I have finally made it to the last week of training but the fact that I am only days away from flying to Africa has not completely hit me yet.

Coming from the beautiful Pacific Northwest, East Texas has been quite the adjustment. In addition to being hot and sticky, seemingly all of nature and the environment is attempting to prevent people from thriving here. Upon my first arrival to campus I was given what I thought was a normal instruction booklet with the typical “need to know” information (Map of campus, Cafeteria Menu, Mail room hours, etc.). Upon closer inspection it should have been titled a “Texas Survival Manual”. A substantial portion of the booklet outlined how not to die during a normal day in Texas. It located the places on campus which had the lowest probability of death during a tornado. Warnings and descriptions were provided for several kinds of deadly spiders. A list of behavioral descriptions and visual identifiers were detailed for multiple types of venomous snakes found on campus. Lastly, a strong warning was issued in the booklet and repeated vigorously by the entire staff, “Always shake your shoes out for scorpions.” This was not stated as a warning but a certainty.

The heat and humidity should have been my first clue. I have found that during a short 5 minute walk across campus the heat and humidity inevitably lead to an existential imperative. I am struck with a sense of dread in knowing that I am slowly dying and if I were to be left stranded in this place I would cease to exist. God bless the people of Texas. It will actually be cooler in Senegal.

Other than the wonderful people I have met, the only redeeming quality I have been able to find about East Texas is the food and it almost makes up for the scorpions. I could be content for the rest of my life sustaining myself entirely off of Tex-Mex and slow cooked meats. Due to diabetes and cholesterol concerns my life would be significantly shorter but I am not yet convinced it would not be worth it.

The last few weeks of training have flown by. Overall it has been an enjoyable success. The training sessions have covered a variety of topics including self care, conflict resolution, team building activities, and cultural awareness, all of which I am certain I will call upon during my time overseas.

Outside of training, on the exceptionally rare occasion when it has not been 95+ degrees and 90% humidity we have enjoyed to outdoors playing ultimate frisbee, whiffle ball, and capture the flag.

I even had the opportunity to get away for a weekend to attend Steve & Amber’s wedding in Missoula!

We fly out Sunday, July 14th for Senegal. Once in Senegal we will have a 2-week field practice to give us a quick taste of life in Senegal. During this time we will work with a school doing some painting and renovation work. Following our field practice we will fly to the Canary Islands to board the ship while it is wrapping up the maintenance cycle. Our 4-day sail to Senegal is scheduled for Mid August.

All jokes aside East Texas has been great. The people here have been wonderful and I look forward to continuing to work with them from across the Atlantic.