To Do/ See/ Eat

We have so many lists lying around the house right now. We will be posting all of them soon, however the most important of all our lists are the things we want to do, see, eat, etc., before we leave the country for at least the next 26 months. This is the most important list solely because it is things that you, our friends and family, can help us with. If there is anything in particular you see on our list that you want to do with us let us know.

You will also notice that many of the things we want to do involve food and the cold. We have just listed the foods and resturants we wish to eat at. Before we leave we really, really want to take advantage of our culinary choices.

Paul's list

-Surf, Surf, Surf!!!
-Iceskate
-Snowboard
-go to Julian
-hang out Downtown
-Go to all of our used bookstores
-hang out with all of my friends
-Pat and Oscars
-Sandwhiches
-Pipes
-Salads
-Fruit
-Good beer
-Pizza Port
-Panda Express (orange chicken is good!)
-Jamba Juice
-Mexican
-Italian
-Brownie mix and Cookies Dough
-Bretts BBQ
-Hotdogs

Alyssa's List

-Julian
-Old Town
-Seaport Village
-Hike all around the county
-Downtown
-Cabrillo National Monument
-Balboa Park
-Craft with LJ
-Bookstores
-Movies
-Greek food
-Mexican food
-Ice Cream
-Sloppy Joes
-Teriyaki Chicken & Rice
-Japanese
-Kings Ranch Chicken
-Potato Latkes
-Brett's BBQ
-Chocolate chip cookies
-brownies
-baked potatoes
-monkey bread
-see lots and lots of friends and family

Guyana Info

The Peace Corps has a website with some information about Guyana that you can check out if you're looking for information. It's helped us start our pack list and get some info from other Peace Corps volunteers in Guyana.

http://peacecorpsjournals.com/?showcountryinfo,gy

Timeline

The pre-adventure plan is officially in place.

As of December 31st, 2009, Alyssa and I will be leaving our jobs as a Dermatology Medical Assistant and a Junior High Staff Assistant, respectfully, to prepare for our Peace Corps travels.

We will then spend the next few days packing, cleaning out the apartment and hopefully relaxing in between. On January 4th or 5th, we will load up a moving truck and drive up to Washington state where the Richters have so graciously given us storage space. The goal will be to switch off driving and sleeping so we can make the long drive in two and a half days which would allow us to spend more time with family. We will then spend a week or so in Washington State then on the 16th we will board a plane headed for Richmond, Virginia where the Grand parents await.

We will spend some time with Alyssa's family and our good friends the Nichols. We will then, on the 24th fly to San Diego where we will spend sometime with family, relax and prepare everything for leaving the country.

During those two weeks we plan on seeing most of you for breakfast, coffee, surf, settlers or just generally hanging out. We will also be having a going away shindig (more to come at a later date).

On February 7th we will board a plane and officially become members of the 22nd group of Peace Corps volunteer in Guyana.

October Backpacking Trip

Paul and I went backpacking at the end of October and basically forgot we took pictures.  I can't really blame us; we did come home to our Peace Corps invitation packet.  We backpacked up in the Forest Falls area, just a bit further up the mountain from Forest Home where we met.  It was beautiful, and cold, but mostly beautiful.  We only stayed two nights because we had to go back to work (silly work, always getting in the way of fun), however just the relaxation we needed.

The handsome man behind the camera. :)

I'm pretending it was colder than it actually was.  The lowest it probably got was the mid 20s, but that was at night.  I will say the tent and sleeping bag felt rather nice though.

Parts of the creek were frozen over, which on our hike in was a bit concerning.

Even the larger parts of the creek were frozen on the top.

A nice and blurry shot of me all bundled up.

This is where we camped the first night.  We didn't see a single person within our campsites either night.

I'm pretty sure I'm thinking that I'm about ready for some food that can't be found in trail mix or a foil pouch.

Paul standing on the ice (and Alyssa behind the camera, afraid Paul will get his boots wet).

I hate to admit it, but I had a bit of altitude sickness, so I couldn't do the day hike to the peak.

Paul made it though, and took lots of pictures for me.

This was on our hike back down. One of my favorite parts about hiking is realizing just how high you've climbed. The valley below is Forest Falls and where we started our trip.

The backpackers themselves. :)

Alyssa

Spending, Spending, Spending and Tossing, Tossing, Tossing

I'm not sure if it's excitement or just necessity, but I feel like we're taking care of everything all at once.  Oh wait, it's because we are.  :)  While the weekend has been spent cleaning through everything (not an exaggeration), boxing stuff up to store, posting furniture on craigslist, and filling boxes for a garage sale, we have also found ourselves accumulating more stuff.  Such a funny thing.  We are getting rid of things only to take more in.

Paul just ordered a whole bunch of clothes, shoes, and gear that we'll need for the high temperatures in Guyana.  I'm constantly in search of skirts and modest yet cool and comfortable clothing.  Thankfully we have 2 1/2 months until we leave to get that together. 

In the meantime, if you're looking for any furniture or random anything in general, you could probably find it here, and we're probably willing to part with it. The exception would be Sally, even though Paul threatened to post her on craigslist this morning as well.

Alyssa

80 Days!

Last night, Paul and I compiled a master packing list. Much to our dismay, it is long, but thankfully only a starting point. Packing for two years is proving more extensive than we had originally thought.

We've also been editing our "to do" list before we leave. This one is even longer. The next few months may be a little crazy, and that may be an understatement.

As of right now, our plan is to be out of our apartment January 5th to drive all of our remaining belongings up to Washington state, where my parents will graciously hold onto and care for our stuff (including Sally cat) while we're gone. About a week later, we'll fly to the east coast to visit with some extended family and friends. Then it's back to San Diego for two weeks until we fly to Miami. During that time, hopefully everything will be done, and we'll relax with family and friends.

So many people have asked me questions lately that I thought it might be a good idea to answer some of them here. If you have any questions, please comment, and we'll respond. :)

Alyssa

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.