Away We Go!

We've packed our bags, finished our last minute work, and sold/stored our stuff. It's happening, isn't it? We don't really know what to feel, but it's some crazy combination of excitement and uncertainty. We haven't had much time to think about what's about to happen, but we're ready as we'll ever be!

Joy left her job 3 weeks ago and has since been nominated Saleswoman of the year! Craigslist was her best friend and now all that is left are a few bags in the living room. She misses her preschool kids like crazy, but is looking forward to receiving updates from her co-teacher and the class throughout the PC experience.

Joey defended his Master's thesis on Friday and passed! Yahoo! He put together a very impressive presentation for his committee and friends/professors from the Ag Econ department.  His professor still has him hard at work making the revisions and adjustments needed in order for the paper to be ready for journal publication. He will continue to revise his paper while we are in Zambia. 

As much work as we have been doing, we also found some time for fun! Joey and I took a trip to Breckenridge, CO last week to visit Eric and Paul Olsen. Neither Joey or I had skied in over 10 years! However, we had patient teachers (Eric and Paul) and by the end of the short trip, both Joey and I were cruising down the mountain! The whole experience was breathtaking and we were grateful we got to spend time with good friends before we left. To celebrate Joey's thesis defense, we spontaneously attended WWE Raw at the Breslin Center.  Joey went nuts when he saw his first elbow drop and straight-leg-kick live.  We also had a Goeb family dinner on Saturday where we got to celebrate Sister Sarah's birthday and enjoy a delicious eggs benedict breakfast all together Sunday morning.

Now for the nitty-gritty stuff....Tonight we leave for Philadelphia where we will be until late Tuesday night. This trip is called our Peace Corps Staging Event. Forms will be filled out, vaccinations will be given, and welcomes will be received. Early Wednesday morning (2am) we will hop on a bus to JFK and depart at 10:30am for Johannesburg, South Africa. After this 15 hour flight, we will have a short lay-over followed by a 2 hour flight up to Lusaka, Zambia. For the next 8 weeks we will be in our pre-service training. We will be staying in government hostels as well as homestays with local families. We have heard the first 8 weeks can be very challenging, but also very effective. Cultural training, language training, and technical training will all take place. Our swearing in date is scheduled April 23, 2010. After that we will be placed in our permanent village for the next 2 years.

Phew! A lot of new exciting things coming our way! Thank you everyone for all the love and support! We aren't sure of the next time we will have Internet access so hang in there with us! Remember to send letters!! We would LOVE to hear how you are doing!

For now...goodbye!