Before flying out to Paraguay way back in June of 2010, my training group met in Miami for a day and a half for what is called staging. It’s a sort of pre-departure preparation for what is to come and a last minute chance to say “This isn’t for me!” before leaving the country.
We stayed at the lovely Courtyard in Coral Gables, and I got a chance to meet the other 20 members of my training group and eat some delicious fish and chips. Sadly, there was no time to try out the pool.
The staging director talked to us about techniques to cope in a different environment and about his own previous experience in Peace Corps. The environment was very upbeat. I imagined the group as a rag-tag team preparing for a secret mission. Kind of like the A-Team.
Our first mission was to find our way through the Miami airport, which was a success. After a 9 hour, and totally sleepless overnight flight to Buenos Aires, we switched to a much smaller plane and flew into Asuncion, Paraguay!! Unfortunately, someone was at the airport with a camera to take our pictures to make our Paraguayan id’s. Notice the sweet cowlick on the left side. I needed a nap.
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