We arrived in Belize!

We made it to Belize!!!! Washington DC was nice but we really didn’t get to get any sight seeing in since we were so tired. We stayed in Georgetown which is absolutely beautiful! Our last night we went to a really nice (but super small) french restaurant called Bonaparte’s. We had a last “Hurrah” dinner of duck confit and lamb with escargot for an appetizer. Really good food! We also ate at a place called Martin’s Tavern.... evidently JFK proposed to Jacquelyn there.... really? A tavern? I’m suspicious of that story.

Anyway, we had to wake up at a god awful early (or late) time to get to the airport.... 12:30 AM! The funny thing was the airport wasn’t even open for a few hours when we arrived! It was tough but we made it to Belize and received a wonderful greeting from the Peace Corps Belize staff and some current PCV’s. On the way from the Belize International airport to the capital, Belmopan we stopped at a restaurant in the jungle and were treated to lunch by the Peace Corps Country Director. Really nice but we were just so tired after being up for so long. Let me tell you though.... we are both going to LOVE the food here! At the lunch they had some home made pepper relish that was delicious! The staff took mercy on us and dropped us off at the Hotel that will be our home for a week until we go to live with our first Host Family.

We are settled in and anxiously awaiting our transfer to our Host Family. We have already seen so many cool things! We were taken yesterday on a Cultural day trip to the Western area of the country to learn about the Mestizos people’s culture.... very cool video coming up when we get a chance to post it. Let me just say we saw our first monkey AND Mayan pyramid!!! We will put up some more posts as things happen. Miss you all!

Getting Ready and Going Away!

What a crazy month it has been! Selling stuff, donating stuff, throwing stuff away.... ARG!!!!! We are so glad the move is over. We just really want to say “Thanks” to everybody who has helped us out over our last few weeks in the USA. To Siobhan & Thad for looking after both the Triumph and the Jukebox (You’ve made it! Enjoy the fridge), Dan & Beth for the tasty Vietnamese food (Viet-Garden Rules!), Mike for helping us move ALL our stuff in such lovely weather and selling the Galaxie, Jessica for putting up with all the dust and noise (why not have major restorations during the last week right?) and looking after the stuff we couldn’t part with, Amy for the tasty burgers at Johnny’s, and Brook & Corin for putting us up for two weeks (But we were neat!) and for taking care of Winston while we are away. We truly couldn't have done it without everyone of our friends. You are all truly here along with us in spirit.... we carry you with us where ever we go!

The going away party was great fun! It was nice to see so many of our friends for one more time before our departure. Check out the video.... the footage was the best I could put together. Again, all the new renovations and we end up on the front porch!

The End or the Beginning?

Wow!  We can’t believe we are so close to leaving!  It’s been such a long process, it feels rather strange to finally be nearing the end of the State-side portion and taking off for Belize.  Here is a brief overview of our path thus far to service as a Peace Corps Volunteer:

• January 2008 - We agree (after many months of discussion) to go for it and join the Peace Corps.

• February 2008 - We fill out the very lengthy online application.

• May 2008 - We travel to the University of Miami for our face to face interview.  Pat makes his funny “Colonel Kurtz” comment to the interviewer! 

• September 2008 - We receive our nomination to serve with our temporary assignment to Central Asia.  We also receive our Medical/Dental Packets.  Every doctor and dentist we go to have the same incredulous reaction to the volumes of requested information!  

• January 2009 - Finally turn in our all of our completed Medical and Dental packets.  Whew!  Glad we finished that!

• February 2009 - Receive requests for additional Medical and Dental information!  We quickly follow up and send back the info.

• March 2009 - We are both medically cleared!  Woo Hoo!  

• April 2009 - We receive the bad news that we won’t be going to Central Asia and they must find us another country and job.  When we inquire as to when we should expect to leave we are told maybe June or maybe next January!  Ugh!

• May 2009 - We get the call we have been waiting for!  Our Placement Officer may have found a country in Central America that will accept us!

• June 2009 - While waiting to board a plane in the Las Vegas airport (yes, the craps tables were good to us) we get the call..... We are going to Belize!!!  Our departure date is August 19th!  Can you Belize it?!?!  It’s un-Belizable!!!!  We spend the flight back trying to come up with new puns.

• July 17, 2009 - Our last day at work with Devereux.  We are so excited but also very sad  to.... we will miss our dear friends and co-workers as well as our clients/kids.  We have both been choking up at the strangest times.  But we both know the team will take good care of the kids and the programs!

• August 19, 2009 - We are to meet at the Georgetown Holiday Inn in Washington, DC for our Staging Training.  We depart the next morning for Belize.
  

So there you have it, a little over a year and a half of filling out paperwork, doctor’s visits, waiting, interviews, phone calls, waiting, dentist’s appointments, filling out questionnaires, waiting, searching for old shot records, selling our stuff, and even more waiting.  But it is all about to come together.  When we first started this and read other’s experiences of frustration and woe about the process, we were sure they were being overly dramatic.  Were we ever educated!  But now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we can only say that it was all well worth it.  

We are excited about our new adventure and look forward to the new friends we are sure to make.  But we do feel a bit of sadness for our friends whom we will not see for so long.  But hopefully through this blog, we can all stay in touch with each other and share the ups and downs of the next 2 1/2 years.  Till next time-----Pat&Keri