So, I have one month until I start training in Cameroon. Here’s a list of what I’ve been doing to get ready…

In terms of Peace Corps Business, I’ve:

• Mailed off my passport and my applications for my visa and my Peace Corps passport.
• E-mailed my aspiration statement and updated resume to Peace Corps Cameroon
• Faxed the Office of Medical Services an update about a prescription.
• Received my reimbursements for most of my medical expenses for my medical clearance. When I got the checks in the mail, I went, FREE MONEY!! WOOOO! But then I realized, Oh, yeah, I’ve already spent this money.
• Finally received information about staging in Philly! We got our itinerary and whatnot. We were also told that we were required to get the H1N1 vaccination. I didn’t bother getting it last year for a variety of reasons, but I went ahead and got vaccinated earlier in the summer after reading about it being required on some Peace Corps blogs. And since I intern at the local health department, I could easily get it, so I figured I might as well get it since I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be in Charlottesville for. (Though of course, I was worried that our group wouldn’t be required to get it…)

Getting mentally/intellectually ready:

• My title is “Community Health Educator.” So, I’ve continued to intern weekly for the local health department and at AIDS Services Group in order to learn about public health. (At ASG, the Director of HIV Prevention Services gave me a ton of materials that will be helpful.) And I’ve also been learning about community through working with Public Housing Association of Residents and Food Not Bombs.
• I’ve also been working on my French. And by “working on my French,” I mean, setting my Facebook settings to French and occasionally listening to the audio files provided by Peace Corps Cameroon (There are the typical phrases like “What’s your name?” But my favorite phrases are probably, “What are you doing under that table?” and “Should be go behind this building?” I’m sure those will be incredibly helpful phrases in Cameroon.) I also occasionally read “Google Actualités” (Google News in French – la sante, bien sur!)
• Reading and reading. After I finished my final for my Modern African History class, I went to my favorite library at UVA (Alderman, where  I spent way too much time yet somehow not enough) and checked out several books, including Peace Corps in Cameroon, Dialogue and the Interpretation of Illness: Conversations in a Cameroon Village, and Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle (the last book is a memoir by a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, but it’s absolutely amazing). Oh, and earlier, I read two other excellent memoirs, The Village Of Waiting by George Packer (Togo) and Nine Hills To Nambonkaha by Sarah Erdman (Cote d’Ivoire). And like every other Peace Corps applicant, I read The Insider’s Guide to the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go by Dillon Banerjee. I also read Nervous Conditions, a novel about a girl’s coming-of-age in Zimbabwe. My friend who had read it for an anthropology class recommended it to me. So good.
• Then, I went next door to Clemons Library and found a VHS titled, “Destination Cameroon!” produced by the Peace Corps Worldwide Schools Program in 1993! It was just a short 20 minute video, aimed towards children to show typical things that you might display (dancing, wild animals, students learning classroom, etc). I stayed at Clemons to watch it there on one of their VHS players. (I almost forgot to rewind in the end. Rewinding! Crazy!) I also figured that I might as well get the whole touristy view of Cameroon and got a “Travel Guide DVD,” an hour-long DVD about some tourist spots in Cameroon. One scene included a visit with a Peace Corps Volunteer. Woot. Later on, I watched another documentary on Cameroon, called, “Afrique, je te plumerai.” This one was much more serious and was focused on the history of Cameroon.

Also:

• I’ve been trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff. Granted, I’m not very good at this, since I’m a bit of a pack rat. But, I managed to donate a large bag full of clothes, shoes, and other items to Hope Community Center (a local day shelter) for their Christmas in July event. (Why you shouldn’t donate to Salvation Army)
• Working! I’ve been working this summer at the local gelato cafe. I also have a babysitting gig on Sundays at a church, in addition to the occasional random babysitting job. I’ve been trying to save up, because…
• …after a year of not buying very much at all, I started buying a ton of things – two pairs of Keen sandals, an Osprey internal frame backpack, a regular-sized North Face backpack, a North Face jacket, a digital camera, etc. It’s so crazy how much stuff I (think that I) need to live for two years in an area where people have lived for generations.