And it Begins

Hi all!

This is my first post to this blog dedicated to my travels and adventures in Vanuatu with the Peace Corps. Since I left Santa Fe last July, I've already done quite a bit of travelling - mostly back and forth across the Midwest, but also to the East Coast, Santa Fe and an absoluately amazing vacation to Cambodia and Thailand. I've been busier than I ever was working full-time, and even more stressed at times. Guess that is just a state of mind and gratefully, it is temporary.

I'm leaving in 2 days!! - April 11th - for LA and a couple of days of training and then a LONG flight to Vanuatu. I'll be posting stuff here occasionally, but I don't know how often since my access to the internet will be limited. I'll have a laptop with me and other electronic devices all self-respecting technology geeks are loath to be without. Electricity being a scare commodity in the hinterlands of the outer isles of Vanuatu, I've even become a little bit of a geek about solar power and am taking a portable solar panel for recharging all of the batteries needed. What a cool little device it is! 28 oz folded up into 11" x 8" x 1". I had the best time testing it out on a cloudy day - hee hee. Well, I guess you would have had to be there. I've also managed to load more than 35 GB of music onto my computer in prep for loading into my new Zen MP3 player. However, it only holds 30 GB so something has to give - kind of like giving up some of the things that won't fit in the suitcases or cause their total weight to be more than 80 lbs. It has been Hard getting 2 years worth of stuff into 2 bags. Ugh!!

On the home front, my mother has been quite ill lately and has been cause of much concern as well as time. I'm not sure which is more difficult - leaving my parents for maybe the last time or leaving my pets. I hope they'll all be around when I get back.

I'll try to upload some pictures from time to time, but just now, with high speed internet access, and only 1 picture, it was taking FOREVER. Of course, that is relative given that I'm feeling there is a lot to get done still before I leave.

Hope you all are well and enjoying spring - wow, to think only 6 weeks ago I thought the snow would never leave. Then overnight, everything was green and today the amount of it is almost blinding.

I think you can post comments to my blog, but might need to set up an account with google. You can also register with www.weblogs.com to get notified whenever I make a change to the blog so you'll know when there are new posts - might be easier than checking every week and not finding anything. I have to be somewhat circumspect about the contents of the blog since I'm working for the Peace Corps (aka US government), but can always be reached at the email address I sent you all awhile back. I'd love to hear from all of you and please don't be put off by my lack of response - I might be far away from the internet for long periods.

Be well all - Sandy