And I'm off!

I was up this morning at 4:10 to get ready! Luckily, I packed and re-packed three times yesterday so I was good to go this morning!

Me and my 77 lbs. of luggage (literally - and that's only the checked stuff) made it safely to the CVG airport. I kissed my parents good-bye and I was off!

Don't let this luggage fool you b/c it's spread out - the stuff on the left is 77 lbs. combined! And it all tips forward ... I think after Peace Corps, I'll design luggage that doesn't tip.

Now I'm at the Holiday Inn in the Historic District in Philadelphia. All the volunteers are here tonight for a 'staging event' and then tomorrow we get shots and head to JFK airport.

And, yeah, I realized when re-reading paperwork, we're taking a bus to JKF. I just assumed we were flying. I hope it's one big bus b/c there are around 22-25 of us and we all have lots of luggage!

For the last few weeks, I've been trying to make my rounds to see everyone. Despite the ridiculous snow storm in Cincinnati, I did get to see my friend Amanda.

Which, by the way, (and this may sound shallow - my apologies!), but be prepared to see lots of pictures of me without make-up. I am generally a girl who wears make-up, but I'm taking a brief hiatus from eyeshadow while I'm in Peace Corps : )

Amanda and me

And I also got to see Lisa and Kevin, yay!

Kevin and Lisa

Well, I think I'm going to find my way to the art museum. It's the one they used in Rocky where he ran up the steps. Pretty cool!

Casey : )

Holy! I'm going to be in South Africa in a week !

I'm getting so nervous, excited and everything inbetween that I'm going to be flying out on Monday to start this adventure! The frantic dreams are upon me!

I got more paperwork this week regarding the Pre-Service Training (PST) that we'll be doing in Marapyane in the Mpumalanga Province, north of Pretoria, the capital of South Africa.

In the paperwork, there's a sample agenda of a day during training. After breakfast with our respective host families, language training, orienting ourselves to the community by walking around, then there's this:

"13:00-13:30: Break fo lunch under a tree somewhere in the community." Aww : )

Then there's more language training, Asset-Based Community Mapping and then we go back to the host family for dinner. I'm so excited to get there and figure all this out!

In the meantime, there's a snowstorm going on in Cincinnati (and much of the Midwest and Northeast). I'm snowed-in just packing and organizing.

My parent's street blanketed with snow.

I had a lot of fun this weekend with a girl's night with some Cincinnati friends and Wenoka who came in from Ann Arbor.

Katie, Lesley, Winnie, Casey, Rhonda out for dinner & drinks.

Hopefully, if this weather clears up, I'll be able to see a few more friends and family members before leaving. Fingers crossed!

Thank you to my family and friends

I am incredibly grateful to my family and friends for making these last several weeks before departing for South Africa so fantastic!

I was able to perform with the improv troupe I was in when I was in Michigan, Generation Gap. It was so fun to play with the troupe one last time, or for awhile at least, at the new improv club, Go Comedy!

Which, by the way, you should totally visit the club if you live near Ferndale, MI. Check out http://www.gocomedy.net/. Support local business!

Generation Gap at Go Comedy!

Back Row: Peter, Gerald, Andrew, Amy's head, Casey, Charles

Front Row: Susan

(not pictured: Alan)

My fantastic parents threw a going-away party for me today and my family came as well as some close friends. My Aunt Polly and my cousin Marilyn helped make food and I played the Temba Africa CD that my best friend Lesley got me. (Which, I think my dad hated it ... the minute people left, he unplugged the CD player, haha.)

My good friend Katie and me

It was such a great afternoon! My sincerest thanks to my family and friends for being there and being fabulous. I love you all so much!

Much love,

Casey