September 18, 2014

How does anyone expect us to pay attention when we will be discovering our site placement at the end of the day? I was anxious and excited throughout Setswana, my mind racing in a million directions while my eyes glanced over at the map of Botswana wondering where I will be for the next two years.

In general, I had a challenging time concentrating all day. We had a session on job assignment introductions and Mpho, our program manager, admitted his frustration with facilitating a session on site announcement day. He recognized that he would not get our full attention and that he was also looking forward to the great revelation in just a few short hours.

I averaged 30 glances at my watch ever 15 minutes. We reviewed the Peace Corps core expectations and our progress thus far. With a half hour to go, I though the last session would drag on and on, but it was the quickest part of my day. They facilitated a guided imagery session where we closed our eyes and reflected on our live before arriving in Botswana, motivation and inspiration for joining the Peace Corps, what our journey has been so far, what our time in Botswana will be, and where we see ourselves in five and ten years. This was an overwhelming amount to think about. I didn’t get the chance to think about anything except what I was leaving behind - my loving family, rewarding job, kind friends, and a warm home with a fiance, dog, electricity, and running water. My eyes began to water, but I had to remind myself that these things will all be there when I get back. I continued to remind myself that I came here to help children and better understand new cultures. I am here for a reason and wouldn’t change that for the world.

We ended the session by writing letters to ourselves that we will open and read in a year. We dropped them in a folder on our way into the multipurpose hall to discover our sites, finally! We sat in two rows with papers taped underneath the chairs revealing a number to determine what order we would go in. Sara and Isaac had numbers 12 and 13 on both sides of me, and I had 43. By the time we reached the 30s, the excitement was slowly fading and I just wanted to sneak a peak at the list.

I nervously (and very patiently) sat through 42 site announcements before practically running to the front of the room for my envelope. Inside I read a paper allowed that said “the harder you work, the luckier you will get in...” And then I pulled out my second little paper reading “Magoriapitse!” Wherever that is. I was ushered to the giant map of Botswana where Tiro pointed far south near the South African border. The next station was to pick up a packet of materials before getting snacks from the back of the room. Of course I would be one of the unlucky volunteers whose information packets has been misplaced. I was completely left in the dark, as the only thing I know about Magoriapitse is that it is a small dot on the map. Mysteries can be fun.