The Plan so far
Posted By Sika on December 10, 2006
I will be going here for the Peace Corps. My current plan is to throw myself a going away/birthday party (probably January 6th or 13th), get a storage pod around then, finish packing up by January 20th-ish and leave for Costa Rica shortly after (hence my birthday party being over a month early 
). I’ll be back from Costa Rica in time for Norwescon.
Then, shortly after Norwes, I’ll start my roadtrip (Eastern Washington will probably happen before Norwes, but possibly after). My plans for the roadrip are drive down to Ashland and then the Bay Area and then LA and then Las Vegas (for our Sooper Sekrit fun there) and then (possibly to Salt Lake City and if not straight) to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Depending on how it’s going for time, I’ll either head on to Tennessee to see a family friend or head straight to Detroit to see my nephew. Then on to Chicago to drop off my car with my dad. I’ll know by then whether I’m supposed to meet up in Washington, D.C. or Philadelphia on May 28th. Then, on June 1st, I fly to Malawi. I’ll be back at the end of July, 2009. Isn’t that crazy?
Anybody who wants to join me for part of the road trip is welcome–Shannon’s already going to do a lot of it with me, and at least a couple of other people are going to meet me for the Disneyland/Sooper Sekrit Vegas Extravaganza section of the trip, but there is still room in the car for more people at any stage of the trip.
Part of the point of Peace Corps is to exchange cultures, and since all of my friends are independently wealthy, I am expecting all of y’all to come visit me.
Jessica Holman, PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 208
Lilongwe, Malawi
Air mail takes 3-6 weeks to get to and from Malawi, surface mail up to 6 months. I will have more tips on packages and such later (although I’ve heard that it’s a good idea to put “feminine hygiene” on any packages to discourage tampering.)
I’ll hear about where I’m going after training sometime in July. I will probably have internet access to update my address then, although that’s not guaranteed. My planned forms of communication are writing letters, updating Livejournal, and probably an email list–in that order. However, I am going to have to friends lock (Nessa, do you know where I can get a hold of a pretty friends only banner?) my LJ in order to not worry about breaking the PC blogging rules or accidentally impairing my efficacy if someone I’m going to work with in Malawi reads it. That means that if you’re not on my friends list, and you want to follow everything from LJ, you need to get an account and/or add me as a friend so I know to add you back.
I’m just excited right now, although I can feel some of the ways in which I’m going to be homesick later. I’ve been noticing how unbelievably gorgeous the mountains and the water and the trees are around here, and I know that Malawi will astound me in an entirely different way. I’ve been lax on sending my cats to their proposed new home for a trial run since I’m not really ready to be without them yet. I’ve been taking lots of very hot, very long baths. I have a feeling though that what will actually make me homesick is stuff I haven’t even noticed enough to miss.
, if you’ve got any tips for things to know, or my aspiration statement (damn, that thing is intimidating) please let me know.
Wow holy crap dude woooot yeah mighty world traveller stuffs!
Okay!
Jessica- I cry reading this- how amazing, courageous, human, inspiring- you are. I love you and I am soooooooo happy you will be coming to Prescott and the Grand Canyon! Malawi- here “we” come.
I love you- Aunt “Honey” Lizi
p.s will you prefer us writing to you on this, rather than your email address or perhaps both?
“Part of the point of Peace Corps is to exchange cultures, and since all of my friends are independently wealthy, I am expecting all of y’all to come visit me.”
Dude, I think Africa would be begging to exchange back to their own culture if you had all of us converge on to the landscape. heh heh. Don’t we Americans have some sort of agreement to “No cruel or unusual punishment” or something?
I’ll be sure to send you lots of tampons and pads. Don’t wear them until you figure out if I’ve stuffed them with gifts! Maybe, if you’re good, I’ll leave a note to warn you about that. hee
I’ve got a few places in the US I have to go to for my new project. If they’re places near where you’re going on your road trip, maybe we can hook up! w00t!
You can come visit me in Eastern Washington.
I wish you the best of luck with your adventures, it sounds new, big, exciting, and frightening all at the same time. I really do wish you the best of luck, and lemme know if you ever need anything!