Send us mail. Please :)

The time is nigh.

We leave for Washington D.C. this Sunday morning from Tucson International Airport. Our flight departs around eight o'clock in the morning and we arrive in D.C. close to four o'clock (EST), with a brief layover in Houston. Then, we will be in Peace Corps meetings and greetings until Wednesday, February 6 at which point in time we will depart for Quito.

Ways to say "buen viaje" before we leave the country:

1. Call us at the Holiday Inn Georgetown (202) 338-4600. Ask for Mary Driscoll or Mike Carbone. The best time to call is the evenings (after 8:00PM EST). Keep calling until you get us, we may be in and out of the room but we will be around.

2. Email us. The hotel has free internet. But really, call us. We want to talk to you.


Once we arrive in Ecuador, after spending a night or two in Quito, we will spend the following ten weeks in a small town outside of Cayambe. During this time we will be working on language skills and technical skills day in and day out. Therefore communication during this time may be hit or miss. Still, we want to hear from you.


Here are four ways to say "que hondas" while we're in training:


1. Send us mail. Letters, as well as outdated, are also totally fun to receive.

Here’s the Address:

“Our Name” PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
Casilla 17-08-8624
Quito, Ecuador
South America

(the "PCT" stands for Peace Corps Trainee. We won't be PCV's (volunteers) until we complete the 10 weeks of training)

When sending letters or packages use the United States Postal Service and nothing else!!


2. Send a package. If you want to send us something more than a letter the instructions become more complicated. Use the same address given above but make sure you follow the instructions below.

Mailing Do’s:

Do use the USPS (not UPS, DHL, FEDEX, or any other expensive acronym).
Do expect it to take around two weeks to reach us.
Do use a padded envelope (preferred) or a small box if necessary.

Mailing Do Not’s:

Do not declare a customs value (if they make you… declare $1)
Do not send anything via DHL, FedEx, or UPS.
Do not send anything in excess of 4 pounds. (If it weighs more than 4lbs it may never reach us!)


3. Post comments to the blog. We will be updating our blog but we don't know how often we will have access to the internet. Furthermore, we don't know how much time we will have to spend online once we get there. We will definitely check the blog first and then if there is extra time we will check our email. Which brings us to our fourth option.


4. Email us. We're not sure how much access we will have to email but we will eventually get a chance to check it. If you are going to send multiple emails in a short time (more than one a week) copy and paste the old email into the new one and we'll just check the newest email.


We look forward to hearing from all of you in one way or another.


Hasta the next post,

Mary and Mike

(and, if you just can't wait for new pictures from Ecuador... take a look at the ones we took last time we were there. They're featured in the post we made on November 28th)