It was fairly quick because once we were accepted then we were for sure going to go. I just don’t know that we talked much about it. I think it was something that she wanted to do more than I did. I was not unwilling but I was pretty passive about it. I knew what it was that I wanted to do when I got back, either go to law school or to do a PhD. But I was originally interested in History and remember writing a paper on Imperialism and that generally led me toward Anglophone Africa.
I was not very excited when we got accepted into the Peace Corps; perhaps more nervous than excited. It was something to do after the University of Michigan. I had looked forward to getting out of Michigan. I wanted to leave Michigan to see more of the world. I kind of had it in my head that I wanted to go out of Michigan from the time I was in high school. I had been accepted at the University of Hawaii to study political science and that is most likely what I wanted to do. Of course I had no money. Why Hawaii? I do not know. It was warm and sunny and exotic. I was definitely eager to get out of the trailer park. Though somewhat in contradiction, I was not eager to get out of Ann Arbor. I liked the cosmopolitan feel of the town. I thought vaguely of moving back there someday. The attraction was that I was not really that keen in going to the Peace Corps. I was just going along. I don’t think that it was an overwhelming love for Fione that led me to Uganda. I just went along because that was what she wanted to do.
We never argued about going to the Peace Corps. I was quite content to do it. We left Saline Michigan and sold our trailer in August 65 and went into the Peace Corps in August in 65 as trainees So we were in New York September, October, hand alf of Dec. in New York City. We did practice teaching at Herran High School in Manhattan. I was ready to leave the tin can in Saline. I was happy to leave the trailer park because I did not like the trailer. It was small, dirty and cold. We had some neighbors, but we actually knew actually just one couple. I vaguely remember they were from Kansas and in graduate school.