It's here...the month of my departure!  Things are coming together perfectly.  I have my last few visits with friends and family lined up in Arizona and Florida.  Of course, still getting in some quality time with family in Maryland!  Today, I went on a first grade field trip to the recycling plant.  Oh, but first we needed to experience a fire drill!  All good.....

I would be lying if I said I am feeling only excitement about the next stage of my life. It hit me last night that I will be experiencing loss again.  Of course, any time we make a decision to do anything, something is left behind.  In my case, not just a routine I have developed in Maryland, but my son and grandson.  It has been such a valuable time of my life to spend with them in their time of need.  I am grateful for the opportunity. 

As most of us know, moving is daunting at any age and for any reason.  I came from Arizona to Maryland two years ago with few possessions.  Over the course of two years, I have amassed more that I could have imagined.  The exercise of exorcizing....ahhhh.  I am nearly done with sorting (1) what goes back to AZ, (2) what goes to Guyana and (3) what gets donated.  That is a good feeling. 

I made my hotel reservation in Miami, FL along with many other new friends that will go on the Guyana adventure with me.  We will have an afternoon session on Monday, April 28th of what is expected. Tuesday, April 29th we will all board a bus headed for the airport.  We take off about 3:30 PM and will arrive in Guyana about 6 hours later. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bright Side vs. Dark Side

Image
Bright Side vs. Dark Side Most times, I find my current situation as a Peace Corps Volunteer rewarding and answering a long standing question of, “What would it be like….?” I knew it would come at a price to take 27 months and serve in a country, a culture unknown to me.  What I did not factor in or even know or think about is the daily assault to every one of my senses.  I knew garbage would be burned.  I had read and tried to prepare for bucket baths and cold showers.  I knew I was going to a tropical climate and it would be hot and humid.  I knew there would be familiar and unfamiliar food.  I knew that the culture likely had music folks identified with.  I realized Creolese would be a challenging dialect of English.  I knew that the people of Guyana came from many peoples over more than one body of water.  Even knowing all of this, I was unprepared for  the transportation challenges in all forms; the routine starchy food offerings that are typically over sugared and salted; the a
Read more
Happy Friday, everyone!  Week two of intense training is done.  We have a field trip to Georgetown tomorrow that I am looking forward to.  I only hope that the weather tomorrow is as good as it was today.  We had just a few drops of rain mid day and for the most part, temperature was moderate.  I am looking forward to going to the Peace Corps office, the seawall and market.  Some time over the weekend I will need to get some more time on my phone card.  If you ever talk to me by phone and it suddenly drops, it may be because my minutes are out!  Sorry!  I will try to manage that better.  I only this evening found out how easy it is to get more minutes.  If you want to "hangout" with me on video chat, just let me know a good time to talk...it is free! I am still figuring out the bus system.  I was dropped off this afternoon about a 1/2 mile farther down the road because I could not spot my landmark.  Thank goodness other trainees were getting off or I might have been met
Read more
This was another very busy day!  Our training group met at our training facility at Red Grounds and we were taken to Georgetown, about an hour away.  Our large group was broken down into many little groups with a PC staff member escorting us.  Good thing!  Georgetown is busy and aggressive!  There are RED ZONES that PC volunteers are not to be in.  However, on this escorted tour, we were shown some of those areas.  PC is a smart group of people.  We all know that if we are told we can't do something, we will explore to see what the big deal is.  So, we saw and we are informed. Those areas are high risk areas for many reasons.  As with anything, there is a bright side and I was amused when I saw an ox walking side by side with a little duck...best of friends! Our vehicle parked to let us out near Stabroek Market, built in 1881.  We made our way into a multi- floor shopping center something like a general store.  Once again, I attempted to buy stamps and could not.  One of these da
Read more