GUYANA - The Land of Many Waters

Friends and family, it is official. We received our nomination and invitation to serve as education and health community volunteers in the country of Guyana. Not to be mistaken with the African nations of Ghana or Guinea, Guyana is located on the north eastern coast of South America, bordered by Venezuela (Northwest), Suriname (Southeast) and Brazil (South). SEE MAP.

While not a Spanish speaking country, Guyana is one of the most diverse countries in the world and certainly the most in South America. It has a history of European imperialism, multiple indigenous tribes still in existence, and a history of slavery. For more info check this out. We have spent the last two days researching the country and still do not feel like we know even a fraction of what there is to know.

While there is way too much about Guyana to share with all of you, we can share the logistics of Peace Corps Adventure. We will be going to Miami February 7, 2010 for what is called staging. There we will meet the 22nd group of Peace Corps volunteers to go to Guyana since 1995. In Miami we will also take care of any last minute paper work, medical requirements, and get any needed vaccinations for our adventure. Two days later, as a group we will board a plane to Guyana. We will spend the first eight weeks in training as a group while living with a host family. We will learn the language (Creolese) and culture, as well as different health and safety measures that will need to be followed. During our training we will be observed and evaluated by Peace Corps Guyana and will then graduate onto our official volunteer time.

Our volunteer time will consist of 24 months of service in a extremely rural setting, with no running water or electricity. This will most likely be in the interior savanna or northern rain forest regions where there are many small indigenous villages of 200-300 people. Alyssa's project will consist of basic classroom education (math, science, reading, etc.), community development and health education. Paul's projects will include health education and outreach in schools, clinics and with NGOs. These projects set up the perfect opportunity for us to work on separate things but also at times partner together to attempt to enrich a community.

There will be many more posts to come.

Please continue to pray for our process of getting ready to leave as well as the actual journey.

If we haven't seen you in awhile please, please, please contact us because things will get crazy soon and we want to make sure we hang out with all of you.

4 Months and Counting, A Peace Corps Update

Good news friends, last week we received an e-mail from our placement specialist, Jill, at the PC office in D.C. The e-mail requested certain information from us such as final transcripts, updated resumes, and proof of certain certifications. What this essentially means is that they are FINALLY looking through our files on the way to final PC placement. YAY!!!

With this news, my mind began racing with even more questions that I quickly fired back to Jill. The main question, Will we still be leaving in February?, was answered with "yes, most likely near the beginning of the month." So we have a general time frame at this point and also the realization that short of a catastrophe and our file being completely deleted we are on track to become PC volunteers.

We still do not have any new info in terms of location, but we now know that it will come soon.

Beautiful Washington

Paul and I spent 10 days at the beginning of August in Washington state, finally getting a chance to go up and visit my family as they moved up there last year in July. We had an absolutely amazing time and enjoyed their new home which they had only moved into one week before we got there. Here are some (ok, a lot) pics from our trip.

Shopping around in Poulsbo with Brenna for the day.

Paul and I in Poulsbo.

This is on the side of the road by my parents' house as you go over a bridge. My dad often sees Bald Eagles out there, but regardless of our effort to find one, there were none while we were there.

We went to Scenic Beach Park one day and took Wilma and Bogey, my parents' dogs.

The shells in Washington are way more fun than those in San Diego.

We found out that Bo loves the water, and that Wilma, well, still doesn't.

more cool oyster shells

This itty bitty crab had a smiley face on his back. :)

This deer is literally in someone's front yard next to a busy street.

A sunset view of the mountains from my parents' back porch. Yeah, they've got it rough up there in Washington.
more mountains

Paul and I went hiking in the Olympic National Forest one day. It was beautiful, even when it rained a bit.

These baby trees are growing out of the stump of another tree. I found this so exciting.

It's like Narnia!

more hiking

So, we found this can, and Paul picked it up to carry it out to a garbage can only to find this green slug enjoying it's shelter. Gross. It looked kind of like those slugs Ron pukes out in Harry Potter.

We went into Seattle on two different days, taking the ferry and seeing little more than some jellyfish and the occassional seal.

Oh how I love my sister.

I told you there were seals. We went kayaking another day in the water around my parents' house and saw tons more, which made these two guys seem pretty lame.

This is their brand new gorgeous home. They've been talking about it for years, and they finally built it. :)

The dogs love running the property and chasing their ball.

This is Bogey, Bo for short, or Boudini as he's also an escape artist. I finally got to meet him as my family got him after they moved up to Washington.

Bogey and Wilma (holding still just long enough to take her photo).

the front entrance

More of those beautiful mountains.

I like flowers.

Some goofy pics of Paul. Take 1....

Take 2....

and Take 3.

Paul and I, so happy to be enjoying family and vacation.

This little gem was inside the children's secion of the Elliot Bay Bookstore in Seattle.

The original Starbucks. The line was ridiculously long, and I only went in to use the bathroom, which unfortunately didn't exist.

Pike Place Market

Flowers at Pike Place Market

beautiful chilis Paul, Brenna and I

My parents

A view of the summer rain from their back porch.

Toward the end of the trip, all five of us went to the Olympic National Forest, only to another area. It was, without a doubt, another beautiful day.

see...beautiful

water? what's that stuff?

waterfalls....as if you couldn't tell

Checking out the (extremely cold) water.

We had a blast, and though by the end of the trip we were ready to go home, leaving family we were not. We fell in love with Washington and it's greenery, it's coffee shops, it's small town feel and it's natural beauty. Hopefully we'll be back soon Washington.

Fleas 1, Quinlivans 0

Sally has fleas. Fleas are not fun, nor are they funny.

Just ask Sally.

Once your cat has fleas you have to bathe them. Some words not to use when describing bathing a cat are smooth, quick, painless, effortless, or enjoyable. However, the picture below does a pretty fantastic job of explaining what goes on during a cat bath.

The battle continues. As the cat begins to further clean herself, you begin to vacuum, wash, and treat everything the cat has, might, or could touch in hopes of sucking up or killing every flea in every stage of the life cycle. Sadly, this is an impossible task. The cat has been Frontlined, there is Borax in the carpets, I've vacuumed more in the past few weeks than my yearly average, and the fleas are jumping with excitement over all the commotion.

I'm beginning to realize that I have a cat, and cats get fleas. There is only so much I can do other than to sell the cat or move. Even though Paul's vote is for the first of the two, they aren't actually options. Therefore, we have fleas.

The fleas have won their battle. I'm over it.