My final day in
Santa Fe was perfect. I spent the day with my cousin Ashley and friend
Marcella, enjoying the weather that fall brings.
That evening my
family made a Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.
Missing that holiday by just a month is saddening, so to have my family go out
of their way to make me a special thanksgiving dinner, verifies how blessed I
am to have them.
That night I met
up with my friends Andrea, Gloria, Justin, and Felix. We hung out in the
downtown Santa Fe area, and later went to Dunkin Donuts, where we had a mini
dance session. Yes, we really danced. I already miss all the random moments we
seem to have.
The following
day was the day I left for staging in LA. I said my emotional goodbyes to my
mom, dad, two sisters, brother-in-law, and cousin. That was probably one of the
most difficult things I’ve ever done because saying goodbyes to people I love
is so hard. Luckily, my sister and niece had a vacation in LA, and ended up
booking the same as me. It was great to know that I had a few extra hours with
them.
While on the
flight, there was a young woman, Sarah, sitting next to my sister Jess. After
the two did some talking, it was reveled that the woman was also from New
Mexico, and was headed to staging at the same hotel! She had been placed in
Vanuatu (Samoa and Vanuatu had staging scheduled at the same time).
When we picked
up our luggage and wheeled it to LAX’s parking garage, I noticed that the wheel
on my duffle bag was about to pop off at any moment. I had a feeling that was
going to happen. After a few moments of freaking out, I decided that I would
buy another bag once we finished eating at In N Out. Luckily I had a few hours
to do this. My sister, her boyfriend, and Sarah were such good sports, not
complaining as we drove around the LA area looking for a reasonably priced bag,
and eventually ended up in Santa Monica, where I found what I was looking.
Sarah and I made it to the staging hotel with just minutes to spare. I
tearfully said my goodbyes to my sister and niece, quickly checked into the
hotel, dropped off my bags in my room, dressed into appropriate clothing, and
headed into the staging event. I think I handled my first Peace Corps crisis
well! And so did Sarah, since she was with me the entire time. It’s interesting
how you can connect with someone who was a complete stranger just hours before,
instantly feeling like you’ve been friends forever. That’s how it felt with
Sarah. I guess that goes with almost all Peace Corps volunteers—we are all
connected.
Staging was
great. I met the 12 volunteers in my Samoa group (Group 84), as well as the 30
people who are in the Vanuatu group. We turned in paperwork and were each given
a debit card that had $120, to cover the cost of food for that evening and the
following day. The next night we were back in LAX, eating our final meal in
America, which happened to be pizza, of course!
We flew with Air
New Zealand. For being a 13-hour flight, it was very comfortable.
There were about
80 movies to choose from, as well as TV shows and music. We were fed dinner and
breakfast. I must add that the food was great, too… I was pleasantly surprised
with how good the food was.
RANDOM FACT: Since we flew right over the international date line, October 6th is a date that did not exist for me! Samoa is 18 hours ahead of Santa Fe. Right now it is Wednesday evening, while it is Tuesday night back home.
We landed in
Auckland, New Zealand, and had about 30 minutes to change our clothing. At
staging we were told that we needed to look our best because media and Peace
Corps staff would be greeting us.
It felt very
surreal walking out of the plane, feeling the humid air, seeing the gorgeous
surroundings, and seeing a group of people who were there to greet us and gift
us with leis. I had been waiting for that moment for over a year. It felt so
unreal—I was expecting to wake up from my dream at any moment.
After we picked
up our bags, a few current Peace Corps Volunteers greeted us. One girl happened
to be someone who I had been in contact with through Facebook. It was awesome
to finally meet her.
A bus picked us
up, and transported us to the hotel we will be staying at for the rest of the
week. At the hotel the country director and other Peace Corps staff gave a
brief introduction and then we were fed dinner. Guess what my first meal in
Samoa was! It was PIZZA, and it tasted just like pizza back home.
Two days ago was
our Ava ceremony. The 13 of us wore matching lavalavas (a skirt), and each
recited a Samoan phrase. After that, we went to the area where the Peace Corps
office is located, and had our first day of training. Today was another
training session, and so will the next 9 weeks. We have a couple of tea breaks
throughout the day. Who would have thought that I would be drinking hot tea in
such humid weather? I am and it’s great.
Thanksgiving did
not end in Santa Fe. It continues in Samoa. I am so thankful to be given this
opportunity. I’m living in a beautiful country, while fulfilling my dream of
becoming a Peace Corps volunteer. I couldn’t be more grateful.