Gearing up

It has become apparent to me that I now have an audience. Thanks for reading kids, I really appreciate it. I'll do my best to keep self righteous monologues to a minimum.

I got my tax return yesterday and am getting serious about getting all my gear. So far I have some sweet camping underwear that promises I can go weeks with only one pair and chocas. These are both in thanks to Ryan, who demands that I be a better kept woman.

My next big purchase is my solar battery charger and I think I am going with this baby.
Then here is what will be a growing list of other things I will need:

-headlamp
-sleeping bag
-sleep pad
-panniers
-gifts for my host family
-short wave radio
-rechargable batteries
-herb seeds
-tabasco, herbs & spices
-a journal
- a credit card with no fees and low interest that doesn't need to be paid off each month

other than that I think I have everything covered. I have a camelbak, a tent and a sense of humor. Any other suggestions?

Forcing the habit

I'm going to make a real effort while state side to write in my blog. I am terrible at keeping journals. In fact a spent a summer on one of the greatest adventures of my life and only have 3 pages about Pennsylvania to show for it. So I figure if I give myself a running start I might have the momentum to squeak out posts in a fairly consistant manner.

So I had a wonderful weekend. I spent Friday night working at an event in Costa Mesa at the Turnip Rose . The drive was a drag but the location was beautiful and the food was great. It was an art show for an alzheimer's charity and it went pretty well. So work is going well. I really like all of the people I work with. The work itself is very detail orientated, which can be frustrating. Although I am learning alot about event planning. I've put together a few events in my day, and I wish I knew this stuff back then.

I also went the Descanso Botanical Gardens with Ryan and my sister. We had a very nice time picnicing and looking at all the flowers.

We have food and are ready to go

The anteater watches over our travels Cherry blossoms

Bamboo and camillas

Monkey love

River blossoms

ChunkerExhausted Monkey

But most importantly, I bought a pet. Calm down folks it's just a fish. My mother thinks its me longing for a more seditary lifestyle, but its just a fish. A black moor gold fish to be exact- so no problem with leaving home for a while. Hopefully I can get my sister to take care of him for a while and email me picutres while I'm gone.

Family

While I am extremely excited about going to Zambia, I am leaving a lot of very important things back in the states. I can't even begin to think about how much I am going to miss my family. I have been away from home for huge stretches of time, but this is going to be a little harder. My 11 year old sister is the funniest person I have ever met, my mom is my hero, dad is very supportive in his own way and my brother can be nice when is isn't feeling well. And the boy is a constant source of strength. I'm so lucky I have these people in my life and I hope they know how much they mean too me. Below are a few pictures of the best people in the world.














This is the family, except this guy is missing:




















My brother, Vahan was too busy in a soviet sub















I was showing my mother a wound















and then later my boyfriend freaked out with my little sister. It's what they do.

this is just a test

hi and welcome to my blog. i hope this is a place where friends and family can congregate in the next few years to see what i am up to and get in touch with each other.

i am 75 days away from getting on a plane and heading out to join the peace corps on a 2 year mission to zambia. i will be working on the RAP program, which is Rural Aquaculture Promotion. Yes indeed, moving to a land locked country to be a fish farmer.

so stick around and see what develops - hopefully zambia will be on that list and not a lot of -itis suffixes.

love,
laura