And They're Off! Pt. 1

On the 8th I arrived for staging in Philadelphia and met the 20 other members of my volunteer group from all around the US (see below). Normally a group going to Nepal would be 40-60 members but we are the first group post-pandemic and things are slowly coming back to normal.

Friday the 9th was our first full day of training. We were led through studies and exercises that familiarized us with the Peace Corps tenets and expectations. Then the facilitator ran us through some reflections on ourselves and our journey together as a group. It was a good mix of discussions and group exercises - I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

 

 

 

The N208 Nepal volunteer group! Look at us, being all cute.

The evening was left to us to do what we wanted: tying up final preparations, packing, napping, and enjoying the last taste of the United States for a while. I decided that I wanted to watch Across the Spiderverse (it had just come out in theatres), so a few of us walked to the movies. We got there right on time and barely managed to get seats it was so full. Mid-showing blackout notwithstanding (it took about 10 minutes for staff to get it back), it was amazing, and gets a 4/5 from me. Afterwards we had a bite to eat, walked back to our hotel, and then did some final preparations before our travels later in the night.

That would come at 1:30am. We gathered in the hotel lobby for a send-off by our Peace Corps coordinator and were promptly picked up by a charter bus. We arrived at the airport around 3am but our flight didn't leave until 10 so we had to sit around waiting for 7 hours. We tried to keep ourselves occupied. It was a long morning.

 

To pass the time I played Mario Party with some other trainees. I lost. Not a great start to the airport stakeout.

Eventually we got on our first flight, which, as we found out, is one of the longest in the world - 19 hours - to Singapore. Our coordinator had seemed rather optimistic about our itinerary when she reviewed it with us and implied that we had gotten a pretty good deal with only two flights to reach our destination, Kathmandu. I am not sure that she was wrong, but I don't think many of us shared the sentiment in the moment.

 

 Me, too, Henry. Me too.

That said, I will say that our flight was really, really nice. Of all the airlines to be stuck with for 19 hours, Singapore Airlines is probably one of the ones you want. The seat was roomy and comfortable, the screens were large, and the service was impeccable. Aside from the one time I was granted a trans-Atlantic upgrade to business class on a whim, it's the best airline experience I've ever had. And they had complimentary instant noodle cups!!

 

TO BE CONTINUED...