Preparation

I have to say that I'm finding this system very easy to use and effective. Props to Blogger and the internet in general for being pretty darned useful. I hope to do some neat things with it. We'll see if I take or have the time to keep it up...

Things are moving along nicely. I have my plane tickets, I have a very large suitcase, I have a digital camera. What else does one need? Every few days I feel compelled to get my passport out and make sure it is still valid and extant. I think I will have enough money. I don't really have a plan for getting home from Nashville, but I can figure that out when the time comes. I guess I really don't have a job for my return either. I'm sure they'll take my back, but my niche on the schedule (tenuous enough when I'm here) will be filled, and it'll take some communication to get back on the schedule in October. The one gap in all this is money for groceries when I get back here, but I suppose all things are possible in a credit-based economy. I do sort of enjoy that I'm only planning to a point, Oct. 13, and expect to deal with days after that as they come.

So, regarding this trip, I think I'm ready. Too bad there are other things in between now and my departure.

Introduction

Most who view this will know who I am and generally what I'm doing. Hopefully this will fill in some of the gaps and introduce anyone who might stumble onto this site out in the vast wilderness of the internet.

My name is Andy Trent and I'll be leaving soon to spend around 7 weeks with Rev. Francisco Mendoza in Carorita, Venezuela, in the Trujillo state. All I really know is that it's a community of about 80 families approximately 8000 feet up in the Andes. This was facilitated by United Methodist Volunteers in Missions, www.umvim.org. Nick Elliot was extremely helpful in choosing a good place for me to serve, and I think he has done an excellent job in matching me.

I am hoping to have a medical focus to this trip. I'll help out where I can in other areas of psuedo-expertise, but as I'm heading more and more towards healthcare as a career, I want to learn and experience as much as I can in that field. Some of the problems Francisco mentioned were the overuse of organo-phosphate fertilizers (not good for your nervous system) and problems with STDs. I guess we'll do some education stuff, as well as do what we can to address people's problems as they arise.

My exact schedule is this: Leave from Knoxville early Aug. 19th, arrive in Madison later that morning. Take the MCAT on the 20th, be in a friend's wedding the 21st. Leave for Maracaibo on Aug 22nd, arriving the 23rd after an all-night layover in St. Louis. That'll be fun. Stay in a hotel in Maracaibo that night, then meet Francisco on the 24th to head up to Carorita. I'm used to packing things in, but that'll be a busy few days.