Reilly in Zambia

Hello from Johannesburg!

To say that the last 24 hours have been a whirlwind would be an understatment. It’s been a flurry of excitement, some anxiety, and making sure everyobdy has what they need. Imagine trying to lug your just-under-100 pounds of checked luggage, plus your carry-ons, onto a bus, off the bus, into the airport, and checking it through to your final destination, while ensuring that all of your buddies have their things too.

Here’s a timeline of my last day and a half:

1:45 AM: Wake up, get dressed for the trip, and make sure I have all of my things together.

2:30 AM: Check out of the hotel, flooding the lobby with 70 people and their luggage to last 2 years.

3:00 AM: Load and board the bus that will take us to JFK Airport.

5:30 AM: Arrive at the airport. Since our airline isn’t open yet, we all wait in the open area with all of our things. Picture a huge, sleepy group of people excited for the next adventure sprawled out on the ground.

7:30 AM: We can finally check in for our flights and rid ourselves of most of our luggage for a while! Some faced weight challenges or packed prohibited items, so they had to scramble to re-arrange suitcases and backpacks or say goodbye to nice sunscreen and dry shampoo. I slid right into home base being just 2 pounds below the cumulative weight limit.

9:30 AM: We finally passed through the world’s longest and slowest security line. We piled into our gate, making final phone calls and FaceTimes for a while. My new friend Yvette and I sat down to have breakfast before going to the gate.

11:15 AM: I board the plane!!! I’m so excited and eager to get to my seat and be on my way to my dreams. I (luckily) have an aisle seat for the 15-hour flight.

12:30 PM: Hurry up and wait. The plane has taken off, my in-flight TV doesn’t work, so I watch movies and read from my tablet. I sleep for much of the night, but took some walking breaks when I felt my body tightening up.

8:30 AM (today): We land! Note that from California, this is a 9-hour time difference (6 from Philadelphia, where I had spent and adjusted to the time zime for a couple of days). So far I don’t feel jet-lagged, and it makes sense to my body for it to be morning.

After de-planing, we go through a passport check and another security check before heading to our gate for our 2-hour flight to Lusaka, Zambia. We don’t board for another 2 hours or so, so we have plenty of time to wait around.

When we land around 4 PM in Zambia, we will be greeted by much of the Peace Corps Zambia staff and transported to our next stop for the next few days. I’m so eager to get there and dive into Pre-Service Training (PST, the 3-month language and technical skills training we recieve before heading to our post).

Nothing too crazy or poinant to report today, but just wanted to update everybody all on my journey so far. Almost there!!

My Life in 140 Pounds or Less

Lesson learned: Do NOT try to start packing the week before you move 10,000 miles away.

I did it! I’m all packed and ready to go, with no time at all to spare. Tomorrow is the big day: I head to Philadelphia in the morning, where I will have my orientation with the rest of my cohort before flying off to Zambia.

Let me tell you, packing for the Peace Corps is no small feat. First the gear was shopped for. My dad and I pored through reviews and blogs, consulted experts at stores, and compiled ever-changing lists of the things we thought I’d need. After I (finally) got my legal clearance, we went into a manic state wherein we purchased everything. Clothes came together in a much less organized manner, buying a few things here and a few things there.

In my last post, I mentioned my party but I didn’t mention the absolute gift of having so many friends and family in town for about a week to visit and fill up my heart before I go. We spent the week soaking in the best of Sonoma county….which meant that I wasn’t focused on packing up my life.

With everyone on the next leg of their trip or back home by Thursday, I finally had the time to dig in and really get started. As all my new goodies arrived, we tossed them into the back room until it was time to get them into suitcases. Yesterday, I went to Safeway and picked up some spices and snacks that will help me (a very picky eater) get accustomed to a new cuisine and have a taste of home with me.

I’ll be honest with you all, I had a couple of meltdowns in the past 3 days. From having to run out to Costco for a bigger suitcase because mine was smaller than I anticipated (Thanks/Sorry, Mom and Dad!), to having the same suitcase be 15 pounds over the limit and having to re-arrange and pare down, to just feeling totally overwhelmed knowing that I should have been done with this a week ago. The tears are gone now, and what I have left is a sight to behold: my life in 140 pounds or less.

I have a huge suitcase that holds my clothes, shoes, and some gear. Into a large blue duffel bag I have my hiking pack filled to the brim with gear, my bike panniers, and a few loose ends. My carry-ons are a day pack and roll-on suitcase with essential clothes and gear to hold me over until I’m a bit more stationary in about a week.

Should I have finished packing a week ago and not 16 hours before moving? Yes. Would it have prevented meltdowns and tears and exhaustion? Yes. Are my parents absolute angels for not getting frustrated with me about this procrastination and instead very loving and helpful? Yes. Was it really cool when I was writing out my luggage tags and got to write: “Reilly Briggs, US Peace Corps”? YES! Am I tired? YES! Am I done packing? YES! Am I excited beyond belief?! I think you know where I’m headed with that one.

Sent off in Style

Tacos, popsicles, and all of my favorite people

Last weekend, some of the most important and influential people in my life came together to celebrate two of the biggest accomplishments of my life: college graduation and joining the Peace Corps. This group included extended family, close friends, friends from out of the country, mentors, managers from work, and even the royal family (If you know, you know). Having this group of people together in my backyard was so special to me.

We had lots of Korean-style tacos, wine, gourmet popsicles, more wine, and tons of laughter (ok, and some tears too) filling the backyard throughout the evening, and my heart is overflowing with gratitude. To be able to see the support around me, to feel the love, and to know that all of these people are in my corner meant the world to me before moving across the world.

Rather than talk about it, I think I’ll just share some photos from the evening and let the pictures speak for themselves. Notice how I’m laughing in most of them? Enjoy!

The Beehive 5 (Yes, as a family we DO have a team name)
Me’n’my guy, Alex 🙂
Even our dear family friends from England came for the party!
Me and my aunt Jeannie
The Gearing twins (plus one)
Me Alex, and his amazing parents Laura and Denny
The Gearings!
Me, my mama, and the Aunties
See? Told you there was a lot of wine at this shindig.
Almost the whole Briggs family! (Grandma and Grandpa were on vacation.)
Claire!!!!! One of my only friends from high school.

Two Week Jitters

“What if (insert horrible disaster) happens?” My answer: “I DON’T KNOW YET!”

With just two and a half weeks left to departure and packing well underway, I can’t help but feel the jitters that are synonymous with new adventures. These jitters, similar to butterflies in your stomach (but a bit more gut-wrenching), come with any new experience for which I am equal parts thrilled and terrified. With just two and a half weeks left to departure, what was originally a dream is now a dream coming true, the concept is reality, and there’s no stopping this train.

Much of this comes from the unknown, and from the questions that people ask that I just don’t have answers for yet: “What part of the country will you be living in?” “How close will you be to a hospital?” “What if (insert horrible disaster) happens?” My answer (as politely as possible): “I DON’T KNOW YET!”

Daily, the “what ifs” swirl around my head: What if I’m not prepared? What if I can’t do it? What if I fail? What if I get hurt? What if I forget to pack the solar panel? What if I make a cultural faux pas? What if? What if? What if?

I’m lucky to have many people in my life who tell me, “Reilly, what if NOTHING? You are spiraling and being dramatic and you will be just fine.”

Surely, I can’t be the only PCV who’s ever been completely terrified to go. Looking at it objectively, it seems a little bonkers to sweep your life into a suitcase and backpack, pick up and move 10,000 miles away, and settle into a plumbing- and electricity-free mud hut for the next two years. But PCVs share a common thread: we have a desire to leave the world better than we found it, to change not the world but people in the world, to expand our worldview, and to use our servant hearts to learn from others. When I spiral into the what-ifs, it’s easy to get mad at myself for leaving everything I know and everyone I love, but then I think about my life’s greater mission: to serve and empower others. Those five words quiet the what-ifs, slow the spiral, and help me reign this crazy decision back into perspective.

People move, travel, see the world, live in rugged conditions, learn new languages, and challenge themselves all the time. I have to remind myself that I wouldn’t have put myself out there and applied if I wasn’t ready to put myself out there and respond to the call.

I’m trying every day to re-frame the what-ifs…”What if I’m not prepared…What if I learn how to improvise and think on my feet?” “What if I fail…What if I gain the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and try again?” “What if I get hurt…What if I practice my first aid skills and a bit of resiliency?” “What if I expand my world?” “What if I help a community make a sustainable difference?” “What if I make new bonds that will last a lifetime?” “What if my dream comes true?”

In other words, Peace Corps prep isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. If this post feels a little negative to you, please remember that I am striving to be transparent and honest about my experiences!

PCVs and soon-to-depart PCVs, I can’t be the only one who’s felt like this, right? Family and friends, comment below with a what-if you want to ask me, and then try to re-frame it in a positive way!

100% Cleared and Official

Or, waking up to the email I was hoping for

Any PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) knows that getting medically and legally cleared for service is no small feat. Today, I woke up to sweet, sweet relief because I was finally legally cleared. Having both my medical and legal clearances means I’m 100% set for service! Zambia, here I come!

As I mentioned, getting these clearances is a pretty involved process. It was difficult completing most of my medical clearance tasks while in Arizona, so when I arrived home for the summer, it was a mad dash of vaccinations, physicals, dental work, and pulling together mountains of very specific paperwork. After endless appointments, a cavity filled, documents scanned, emails back and forth between me and my physician, and new glasses, I was finally awarded my medical clearance. 1 clearance down, one more to go.

Back in March, immediately after accepting my invitation (sitting in a popular hyper-local pub surrounded by loved ones while on spring break), I began gathering the paperwork needed for my legal clearance. This meant surrendering my passport for a government-sponsored one, consenting to a background check, and applying for my Zambian work visa. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to expedite this process, and I’ve heard stories of volunteers getting their clearance just a week before departure (Mine came just 3 weeks prior to departure, but I can’t imagine the sheer panic of not having clearance one week before). I received a few updates via email that basically said “there are no updates yet,” but this morning, I woke up to sweet, sweet relief.

Subject line: “Peace Corps Legal Clearance Granted.” YAHOO! Having both my clearances makes this 100% official. In a flurry of early-morning excitement, my dad and I sat down and pored over the Amazon shopping list we’d been building since March (I can now explain to you the different merits of ultra-lightweight sleeping bags; never before had I considered the color of paracord 550 for maximum visibility) , made final comparisons on solar kits, read any updated reviews, and pressed the “order” button on many new essentials.

To have my clearances granted, to have my flights booked, to have much of my gear ordered…it’s all becoming real! It’s all officially happening! Watch out world, here I come.

About Me

Very Soon-To-Be Peace Corps Zambia Volunteer

Hi all! My name is Reilly Briggs, and I’m freshly graduated from Northern Arizona University, where I earned my Bachelor’s in Public Health. I was born and raised in northern California, and in less than one month, I depart on the adventure of a lifetime: serving in the Peace Corps as a Maternal and Child Health Promoter in Zambia, Africa!

Follow along on my blog to see what I’m up to, find pictures of my hut, what a day in the life looks like, and how I’m doing. I can’t wait to share this adventure with you all!

Welcome to my Blog!

My attempt at keeping my friends and family informed while living abroad.

To everyone showing up to read my blog: Welcome, and thank you! Clicking on my link tells me you want to stay updated with the mountains and valleys of moving to Zambia with the Peace Corps. In a little less than a month, I will be serving as a Maternal and Child Promoter, which as many of you know, is a dream career for me.

All of this is really a dream come true: joining the Peace Corps, being given the opportunity to empower a community, getting to learn how others live, and focusing in on women’s health. It still feels so surreal, but now that my flights are booked, the plans are made, and the gear is purchased, this dream is quickly becoming a reality!

Keeping this blog is my attempt at keeping you all updated on my new life in Zambia! I strive to be transparent and honest about my experiences (the beautiful ones and the not-so-beautiful ones), to post when I can, and to give everybody the peace of mind that I am alive and well. I’m no blogger, so please bear with me as I figure out this platform. Thanks to all of you for choosing to walk beside me on this journey; I can’t wait to share it all with you!