(Mid-May to Wednesday, June 16, Day 0)

“The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government of the Peace Corps.” Meaning I’m sorry if I have to leave certain details out once in a while; but I am working for the man, it appears ;)...

Phrase of the day: Oh my, I can’t believe this is actually happening…

I’m not really sure how to being this. I’ve never been much of a writer, or reader, and definitely not a blogger. But tough times call for tough measures. <-- Yeah, I’ll try not to use many more lame phrases like that!

The past few weeks have been ridiculous; I don’t know how I can leave now. And I’m not talking about the places I’ve gone nor the events that have taken place specifically… but more so the fact that everyone has tried so hard to hang out, even if that meant only sleeping 3 hours before work! (sorry u.s. government, sorry b didi, and sorry care, ha). The going away party(s), numerous dinners, picnics, trip to st. mary’s, lawn mowing adventures, smores makings, midnight drives, jitu dada’s concert, and hotel hangouts have all been incredible, but simply seeing you all has without a doubt been the best part.

Oh yeah… I applied to the Peace Corps over a year ago, and apparently I am headed to Ecuador today. In fact, our bus is leaving at 6:30am for the airport (I’m not actually writing this at 5am, but I like writing in the present/future more than the past… Oh, and don’t expect correct grammar either, sorry.) I say “our bus” because I am traveling with about 65 others. We are all headed to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, for an orientation, before heading to our 3 months of training. Our plane is in like 4 hours though, but it’s better to be early, than to be late, right? We have a 2 hour flight to Miami, and then a 4 hour flight to Ecuador.

I’m not going to lie (that’s right Brian Brown, I’m not going to! side note: I hope your foot is better and you’ve learned to master the art of tree climbing like Rajib and Willy), I have no idea what happens when we land in Ecuador… so we shall see!

But some fun fact about Ecuador (don’t quote me on these though, I’m not actually looking at a book for them:

1. National language = Spanish

2. Capital = Quito

3. Most Populated City = Guayaquil, on the coast, sweet beaches, but known to be dangerous for tourists

4. Elevation in Quito = 8500feet+

5. Galapagos Islands are Ecuador’s = now you really want to come!