Today is the Day!

I left Portland, my new city of residence with my house almost a done-deal, late Tuesday with teary good-byes with Amy and Rachel...Josh had headed back to Ketchum a few days earlier after driving the moving truck. I could never, ever have done all this without my three incredible children. I spent the night with my oldest (7th grade) friends, Elena and Bill Hermanson in Pasadena. Then Wednesday morning Elena left me at the Airport Sheraton and it all began!! My Peace Corps group of 21 met for the entire day with two facilitators who shared many policies, procedures and rules and led us in "getting to know you" activities. It seems like an interesting, diverse and very friendly group...and, although most are in the 25-30 range as expected, there are three of us women who are around my age. The evening ended with a small group of us sharing wine and stories before retiring for our last sleep on American soil for a very long time. We meet again today then board our United  13 hour flight to Auckland at 9pm; we land on Saturday morning after crossing the International Dateline and soon fly on to Port Vila, Vanuatu where it all really begins!! I will have internet access all next week before leaving for our training village on Sunday, Sept. 28, so it will be a good time to receive your emails!!