Homestay

Chris and I are safely in Guyana, we started with a few days of training in Georgetown and on Thursday, we rode speed boats over to the Essiquibo (spelling?) coast. We are in a homestay in a gorgeous home right on the Atlantic ocean. We are being well taken care of by our family. The food, especially fruit, has been amazing. Right now we are doing some basic training for cultural integration and all the rules and regulations - nothing too fun :) Today, we are learning how to wash our clothes by hand, which should be quite an experience. I will have to write more later as we have more time - today is our first day with the internet, and there is quite a line to use it. We love you and miss you! Don't worry about us, we are well-taken care of.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Less than 7 hours from now, Chris and I will depart Roanoke: Philadelphia bound. This is the real beginning of our Peace Corps experience (the application process does NOT count). It has been a long road coming and I am super excited it is finally here. We have packed, sold, stored, and given away most of our things - still not sure what I'm going to do with the clothes still here. We have our super cool Gregory packs to carry on the bag, a rolly suitcase for one hand, a regular backpack to wear on the front, and a purse and camera back for the other hand.

It is amazing that we can carry all that we need to survive, yet we build and buy these huge homes to hold all of our 'stuff', and boy, do we have alot of 'stuff'. Note to self: Work on simple living and cultivating the ability to not 'need' many things.

We will have a day of training tomorrow in Philly before taking a bus to fly out of JFK tomorrow at midnight to arrive in Georgetown, Guyana on Tuesday morning. I can't wait to feel that Equatorial heat! I have been frozen for the last several months. We will meet our host families a few days after we arrive. For two months, we will have training where we learn how to do our jobs, how to fit in the culture, how to speak Creole (!), and how to survive in a rainforest. Oh, and my favorite - how to wash clothes by hand. Likely to be the most challenging part of our whole trip :) We are very much entering the unkown - I don't know what to expect, but that's okay. No, I don't know if we'll have electricity or internet or running water. I don't know if our housing will be wood, brick, or mud, or if our showers will be daily accessible. We'll figure that out along the way, and we'll communicate the mundance and the exciting via this blog and personal emails. We'll send an address as soon as we can, as well as a list of things we'll be needing :) We love you all, and well, we're Guyana miss ya.

"Desserting Us" Shin-Dig

So, we've had a few going away shin-digs put on by our lovely parents :) How blessed Chris and I are to have parents who love us and will miss us so. We will miss them dearly, as well.

We spent last week in Kentucky supporting Paintsville basketball, Quick Recall, and Paintsville Lake. The ice storm did a number on Kentucky's trees, homes, and roads. Thankfully, most everyone had their power back. It was great to watch some of Lucas' basketball game. They move at a pace that allow me to learn a little about the rules of the games. Lucas is going to be quite a player once he reaches high school. Andy is quite a player, but due to some poor coaching, he's no longer playing. Tessa is progressing quite nicely with her music, acting, and academic skills. She will do quite well at Berea if she decides to go there. Barry and Karen stay busy with work and the kids. We also headed to Georgetown to see Audry and Rudy. They are doing well in their beautiful home, enjoying more and more vegetarian foods as we exchange tips and ideas for vegetarian cooking. We also got to hang out with grandchildren Gavin and Cyrus. It is getting stranger to think of all we will miss out on while gone for two years. There will be many championship games, plays, graduations, weddings, birthdays, Christmases, etc... shared by family members and friends while we are gone. This is one of the only sobering facets of our adventure. Our favorite feature of the Paintsville party (after the friends and family) was the cake. See above. "Good luck, Chris and Kristin. We're 'Guyana' miss you." How creative??

We came back home to prepare for the "Desserting Us" party in Roanoke. We had many, many friends and family show up to help us celebrate our departure. Again, it was amazing to see each person and to think about what they are going to experience in the next two years that we would miss: law school, weddings, births, new jobs, holidays, etc... Thanks to everyone who came out - it was great to spend time with you. The boys prepared the bonfire and fireworks while mom and I prepped quite a bit of food and decor to fit our rather loose theme of Valentines day/Jungle/Global. My Berea girls came in for the weekend and it was great to spend some quality time with the people who inspired who I have become. Hopefully, they and others will be visiting us in Guyana - we welcome visitors! It will make the time fly by. In an effort to keep posts short and sweet, I'll leave you with some pictures from the party :)