T minus 1 month give or take

Got my official staging materials!  My flight to Washington D.C. is on May 10th at 8:11 in the morning.  Then I attended a Peace Corps orientation and on May 11th at 6:05am I depart for Nica!  Clearly they didn't get the memo that I'm not a morning person but I guess this begins the whole "adaptation" thing huh?  Now I'm off to Ames, Iowa to say goodbye to Melissa and Amy!

Keeping busy

Many people have been asking what I'm doing to prepare for my 2+ year stint in Nica.  The answer: Rosetta Stone.  Yes, I know what you're thinking "Pete, aren't you already fluent in Spanish?"  Mayhaps but I need to practice otherwise I could forget important phrases.  For example, today I was kindly reminded how to say "the boys drink" and "the woman runs".  Hopefully by the time May 10th rolls around I'll speaking five word phrases...

-Pedro

Updates:

Sorry dear avid readers.  I have indeed neglected you and for that I apologize.  It will never happen again (crosses fingers).

The lack of update probably stems from my lack of material to update you with, but no longer!  I am receiving new and interesting information weekly now.  For example, my official packing list:

Khaki/linen pants
Jeans
Button-down collared dress shirts
Collared polos
Tshirts
Casual dress shoes
Loafers (not sure what they mean)
NO flipflops (any of you who know me know that I will obviously bring flipflops anyway)
Light longsleeves
Sweatshirts (I checked the weather in Masaya Nica today.  Currently 94 with a low of 72...)
Exercise shorts and shoes
Bathing suit
Rain jacket
Hap
Sandals (hypocrites?)
Sunglasses (bought some classy $10 aviators for my Pablo Escobar look)
Fingernail clippers
Towel
Umbrella
Alarm clock
Duct tape
Combination locks
Pictures
Playing cards
Water bottles
Jumpdrive
School supplies
Camera
Headlamp (for all the caving I'm going to do?)
MP3 player
Favorite snacks

And that's about it.  I'll give you the officially official list of what I'm packing (must be less than eighty lbs...) once the process begins.  Also, this should give you all an idea of what to bring when you come visit!


-PJS