Dearly Departed

Since midnight has come and gone, I can say it: today, I'm going into the Peace Corps! Here's the plan:

1. Say a tearful farewell to Mom and Harold at airport security.
2. Make melodramatic faces at/with them from behind the x-ray machines as bewildered TSA employees stare contemptuously.
3. Fly to Atlanta, then Miami. Spend the night in Miami - on the Peace Corps's tab!
4. Participate in awkward icebreaker activities with other new volunteers until being hearded on to Sao Paulo and then (by Thursday morning) Asunción.
5. Leave the capital for a "satellite training community," meet my host family, and perform the dance from the music video of "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" for them as a sign of my gratitude and willingness to engage in cultural sharing.

As you can see, dear readers, I am drawing on humor to cope with what has been an emotional few days, full of many heartfelt and touching goodbyes. To all those of you who I've communicated with over the last few days, thank you so much for all your love and support. I'm taking those gifts with me to Paraguay as well as all the ziploc bags and Sudafed.

I probably won't have much access to the internet or a cell phone while I travel and get settled in. So this may be the last blog post for awhile and I may be slow to answer e-mails.

With that said, I can't wait to write my next entry - finally, from Paraguay. ¡Hasta luego, salud y paz!