Isn't It Strange How Relative Time Is?

June passed by in a blur. From my birthday to Independance Day seems to have only lasted two weeks. Here I am three weeks later and I feel like July's length has doubled. I'm sure it's because I know I'll be serving in the Peace Corps. I still have less than two months before I ship out. I kinda want to be at staging already (cause then things'll start rolling) but I still kinda want to stay here a little longer before I have to leave. I dunno, but I guess things will work out in the end.

I've officially accepted my invitation and have sent out my applications for a Government Passport (my personal one isn't good enough for some reason) and for a Tanzanian visa. I've also started learning Kiswahili (the more correct term for Swahili). The Volunteer handbook they sent me was kind of duh duh. Nothing new there except a good checklist and timeline sheet to help stay organized before departure. The Tanzanian Welcome Book had more interesting information about my host country; its culture, people, geography, history, and government. I also enjoyed the section on the cross cultural experiences for different groups of Americans. They had a section for female volunteers, older couples, volunteers from minority groups, and even us gays. But those two sources are all good and proper, but very limited in scope.

I've learned much more about my host country from my correspondence with a current PCV in Tanzania. I found him...well I guess to be more accurate, he found me. I posted my invitation on the lgbtafrica yahoo group and he responded answering many of my questions. It's usually a week between emails, but considering in the middle of Africa I think that's pretty good. He's been a great help, but his term of service ends in November and it seems (according to him) unlikely that we'll ever meet in person. That'll suck, but apparently there is a lot of support from the other volunteers so it's not so bad.

I'm so excited!