You know it's real when...

...a facebook group has been created for your PC group.

Last week a fellow October 2011 Mali volunteer created a facebook group for all of us heading off in a couple months.  While the blue packet was the official welcome to Peace Corps, this whole life experience didn't really hit home until I started seeing the faces of who I would be going through this process with.


I came away excited at the prospect of new friends, nervous about the lack of packing I have started, and researching the best type of "bug hut" I can buy.  It seems there are quite a few midwest folks in my group, which is comforting that hopefully, if I am in a desperate state of homesickness, I can hopefully have someone to talk Big Ten sports with.  Fingers crossed.

On the whole, I'm extremely nervous to take off.  I feel like I need one more day, one more meal, one more laugh with everyone I know.  To me, 2+ years doesn't sound that bad, but every time I tell someone how long I will be gone for and hear them gasp at the time commitment, it makes me doubt my understanding of time.