Camp Heart to Heart

John and I just returned to Louisville Friday evening after spending the week as camp counselors for Camp Heart to Heart. For confidentiality purposes we will not be posting any pictures or specifics about the kids. This week was one of the most amazing and fulfilling weeks I have ever had. It took a little time to think of myself as "Ms. Tracy" and John as "Mr. John".

Although I am not used to working with girls, I quickly bonded with the girls in my cabin and several of the other kids and counselors/support staff. During the closing ceremony I almost teared up at the thought of not seeing these kids for the next few years. I can understand how counselors come back year after year. I am glad I had this experience and hope to return to camp after we finish our Peace Corps time.

If any of my kids run across this post I hope they know how much they meant to me, how special they really are, and how bright of a future they have!

Thank you for a wonderful week!
Ms. Tracy

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A busy weekend

Getting caught up on post we meant to do a while back.  This was from the weekend June 10 - June 12, 2011.

We started by meeting Adam, Julianne, and the boys up at my folks to get ready for Ean's 1st birthday party.  Most of it was spend playing games and catching up.  Julianne made two monkey cakes that turned out great.  Daley had a bite of the batter and said "It tastes like monkey".  Later we went into Louisville to watch Rowan's piano recital and then went out to eat at Chuey's which turned out to be great food!  Aunt Kelly and the crew made it out for the birthday party and we slayed some Dinosaurs to cap off a great weekend.

Nothing fancy by any means, but it is family filled weekends like this that we will miss the most!

On the road again...Chicago and WI

We are finally on the road again.  This time we are taking a trip with a couple main destinations, Chicago to visit Chris and Appleton, WI to see my Aunt Barb.

In Chicago, we spent a bit of time checking out the surrounding neighborhoods, which felt like small towns surrounded by lots of people and just a short train ride away from Chicago.  We also walked around the park in Naperville which has a great river walk and as well as a tower with carilllon (an instrument that plays bells http://www.naperville-carillon.org/).  Naperville's has 72 bells.  We toured this, then hurried to get out of the tower before it rang.  I can't imagine being by the largest as it rang...ouch.



We later broke out Clue and played a few games.  It has been a while since I have played and forgot how fun it can be figuring out if it was Mrs Peacock in the billiard room, with the candle stick or might it be Mr. White in the conservatory with the rope.  When I get back to Louisville I think I'll teach Rowan to play Clue.  It was great to catch up with Chris again!

Currently we are in Appleton with Aunt Barb and sadly are leaving today!  Yesterday Aunt Barb took us on a tour of Neenah (where my mom grew up).  It was great to see her old stomping grounds and the houses she grew up in.  We then took a trip to Green Bay to Lambeau Field, had lunch at Curly's and then took a tour.  The stadium is amazing!  Our tour guide was oozing with enthusiasm and had a dry sense of humor.  I could tell he loved his job.  We got to hear all about the history of the team, saw the suites, then got to enter the stadium using the same tunnel the Packers use to enter during the games.  When standing on the field we all yelled "Go Pack Go".  The reverberation that came back was quite loud and there were only 30ish people yelling.  I can't imagine how loud an entire stadium would be.



Afterwards we came back to Barb's apartment and went through some historical pictures, which I was able to capture with my digital camera.  I love hearing stories of my grandparents, Aunt Barb, and their family.  I wish I had known all of them better.  The rest of the evening was passed playing cards, mainly bridge.  All in all, it has been a great trip!

Today we are stopping in Rockport to meet my mom's cousins, Ann & Janet, for dinner before continuing south back to Louisville.

Visting NC

Here are some pictures from my trip to visit Adam and his family:
(I am trying out a new script for viewing pictures, so please click on the pictures and let me know if you have any issues viewing them.  Thanks John O.)

Peace Corps invitation - Botswana

John and I have officially been invited to join the Peace Corps in Botswana with a departure date of Sept 13, 2011.  Our assignments are both related to HIV/AIDS:

• John - School and Community Liaison for Life Skills – working with schools and teachers to promote healthy behaviors and build life skills particularly around issues of HIV/AIDS.
• Tracy - District Community Liaison – working with District and Community based governmental organizations, improving or expanding services and building relationships to improve programming. 

It is also important to realize that our roles do not only stop at our assignments.  There are 10 core expectations for volunteers that we are prepared to follow.

Core Expectations For Peace Corps Volunteers

In working toward fulfilling the Peace Corps Mission of promoting world peace and friendship, as a trainee and Volunteer, you are expected to:

1. Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months
2. Commit to improving the quality of life of the people with whom you live and work; and, in doing so, share your skills, adapt them, and learn new skills as needed
3. Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship, if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service
4. Recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture 
5. Recognize that you are responsible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your personal conduct and professional performance
6. Engage with host country partners in a spirit of cooperation, mutual learning, and respect
7. Work within the rules and regulations of the Peace Corps and the local and national laws of the country where you serve
8. Exercise judgment and personal responsibility to protect your health, safety, and well-being and that of others
9. Recognize that you will be perceived, in your host country and community, as a representative of the people, cultures, values, and traditions of the United States of America
10. Represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service

We are excited about our upcoming opportunity and really appreciate everyone's support and patience (as I'm sure we have talked everyone's ears off about the Peace Corps over the last several years).  It's hard to imagine we have been working on this for so long and it is finally a reality! 

Currently we are in California and are still posting to our travel blog link http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/tracyandjohn/3/tpod.html..  We expect to be back in Louisville around the 20th of April and look forward to seeing everyone!

On the road again

We are heading west this time and would be thrilled if you want to keep up with us.  You can follow this link to find any updates while we are out west!

The direct URL for the travel blog out west is:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/tracyandjohn/3/tpod.html

Thanks,
John and Tracy

On the final steps to joining!

We spoke with a placement specialist this morning and she confirmed a lot of the things we thought or were told earlier.  To kind of recap in case anyone doesn't know (which would be a bit surprising to me since I feel like I over-talk about it sometimes)

John will be teaching ESL to high-school kids (most likely, nothing is 100% yet)

Tracy will be doing one of three things: business education, business extension, or business development which may be out in the world, in a classroom, or some of both.

We are officially qualified for placement now and the PC folks will be looking at our skills and health needs to find a suitable program.  The next step will be the invitation which I believe will include a country of service and date of departure!  The earliest program we will be invited for seems to be leaving June 1st.  We may know as soon as the next few weeks or it could be as late as 8 weeks before the departure date.  The conversation ended with what I hope is a stock phrase and reminder rather than a close possibility: there is still a chance we won't get in based on our various country's skill needs and our medical needs.  We are keeping our finger's crossed and will post any updates here!

In other news we are heading out for our western trip on the 14th or 15th.  We will post the URL for the western blog pretty soon.