Staging!!

Staging was set to take place in Philadelphia at the Holiday Inn Hotel on Arch Street. My plane left Tampa at 12pm and I arrived at around 3pm. I took a shuttle to the hotel, which was about 20min away. After I unpacked my bags I went down stairs to check in. We all received $120 for the next two days. This was to be spent on food and as a reimbursement for travel.
I met some of my peers in the lobby. What lead me to believe these were fellow PCV's was the number of bags by their side. They all decided to go out for the night and blow some money. Me on the other hand, I had more phone calls to make, I can socialize while in Africa when phone and internet are unavailable. This is when I think it finally started to hit me that I was going away for a LONG TIME. I was not worried about the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin or Independence Hall, all things that I have never had the opportunity to enjoy. “I am usually the guy taking pictures”. I did enjoy a Philly Cheese Steak though.
July 13th , 7am the 1st official day of staging. I knew what I was up against, a long day of paperwork and information. Before that we had to MARCH 2 blocks to the clinic in the rain to receive the Yellow Fever vaccine. Yes, in the RAIN!! After the shot we were allowed to roam the city until 1pm. It rained the entire time. From 1pm-7pm we engaged in a series of icebreakers, team building and Peace Corps history lessons. After our 6 hours informational session a group went out for one last night of fun. This is when I really started SWEATING. “ What am I doing, am I really going to South Africa?” New friends, new family and a new way of life am I ready for this? I think this was when I really started to loose my mind. Once you become accustom to a certain way of life a change can either be a great thing or a train-wreck. I knew one thing; I was not about to go out when we had to wake up the next morning at 2am. I decided to take a 2 hours shower, repack and call friends and family one last time. I WAS ALREADY HOME-SICK.

July 14th , We rose up at 2am because we had to catch a chartered bus to JFK. I don’t know why we had to stage in Philly and then drive 3 hours. We arrived at JFK around 5:30am and the check-in counter did not open till 7:30.
After check-in and waiting till 11:00am, we finally boarded, South Africa Airlines flight 0204.



By this time I was kinda out of it. Why am I here? Should I call my mom to come pick me up? South Africa are you serious!?!?? Up until about last weak I was SCREAMING South Africa!!! Telling everyone that they are missing out and that they should consider signing up with Peace Corps. haha. This part was probably the hardest. At that moment I remembered back to the airport in Tampa when I hugged my mother and she began to cry… That was probably the worst feeling ever. I know those were tears of joy but who wants to see their mom cry. I’m teering up as I type this.
I did make a call to my friend Vern and asked him

“Do you think I should just come home?”
His response,
“You are going home Randall!”