The count down begins...

Three weeks before our departure date and the list of “to dos” is dwindling. Excitement and anxiety has now officially set in. There are a lot of unknowns about what our daily tasks will entail, who we will meet, and with how much ease or difficulty I will learn the language. It must be known that I am not much of “blogger”, but I hope that this can be a space where we can keep our friends and family updated on our new adventures. Before we got married we had decided that we wanted to spend a few years abroad sooner rather than later. So…we spent this past year working and finishing up school (I finally graduated in May!!!), and with Sociology and History degrees in hand, we find ourselves as clueless about our futures as we were on our first day at college five years ago. Hoping that a few years of traveling and experience will help us narrow in on what our next steps will be, we embark on this new transition. We leave for Costa Rica on the 22nd of August and will spend the first four months living as interns at an environmental learning and sustainable living center at a ranch two hours southwest of the capital San Jose. Along with a handful of other interns, we will be learning about sustainable business management. To learn more about the ranch feel free to explore their website www.ranchomastatal.com . Our internship will conclude in mid December and we will either stay on as part of the Rancho Mastatal staff, or transition to an organic farm in Mexico that we have been in communication with. By next fall we hope to connect with an organization and serve a two to three year term somewhere in Central or South America. Because Alex and I are motivated and energized by different things, we decided to allow our overlapping interests in the environment and people to direct our endeavors over the next few years. Sustainable agriculture, alternative energy initiatives, international/rural community and economic development, natural “eco” building, conservation, and reforestation are among some of our particular interests that we hope to explore in the future.
I am not sure how much internet access we will have (probably once a month), but hopefully we can update you on what we are up to and post a few pictures. Thank you for thinking of us over the next few weeks and months. Until next time!!!
Shalom.