When I first decided to join the Peace Corps there were three main questions that people asked me: What exactly is the Peace Corps? Where is Paraguay? Are you going to blog? The first two questions are relatively easy to answer; the Peace Corps is a 27 month commitment to serve in a foreign country.  The first 3 months are spent training and then you are sworn in as a volunteer and begin your 2 full years of service.  Paraguay is located in South America, it is land locked and roughly the size of California.  

Now the last question was a little trickier, I have no idea how to blog. I literally googled how do I make a blog 5 minutes ago.  I am worried people are judging my punctuation and sentence structure (at least one of you has, I am sure of it).  In the end I caved, I decided to bite the bullet and blog so please be kind and do not judge my blogging skills too harshly.  I am sure there have already been and will be numerous errors but my goal is not to win awards with my blogs; it is just to keep friends and family updated on my life and adventures!  I am also going to have a mailing list for those people that do not think they will remember to check my blog, if you would like to be added to this just send me an email at flinnmr@gmail.com.

A lot of people have also asked me why I decided to join the Peace Corps and I wish that I had some deep profound answer, like I have a calling and I am positive this is for me but I don't. I decided that I wanted an adventure after graduating from Wofford and I wanted to have a chance to speak Spanish.  When I started looking into the Peace Corps it seemed perfect; not only would I get Spanish and an adventure but also the opportunity to do something that is bigger than me.  Not only do I get an opportunity to see the world but hopefully I can make a difference in at least one persons life (setting the bar low generally means there is less disappointment so I am aiming for one person).  I think the hardest part for me will be being away from my family for so long and I am very thankful for their support.

So now, it is fast approaching. I leave on September 27 for Miami and from there I will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then Asuncion, Paraguay. I am currently excited, in a few days I will most likely be panicking and terrified.  I am allowed to bring 80 pounds of luggage split between 2 bags and I am at 72 pounds right now.  I am leaving Atlanta on Thursday to spend my last few days stateside with my parents, also known as my best friends by those that I work with.  We are going to go to North Captiva Island and from there my parents will drive me the two hours to Miami.  I think it will be nice spending my last few days away where I will not get stressed out about trying to see everyone and do everything before I go.

So my final request from you all: I have adjusted my standards from changing the world to changing just one persons life so you all should adjust your standards for this blog. Instead of expected a well written, hilarious, adventure filled blog just expect a boring blog with no pictures and few updates.  This will help ensure that none of us are disappointed!