She is Off!

For weeks Geneva has been saying "Mom, you aren't going to cry when I leave, are you?" Yesterday we were standing outside of the airport terminal and the tears were falling from her cheeks past a long, flowing skirt and converse knock-off tennis shoes, onto the curb.

In a backpack over one shoulder and a rolly bag she had the necessities for 2 years beyond western civilization: a headlamp, four sports bras and 2 pair of quick-dry underwear. She carried an itouch, a digital camera and a Mac laptop so dated that its being stolen wouldn't be a great loss. A dozen lithium triple A batteries. A radio that could receive AM, FM and shortwave signals from the energy of a hand crank and the added features of a built in flashlight and siren.

All of sixty pounds included four books: a physics and calculus text, Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien and Ayn Rand's Fountainhead. "Right now I need reading that is unambiguous; heroes that have no doubts about what they are doing".

For weeks Geneva has refused to talk about any plans for me to come visit. "Mom, I just need to get there. I don't even want to think beyond that." As she hugged me tight and long, she said "I'll see you in seven months?" Peace Corps volunteers aren't allowed visitors for the first 3 months of training and the first 3 months of service.

"Don't worry, darling. I'll be in Dar Es Salaam when you arrive in three days, standing on the tarmac singing 'It's the first day of Peace Corp and the parents are watching.'"