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Costa Rica bound

It's hard to believe but in almost two hours Megon and I will be on a bus, heading to Washington-Reagan airport and flying to San Jose, Costa Rica, along with 43 other Peace Corps volunteers. I should be asleep right now. Megon is. She's the smart one.

Today was exhausting but completely amazing as we learned a ton about the Peace Corps, met some of the Peace Corps staff and each member of "Tico 21" -- an eclectic group of people from all over the country. They range from 21 to 60+ years old and have all the potential for long-lasting friendships. Our group is called Tico 21 for two reasons: First off, Costa Ricans don't call themselves Costa Ricans. Men are "Ticos" and women are "Ticas." Secondly, we are the 21st group to serve in Costa Rica since 1963.

Among the 45 volunteers, 23 of us will be in the TEFL program while the rest volunteer in the Community Development program. If you're going to follow our blog, you should probably know the acronym TEFL. It means Teaching English as a Foreign Language and the Peace Corps has never sent TEFL instructors to Costa Rica, so we're like the pioneers of the program.

After our five-day retreat in the mountains, which begins tomorrow, some Peace Corps staff member will take us to a rural community and introduce us to our host families. The next 11 weeks of training will be like Peace Corps boot camp. Three days a week I'll have some intense language training -- not sure what Megon will do considering she's fluent in Spanish. I'm guessing she'll go to the beach and work on her tan.

For a proper send off, the Peace Corps gave us a modest amount of "walk around" money for what they called the "Last Supper." Not knowing where to eat dinner in Washington D.C., I e-mailed my brother, Jackie, who lived here for a long time on Fort Myers, and asked him where to go. He hooked me up with a Brazilian steakhouse called Togo de Chao. It was like an Old Country Buffet with fancy silverware. This place offered more meat than Chilkoot Charlies. The place was amazing! In one sitting, I was served chicken, beef, lamb and pork. We walked it off by taking a stroll down the National Mall, saying hi to Barack, and paying our respects to the Vietnam Memorial and Honest Abe.

Thanks, bro! We love you!

Okay, time for a nap before our 1:30 alarm goes off. The Peace Corps says we'll have wireless internet at our retreat center, but I wouldn't count on hearing from us for a while. We learned a valuable motto today: Arrive with low expectations and you'll receive more surprises.

We like surprises.


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