I MADE IT!!!!!

HI ALL!! I haven't really had time to blog too much because guess what!??!! I AM IN GUYANA...FINALLY! I have been here since Tuesday. We left Philly for NY to fly out of JFK at 1 a.m which got delayed until 1:45 am..as if we weren't tired enough.  I sorta slept on and off through the nigh but nothing substantial.  I have great great great fellow volunteers and the group before us is here to help us through these first days!  We got off the plane and it was 8 a.m. and hot as hell!!!! We waited in line at customs forever jsut sweating but finally got through and after lugging 96 lbs of luggage were greeted by PeaceCorps Volunteers with coconut mil and fresh bananas! A great way to start service! We literally got our site placements (remote site/rural site or urban site) in the parking lot of the airport which we were not expecting. Apparently tings have changed for me..I was originally talked to about a remote site and we were prety certain thats where I would be; well it looks like plans have changed.  I will be traning in West Demarara an urban site on the west bank of the West Demarar River. So the good news here is that I will be able to keep in touch so much easier then before..depending on my site I could possibly get daily access to internet or phone.  And, now that I am here I am happy about the change. What I would have considered more remote in the states, here is considered urban. So the switch to urban site is good in that I will still be having a Peace Corps experience but instead of suffering through some of the remote site hardship (i.e no running water or electricity) I will have a few more amenities that will make me more comfortable therefore making me a better volunteer therefore creating more sustainable change.  All in all I am very happy here so far.
I can see friendships forming already and it's great...Peace Corps staff is fabulous!!! We had a swim test yesterday in black water where we all passed with flying colors. I learned the rules to cricket and have eaten some DELICIOUS Guyanese food and drink. It is very very hot and humid here, but so far not unbareable; granted I am currently staying in an airconditioned hotel.  Tomorrow we leave for our training sites where our host families will meet with us and finally take us home.  I am so excited 1. because I want to start integrating into the community and 2. because I am tired of living out of my hiking backpack (all our luggage got taken fro mthe airport to our host families on Tuesday).  I want to unpack some stuff and have all my comforts in those suitcases with me.  I am lucky to have had internet the past few days and I don't know how often  I will be on once I'm at my host house but it will definitely be enough to keep everyone posted.
That's all for now..time to celebrate our last night together before real PC service starts! Love you all!!
Send me letters/packages!!

1 week from today!

Exactly 1 week from today (Sunday Feb. 6) I will say goodbye to friends and family to begin the best adventure of my life....my Peace Corps service.  Already I can see that my service will be filled with ups and downs.  Packing for me has been the hardest part so far..most would think it would be saying goodbye to all my close friends and family, but for some reason that hasn't been the hardest part yet.  My friends and family are so supportive that I know I will talk to them all and see them all (via skype) very soon.  But packing..that's a whole different animal.  I go through my luggage every other day worried that I forgot something, worried that I have too much of something, worried that something I packed is unnecessary, worried that I didn't pack something that is completely necessary.  We are told to bring only what we really need....well I look around my room and I need everything.  I think up every scenario and situation and I need to be prepared for it..so 12  pairs of shoes doesn't seem so outrageous when 1 day it could be rainy and later that same day it can be hot and sunny.  But, with help from friends and my parents AND other Guy 23ers, I have narrowed down the shoe list and have somehow managed to get my luggage UNDER the weight limit!  I think I am pretty simple person who lives with only what I need in terms of how some Americans live, but when it comes down to it I'm just like every other American.  We think we "need" so much...If I think about what I use in 1 day it blows my mind.  1 thing I am going to try so hard to accomplish, aside from making a difference, is to live more simply and with less "stuff".  I want to be without the luxuries that we have come so easily to expect.... electricity, running water, washing machines, etc....and see if I am as capable to take care of myself as well as others as I think I am. 

Now that the packing issue has been somewhat settled I can move on to the more important issues....saying goodbye! Yikes! I think I am in denial. I said goodbye to nearly all of my closest friends today without 1 tear shed.  My brain can not comprehend that I leave in 1 week for something I have been waiting well over a year for.  I am happy to sacrifice the time with friends and family in order to serve others and I think that is what is in the forefront of my mind and keeping me from feeling the sadness that I feel like I should be experiencing.  But that being said, I will miss everyone especially after Melisa's birthday party last night. I don't know where I am going to find people like that ever..but I know one thing is certain: My life is going to change, like, the good kind of change. And in that process I am going to change other lives,and hopefully I can inspire those people to help change other peoples lives and it will be s ripple effect of change. I am happy to have the support at home that I need to create this change and I am so excited to start my service.

27 days!

This will be a short blog because I am too busy with packing and organizing my life for pre-departure to write for days!  27 days until we leave for Philadelphia for GUY 23 to start our staging.  We leave Philly Feb. 15 to fly out of JFK to Guyana!  As the time approaches, and this time it is really really close, I feel so many different things.  But I am sure of one thing...I can't wait to be in Guyana.  I started packing last night and all my clothes weigh 40 lbs of the 80 lb. weight limit!! That is soooo great but my packing strategy was to pack all my clothes in one bag and all my "stuff" in another.  Looking at how overstuffed this bag is it may pan out a little bit differently.  Either way, with my 2 large duffel bags and my pretty bag newly ordered hiking backpack  I should have plenty of room for all of my stuff to get over there comfortably. 
On a more depressing note, a 20/20 special aired recently covering the topic of rape in the Peace Corps.  It has raised some concerns but with the insanely great support of PC staff and current volunteers I think most of us "newbies" have been reassured that we will be ok.  We will be trained and trained again on how to take care of ourselves in unusual situations and how to be less risky.  With the support we are already getting here at home I could only imagine what will happen once we are in country.  From everyone I have talked to Guyana's landscape is beautiful and its people are welcoming.  Our journey starts in 4 weeks and after that our lives will never be the same.  Can't wait to meet current volunteers, GUY 23ers and especially the Guyanese people!!!

Let the countdown begin...again!

Less than 2 Months!

I'm posting again today because 1: I leave for staging in 8 weeks and 2: I want to get used to this whole blogging thing before I leave.  Preparing for departure consists of stalking every single current volunteer in Guyana's facebook page!  Volunteers that are serving right now are the biggest resource us GUY 23ers have.  Their pictures show us what our lives could be like..so far I've see a lot small lizards, spiders, sweat and happy happy people.  My emotions are mixed; I'm thrilled to go and serve in the Peace Corps, it's the biggest honor a true humanitarian could have and I'm lucky to have been selected.  The work I will do will hopefully change myself and the people I meet in Guyana forever.  I'm excited to live in a country where reggae rules the radio and diversity is everywhere I look. I can't wait to lay in a hammock at sunset and remind myself where I am and why I'm here.  I can't wait to make Guyanese friends and finally meet the other volunteers in my group.  I just want my Guyanese life to start.
On the other hand, enjoying all of these things means leaving my friends and family and every memory I've ever made here.  I was talking with some friends recently and they were planning a spring party, a party of which I will not be able to attend.  Another friend is getting married next fall and I will be in Guyana.  My biggest worry is that I will worry too much about what I'm missing and lose track of where I am and why.  Somedays 2 years sounds like an eternity and other days it sounds like the blink of an eye.  I know I'm not alone is these feelings because other GUY 23ers are going through it too, it's just a terrifying and thrilling thought that within WEEKS I will be leaving this behind for something so new and scary and different.  My friends and my family are important and hopefully they all know that.  With that great relationship I have with all of them means that they are all so supportive. I know after my service in Guyana some friendships will never be the same, maybe they will no longer be; but I have to trust that I am doing the right thing and the right thing is usually never the easiest thing, but who said life was easy? I can't wait to be an official Peace Corps volunteer and share my stories with all my friends and family back home.  I will be helping people everyday and that is a good life.

Alyssa

Let the countdown begin

So as of today I have less than 3 months until I leave to star pre-service training in GUAYNA!  I leave to serve in the United States Peace Corps Feb. 15 2011! HOW EXCITING!!! I hope everyone follows my ups and downs along the way. It'll be great to hear from everyone to be reminded I'm not forgotten back at home!

Alyssa