UPDATE

Well, Stacey should be at her site starting today for her first visit. Santa Catalina. The name even sounds relaxing to me. Of course, today I'm working from home and tomorrow have taken the day off. I have 3.5 days to take before the end of the month otherwise I would lose them and I can't see that happening. Have scheduled a doctor's appt tomorrow but otherwise I just plan on an easy going day. Sushi had me up early this morning for his daily constitutional. Can't say that I was in a big hurry to get up. Anyway, hope everyone's week is great and hopefully we will see some pictures from Stacey next week. Hard to believe that her training period is almost over and graduation is just around the corner (6/30).

UPDATE

Spoke to Stacey Sunday evening and she sounded good. Even after her ordeal with the chicken "murders". She didn't eat chicken for four days. Poor thing! She will be going to visit Santa Catalina in another week and will meet the 3 different host families where she will be spending the next 3 months after graduation (which is June 30th). Easy day for Kaye to remember. She got to spend a night in a hotel in Santiago last week - stayed with 3 other girls in a room and cost only $7. per person and it was AIR CONDITIONED! The hotel also did their laundry. She is learning to appreciate some of the more modern luxuries of life. One item that she has really started to miss is listening to American music. She will let us know what kind of CD's she likes so maybe we can mail her some when she is at her site. Also, she wanted to let us know that she will be getting an address in Santa Catalina soon and will send us her new address. I mailed her a package in April and it only took 2 weeks to get to her. I was surprised but pleased. I mailed her another one a week ago and waiting to see when it arrives. I would love for some of us to plan a short vacation next summer to go and visit her. She found out that she doesn't have to use vacation days as long as she stays in her site so she would only have to take a day to come to Panama City to meet us. Something to ponder over the next year.

I PASSED MY TEST

Well, another insurance exam under my belt! This one was really hard for me. Guess that's a sign that I'm getting older. That will definitely be the last one for awhile. Haven't heard from Stacey in awhile. She was supposed to be headed to a different region this past week in Veragus. I believe she will be headed to Santa Catalina soon for a visit to her new home for the next two years. Looks like a great place to be. Electricity, running water (maybe indoor facilities) and a beach to be lazy on!

STUDY STUDY STUDY

Growing older doesn't stop the need for education. I've been busy studying for an insurance exam which I will take this Friday and hopefully be done for awhile. Just to bring everyone up to date - all is well at the Herndon Household. I haven't taken any nosedives into the pavement lately and my chin has healed nicely. Sushi got his "summer haircut" yesterday and looks more comfy (even though I like him with more hair). Expecting some rain today in the forecast (even though my body doesn't exactly agree with the forecast). That's a first! JC & I are starting Conversational Spanish classes next Thursday at our church. It will be fun just to get out and keep up with what Spanish we learned in Mexico. Will help when I get to take a trip to visit Stacey next year.

Well, time to get going to work. Carpool will be here in a few minutes.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

http://www.santacatalinaboattours.com/gallery.html

Take a good long look at where our hard-working Stacey gets to spend the next 2 years!
She is so excited! This coastal paradise is called Santa Catalina. Sounds like a good vacation spot to me. We will definitely need to plan a group event to go visit her. She also spent 2 hours on a bus with her group sitting next to her instructor speaking conversations in Spanish. Seems that she was able to understand everything her instructor said and vice versa. She was told later that she has met (and exceeded) the language requirement for graduating next month! What a relief! To her and her mother. She should be making a trip to visit Santa Catalina in another week.

Looks like the website you will need to type in your browser. Sorry about that.
http://www.santacatalinaboattours.com/gallery.html

Stacey called Sat. afternoon from Panama City. She purchased a cell phone for $2. and can talk for 50 minutes. Her host family consists of a husband & wife in their 40's with a 15 yr old daughter who Stacey says is very smart. She has a room by herself. No a/c and she says it is hot and humid. She walks everywhere. Only a 5 to 10 min walk to where she has language classes, etc. with other PCT's. She will be visiting a village this week by herself and is a little apprehensive. Please keep her in your prayers! She didn't have any adverse reaction to the immunizations and is doing fine with the malaria pills. Some people had some weird dreams from taking them but she hasn't. She will be calling me on Monday evenings so that is when I will be updating my blog. There isn't a public phone in the town where she is and she's not sure about the cell phone and whether or not she will get a single. Everything is new everyday but she seems to be handling it.

STACEY CALLED!!

Stacey called yesterday afternoon about 5:45 pm. So good to hear her voice and know that everything is okay. Her host family is great and she said that her host mom is a great cook. No indoor plumbing so she shares the outhouse with a few of the family chickens. She is living in the town of Santa Clara (not the one by the beach). Evidently there are two. She has to walk about 30 minutes to get to an internet cafe. She is going to Panama City today. She has a cell phone but the connection wasn't that great but she sounded great and happy. The language is frustrating for her but I'm sure she will master it soon. It was a short phone call but I wanted everyone to know that she is okay. Thank you for all your prayers!