Miami to Asuncion

Hola Amigos! Voy a salir por el aeropuerto de Miami en un hora y media. Manana, a las doce, llegamos en Asuncion, Paraguay por nuestro proximo dos anos en Cuerpo de Paz.

Hello Friends! We are leaving for the Miami Airport in an hour and a half. Tomorrow at noon, we arrive in Asuncion, Paraguay for our next two years in the Peace Corps.

I'm ready to go now. I've met the 18 amazing people who I will spend PST (Pre-Service Training) with for the next 11 weeks. They are from all over the states (Seattle, Ohio, LA, Texas, Pittsburgh, Florida, Arizona, Colorado) and range in age from 21 to 35. I am the second oldest at 33. There are people with master's degrees, people working on them, and people who don't care about them. A handful left boyfriends or girlfriends behind. Some will continue relationships through the next years. 7 are women and 11 are men. Two are fluent in Spanish (at such an advantage) the rest of us vary in our abilities. We decided at lunch today to make a list of all the countries we've collectively visited. We think it will be pretty damn impressive.

Once we arrive, we will meet our host families pretty much right away and then training begins on Friday. We will end up splitting up between the two projects we represent (RED and MSD) and all 18 of us will only train together once or twice a week. I'll be in the MSD (Municipal Services) group with 6 other people and me.

The next 11 weeks are going to be VERY TIRING. But, I am so looking forward to learning intensely again. I'm looking forward to being in the classroom. It has been a long time since I've really studied (at least full time). Lots of people know that if I could afford it, I would go to school pretty much all the time and collect master's degrees. :)

I can't wait for the day, sometime in the future, when my brain decides to click and all of sudden, I can speak Spanish. I will stumble along until then, hopefully not butchering things too much (Tengo mucho mierda "I have a lot of shit" instead of Tengo mucho miedo "I have a lot of fear" is one mistake we've heard about.

Keep tuning in. Who knows what the next two years will bring?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEPHEN, MY NOT-SO-LITTLE BROTHER.