NICA!

So Tuesday morning at the ungodly hour of 8:11 I flew to Washington to meet up with the rest of my trainees.  There were 47 of in total.  We spent the day doing ice breakers and getting basic information.  It was nice to be around so many other people who have similar interests (hippies unite!)  Orientation finished at 7 and I had nothing to do till 2am when we had to check out of the hotel.  So naturally, I pulled an all-nighter.  Ryan and Angie were nice enough to drive into the city and take me out dinner.  Then we proceeded to have the best send off possible, drinking and staring at national monuments.  At 1am, I took my last hot shower and began the trek to Nica!

Once we arrived in Nica we bussed to our orientation site in Managua.  Everyone was super tired so not too much to report.  Tomorrow I’m finding out where I’ll be living the next 11 weeks!

Fiesta

On my antepenultimate (awesome word, right?) day in the states we decided to party like I'm not going to see everyone for 27 months...  And it was awesome.  Spanish tapas restaurant with 50 close family and friends then a naperthrill barcrawl.  Highlights include:

• Random guy buying me a shot because he was impressed I was serving my country.  Thanks sir, and I hope your trifecta bet on the derby went well!
• Walking around with my new Dora the Explorer backpack because, well.  It seemed like a good idea.
• Getting multiple shout outs from the DJ at features who also invited me to his place in Honduras...I politely declined.

If I didn't get to say goodbye to you, reader, well, GOODBYE!  I'm leaving for DC in 16 short hours.  I leave you with the last Stephan foto for the time being...

Cha cha cha changes

I thought it'd be interesting to take some basic stats about home and myself and see how they differ after 27 months

USA:
Gas price by my house--$4.37
Google news top story--"The secret SEAL team that took down bin Laden"  (Last night at pub trivia, one of our competitors was named, "Knock knock...Who's there?  SEAL TEAM SIX!"  My team was aptly named "War and Peace Corps")
Top 2 iTunes singles--"Rolling in the Deep" by ADELE, "Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum
Top box office movie--Fast Five (I'm embarrassed, America)


Me:
Weight--146 lbs. (Lean, mean, peace spreading machine)
Push-ups in 1 minute--58
Sit-ups in 1 minute--32


Feel free to start betting on how emaciated or chunky I'll be two years from now!

Contact Info

Now I'm sure you're all wondering, "But Pete, what if reading your blog isn't enough?  Do I have to use smoke signals and carrier pigeons?!"  Never fear, I present you with several options.

1. EMAIL  I have a new email address, pstephan2@gmail.com.  In the event my treehouse in the rain forest has internets this will be the best way to communicate.
2. INSTANT MESSAGE  In the event emailing doesn't fulfill your necessary Pete quota, you can Gchat me.  To do this: send me an email and voila!  I'll gchat and/or video chat you when the rain forest internet gods permit me so.
   
3. PHONE  Say, hypothetically, you miss the soothing sound of my voice, I have a new phone number: 630.909.9063.  This is my VoIP number.  That means you can call, text, and leave me voicemails like a normal phone and I'll respond when I'm not too busy making human sacrifices at Volcano Nicaragua.
4. SKYPE  In case California has an earthquake/tsunami as is all the rage right now and causes google to stop working, I may hop on skype now and again.  Add me to your contacts: peter.j.stephan.
5. FACEBOOK  Duh?
6. SNAIL MAIL  All else fails and you have money to burn, you can physically mail me things.  Keep in mind it takes about 5 weeks and people will open my mail and steal stuff.  My address until August 10th is:

PCT Peter Stephan
Cuerpo de Paz ~ Nicaragua
Apartado Postal # 3256
Managua, Nicaragua, Centro América

 And last, but certainly not least, YOU CAN COME VISIT ME!  I know Nicaragua may not be the most desirable or comfortable vacation destination (hah) but I promise it'll be funnnnnnn!  The Peace Corps permits me to have visitors starting in October so start saving those vacation days!

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