Thursday, August 31, 2006

Bienvenidos de Nicaragua

Well, I'm finally here. I have to make this quick because I am using another volunteer's computer who has wireless...and there's about 4 others waiting. So, what's been going on? It's nice to hear from everyone and I apologize that I'm not able to respond quickly, but I love hearing what everyone's up to...even if it may seem ordinary or boring to you!! : )

We had our training in D.C. for 2 days. It was basically just an overview of Peace Corps with a heavy emphasis on safety, safety, safety! We got to meet the other volunteers going. There are 53 total in the sectors of Agriculture, Environmental Education, and TEFL training. They gave us $140 in walk around/food money which was really nice because I hadn't brought much with me. Then, we left our hotel at 1:00 A.M. on Wed. to head to the airport. We took a quick tour of the monuments in D.C., then arrived at the airport around 3:30 A.M., just to sit until the desks opened at 5. So, needless to say, we haven't gotten much sleep.

We arrived in Nicaragua around 11:30 A.M. the same day. When we arrived, we were greeted by current volunteers who have been staying with us in our resort hotel which has been really nice to get to talk to them. The hotel we are staying in is amazing, as well as the people. We started our training which includes 4 shots this week. I will be receiving 17 total shots in the next 11 weeks...aren't you jealous! We also had our language test, just a short conversation, to see which training group we'll be in.

Saturday, we will meet our host families and will be placed in our new towns for the next 11 weeks of traing. Other than that not much going on. I haven't encountered any bugs yet, which I am VERY happy about and the weather is that bad so far, although we have a.c. at the hotel. That's all for now. I will write again when I can. Remember, if you would like to send anything, don't send it in a box but in a padded envelope!

Jen: They have the white pineapple and it's sooo good! The food is amazing here so far!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

My Address

I've decided after looking at several other postings by other PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) that it is o.k. to post my address. So, for all of you out there who would like to send me mail...because I probably won't have frequent access to the internet, here ya go! This will only be my address during training, which lasts until about the beginning of November 2006. After that, I will move to my permanent location and will have a new addy.

Susan Rice, PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America


*PCT = Peace Corps Trainee

Well, one more day to go. It's weird, but it doesn't seem like I'm leaving in a day for 2 years! So much to do tomorrow, including packing, which to me is the worst part. I hate how the day before a trip is always so busy. One day I will change that!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

2 Weeks and One Day Until Take-off!

Just thought I would give everyone an update as to what's been going on. As far as Peace Corps news...there's not much. I called SATO to book my flight to Washington D.C., which is where I'll be flying from to Nicaragua. In D.C. we'll have a brief introduction to P.C., as well as meet the 69 other people going with me (a.k.a. my family for the next two years : ). Then after 2 days in D.C., we'll leave at the excruciating hour of 1 A.M., YES, I said 1 A.M., to head to the airport on August 30. It looks like the flight is only going to be about 3 1/2 hours (not including the extra time I'm sure we'll have to spend going through security now!). Umm, what else? Oh, I've been checking the weather daily to get a comparison to the weather in Pittsburgh. The temperature has been about the same, sometimes slightly higher. The humidity, howerever, in Managua has been anywhere from 80-95%. Yeah, that's pretty humid! Don't know if I've mentioned before how much I HATE humidity! There's good news though! They told me that I won't be receiving my many, many vaccinations until after we have arrived=I'm not going to be sick on the plane...instead I'll be sick in Nicaragua. I've heard the vaccinations can be pretty brutal to your system.

In the meanwhile, while living with my two gratious friends Matt and Tina in Greentree, PA, I have been shopping for P.C. (lots of shopping), been to three weddings (in one of them), working on a scrapbook of France (which is pretty awesome), traveled to California, Arizona, Virgina Beach, N. Carolina, Florida, Canada (Ottawa and Montreal), and finally Pittsburgh, playing some golf and LOTS of Sequence, hanging out with family and friends, and pretty much just enjoying my time here (especially with my niece Brooklynn who just moved here with her parents from Florida).