US Farewell Tour: Part Four

While we were in Chattanooga, we took a weekend trip to visit some friends in Atlanta. We had a great time! Thanks Jason and Erin for hosting!

Post-brunch pic at the Essary's: Rob, Lindsay, Jillian and Callaway Lockery, Jason and Erin Essary, Miranna and Charlie Darr.

A "noche" out in the ATL after our non-tubing adventure!

Finally- Tubin' the Chattahoochee!

Who knew 50 degrees could feel so good!? After braving the cold waters of the Chattahoochee and those crazy Class I's we have our victory pose. Don't worry, no wastewater discharges on this run of the river.

1 Week Away

Believe it or not, we leave one week from today! We are very busy doing last minute shopping, packing and visiting family and friends. There hasn't been much down time, but we want to make sure we're packed and ready to go! While we probably should be apprehensive, we're actually really excited and ready to start our adventure!

Here is our address for all of those that want to begin to send us letters or packages (they take about a month to arrive):
Charlie and Miranna Darr, Peace Corps Volunteers
Corps de la Paix
01 B.P. 971
Cotonou, Benin
Afrique de l'Ouest (West Africa)

Mailing guidelines from the Peace Corps:

• Write "Air Mail" and "Par Avion" on all envelopes.
  
• Number your letters and packages (as to know what arrives and in what order).
  
• If sending packages, "bubble envelopes" work best.
• If sending any food items, put them inside a ziplock bag.
  
• Packages should be sent via air, not surface mail.
  
• The sender should clearly and honestly mark the contents on the outside of the package, but a general description of the contents is sufficient: "clothing and candy."

We will really appreciate everyone's support while we are gone! It will be great to get news and pictures from home!

US Farewell Tour: Part Three

We just had a wonderful week in Chattanooga, TN on stop #3 of our farewell tour. We spent a lot of time with Charlie's family, including his Grandmother that just turned 95!

The Darr Family: Charlie and Miranna, Paul and Emily, Luz and Charles and Grandmother

Tourists in Chatty: Emily, Paul, Charlie, and Miranna visiting the Delta Queen River Boat
Tourists in Chatty: Abby, Mark, and Miranna overlooking the river downtown

We were lucky to have a whole crew of friends from Washington, DC and Gettysburg visit us as in Chattanooga! We visited many sites- including the Chattanooga Choo Choo!
Thanks, Dennis, Billy, Matt, Cora, Siri and Jimmy for celebrating our last American holiday with us in Chattanooga!

Our patriotic 4th of July outfits- cute, I know! I made my "liberty" shirt for a play in the 5th grade- I'm not kidding.

Happy Birthday, America! Next year we'll be celebrating in Benin, but I don't know that the shirts will make the cut in our 80 pound luggage limit!

Most importantly, our kitty Cori found a great new home in Chattanooga with Charlie's parents! She is a very content kitty- thanks Momma and Daddy Darr!

US Farewell Tour: Part Two

After we left DC we headed to Bradenton, FL for stop #2 of our farewell tour. We spent a week in Florida with my Dad, Stepmother, Lydia, and Rosey just relaxing after a hectic week of moving and goodbye parties in DC.
We love to visit the area- especially because this is where we got married last year! We celebrated our 1st Anniversary at the beach and visited Snooty the Manatee at our reception site.

Snooty, the oldest living manatee in captivity, turns 61 this month!

US Farewell Tour: Part One

We started our farewell tour in May: Stop #1 California

My brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces met us in CA and it was great to see them before we left! We're going to miss you guys!Charlie had to go home early, but I had a great time with the girls during the week playing at the park, picking strawberries, and visiting Shamau and Snooty at SeaWorld!



Yes, her shirt says "If you think I'm cute, You should see my Aunt"- I can't believe Uncle Charlie would pick out something so sweet!

Au Revoir DC

We've been very busy in the past two months- sorry for the delay in posting!

We moved out of 1833 19th Street at the end of April as we prepared to close up our lives in DC. It was a sad day because we loved that apartment and had many fun times there! Thanks to everyone for helping us pack and move!

Part of the moving crew- Matt and Billy (Richard not pictured).

One of our last activities in DC was a tour of the White House- thanks Scott! Too bad we didn't run into Obama to wish us well in Benin- but that is OK, we're sure he is going to come visit us!
We had a going away party our last weekend in DC and were thrilled to see all our friends that came to wish us well! (Sorry we couldn't post all the pics- check facebook for all of them)

The Gettysburg Crew- Sarah and Ryan Gottschall, Kat and David Adams

The Party Planners: Allison, Cora and Dennis- Thanks, guys!

It's hard to believe that we had been in DC for 7 years! We had so made so many great friends and shared so many memories there, it was very hard to say goodbye! Maybe we'll call DC home again one day! Au revoir DC...for now!

What everyone wants to know...

"Where will you be living in Benin?" This is the most popular question that we get...and now we have an answer!

Charlie got an email yesterday that gave us some more details about where we will be living in Benin! This is highly unusual because they don't normally tell you until the middle of the 3 month training period, but because we are a married couple they have already decided where they are posting us!

We will be in a community called Lalo and it is located in the Mono/Couffo department in Southern Benin near the boarder with Togo. This is the most detailed map I could find, but you'll need to enlarge it (just click on it). You'll see Lalo in the orange region at the bottom- above and to the right of the"O" in "Mono."
We think this is a great location! While it will be very HOT and humid, we will not be too far from the capital and beaches!

What does this mean for you? You'll want to come visit us! We aren't too far from one of the best beaches- Grand-Popo. Apparently the best time to visit that area is July-August and December-January. Start planning those 2010 vacations now!