Staging in Washington D.C. from May 21-22 ...

My first night in D.C. and my first time in D.C! Flew in okay, hauled my luggage to a shuttle just fine, found my way to the hotel easily, and got help to my room with no problem! I even gave tip like a pro. It was GREAT. About an hour after I arrive to my room, my roommate and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) for the next two nights came in and we just bonded so swimmingly ^^

Her name is Marisa, she has 2 sons and 8 grandchildren! She used to live in Burlingame on Trousdale Drive in the 1980's while her son attended Mills High School! Isn't that crazy?! What a small flippin' world! I just wasn't born yet while she was there HAHA I was just so happy to have a connection with her and she was just such a great blessing and a perfect partner to start this new adventure with. She has wanted to join the Peace Corps since she first heard about it when she was in college so this was a big deal for her and she just kept telling me about how commendable I was for wanting to do this now in my lifetime. Her encouragements were just so comforting to hear and it really put me at peace. 

Staging began the next morning. Papers papers PAPERS to finalize myself as a PCV and then hours of orientation and getting to know each other. It was tiring and a lot of "extrovertedness" that I haven't done in a while, but it was so worth it and so good to know that almost everyone was as lost as I was and didn't study any Armenian either! :) 

Here are my fellow 43 PCV's that I will be training with for the next 3 months and serving with in Armenia for the 2 years afterwards. We're such a diverse group of people of all ages, ethnicities, talents, etc from all over the U.S!

A-20's Group. The 20th group to serve in Armenia for the Peace Corps! 43 volunteers.

We are all ready for this new turn in life and we can't wait to get trained and use our knowledge, skills, and passion for two years to serve the Armenian peoples.