Thanksgiving in October

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.