i just want to say ...

the amount of support i've received already through emails and good wishes is just astounding. i am so blessed and so grateful to have so very many wonderful, caring people in my life.

there may be some articles on the way about me. they will hopefully broaden participation in this "sending" process. to clarify, if you know me and are reading this now, you are a part of my "sending community", a group that sends me to serve with their well wishes and blessings, and who expects me to keep in touch so that they can participate in this experience, too. i hope to do that for you and more. the sending community will also be the group that gives me strength through my hard times (and ohhhh, yes, there are hard times ahead), so i thank you in advance for being a part of this. oh, and if you want out .... tough noogies, i need you ;o)

thank you all.

inception

There once was a Fraggle, for those of you who remember the Fraggles, and his name was Uncle Traveling Matt. He would send his nephew, Gobo, postcards from all over the world, describing how the "Silly People" (ie. big non-Fraggles like you and me) went about their funny existences. Now this programming may have had two effects. The first: my Jim Henson obsession. The second: Uncle Travelling Matt was one of many characters who kindled my adventurous spirit. Since my earlier muppet days, I have been fortunate enough to travel to many different places, and the experiences always, always teach me so much, even years after they have ended. This summer, it is time for a new adventure.
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"When did this begin?" I ask myself, wondering how this newest mixture was blended. I enjoy picking at these knots to find the sources buried somewhere deep in the middle.

The current adventure will send me to Guyana in late August. Guyana, come to find, is not pronounced "Ghee-ahn-a", as I previously thought from geography lessons about former Spanish colonies (in Spanish class, with Spanish accents), but more like it's spelled "Guy-ann-ah". I'll know for sure when I get there. It was formerly a Spanish colony, then Dutch, then British, so I guess that means it was a pretty hot vacation spot - everyone wanted it in their overseas empire for the holidays. At any rate, it's wedged between Venezuela to the east (who tries to steal Guyana's oil and minerals when they're not looking), Suriname to the west (nothing to report on this nation yet - probably just busy being ... Suriname), and Brasil to the South (I can't WAIT to learn Portuguese!). I'll be in Georgetown, the capital city, and home to most of the country's 750,000 residents. Yep - whole country. Not even a million. That's a bit of what I know for sure to get you started, in the correct hemisphere, etc. (a country report on Guyana in greater depth to come in a future post).

HOW I GOT HERE. I've been teaching at Catherine McAuley High School, a private, Catholic high school in Portland, Maine, for the last 8 months. Yikes, 8 months. I've learned a ridiculous amount about what school is like from "the other side of the big desk". I was looking around online for information about the life of Catherine McAuley when I stumbled across the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas webpage and discovered a whole world of women committed to social justice and mercy. It was stirring! It was inspiring! It was Spanish-speaking! - so that's about all it took me to get hooked (more to come on the Sisters of Mercy, the MVC and Catherine McAuley in future posts, too).

Before I knew it, there were positions available in Honduras just waiting for me, and I was on a gorgeous college campus just outside of Philadelphia discerning which of the programs I would want to serve. Then it came up that Guyana was also an option, and after much consideration, I decided it sounded like a wonderful fit for me, too.

So now I am here in North Yarmouth, Maine, with 40 days before me to prepare for 2 years *no vacations - this isn't Peace Corps, slackers ;o) - just kidding, you guys ROCK* of simple living, spiritual growth, and compassionate service in Georgetown, Guyana. It's daunting, but I get such a rush just thinking about it. I think that's what you need to know for tonight.

BE IN TOUCH - kateh207@hotmail.com