The Foreword

I am writing this first post with a mouth full of gauze while sitting on a comfortably modern piece of furniture in the living room of the condo my mother has rented out in Santa Barbara in order to help me get ready to leave. Yes, getting your wisdom teeth pulled sucks but I am sure it is nothing compared to some of the things I will be experiencing shortly. I mean I still get to eat Chocolate Peanut Butter swirled Haagen Daaz and the peanut butter smoothie I'm spooning into my mouth now. Come to think of it things are pretty comfortable right now.

Anyway, this blog, as stated in the description below the title, is about my 27 month journey in Senegal serving under the Peace Corps (PC). My official title with the PC is Sustainable Agriculture Extension Agent. What this exactly means, I am not sure. From what I've read/heard it could mean that I am planting, harvesting, and helping my village survive off the land or it could take on a more educational role. All I know is that I will have to assess what the village I am assigned to needs most by observing, listening, and experimenting with what satisfies both the people and the land.

Why I Joined the Peace Corps
Ever since I saw Angelica bullying Chucky on Rugrats I've had the need to be Tommy and help, teach, coach, or whatever in order to improve a person's situation. My first thought was to do this through soccer. I wanted to be a professional player who traveled and helped develop young players become professionals. I realized this dream was coming to an end when I broke my foot for the second time in a year during my college career. This is where Peace Corps came in.

Peace Corps gave me the opportunity to explore a new place, a new culture, a new life style, a new language, and be able to (hopefully) help better the lives of some people (and play soccer while doing it). In a sense PC is the total package for my life right now. Not too mention the excellent perks of completing your service.

My Preparation
Preparation for the PC has been tough with all the shots, hunting down doctors for signatures, getting my wisdom teeth pulled, and learning new languages. Only to arrive in Washington, DC on August 11th to receive more shots, pills, and other preventive medicine before starting the real journey in Senegal. Its been about a year long process and something I never really thought would go through. Yet, here I am starting to learn French with two less teeth in my mouth (fortunately I only had two upper wisdom teeth) and frantically trying to buy everything I may possibly need on my upcoming journey with out really knowing what my journey is.

Whatever my journey is I'm sure it'll be everything one can imagine and more.

P.S. I hope this wasn't too boring and that you'll continue to follow me on my journey through this blog or mail or email. Thanks.