Wow! Today has been REALLY long, but my adrenaline is still on high alert so I'm not able to sleep (trust me, I tried for an hour). Here is the run down for how today went. Up at 3 am to shower and finish packing and take some last minute photos (always the procrastinator). Next, running around the house to find out where I placed my e-ticket and (when I couldn't find it) printing off my itinerary from SATO Travel (which it turns out I didn't even need). I rearranged my luggage in the car so that I checked my small suitcase and carried my laptop on in my backpack. We arrived at the airport just after 5:10 am for my 6:10 am flight to Washington, D.C.
I had the fantastic opportunity to stand in line for 20 minutes while waiting to check my luggage. Then, I had to say good-bye to the 'rents, which was really sad. I made it through security without any hitches and only had to wait a short while before boarding. I actually got lucky because I missed the boarding call and looked up to see people loading onto the plane! I still wasn't the last one to arrive though. Since it was so early, the person I was sitting next to slept the whole flight (without snoring) and I listened to music while I dozed. On arriving in D.C. I discovered that Megan - the other volunteer from Omaha - had been sitting only one seat away from me. We started chatting, waited for our luggage together, and shared a shuttle ride to the hotel (the traffic was crazy, I glad we didn't have to drive).
When we arrived at the hotel around 10:30, our rooms were ready so we checked in for a little R and R before registration at 1:30. I quickly snapped a picture of the roaming gnome since my roommate hadn't arrived yet and I hadn't had a chance to disorganize the living space (yet). I also had to use the hotel business center to print off the deferrment papers for my loans since they were sitting on the dining room table (not much help to me). It was a huge, semi-expensive hassle because the computer froze the first time I tried to print the information and I had to jump through hoops to get it to print after talking with the tech guy over the phone. But, alls well that ends well, and I printed and signed everything. Then, Megan and I went to lunch at the restaurant only 1 block from our hotel. I had a delicious chicken, onion, red pepper, tomato sauce Mega Sandwich - which only cost me $7. I could only eat half my sandwich, but I took the rest back to the hotel for a snack or supper.
My roomy had arrived when I came back to my room. Her name is Irene and she is 70 years old! Crazy! She is extremely intelligent and gave up her successful law practice in San Antonio to come train English teachers with the Peace Corps. She sold all her possessions (house, car, belongings) except for the 3 suitcases that she brought with her. She didn't realize that we were supposed to go register at 1:30 and that we needed to eat first, so I gave her the rest of my sandwich so that we could go down on time. I didn't have any problems with registration and both of my passports came through (yippee). Unfortunately, Irene's passport hasn't arrived as of yet, so there is a chance that she may not be going to Nicaragua with us. The passport authorities even have her personal passport, so she may be landlocked here in the United States with no job and no home for an indefinite period of time! I am so glad that everything went smoothly for me.
After registration, we had our first "training" session. It was more of a familiarization with each other and with the Peace Corps as a whole. The best part was the opportunity to meet the Nicaraguan Embassador who came and spoke with us for about an hour (I think, I don't have a watch and no cell phone yet...so my sense of time is a bit skewed). We did a few more introduction activities after the question and answer session with the ambassador and then we were free for the rest of the evening (7 pm on).
Irene and I settled for a simple dinner and went to the Safeway next to our hotel and bought salads, crackers, cheese, and juice. I spend the rest of the evening studying Nicaraguan slang and reading up our plan of action once we arrive in Managua on Wednesday. (It looks like we'll be spending 3 days together as a group and then we'll be split into smaller batches of 3-4 people per village. We may or may not have internet access once we arrive, but I'll try to post something as soon as I can.
On a sad note, there was a big fire up the street from our hotel today. Trucks were driving by all afternoon and evening trying to get enough fire-fighters on the scene to stop the blaze and prevent it from spreading. I just did some research and it turns out it was the Georgetown Neighborhood Library, the repository for a large portion of the historic documents / paintings pertaining to the Georgetown area. I'll try to take pics tomorrow once the trucks have abandoned the scene.
Now I'm going to try and get a little sleep before training begins at 8:30 am tomorrow. Talk to you soon!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Woo! My first blog!
I am so excited! I have started packing up all of the clothes that I never wear so that I can donate them next week. My backpack for my laptop arrived today, so that means that I have almost everything that I need. All I need to do are finish my scrapbooks (starting them might help...) and take the pictures to fill them up! That's all for now.
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