Final Pack List

We finally took the opportunity to get all of our clothes, equipment and supplies into their bags for transport to Guyana.The Peace Corps allots 80 pounds and 3 bags maximum per person. Anything over the weight limit or the number of bags needs will be paid by us. Fortunately, and to my utmost suprise, we are roughly 40 pounds (combined) underweight. Below is our final packlist and some pictures of the process

 

Paul’s Clothing

Shirts (SS) – x7
Shirts (LS) – x2
Collared Shirts (SS) – x4-5
Dress Collared Shirts (LS) – x1
Ties – x1
Shorts – x4-5
Pants – x3-4
Underwear – x7*
socks (thin/ short) - x4
Board shorts – x3
Pj pants – x1
soccer shorts – x2
Glasses – x2
Sunglasses – x2
hat – x2
Watch – x1
wedding ring
rain jacket – x1
Chaco – x2
Rainbows – x1
crocs – x1
Runners – x1
Boots – x1
dress – x1
Soccer cleats – x1

Alyssa’s Clothing
Shirt (ls) – x2
Shirt (ss) – x4 (Icebreakers)
Casual tops– x3
Collared/dressy shirts – x4
Undershirts (tanks) - x3
Skirts (knee) – x3
Skirts (long) – x3
slips – x3
Pants (lightweight) – x2
Shorts (long) – x3
Underwear – x11
Sports Bras – x7
Socks (thin/running) – x4
Pj pants –x2
Hat – x2
Sunglasses – x2
Belt – x1
Workout shorts – x2
Board Shorts – x1
Watch – x1
Reading glasses – x2
Swimsuit – x2
Raincoat – x1
Cool ties- x2
Chacos/tevas – x2
Dress (closed) – x1
running – x1
flips – x1
Random
Camera
Camera Batteries & Charger
Pelican camera case
Pelican de-silica
USB cord/ card reader
Batteries (rechargeable)
Battery charger
Dry sack (camera)
USB storage
memory cards – 8 GB x2
Solar charger & accessories
Books
Board game(s)
cards & card games
Puzzle books
Dictionary
Guitar
Gifts for Hosts
Soccer ball & pump
Duct tape
Sewing kit
Journal – x2
Bible – x2
Pens – x10
U.S. Stamps
Stationery supplies
Envelopes (adhesives)
Incense

Gear
Day pack – x2
Multiday Pack – x2
Duffle – x2
marketbag
Purse Bag – x1
Knives – x4
Multi-tool – x2
headlamps – x4
Pack towels – x4
Nalgenes –x4
Money belt –x2
Lamp –x1
Steripen
Solarshower

Financial
Credit card – x1
Debit cards – x2
travelers checks -$50
Toiletries/Health
Prescriptions – 3 months
Fem Hygiene Stuff
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Shampoo
Conditioner
Hand Sanitizer
Small nail care kit
Tweezers
Hair accessories
Brush
Razors/blades
Sunscreen
Deodorant
Lotion
Soap
Make-up
Hair cutting shears
Nose trimmers
Chapstick
Ear plugs
Anti-fungal creams

For the Home
Bed sheets – x2
Mattress cover- x1
Wall calendar
Map of US/ World
Photos (laminated)
hammock
hobby supplies

Job related
Peace Corps paper work
EDU books/resources
Medical reference book

And You Thought Your Parents Were Cool

Seriously, I have the coolest parents.

Leaving the country party. This Saturday 2-8pm at my parents house. There will be a jungle bounce house. Yes, for real.

If you want to come and you don't have my parents address, e-mail me and I will give it to you. This will probally be the last chance you will have to see us so you should come.

The Itinerary

Our next three weeks look like this:

On January 16th we're flying from Washington state to the east coast for one week.  We'll start in Virginia where we'll see my mom's family in Richmond: grandparents, aunt and uncle.  Then we're off to Charlottesville to visit Paul's best friend Nate and his wife Emily who we haven't seen since their wedding last March.  Then we take the train up to Maryland to visit my dad's parents.  All of this happens in one week before we fly back to San Diego to spend our last two weeks in the U.S. with Paul's family and see our friends.

We leave February 5th for Philadelphia where we do staging with the Peace Corps.  There we turn in last minute paperwork, receive any vaccinations we need, and are briefed on what to expect when we get to the country.  Then we drive up to JFK on the 7th and fly to Guyana!  :)

Yesterday we received a call from some people working in the Peace Corps office in Guyana.  They talked a little bit about what to expect and how we felt about living in a rural area.  Paul and I are hoping to live in a rural community without electricity and running water, so we were excited to hear that they are sending a lot of volunteers to the interior of Guyana (rural) and that part of our training will be how to grow some of our own food.  We're hoping to raise some chickens as well. :)

Until we know more.....

We're Sorry. We've been busy.

Please excuse the fact that we haven't updated our blog in far too long.  Things have been nothing short of busy even though we've been out of work since Dec. 31st.  Also, please excuse the fact that this blog is very long.

We'll start with Christmas which was great and relaxing.  We went to Green Valley's Christmas Eve service which was wonderful.  I will really miss that church.  They have found a way to keep all ages connected and feel appreciated.  I'll greatly miss the community and kindness I found there.

After Green Valley we headed over to Paul's parents to spend the night and celebrate Christmas.

We gave both sets of our parents dog boots and packs.  Holly was not too thrilled about the whole wearing dog boots thing.  I'm sure it was because they were uncomfortable, but she may have also picked up on the fact that we were laughing at how ridiculous she looked prancing around in them.  This picture should pretty much sum up how she felt about wearing boots:

We tried out our new lightweight hammock that Paul got from work.  We're definitely taking it with us to Guyana as a "luxury item".

We both finished out our jobs on New Year's Eve, spent a wonderful evening with our newly engaged friends, Wesley and the future Trevor, Marla.  Wes's sister and brother-in-law put together a great list of cocktails and we rang in the New Year playing a never ending game of Trivial Pursuit. :)

New Years Day we started to wrap it all up.  We sold the rest of our furniture, keeping only our bed and night stands.  We packed up the apartment in three days, taking all of our Peace Corps gear to Paul's parents' house in San Diego, and loading the rest into a U-haul to take up to Washington where my parents will store what we've kept.  Sally enjoyed her last few days laying in the sun and avocado plant on the patio before her big move up to the Washington rain.

After cleaning the apartment from top to bottom and turning in all of our keys, we said goodbye to Paul's family for a few weeks and were off to Washington!

The ride up to Washington went smoothly.  We left Sunday the 3rd and drove up to Moraga to see good friends, the Ricketts.  Dave was the officiant at our wedding, and his family has always been very important and looked up to by Paul.  They truly are great people and provided us with hospitality we couldn't have asked for.  It was so nice before heading back on the road.

The next day we were back in the U-haul and drove the rest of the way through California, Oregon, and up to my parents' in Washington.  Paul drove quite a bit that second day while I slept.  I cannot stay awake in a car (or an airplane or any other moving piece of equipment for that matter).

The trip was uneventful.  Naturally I was unnecessarily worried about the cat getting carsick or freaking out and having a heart attack.  She was fine and loved being able to curl up in a blanket and look out the window.  I worried for nothing.

Since pulling up to my parents' on the 5th, we've been building shelves in the garage, going through boxes one more time before they're stored, getting lots of last minute paperwork and randomness taken care of, and enjoying time with family.  Oh, and the view is pretty nice as well.

We spent some time in Seattle and drove down to Vancouver (Washington, not Canada) to see my sister's new apartment and help her get settled in a bit.  We really like Seattle, and found this really great artistic use of soda liter bottles down an alley way.  If you stood under it, it spelled out "Waste Not".

I apologize to Paul in advance for posting more than one picture of the cat on this blog posting.  Bear with me.  It's pictures of the cat or pictures of kids.  Take your pick.

I love animals.  I especially love my cat Sally.  Call it pathetic if you will, call me a cat lady even, I don't care.  Brenna and I were cleaning through some of my craft boxes and found a plastic flower.  We stuck it on her head and she didn't budge.  Instead she fell back asleep.  I just get a kick out of her.

Things and Stuff (Sorry its a long one)

Since our acceptance into Peace Corps Guyana, we have been doing our fair share of research; reading numerous books, internet searches and blog reading have absolutely consumed our lives. While reading all of the different blogs from people who are in or are going to so many different places I became aware of a common trend that each blog had. Each one always contained at least one post in which our societies over-abundance of stuff was mentioned. While I am not one to follow trends this is one subject I feel that I can't avoid discussing.
       It came to me this morning while I was in the shower. I was looking around and realized (not the first time I have had this realization) that we have way too much stuff in our shower and bathroom. From shampoo and conditioner, to shaving cream, soap, nail clippers, Q-tips, feminine products, I could honestly fill pages with just the things we have in our bathroom; and that is just the bathroom.
        Overnight our apartment has been run through by an extremely rare feat, the southern California tornado. After spending the better part of the last month selling or giving away most of our life it still amazes me that we have anything left, let alone an overabundance. All of this makes me wonder what the people in our soon to be new country would think of all of our "stuff"? It also makes you wonder, what, if anything is really worth keeping? Im not saying that none of the stuff has value. We have gifts from our wedding, sentimental photos, things for our hobbies (surf boards and scrapbooks), practical household items, but do we really need all of it?
         Peace Corps poses a unique opportunity for the Quinlivans. We have the ability to strip our lives of our things and stuff. We are keeping a few things, of course, mostly the things that are too expensive to re-purchase (if we come back) or the things that just are irreplaceable. But this purging of our life is an extremely freeing endeavor. Sort of reminds me of a quote from the book Fight Club, "It's only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything." This quote is of course referring to a complete philosophical nihilism, which I in no way endorse, but it still relates to our stuff. Christ asked a man to give up all of his possessions and give his life to the Lord, but he couldn't so Jesus said "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18;24-25)." Its a long process but I think by getting rid of our things we are helping the camel lose weight (or creating a bigger needle, which ever way you want to look at it).
       I pray that this purging process of our things and stuff will ultimately simplify our lives to the point where we can be free to do anything God asks of us without restrictions. 
PaulQ

True Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Love the Quinlivans

Are We Packed?

No.

Not even close.  That's what this weekend after Christmas is for. :)

We did, however, prioritize our "to do" list into three categories:

Immediate

Not So Immediate

Just Needs to Be Done Before We Leave

It's a long set of lists.

And our apartment looks like this:

And this:

And our Peace Corps pile only looks like this:

And Sally is enjoying the empty boxes. 

Fortunately for us, we should be filling them more this weekend (not so fortunate for Sally)

If those pictures are not a good enough indication as to the extreme disarray we are living in, the fact that this has been sitting on our dining room table since October might help.

Regardless, it all has to be done by February 5th.  However, much of it has to be finished before January 5th when we drive all our stuff up to Washington.  This might require some more coffee....

Alyssa

Oh Sweet Stressful Irony

This weekend was our "unoffical" purging on stuff. On Saturday we had our yard sale in which we were able to get rid of 75% of our stuff and make over $400 in the process. Strangely some of the things we were sure would be hot-ticket items were still lying on my parents lawn at the end of the day (If you want or need an oversized chair, papasan chair, dining room table, dinged up surf boards, a snowboard jacket and a womens bike, let us know).

The other major sale of the weekend was going to be my truck. Our friend Heidi was in dire need of a vehicle after losing her job earlier this year and our thought we to give her a good deal on a fairly reliable car. Before driving the car over to her house to complete the sale we decided to stop by the store so we could quickly clean out the interior and make it look somewhat nice. On the way I coasted to a stop sign in neutural and when I went to drive away the truck would not go into gear. So Alyssa and I pushed the truck out of the road while I said a few choice words and laughed at the irony of the situation.

This morning I talked to the shop and it looks as if we are going to need a new clutch, which will roughly cost half of what we were planning on selling the car for.

Can't wait to get to Guyana so I can breathe again.

Pack List: Take One

OK it looks like a lot, at it really may be, but at least we will be prepared. The idea is to get high quality stuff that we can only get in the states and then get everything else in country. We are limited to 80 LBs, which I (Paul) think is way more than enough. But after looking at all the random things we are bringing may be an issue. Things with question marks are things we are still not sure on. If any of you have suggestions or comments let us know.

Paul’s Clothing
Shirts (SS) – x7
Shirts (LS) – x2
Collared Shirts (SS) – x4-5
Dress Collared Shirts (LS) – x2
Ties – x1
Shorts – x4-5
Pants – x3-4
Underwear – x7
socks (thin/ short) - x4
Board shorts – x3
Pj pants – x1
soccer shorts – x2
Glasses – x2
Sunglasses – x2
hat – x2
Watch – x1
rain jacket – x1
Chaco – x2
Rainbows – x1
crocs – x1?
Runners – x1
Boots – x1
dress – x1
Soccer cleats – x1

Alyssa’s Clothing
Shirt (ls) – x2
Shirt (ss) – x4 (Icebreakers)
Casual tops– x3
Collared/dressy shirts – x4
Undershirts (tanks) - x3
Semi-formal dress – x1
Skirts (knee) – x3
Skirts (long) – x3
slips – x1-2
Pants (lightweight) – x2
Shorts (long) – x2-3
Underwear – x10
Sports Bras – x7
Socks – x3
Pj pants –x2
Hat – x2
Sunglasses – x2
Belt – x1
Workout shorts – x1-2
Watch – x1
Reading glasses – x2
Swimsuit – x1-2
Raincoat – x1
Chacos/tevas – x1-2
Dress (closed) – x1
running – x1
flips – x1

Random
Can/bottle opener
Camera
Camera Batteries & Charger
Pelican camera case
Pelican de-silica
USB cord/ card reader
Rechargeable batteries- AA(6) and AAA(6)
Battery charger
Dry sack (camera)
USB storage
memory cards – 4 GB (at least)
Solar charger & accessories
Books - x10 (at least)
Board game(s)
cards & card games
Puzzle books
Dictionary
Guitar
Gifts for Hosts
Soccer ball & pump
Duct tape
Sewing kit
Journal – x2
Bible – x2
Pens – x10
U.S. Stamps
Stationery supplies
Envelopes (adhesives)
Incense

Gear
Day pack – x2
Multiday Pack – x2
Duffle – x2
Purse Bag – x1
Knives – x4
Multi-tool – x2
headlamps – x4
Pack towels – x4
Nalgenes –x4
Money belt –x2
Lamp –x1
Thermarest/mat –x1?

Financial
Credit card – x1
Debit cards – x2
travelers checks -$50

Toiletries/Health
Prescriptions – 3 months
Fem Hygiene Stuff
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Shampoo & Conditioner
Hand Sanitizer
Small nail care kit
Tweezers
Hair ties
Brush
Razors/blades
Sunscreen
Deodorant
Lotion
Soap
Make-up? (small supply)
Hair cutting shears
Electric Razor?

Home
Bed sheets – x2
Mattress cover- x1
Measuring cups/ spoons?
Wall calendar
Map of US/ World?
Photos of friends & family (laminated)
Clothes pins?
Clothes line?
Hangers?
Small mirror
hammock?

Job related
Art supplies (kids)
Peace Corps paper work
PC Packet
EDU books/resources
calculator? (solar)
Medical reference book
Mountaineering medicine book

Things to ship
Comfort food
Seeds
Drink mixes
Spices
Books
U.S. stamps
School supplies