I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday at about noon. I looked all over for Meghan, another volunteer who was supposed to be arriving at the same time, but I could not find here anywhere. After a bit of airport hassle I climbed into the shuttle bus to the hotel where I actually met another volunteer named Sally. I checked in and went to my room where I met my temporary roomate Wes from Tennessee, who is also a volunteer. Yesterday was a business casual meeting with a few silly ice breaker games that actually did the trick in bringing us all together. I felt an instant repore with my team, which is good because they will be my eyes and ears for the next 27 months. Most of my team is involved in Information Technology/Capacity Building, which is a fancy way of saying that they help with the development and utilization of computers which are accessible to the public (libraries, schools and such). Me and a volunteer named Molly and the two music volunteers. Molly is involved with vocal music while I'm instrumental. I believe that in a few months one of us will be sent to Savai'i, the bigger more rural island, while the other will stay in Upolu near the capital Apia.
The vibe here is excellent. Everyone is very excited and it doesn't feel like anybody is exceptionally nervous. Our conference yesterday was long but we were laughing the entire time. All sixteen of us come from different states and backgrounds. I believe that the youngest volunteer is 22, while there are two volunteers in their 50's and another who is 40-something. We went over safety and all that hoopla yesterday while mostly being educated on how not to be eaten by sharks or pickpocketed in Apia. The cool thing about our group is that more than half of us are musicians. Another volunteer, Dylan, brought his guitar and I believe that someone brought a keyboard of some sort. Our futures are very exciting at this point and everyone seems to be on the same page. After our conference we were given debit cards with 140 dollars which we promptly took to a sports bar and dropped a total of something like 350 dollars. Word on the streets is that when we arrive in Samoa tomorrow morning another group of volunteers who has been there for a year has secret plans to kidnap us and get us wasted, like a breaking in.
Today we have a full day of conferencing. Tonight at 10 we board a non-stop flight to Apia, Samoa (pronounced a-PEE-ah, SAH-moa by the way) and we will arrive at 5:45 AM on the sunrise side of the island which is bound to be beautiful. I cant way to see the ocean from a tiny island. In Samoa there are two main islands each of which are only about 20 x 20 miles or so and they are located in the South Pacific. I'm not sure how long it will be until I can write another post but when I do it will surely be about a mile long.
I want to say thank you to all my friends and family who have supported me. Your heartfelt goodbyes did not go unnoticed and I miss all of you very much. I am about to face one of the greatest challenges of my life and without your support I dont know if this could be possible.
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