First Post!

So this is my first attempt at writing a blog and, considering my lack-luster writing skills, I wouldn't expect too much; just the basic happenings and observations from a foreign land.

Here's the scoop, for those of you who haven't heard:

I applied to the Peace Corps and recently accepted my invitation to the land of the duelling blood donors, PARAGUAY!! I will be primarily using this blog to keep all my friends and family informed about the everyday awesomeness that, I hope, will be happening in Paraguay. More likely, it will be the once-or-twice-a-month awesomeness, with a lot of slow days filling up the other days in each month. But don't worry, I will only report about the awesomeness, and maybe sometimes the randomness.

I leave on May 27th for two days of staging, which is basically an orientation for Peace Corps volunteers. I heard through the grapevine that staging will be in Miami, but nothing official yet.

Starting May 30th, the next three months will be spent in country at the training post for my specific program. Because of my currently incomplete Masters in urban and regional planning, I qualified for the municipal development program. Unfortunately, this doesn't tell me that much about what I will be doing once I'm in PARAGUAY(!!). The program I am enrolled in is somewhat complicated, so here's the deal. It's called the Master's International Program and it combines a two year master program with two years (and three months) in the Peace Corps. You complete one year of your Masters program and then you go overseas for two years (where you can also earn credits) and you come back and finish up in a semester or two. It's the perfect learning situation for me, and I am excited to put everything I've learned thus far to use!

I probably won't update this much until May, but I figured I'd set it up now, since I have some time now that it's winter break! I'm guessing I will be pretty busy in May, finishing the semester, packing/mentally preparing for the PC, moving out, and possibly visiting Erica and JP in Canada- yup, I'll be busy.

I attached a few test photos of me celebrating my invitation to PARAGUAY!! (yes, that word will always be all capitals in my book...at least for the next few months :)

Oh, and if you are wondering about the duelling blood donors comment earlier, apparently in PARAGUAY(!!) duelling is legal as long as it is registered and both parties are blood donors. Weird, huh? Not sure if it's true, I read it at Mindlesscrap.com, and I saw it mentioned a few other places.

Julie

P.S. I also should tell you that all opinions and statements made on this site are a direct reflection of my personal beliefs and have nothing to do with those beliefs of Peace Corps, just in case it was unclear ;)