Staging Materials

I woke up to a staging email from the Peace Corps this morning. Turns out I have to be in Los Angeles on October 4, not October 5 like I originally thought. I'm excited, but also sad to have one less day with my family.

I called Sato Travel to make flight arrangements to staging. I'll depart from Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 4 at 1:00pm, and will arrive in LAX at 2:05pm (02hrs 05 mins).
The email also includes:

• Samoa Reporting Instructions - This attachment has information on the hotel we will be staying at during staging, the staging event schedule, and the flight itinerary.
• On October 5, my group (Samoa Group 84) will depart from Los Angeles, California to Auckland, New Zealand (13hrs 00min). On October 7 (yes October 7. It's only a 4 hour layover, but because of the time change, we lose October 6 altogether) we depart from Auckland, New Zealand to Apia, Samoa (03hrs 40mins). Total, I'll be traveling for almost 19 hours! What a long journey it will take to get to Samoa!

• Instructions to Read the Welcome Book, Volunteer Handbook, and Peace Corps Approach to Safety and Security. I also have to complete the Pre-departure Online Security Orientation.

• Baggage Advisory - I'm allowed two checked bags. The baggage should not exceed 100 pounds total with a maximum weight allowance of 50 pounds for any one bag.

Hopefully two years of my life does not weigh more than 100 pounds!

At LAX, I'm planning on meeting two girls who are in my training group, and we will go to the hotel together. I'm so excited to finally meet the people who will be such a big part of my life for the next to years!

Only 24 days!

This just got so real!

With love,
Angelina