Lake Langano

We’ve been in training for 10 weeks now and to say that G9 is exhausted is an understatement so our day trip to Lake Langano could not have come at a more perfect time. I can feel myself slowing down and losing motivation and when I talk to other trainees they feel the same as I do.  This past Thursday, Peace Corps treated us to a break for the day, to Lake Langano. The lake is about an hour and a half from Butajira. We all got up early and walked over to the hotel where our buses were waiting to take us away for the day. When I woke up that morning, I heard exactly what I was afraid of, the rain. No! I just wanted one free day. But oh well, at least we were getting away for the day. As we got on the buses the rain came down harder and the buses had to wait in the parking lot for an extra thirty minutes to avoid the bad roads. What a great start to our day. The entire way to Lake Langano it rained. But as we pulled up to the gate to the park, the sun came out. It felt like a miracle. And it was warm. As the day went on, the weather kept getting better with the clouds moving away and letting the sun shine on our skins. Lake Langano is the only lake in Ethiopia that our Peace Corps doctors have told us we are allowed to swim in so many trainees took this opportunity to go in for a dip. I did lay out and welcome the heat from the sun. My shoulders and my face are now red, but I am not complaining. It feels good to finally get a full day of sunshine (I can’t wait until this rainy season is over). So for the entire day, I got to lay on the “beach,” I use the word beach here loosely, and marvel at the beautiful landscape while listening to music, and just hanging out and having fun with the other trainees. We have less than 2 weeks left until we swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers and I feel ready and determined to finish these last few days of training. Peace Corps planned this trip at the perfect time, I think they knew what they were doing when they scheduled this, I mean, this isn’t their first group of trainees.