The adventure begins!

Well, my bags are all packed (HUGE thanks to my girl Tina!!! Miss you already!) and I fly out of Santa Barbara tomorrow (May 9th) at 9:45 am to Washington D.C. for a day of staging.  Tina's been with me the past week helping me tie up all my loose ends, like accompanying me to Best Buy twice (the 4th time for me!) to get my hard drive fiasco figured out so I can take pictures and music with me on my new netbook  (it's a long story, all I'll say is that I sometimes really hate technology and how confusing it is, and if you know a computer savvy friend or family member to give them a big fat kiss for being able to help you for free!).  We had one (okay, it ended up being TWO, so annoying!) last shopping trips to CVS to gather all my toiletries and whatever-elses for the big packing-up-of-all-my-stuff endeavor.  It took two days to get it all organized, packed, and weighed, then unpacked and re-weighed, then unpacked and re-weighed again.  Yeah, you can guess how frustrating that was for me, having to leave stuff behind that fit just fine the first time!  It's the weight that really counts in the end (damn airplane guidelines!).  So that just means lots of family members will be mailing me some pre-stuffed care packages :)  Thanks everyone ahead of time for mailing those!!!  I finally signed up for personal property insurance for all my expensive electronics (let's hope nothing happens to those!) and set up a Shutterfly photo sharing page (check it out: sarahinnica.shutterfly.com) to post photos during my service to share with whoever's interested in looking. 

Today's Mother's Day, so Happy Day to all those mothers who are reading this!  It's a bumber that I have to fly out the day after this particular holiday (sorry Mom!  Not the best gift, I know) but I really have no choice on when I'm sent.  It's gotta happen eventually!  And it's finally here, after almost a year of applying and waiting and waiting some more.  I applied for Peace Corps online at the end of June 2010, and am now finally departing tomorrow!  So crazy.  It's been kind of a whirlwind this past year, leaving Fresno and the memories there, moving back home with my parents because my aunt's house had flooded on March 20th during the crazy rains.  It was under construction for 7 weeks before I could move in with her.  My cats have had to move with me, twice, getting used to two different houses. But they're finally in their right place here at my aunt's house in Solvang for the next 27 months.  So far Charlie's warming up to the place and his new mom.  He'll approach her and let her pet him, and this morning was the first time he actually jumped up on her bed to get a morning petting session.  So yay for Charlie!  Tallulah, on the other hand, is her bitchy self as usual.  She'll take more time to let anyone new get close to her, but I'm sure it'll happen. 

So this is the second and probably last blog I'll write from the states (unless I find some down time during staging, which is highly unlikely).  Next up: Peace Corps training in Nicaragua!!!  I truly hope to keep this blog updated with the happenings of my life the next two years.  Everyone please keep in touch, send me letters, postcards, care packages (I'll probably make lists of things I need, hehe) or just a hi once and a while.  Contact with family and friends will be super important in keeping my mind sane and keeping me up to date with the world back home.  I look forward to hearing from you all!  And hopefully seeing some of you too!! 

Here's my address during my 11 weeks of training (which starts Monday the 16th) for mail to be sent:

Sarah Robinson, PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America

Brazos y Besos a todo!