Haiti

My thoughts and prayers are with all the people of Haiti today. Although I am not part of the Caribbean family quite yet, I do feel this disaster has hit me particularly hard. I'm going to be traveling to that part of the region in just 27 short days, and I cant even imagine something like that happening while I'm there. I pray it never does. Thankfully we don't have any Peace Corps volunteers in Haiti anymore, but I pray for the volunteers of neighboring Dominican Republic.

I've had a really hard time sleeping this week since booking my flight to Florida, St. Lucia and then Grenada. I am constantly making lists in my head of the things I need to do, pack and accomplish by the time I leave. I've wrote all this down, but the thoughts never seem to escape my brain. Maybe its the fact that for the first time in my life I'm having to wait on something that is not in my power. I'm used to being able to get what I want right then, and I cant. My trust and future is in the hands of our government (that sounds scary). I have never doubted my decision to serve our world, but I really need some damn sleep!


Always serving,

Mackenzie

FIRST POST!!!!!

So this is my first attempt at being a blogger, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to let ya'll follow me while I'm on my journey to save the world. Hopefully this will be a great chance for me to stay in touch with my Americans and a great insight for you.

This journey has been nothing short of incredible. I've been through a whirlwind of emotions from ecstatic to disappointed and even a bit frustrated (i know that's hard to believe). I started this process almost a year ago from today, and now that I'm down to the final countdown I can feel a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. Not only because I have worked my ass off to get through all the medical, dental and legal loopholes, but also because I can feel my dreams coming true. I can picture myself living independently in a third world country; waking up every day so excited about the adventure and challenge, and laying my head down at night knowing I'm making my family and friends back home proud. I refuse to let anyone down, and this is my promise to all of you that I will try my hardest to make a difference (especially since your tax dollars are paying my way ha ha).

For all of you who haven't gotten the chance to talk to me about my journey I will give you a little run down of the types of things I will be experiencing:

I'm going on a Community Development trip as a Youth Developer. I will be working with youth in impoverished areas of Grenada, such things as after school programs, swim lessons, school work, sports education, HIV/AIDS awareness and proper hygiene. I will be living with a host family the first three months of service to ensure I can properly transition to their culture. After the first three months I will be living in a Peace Corps issued apartment close to my work site. Ive been told most people have Internet, but more importantly I was promised running water and electricity!

So as I count down the days to departure, I would like to thank every one of you for inspiring me to better serve the world. I will be attaching an invitation to my going away party, and take this as your formal invitation (that is if you haven't already received one).

Always serving,

Mackenzie