We will be staying the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, for ten days after we land in Ethiopia and then will take off a couple hours south for the next 12ish weeks of pre-service training where we will focus on learning the language (Amharic, Oromo or Tigrinya: depending on what region we will be serving in), safety, cultural norms and technical skills. We have heard from returned Peace Corps volunteers that the pre-service training is intense, studying from sun up to sun down, six days a week. We both look forward to the intensity and are so ready to get started.
So that is what we know thus far. Currently we are staying with our family in New York putting last minute details in place and soaking up the love. Our road trip from Colorado Springs to New York took us 17 days, through 16 states, almost 4000 miles, so many great people and beautiful places. We had a wonderful time enjoying our last month in the United States for a while and just chilling. We have finished the majority of our financial, legal arrangements, and completed our pre service shopping (we think), but we still need to actually pack our bags. Currently, all of our stuff is laid out all over my parents’ living room. Yes, we are procrastinating, but we will get it done by Saturday or Sunday.
If you feel like sending us a letter, or anything else we do have a mailing address until September in Ethiopia.
Sylvia Sedrak/Jimi Hummer
c/o Peace Corps Ethiopia
PO box 7788
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Other than that, we will have some access to internet, but will be very busy for the first three months. We are going to try hard to blog regularly to keep our friends and family posted, as well as, a journal for ourselves to help us document our service. So if you do not hear from us in a while, shoot us an email and whip us in shape. I know that with everything that will be going on, it will be difficult to sit down and document what is taking place, but it is an important personal goal, as well as a goal of our Peace Corps service. The next time we write to you, it will be from Ethiopia…bye bye for now.
Love and Peace,
Jimi and Sylvia