October 2006 Archives

Peace Corps asked me and Brian to represent Peace Corps Volunteers last Wednesday at a breakfast meeting with Ambassador Mark Dubyak, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator; Dr. Kent Hill, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Global Health, USAID; and U.S. Ambassador to Botswana Katherine Canavan. Dr. Hill and Ambassador Dubyak were touring Southern African countries that are receiving financial support from PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

Brian and I were both impressed at how engaged Dr. Hill and Ambassador Dubyak were. Schmoozing with big wigs is in our blood, especially after living in D.C. for four years. Unlike fundraisers where politicians are not necessarily interested in your spiel, however, Dr. Hill and Ambassador Dubyak were very interested in the work of PCVs. They asked us a lot of questions about our impressions on the challenges facing Botswana, cultural issues that may impact the spread of HIV, etc. What was most impressive, however, was how actively they listened to our arguments would follow-up with questions for clarification. That was like night and day from the events we attended in D.C.

So, just a public thanks (again) to our Peace Corps staff for the opportunity to attend the breakfast and represent PCVs in Botswana. We felt so honored. :) Above is a picture that was on the Global AIDS Coordinator website from the event.

We have finally returned from our vacation to Namibia. What a great trip. This time we traveled with three other volunteers from our training group: Jen Overley (there are two Jennifer’s in our training group, and they’re both Jen O’s so you have to refer to them by full last name), Jeff Blagg (from our Vic Falls trip) and Scott (as usual, he’s been on every major trip we’ve made.) Brian and I have both grown to enjoy traveling with a larger group in Peace Corps. It’s just more fun to share the experiences with people outside each other. :)

The two major highlights of our trip were: 1) skydiving and 2) Sossusvlei. Let’s talk about skydiving first. As you all know, we’ve already abseiled over 100 meters from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town and jumped off the edge of a cliff into the gorge at Vic Falls. Skydiving takes the cake. Before the trip just the idea of jumping out of a plane made my heart pound. First thing Tuesday morning the lodge we were staying in called Ground Rush Adventures to sign us up and they were there to pick us up by 10:00. No time to re-think it. The people at Ground Rush were incredibly professional and made me feel very comfortable from the beginning. After a very quick introduction we were dressed into suits, hooked into harnesses, practiced hanging out of the plane on the ground and then it was wheels up! I have to say that the scariest part of the entire experience was the guy who came up in the plane with us to do a “static line jump” (where your parachute is attached to the plane and opens automatically for you.) We’re in this itty bitty plane that sits only six people. All of a sudden the door opens and one of the guys from the plane isn’t with you anymore. You’re like “Holy crap! He just jumped out of a plane!” That was only at 3,500 feet, so we still had a ways to climb.

At 10,000 feet the other single jumper opens up the door and just falls right out of the plane. Again, it was like “Holy crap! He just jumped out of the plane!” But then you realize that it’s your turn. At that point you have no other choice but to trust your tandem master and do what he says. So I lean out the door, curl my legs under, put my head back on his chest and then … we are falling from 10,000 feet.

... having a great time.
... jumped from a plane at 10,000 feet today for skydiving.
... It was AWESOME!
... more when we get home :)