A few weeks ago, when my Peace Corps future was still up in the air, I randomly stumbled upon a copy of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, children’s book creator extraordinaire — at Blockbuster, of all places! That lovely little book, with its simple words and exuberant illustrations, struck me as quite symbolic of my life right now. Here I am, this little squiggly caterpillar, munching through life, looking for something good, getting the occasional stomachache from too much ice cream… you get the picture 
I am hungry, alright: to explore, to learn, to meet amazing new people, to throw myself into this crazy Peace Corps thing, and to dive deep into life in Togo, a place which is as much a mystery to me as French verb tenses… ughhh, French! Merde!! THAT’s another story.
Anyway, here we go! This blog is as much for you as it is for me. Whether you are someone I love or someone I’ve never met (shout out to PCJournals! 
), I hope that this will be a fun and interesting window into life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa. To make this a more enjoyable read for you, I’m gonna try to make each entry a short story… and isn’t it crazy that we have no idea who the characters will be yet?! Also, given that I love food and culture, I will try to throw in some recipes every now and again to spotlight Togolese cuisine. Which is, according to the info PC sent out, quite spicy… oh bother!
So in 25 days the real fun begins when I hop aboard a crack-o-dawn flight to Philly for staging (pre-departure orientation) and then join my fellow Trainees on a trek to Lome, the capitol of Togo. I have no idea what to expect, but thanks to the so-called “Aspiration Statement” I wrote for Peace Corps, I do have a better idea of what I want out of my time in Togo. I hate to take the metaphor too far, but what the hell: I’m inching my way into this whole endeavor hoping that I get fat with new perspectives and juicy with joy… and maybe sprout some butterfly wings if all goes well
So let’s get this party started!
Merci, mes amis!
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in, and view the posts’ comments, there you will have the option to edit or delete them.
SO happy and excited for you, Heidi! I can’t wait to hear all about Togo
Hi Beautiful! I’m soooo glad you chose The Very Hungry Caterpillar as your metaphor. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs or Where the Wild Things Are would have left me worried! Seek. Inspire. Explore. Jump for Joy. Change. Grow wings. Love, love, love, love, love …. you!
I was doing a little facebook stalking, you know how it goes, and stumbled across my favorite camp counselor. Heidi, you inspire me so much! I’m so excited to hear about your adventures in Togo and your progress with french (oh yeah, I remember.) You are truly a wonderful role model<3