Friday, June 27, 2008

The Post!

Hi everyone, I definitly won't be able to get to the internet for the next 8 weeks, so unfortunatly you will just have to wait to get information from me! The good news is that I have a mailing address, for information on that please contact my parents at dixie.trout@pearson.com and they will send it to you, or you can get it from facebook!

Africa is amazing, and unlike anything I thought it would be. I have mastered the squat (for use of the choo), become incredibly fond of rice, but not ugali (which is flour with a little water) and also very fond of every vegetable under the sun, all of which are sold here. This is a great place to come to visit (hint, hint)

I dont have a lot of time to relate stories, because I only have 5 minutes of internet time, but I will have plenty by the time I am out of training, I might even write them in Kiswahili! :)

Lots of love to all of you!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Arrived!

I have finally arrived in Tanzania and am now getting used to getting up early, using squat toilets, and getting vaccinations! Today we had to get our HUGE medical kit, which includes some in depth instructions for any medical malady that may hit (but with a special emphasis on diarrhea) and we also got internet access (though not much!) and picked up our passports. Its nice to have an easy day after all of the traveling...8 hours from DC to Frankfurt, then 50 minutes to Zurich, then 8 more hours to Naraobi and finally 1 hour to Dar es Salaam. Tomorrow is the day I am worried about, we have to get vaccinations for EVERYTHING, including rabies, Heps A and B, a new Flu shot, and many, many, more! More news to come soon, including pictures, once I get the feel for where I can use my camera! :)

Monday, June 9, 2008

First Day!

Well I'm excited to finally be getting started with the Peace Corps things, but also a little nervous as we spent a lot of today with quotes like these:

Some people say the glass is half empty, some say the glass is half full. Peace Corps Tanzania volunteers look at the glass and say "Look, I can take a shower".

A lot of the stuff we are learning is really interesting, like safety and security tips, I've already made the decision to sleep with my camera. ;)

More to come after day two, but I should point out that I crossed over from being an official invitee of the PC to an official trainee...so Wahoo for me (they say to celebrate the small accomplishments, so please feel free to be ecstatic on each baby step I take) ;)

Tuesday, June 3, 2008




I figured out how to post pictures. The whole blog thing is a LOT easier to use than I thought it would be. Anyway, pictures of the three of us graduating...first Paul in 1994 and now Gorm and I in 2008...now all the Gormley klan have ISU degrees! :)

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Getting Ready

So I'm getting ready to leave for Tanzania...and getting poorer by the minute! :) I have all of my stuff, but I'm still needing to collect all of my pictures and books and toys to take with me. Right now I just wanted to test out this whole blog thing...I'm going to post a couple of pictures of getting ready to leave soon...again just to test this whole blogging thing out.