I, Joshua Josa, am accepting my invitation to serve as a Deaf Educator/Behavior Change Communicator Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya departing on October 11, 2010.   I hereby certify that I have read the Volunteer Assignment Description, Online Welcome Book, and Core Expectations and agree to abide by the policies therein.

Sounds so binding and finite. Ahh, I have been bound by the Peace Corps and Kenyan powers that be! Oh well.

Send in passport application for my new government passport – check.

Send in my aspiration statement and updated resume to my future host family in Oloitokitok, Kenya – check.

Purchase all necessities for the 27-month long adventure – in progress.

It being Labor Day weekend, I dutifully did my share of hunting for gear. I found the oh so marvelous Osprey Meridian. My dad fell in love with the bag and just had to whip out his card and make the purchase. It’s lichen green, comes with wheels to stroll and has a zipper to give way to backpack straps – how awesome is that? It also has a day-pack that can be unzipped from the main body and comes equipped with protection against the elements, the rain in particular. I can already see, in my mind’s eye, the adventures I will share with this bagpack (since it’s not a bag nor a backpack). Inspired by Megan from upstate New York but considers D.C. to be her true home, I sought out a name for the bagpack. After some thinking I decided to name it Kezdet, meaning beginning in Hungarian. It fits beautifully for it is my first language, I am of Hungarian descent, and here I am on the verge of beginning the first real adventure of my life.

So, Kezdet and I will be awaiting the arrival of our other friends – the sleeping bag and the sleeping pad. Only then will our triumvirate be complete!