For those of you who are still reading this blog. I am still in the Peace Corps, I have just decided to take the path easier traveled and send out email updates rather than update this blog. So if you do not know what I am up to and would like to be included with all of the PC goodness, leave me a comment on this blog and I will add your name. No worries.

Work is good. Spanish is ok. I'm happy. That is what is most important I suppose. I will leave you with a lovely picture of a Nicaraguan futbol team playing in Honduras.

Hey there folks. I am headed out tomorrow for my volunteer visit to Matagalpa. It should be a pretty exciting time. It will be nice to get out of Carazo and check out some of the other scenery that Nicaragua has to offer. I was really hoping to go to Rio San Juan for this visit. Because it is a beast of a trip. Its a two day trek to the very southern region of the country. Its a combination of riding a bus and a boat. But I head the landscape is gorgeous so it kind of makes the journey worth it. Anyway, I was hoping to go there to kind of put myself up to the challenge. But at the same time, my journey will be much easier to Matagalpa! I have no doubt I will head south to the tropical beaches of Rio San Juan sooner or later, and my hat goes off to the 4 trainees that are already on their way right now to that region.

The weather here is unusually chilly. I have had my fleece coat on all day. There are strong winds that bring a chill to the air. It also rains every so often, another rarity for this time of year. So all in all the weather is kind of bizarre. But I would rather be too chilly in my 60 degree weather than too hot in my 90 degree weather. All, it will all come.

A funny thing I have noticed volunteers and directors do when they have lived here for a while---forget how to say something in English. It seems like every time we have tech training and a volunteer is trying to explain a word or concept, they say it in Spanish and show a blank stare trying to think of how to say it in English. Today a girl forgot the word for plate. That´s crazy to me.

¡Hola Everybody! I am in Jinotepe right now and for those of you still checking this page, I´m sorry I have neglected updating it. The mass email is kind of faster sometimes.

I have a bunch of pictures on my camera to upload. However the connection is very slow and I don´t want to sit and pay a lot of money to upload them all. So when I am back at the office in Managua I will rip them all and post on my kodak.com page for you. But for now I am borrowing some pictures from the website of a girl in my group, Carly (http://scrp40.blogspot.com/ ) Enjoy!

And I can walk with it too!

Before...

After...

Well, I'm off!! Sending some Nica your way soon!!!

I am leaving in just a few short days. It kind of feels like there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to get done. The most important items have been taken care of, but I am afraid of overlooking the small things. Like forgetting to buy socks. I'm just silly enough to leave for two years in Nicaragua without any socks.

However, I am making this definitive statement right now: I really think that everything that I bought to take with me is going to fit in the three bags that I am taking. I may walk onto that plane wearing four shirts and three pairs of pants, but everything is going to somehow fit.

Well, Friday was the last day for me to be pulling espresso. And I am shortly on my way to drinking coffee practically off the tree. I can't wait! And so my final day at work was bittersweet because I am so ready to move to Nica but I am leaving behind some great friends. They have kept these last few months stress-free and light-hearted. I'll send some Nica arabica beans up north before too long guys...

So...an update. I am making a promise to write more when I am actually doing something r/t the PC. Right now it's just me + limbo so that doesn't exactly = a lot of updates.

I received a letter today, confirming that I will leave on Jan. 9 with staging in Washington, D.C. And there will also be 20 peeps that I will meet up with when I get there. So my training group will be pretty small. Should be a good time. We'll be put up in a nice hotel with some spending money. Kind of like your last meal when you are in prison. And sometimes I feel like I am approaching my last few weeks at home that way. I am trying to appreciate little moments from each day. Being able to sleep in a warm bed and watch movies or spending time with family and friends. I will not miss snow or temperatures that are below zero. In that aspect, Nica is looking pretty sweet.

So...since I received my fat pack of info re: packing I thought I would post my list as to what I am needing and what I have actually left up to the last moment to buy. It's kind of like a bridal registry, except you don't need to buy me anything.

Packing List (Have/Need)

CD Player 1/1

Digital Camera 1/1

Handheld Fan 1/1

Hiking Backpack 1/1

Duffel Bag 1/1

Work Bag 0/1

Waterproof Pants/Shirts 0/~10

Mosquito Net 0/1

Utility/Swiss Army Knife 0/1

Shortwave Radio 0/1

Hiking Boots 0/1

Hiking Sandals 0/1

Hands-Free Flashlight 0/1

Cards/Games 0/~5

Notebooks 0/4

Purell/Hand Sanitizer 0/4

Camping towel 0/2

Insect Repellent 0/5

Spices 0/?

GRE Study Guide/Books 0/~4

2-Year Appointment Book (this one is funny to me) 0/1

...And some other stuff too. But as you can see there are a lot of zeroes in the "Have" category. I don't know how I am going to fit all of my stuff in the three bags that I am taking, and still be able to stand upright and actually take a few steps. Hmmm, maybe I should practice strutting around my house with all my gear on. It could be like going into training. And I have always wanted to say that I am "in training" for something. So I will start buying stuff and go "in training" for walking around with it all. I'll post pics with me attempting to shoulder the load. We should all be in for a good laugh.

Well, I am sure the weeks are going to fly by too fast. And I'll be a Nica Chica before I know it. So I should go out and appreciate that snow and below-zero weather while I still have it!!

Assignment: Jan. 9, 2006 to Nicaragua in the field of Community Health Education. Be there or be square.

Still no word on the placement. I have found out that if I am offerred the position that I was slated for, it will be for Paraguay. But I should apparently know by the end of the month. Tick, tick, tick...

I have updated the picture page with a lot more pics taken from the DR, so enjoy all that.

Still no news on where my new home will be. I think it will be around October, early November before I get my invite--so I'll post that information when I get it!

Keep checking back from time to time as I start making some changes to get this ready for my full-time PC blogging madness!

Well, I finally received word that my Dental cleared, and so it looks like I have made it through the roughest part of this whole process. You see, the easy part is receiving the invite in the mail and the actual volunteer service. When the PC says "it's the toughest job..." they really mean medical and dental clearance, so now it's all downhill from here baby!

Besides the Peace Corps continually calling me "Mr." on all of my mailings, I have been pretty lucky to avoid the stress and bureaucracy that has plagued many applicants. So tonight, I tip my hat and dedicate this next song to all of you out there with applications still pending with the docs in Washington. The view from this side is good my friends, I'll have your cold congratulatory drink waiting when you get here.

I just received word that I was medically cleared!! A huge step in the placement process. I was under the impression they were not going to review my medical file until September, so I was pleasantly surprised to see things are moving rather quickly for me. Essentially all that is left is for the PC Powers that Be to find me a program and placement. I still have no idea when I could receive word about this. It could be two weeks/two months. But the PC has a good 6-7 month lead time to find me a health placement in Central/South America, so...fingers crossed!