Got the call today at work. Peace Corps is inviting me to teach environmental education in an as-yet-unnamed French-speaking country in Africa, departing in June. The paperwork is in the mail.

Been in a bit of a daze ever since.

Now you may commence telling me that I'm going to get AIDS.

4/25/2012 4:50:46 PM

Congrats. Hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful experience.

4/25/2012 4:51:42 PM

Actually, you already have it. That is why we are sending you to Africa.

4/25/2012 4:51:55 PM

Don't get teh Ebola

4/25/2012 4:52:45 PM

do they have the wolf web in africa???

4/25/2012 4:52:49 PM

congrats man, really cool

what an adventure!

4/25/2012 4:52:55 PM

I had a dream that i was killed by african cannibals, so please be careful.

4/25/2012 4:52:57 PM

That's awesome. I have friends who moved recently to rural Nigeria, and they still get intermittent internet access. If you've got internet while you're there, you'll have to post updates and pictures of your safaris and side trips.

4/25/2012 4:54:32 PM

if this happened to me I would view it as a punishment

4/25/2012 4:54:55 PM

Cross your fingers for Madagascar or the Ivory Coast

4/25/2012 4:55:04 PM

You're going to come back addicted to khat

4/25/2012 4:55:19 PM

Hey dyne used the word cannibals! Maybe Beethoven will write him a letter.

4/25/2012 4:56:02 PM

you can be the TWW African correspondant

4/25/2012 4:56:47 PM

itt Slave Famous once again proves he lacks reading comprehension skills.

[Edited on April 25, 2012 at 4:58 PM. Reason : ^And I like that idea. Kind of like an African 1985 we can live vicariously through.]

4/25/2012 4:57:29 PM

sounds like fun

4/25/2012 4:58:45 PM

Just admit you wanted credit for using a word that should already be in every college graduates vernacular.

4/25/2012 5:00:34 PM

^^^Heh, I know 1985 personally and have long mocked him for his travels. Oh the irony...

Based on the unofficial recon by other Peace Corps folks, it looks very strongly like I'll be going to Benin. That's awesome for a couple of reasons -- one, not as likely to die, two, it's one skinny-ass Togo away from Ghana, where my dad served forty years ago.

[Edited on April 25, 2012 at 5:02 PM. Reason : ]

4/25/2012 5:01:08 PM

Nice. Throw down some acarajé for me.

4/25/2012 5:02:54 PM

I have two friends that just finished their two years with the peace corps in Madagascar. Good luck man.

4/25/2012 5:06:53 PM

haha, something about the way you said that sounded ominous...

4/25/2012 5:07:21 PM

^^^^Try to get in good with the Nigerian scammers

I heard they sometimes go to Benin to avoid suspicion from their marks

4/25/2012 5:11:03 PM

I saw this movie once about killer apes set in Africa called "Congo". Watch out for killer apes.

4/25/2012 5:11:27 PM

I'll be sure to do that.

Also funny is how many people have talked about the threat posed by big animals, including one coworker who apparently thought tigers were indigenous to Africa. Even if they were, it's the small ones that worry me. Mosquitoes and tsetse flies in particular, then working down in size to amoebas.

4/25/2012 5:15:59 PM

grats dude, should be a hella good experience. i wish i had the balls to spend ~30 months doing something like that.

4/25/2012 5:16:03 PM

Quote :

"Now you may commence telling me that I'm going to get AIDS."

You gonna get AIDS sliced up by machetes.

4/25/2012 5:22:56 PM

maybe you can help name this French-speaking country

4/25/2012 5:24:12 PM

Heh; I guess it was ominous.

I know they enjoyed their time there immensely. But I also know they were counting down the days they were to get the fuck outta dodge. Their cab ride stories (busses crammed to the top, even with people riding on top, and usually a few chickens or small livestock) were hilarious. They witnessed a marriage ritual involving the slaughter of a bull (video was awesome). They did a lot of great work (most memorable for me following their regular Facebook updates was their volunteer at the hospital that performs cleft palate surgery). They had free time to travel, but they did a lot of work too. It was difficult to help the people who were weary of their presence (and would voice it or act on it) in the first place. I know they struggled with that a lot.

If I can find the blog they posted of a person's description of life in the peace corps, I'll post it up for ya. They said it was spot on.

4/25/2012 5:24:57 PM

^^They won't tell you over the phone where you're going. I don't know why. The paperwork will specify which one next week, but the safe money is on Benin -- it's the only program to French-speaking Africa that leaves at the end of June.

^I'll enjoy reading it. My cousin is serving in Georgia now and my dad was in decades ago, so I've heard a lot. I've also been reading intensively on the subject lately for obvious reasons.

[Edited on April 25, 2012 at 5:27 PM. Reason : ]

4/25/2012 5:26:56 PM

GarveyGOP

[Edited on April 25, 2012 at 5:29 PM. Reason : MarcusGrumpy]

4/25/2012 5:29:01 PM

You gonna piss off a lot of people telling them they can't piss and shit in their drinking water and throw shit wherever they please

4/25/2012 5:31:03 PM

^^As of my voter registry yesterday, it really should be GarveyIND. (Although I still don't get the joke)

4/25/2012 5:32:10 PM

Kony is going to ass rape you then force you into slavery...have fun.

4/25/2012 5:32:30 PM

Quote :

"You gonna piss off a lot of people telling them they can't piss and shit in their drinking water and throw shit wherever they please"

Ain't that the truth.

4/25/2012 5:33:37 PM

4/25/2012 5:37:39 PM

Quote :

"if this happened to me I would view it as a punishment"

4/25/2012 5:39:23 PM

My friend did Peace Corp in Madagascar but got emergency evacuated when their government imploded.

4/25/2012 5:49:47 PM

Will you send me some blood diamonds?

4/25/2012 5:50:42 PM

What exactly do you think "environmental education" entails?

[Edited on April 25, 2012 at 5:54 PM. Reason : also Good Luck!]

4/25/2012 5:53:16 PM

From the PC website, I might:

Teach in elementary and secondary schools and provide environmental education to youth groups and individuals outside school settings
Oversee organizational development of environmental groups
Promote sustainable use of land- or marine-based resources
Develop and promote community-based ecotourism and other income-generating activities for communities living near protected areas
Teach soil conservation, forestry, and vegetable gardening practices

Based on the hints she dropped, I suspect it will be school-focused.

4/25/2012 5:57:42 PM

damnit so jeal

4/25/2012 6:00:57 PM

Tell my ancestors i said hi

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

4/25/2012 6:02:01 PM

We lived in the Ivory Coast for a year in 92. I wish I would've been a little older but from what I remember it was a cool experience. Good luck

4/25/2012 6:06:08 PM

Want me to loan you a shortwave radio to take with you?

Safe travels dude...make it back safe!

4/25/2012 6:06:52 PM

OMG!!!! Congrats?

I really wanted to go at one point.

4/25/2012 6:09:55 PM

Quote :

"You gonna piss off a lot of people telling them they can't piss and shit in their drinking water and throw shit wherever they please"

So basically, it sounds like he'd be talking to the Republican party in this country...

4/25/2012 6:25:33 PM

^that might be a sick burn to conservatives...if it made any sense

4/25/2012 6:26:56 PM

Quote :

"if this happened to me I would view it as a punishment"

[Edited on April 25, 2012 at 7:21 PM. Reason : ]

4/25/2012 7:13:51 PM

Won't someone please think of the children?

4/25/2012 7:17:41 PM

Have fun!

4/25/2012 7:19:19 PM

Quote :

"Want me to loan you a shortwave radio to take with you?"

Actually, I really need to get one of those, pronto. I enjoy the giant, ancient, vacuum tube one we have here at the house, but a more portable one will be an absolute must.

At some point in the near future I will probably solicit donations of used items that might be of use from TWW. Or, if not donations, cheap sales.

4/25/2012 7:52:57 PM