Expectations

I think it's an understatement that I tend to be easy-going. In general, I don't go into a situation with too much anticipation. Instead I just take things as they come, with very few expectations. I guess I find it's easier to just react to what happens than to make often incorrect assumptions about what will happen. Having said that, with something as big as a two year commitment in the Peace Corps, I do have a few expectations.

The next few months are going to be extremely challenging. I am going to learn a languange I have so far had no exposure to, and I'm going to need to gain a high level of fluency. I'm also going to be living with a family, which overall is going to make things a lot easier, but I'm hoping that it won't be too much of a difficulty for them. I know that this will be a tough adjustment for them, though, and I hope I'm easy enough to live with. I think I am up to the task of adapting to life over there, but I imagine it will at times be frustrating. As I've said before, I think teaching will be hard for me as well. I'm going to go in with extremely limited training. It'd be nice if I could student teach for awhile, but no such luck. Teaching will I think bring my toughest challenging.

If my time in Scotland is any indication, after three months or so it'll really start to feel like home. I'll have friends, know my way around, and really feel like part of the community. I'll settle in to life there and it won't be much stranger than my life in Charlotte. As for the details of what this life will be like, that's anyone's guess.

I'm also expecting a beautiful country that will give me a lot of great travelling opportunities. There is so much I'd love to see in Africa, but there is so much to see in Tanzania alone that I may not leave that country. I am going to see some amazing landscapes unlike any I've seen before and all the famous African wildlife. The more I think about it, the more I think that I'm very lucky to get this assignment.

In the coming months we'll if I'm right about any of this. The next week will probably be a frenzy of preparation. Hopefully I'm right that there will not be any panic. One more thing, my address for while I'm in training is:

Andrew Clark (trainee)
Peace Corps Training Site
PO Box 9123
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The mail will mean a lot to me, so write! My email address is available on my user profile.