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Published: September 21st 2007
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On August 20, 2007 we were officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers. As many of you know this has been a life long dream of mine. Jim, good sport that he is, was willing to go along with me and commit two years to the unknown. We left Delray Beach on July 1, 2007 saying good bye to friends and family with a few tears and a lot of laughs. The farewell parties were great and we will never forget them. Natalie took us to Miami where we met our fellow travelers. We tried to compress our luggage into something manageable. This was unsuccessful so we paid the extra and took everything. The flight to Jamaica took less time than our drive to Miami from Delray. Little did we know what awaited us. The entire Peace Corps staff and current volunteers met us at the airport with open arms and shuttled us off to the University of the West Indies. That was the beginning of eight intensive training weeks which culminated with our swearing in ceremony at the United States Embassy in Kingston. We easily survived hurricane Dean in comfort. The Peace Corps officials and the US Ambassador allowed
Bob
We will miss you Bob us to wait it out in the air conditioned safety of the Embassy with meals and sleeping accomidations on the marble floor. The over fifty group got to sleep in the carpeted library instead. It was still pretty hard. After the all clear for Hurricane Dean we returned to our home in Parottee, a small fishing village near the town of Black River on the south coast of Jamaica. There was no damage to our house but many of our neighbors were hit hard. We had no water and no electricity for some time. All the services were restored and we have been enjoying the hot rainy season with electric fans and lots of cool showers. So far most of our work has been adjusting to a new culture and the benefits and limitations that entails. After painting the inside of our house this weekend we now have a rustic little cottage 75 yards from the sea, a great place for any or all of you to come and visit when it gets cold and gray up north or in Florida you need a change of scene. Here are some great sights and people you will meet when you arrive.
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Mindy
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YEAH!
You DID IT! I'm so happy for you. Having a blog up must mean that life is starting to become managable as well as enjoyable. Happy to see you are making friends and have been adopted. We will be visiting right after Christmas, so we got DIBS! I love you both so much, God bless you two! Much Love, Mindy, Deno, Kalin, and Karson