Staging...

Tuesday morning came quick for me!  Even though I vented concerns and of course a million worries and anxieties, I was eerily calm. At least for the moment. I woke up bright and early and said some goodbyes and it was off to the airport with mom. We got there and lugged my massive bags to the check in counter, only to realize that my bags were of course overweight. (not by too much). We moved some stuff around and i was good to go.
I sat and chatted with mom a bit before Yoise showed up... I think thats when things hit me because mom is way more calm than me and very supportive and realistic. Having to say goodbye to mom and Yoise really hit home with me, especially because it was in the airport. After many hugs and kisses and a million tears i pryed myself away from them and crossed the line to the trams. After crying my way through the security line and lots of crazy stares, I began to calm down and "relax".
I landed in Washington Reagan airport and the nervousness finally set in just a bit. I grabbed my bags and walked outside to the artic tundra! BRRRR!! I waited outside for about 20 minutes waiting for the hotel shuttle until I finally decided it wasn't coming and I flagged down a taxi driver. I lugged my bags over and hopped into his snazzy prius hehe. About 15 minutes later, (mostly because my driver wanted to drive about 20 miles an hour, probably for more money) I arrived at the hotel in Arlington, VA.
I walked in and there were a bunch of signs for the Peace Corps groups. I found out that there is also a group here heading to Panama! I checked in and headed for the elevators. As I was walking over I met my first new lifelong friend! Her name is Ashley and she is here from Buffalo. She helped me with my massive bags and chatted for a few. We decided we wanted to get some lunch before our big staging meeting. En route to the cafe downstairs we picked up other new friends. A group of six of us ate lunch together before the meeting. It was really interesting to hear where everyone else is from and what they went to school for. We came to the conclusion that our group of about 45 (about 38 girls and 7 guys) heading to Nicaragua are going for either maternal and child health promotion or HIV/AIDS awareness and reproductive health (my group).
The staging event was really interesting and informative. We all introduced ourselves to the group and discussed everything from fears and anxieties to aspirations and excitements. We went over security issues and do's and don'ts (more information to come once we get in country). The meeting lasted all afternoon and ended about 6:30ish. After that we were told to go eat, relax and go to sleep because we were checking out at 1:30am!! Sadly, a little while later we learned that our flights were cancelled due to this lovely northern weather. So, we decided to go out on a bonding evening and go get some drinks! There was a big group of us that went out and we had a great time! We were told to be in the meeting room at 10am this morning for more information on what we are going to be doing. The meeting was not as informative as we had hoped. They let us know that the flights for the Panama group have been fixed and that some will be leaving in the morning and some will be leaving the following day. The flights for my group have not been fixed yet, they are working on it with the travel company. They say the worst case senario is that we will be here until Monday!!! We are all hoping that doesn't happen. We are all tired of this miserable weather and want to get in country already!! I have officially put most worries aside and i am really excited. The people i have met are awesome! It is really cool to meet people on my level so to speak. People that share the same desires and beliefs and goals. I think the rest of my worries still linger because we know a lot about the peace corps values but not so much about exactly where we will be or what exactly what we will be doing or who we will meet there.
We have another meeting tonight on what is going on and what we can expect for these delays. I will blog again or post on facebook!
Love you guys! I will post some pictures soon (when i take some lol)