Moving, Rain, and Ramblings

Above is our life's belongings for the next two weeks. Below is our life for the next two years.

We’re inching ever closer to that day when we depart San Diego for good. It has been a hectic few days packing up our house, loading boxeonto the U-Haul then unloading them, saying goodbye to friends and families and celebrating weddings showers for weddings that we’ll miss.

It has been both fun but also very busy. We’re so happy just to put our feet up and finish out our time at HSHMC.

The weekend was long. It all began on Saturday: we finished packing up our house then loaded our stuff into the moving truck. We had a wonderful brunch with two of our favorite friends (thank you so much Ed and Emily!) and then hit the road.

Driving a 10-foot truck is not the most relaxing thing, my heart raced, my shirt stuck to my back while sweat seeped from my forehead; fortunately, though, traffic wasn’t too bad.

We rumbled into Oxnard about 4:40 pm, we had just enough time to buy a padlock and head out to our friends’, Llewellyn and Tom, Bridal/Groom Shower out in Fillmore, about a 40-minute drive away.

The night was great we said some more goodbyes, talked about our upcoming adventures, drank some amazing home brew and received a “going away” package from the newly fianced couple filled with Mountain Dew, Ritz crackers, cheese whiz, and of course Flaming Hot Cheetos—all the things, I am sure, we’ll sorrowfully miss while abroad. (Note from Chelsea: As I have never eaten most of the things in the care package, it is likely that I will not miss them. But the thought of stuffing us full of traditional “American” snacks was so thoughtful and funny it made me cry).

Sunday rolled around and we unloaded our truck. We then drove up to Ventura for a delightful breakfast of waffles and bacon with mom. It was great.
 
It’s been hard for my parents to come to grips with me leaving. And we haven’t really talked much about it, but at breakfast we conversed quite candidly with mom.  And we have her full support, which is amazing because all the things we’ve been reading mentions how important familial support will be, especially with those early months.

After brunch we set up a Skype account for mom and then went to my dad’s house where we had another discussion.  He’s still wrestling with the idea, but I am almost positive he will come around in time.

We had dinner that night with my brother and sister-in-law at an old Oxnard family Italian restaurant, all rustically dim-lighted and wooden inside. After dinner we went to my brothers house and as we were chatting I felt this thrill of excitement course through my chest. I couldn’t help but smile. It was the first time I truly was excited for this adventure.

The next morning we took the train down to San Diego and went back to our now empty apartment. We cleaned a little bit then went to a co-workers house to sleep for the night. The rest of the week we have been staying at another co-workers house. It’s amazing. We have a whole floor to ourselves, a bedroom, bathroom, living room, TV, and it’s right next to the beach! We’ll be here until the last day of work on the 27th.

All week the skies have been gray and heavy with moisture. Rain has been constantly falling making all the kids a little crazy at school, and making me really happy. I love the rain. Unfortunately, out of those of us in San Diego, I am in the minority. They all want sunshine, but I say let the rain come down. Let us frolic and run around admiring how rare a treat this storm really is. (Note from Chelsea: I do not share Tim’s enthusiasm. Although I know the importance of the rain, I have packed most of my cold weather clothes away. This includes all my closed toed shoes. Needless to say, storms are not fun when your feet are wet and cold).

But now as Saturday dawns, I see blue skies. I feel a slight chill when I step outside. I think the storm is finally past. I mourn its passing, well only a few tears, since in Guyana we’ll have plenty of rain. 

However, I will say, I am so glad that last night, as there was a break in the weather, I went for a run around Solana Beach. It was twilight, that confusing time between darkness and light, and everything was beautiful.  The air was crisp with cleanliness, biting wind cut through my windbreaker, and there was only a tinge of dampness. I wanted to document this moment in time, not knowing when I’ll be in San Diego at dusk after a storm again, so I took my camera. I huffed to a beach off the old 101 to a place called Cardiff-by-the-Sea, then switched the camera to it’s low light setting where the shutter speed slows down, and snapped a few shots. As I finished, it was pretty much full darkness, so I turned and ran towards our shelter. Along the way, I saw some interesting perspective shots that I wanted to try my hand at. I don’t count myself a photographer by any means, but I wanted to practice. I found out that in order for a good, non-blurry, slow-shutter shot one has to pretend it’s like shooting a rifle. One has to exhale, and then click the shot as almost all the air escapes their lungs. This way the shot is steadier, and the slight movement of air passing through the lungs doesn’t affect it. Or if one has a tripod that would probably be better so there is no movement whatsoever. Anyhow, I hope to have more tips as I snap more shots of both San Diego and Guyana.

But anyway, that is enough. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining

and it’s time to enjoy, proper, sunny San Diego.

Travel Reservations, Mailing Address and Other Items of Business

We booked our plane tickets through the government travel office and now have firm plans to be on our way!

We fly out of San Diego on Thursday, February 4th at 11:30 am and arrive in Philadelphia, PA at 7:30pm.  The Peace Corps is putting us up in hotel for two nights during Staging. However, check-in with the Peace Corps isn’t until Friday evening so we can hopefully enjoy exploring Philadelphia that day. We want to check out the Liberty Bell, run up the “Rocky” steps and get a Philly cheese steak. Any other suggestions?

The only problem is we will be packing to live in the tropics for two years. Our packing plans did not include cold weather jackets or scarves. Unless anyone can think of any better solutions, we will buy cheap coats at the Salvation Army in San Diego and give them away in Philadelphia or just tough it out with layered long sleeved shirts and the raincoats we are already bringing. Sort of a hassle but what can we do?

We, along with the rest of the Guyana Groups 22 PCTs will have a day-long information session on Saturday. Then we all hop on a bus from Philly to JFK and fly out on a red eye direct to Guyana. By Sunday, February 7th we will be in Georgetown.

We are SUPER EXCITED!!!!

Here are some items of business:

Our mailing address during training:
Chelsea or Timothy Tibbs, PCT
Peace Corps Guyana
c/o U.S. Embassy
100 Young & Duke Streets
Georgetown, Guyana
South America

We will let you know when we get our site assignment and this address changes.

Getting Our Blog Updates:
Contrary to what I have told many of you, you will not get an email update by simply becoming a “Follower” of our blog. We just learned that “Following,” means that when you log into Blogger you will instantly be able to see any update we have made without going to our blog directly. Unfortunately, Blogger only lets us email update 10 people when we add new posts so we chose to email people who don’t have Facebook accounts. This is because we were able to set up notifications on Facebook any time we post a new blog. That’s the best we can do to keep y’all connected. If you are more tech savvy than we are then I’m sure you have already found your own way.

Welcome 2010: New Adventures Await in a New Year

Mom said she has, “A good feeling about 2010.” There is something in the air that makes me think she’s onto something.

Tim and I spent the last days of 2009 hanging about with Mom and Stephan, visiting family and enjoying their company. Nana hosted a delicious lunch of arroz con pollo, Panamanian style. I imagine we will be eating similar food in Guyana and got very excited at the prospect. Another “goodbye for now” was said and my sentimentality began to leak out. The next day we drove up to San Francisco for a trip to the DeYoung Museum and a look at the King Tut exhibit. After lunch at the Greens Buddhist Restaurant and a blustery walk along the shores of San Francisco Bay we said farewell to Oma and Sampa. More tears.

I am trying to understand why I feel so sentimental when I know that we are about to embark on a grand adventure with the love and support of our family and friends behind us. Peace Corps service is something Tim and I have been wanting for so many years now and I try to be rational and remind myself that two years is a relatively short period of time. Nonetheless, I got weepy at every goodbye. When I think about not being able to be in physical proximity of those I love, hug them and hold their hands, for extended amounts of time, the waterworks begin. Tim is ever supportive of my sentimental meltdowns, although I don’t know if he fully understands them either. ☺

Tim and I welcomed the New Year in Santa Cruz, at his family cabin with our dearest friends. The evening was filled with games and laughter. We took a walk down to the beach and burned away representations of what we do not wish to carry into the New Year with us. We left the smoldering pieces of paper to be washed away by the Pacific Ocean. Mom and I spent the first day of 2010 doing things that we want to welcome into this new year. We welcomed our personal physical health by walking with Dia on the beach. We welcomed spiritual calm and relaxation by getting pedicures and a massage. We welcomed family, good food, friends and laughter.

I have a good feeling about 2010 too.

Now we are back in San Diego. We survived the first week back from break. I stepped in for an injured coworker and taught 9th graders art history and was reminded how much it sucks to be a freshman in high school. How any of us navigated that social and hormonal labyrinth I will never know. Now we have two and a half weeks left of work at HSHMC and then it is off to Guyana! We have so many things to do before we depart but staying busy keeps my mind away from sentimental mushiness so I don’t burst into tears at the thought of leaving the students and staff that have become a second family to us.

Nonetheless, we are constantly sent reminders from the universe of the value of our future as PC volunteers. For example, today a coworker brought her brother, a Foreign Service Officer, in to speak to our students. He told a story from his experience as a diplomat in Vietnam. He mentioned that before the tsunami hit Indonesia on Christmas of 2004, 90 percent of the, predominantly Muslim, population claimed to distrust and dislike the United States. The nation was rapidly becoming a center for radical extremists. After the disastrous tsunami left most of the coastal region of Banda Aceh with devastating casualties and virtually no drinking water, the United States rushed to their aid. Our nation’s Navy pumped millions of gallons of fresh water to survivors and sent relief workers to aid a country in need. After the water receded and things began to stabilize in the region another survey was conducted. 90 percent of the population now respected and liked the U.S. Without their base of support, the growing terrorist threat was effectively quelled and the extremist group was disbanded. This was not the intention of our foreign service officers. Rather, it was a domino effect of reaching across international and cultural barriers to help other human beings in need.

We were deeply struck by this story. Tim and I are reminded of our goal to use the skills, such as our education, that we have been lucky enough to have gained as Americans to promote global cooperation and peace. It is with this in mind that we prepare to take a leap into a new year and new adventures.