Tuesday, June 17, 2008

email to everyone

Hi everyone!

Congratulations and happy graduation! I can't believe we made it!

As most of you already know, I have joined the Peace Corps and I leave on June 30 to spend 27 months in Benin (a tiny country in West Africa next to Nigeria).

I really want to keep in touch with everyone! I plan on making at least one trip home to visit New York/ Stanford during my service, (probably next May/June) and so I hope to see many of you then!

In the meantime,

Email:
I will have very limited email access. For most of you I still only have your school address, which will soon be broken so please send me you new email address,

Snail Mail:
If you are interested in getting letters, please send me a mailing address where I can reach you for the next two years. My address is:

Mariana B......
Corps de la Paix Americain
01 B.P.971
Cotonou, Benin
Afrique de l'Ouest (West Africa)
Par Avion (Airmail)

If you want to send me a package :) be sure to put everything in a ziplock bags, send it in a bubble envelope and write boring things on the customs form so that no one want to steal it.

Blog:
I currently have a blog (marianainafrica.blogspot.com) and I will do my best to update it regularly, but I won't have that much internet access. I probably won't be able to do mass email updates, but I can add email addresses to my blog so that you get emailed the post when I update it, (so it's pretty much the same thing as email updates). Please let me know if you want me to add your email address to update thingie.

Cell phone:
I don't know if I will have cell access in my village ( I might!), but I will have a cell phone for when I go to town, and will put the number up on my blog. Set up your skype accounts now so you can call me!

Visiting:
Everyone is welcome/ encouraged to visit me; if you've ever had the urge to live in a rural village in the middle of the Sahel for a few days, now is your chance! I am not supposed to have visitors until Jan 2009 (because they want to make sure you get settled first) but I will be there until Sep 2010 so you will have plenty of time!

Other:
If you need to reach me for some reason, the best way to get in touch with me is probably through my dad Edward Beardsworth, (edbeards@ufto.com or 650-328-5670)


I love you all very much and I want to thank everyone for how supportive they've been as I have been preparing to go. I will miss you all very much!

Love

Mariana

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello!

I saw that you will be arriving to Philly on the 30th, as will I. I just wanted to give you my cell number if you want to meet up the night before orientation. Do you know anyone else arriving a day early? Anyway, I wish you luck on packing and your final goodbyes.

See you soon, Nikki Barr (SED)


My number is: 520 780 8087