be enjoying this luxury. Tomorrow is staging, which is when all the people in my training group get together, turn in registration forms, have a brief orientation, then get a bunch of vaccinations en masse and fly off to Dakar. BUT - I can't write about staging right now, having not yet experienced it. Instead, a short recap of the last couple weeks, which I spent mostly in Europe and West Africa.
Europe was great. I got to bum around myself for a few days in London and Paris, then I met some good friends for adventures in Germany and Austria. London was rainy and I was jet lagged, which means I slept through most of it. I was so happy to be back in Paris (and it was sunny!) that I found myself grinning stupidly as I walked along my favorite stretches of the Seine, took pictures, and got a panini from that place across from Notre Dame where I once accidentally insulted the lady behind the counter, oops. Munich has always been a city attached to some favorite memories, and this time was no exception. Salzburg was absolutely beautiful - if you want my advice, go in the winter. I don't think it could be any prettier without a blanket of snow.
As for Africa, I visited Eric in Benin. Because I'm lazy, I'm going to link to the guest post I wrote on his blog, which sums up my experiences pretty well. But I will say that the trip was eye-opening and probably the best thing I could have done before heading off to West Africa myself. Instead of stepping off a cliff into the unknown in the next couple days and weeks, I sorta have an idea what to expect at the bottom, and I know I can handle it. I'm even kind of looking forward to going back.
http://newtoninafrica.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html
Til next time!
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