About to Leave...

Hi Everyone!

This is where I am hoping to post updates throughout my two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nicaragua. I am still unsure how often I will have access to the internet to post on here but I am hoping that I will be able post at least twice a month.

My flight leaves from O'Hare at 9am on Monday so I am less than 48 hours away from leaving! I have been getting all of my things packed up and tying up all my loose ends. Its been a tiring process but my excitement about everything has kept me energized. I'll explain whats going to happen in the next couple of days because I have been getting a lot of questions.

On Monday I fly to DC to meet up with the rest of my Peace Corps group (about 20 other volunteers that are doing Community Health Education in Nicaragua) to have a two day orientation. While we are there we go over some paperwork, Peace Corps philosophy, and the basic details of getting to and living in Nicaragua. On January 10 our Peace Corps group will all fly together to Managua, Nicaragua where we will stay in a hotel for a couple of days and get adjusted to Nicaragua. After the brief stay in the hotel we will each move in with a host family. We will stay with our host family for the duration of our training (about 3 months). During training I will take classes on cultural adjustment, safety, the Spanish language and most importantly, how to be a health educator.

I also have had a lot of questions about what I will specifically be doing in Nicaragua so let me explain a bit. I am a Community Health Education Volunteer and will be working out of a Nicaraguan rural health clinic. My primary job will be to give talks to local community groups and schools about topics such as HIV prevention, clean water, general nutrition and sex education. Right now I know very few specifics about my job but I should find out more in the next week or so. I will not get an official assignment concerning where in Nicaragua I will living and working for the next 2 years until March.

Hopefully that information explains a little bit more about what I am doing. Any other questions anyone has just email me, although a lot of things are still up in the air. I hope to hear from all of you soon! I'll try to post again shortly after I arrive in Nicaragua...