The Final Countdown

It's been a long week of goodbyes, bon voyages, farewells, and see-you-laters, but we've come to the final countdown in San Francisco. We fly out tomorrow morning!

In the mean time, we had a blow-out fun time in Cleveland complete with baseball game, feasts galore, a private boat tour on lake Erie, a ride in the rocket car, etc. in what oldest brother Ryan brilliantly orchestrated (and named) "From Cleveland to Mongolia Chamberlain Staycation Birthday Blowout!" A big thanks to the Rudolph crew for getting up early and joining us for the fun stuff and the somewhat underwhelming but informative adventure to the Natural History Museum photo exhibit, From Cleveland to Mongolia. And a special thanks to the Gruttadauria's for their help in planning and to Larry for banking what amounts to a couple year's salary for us in Mongolia. It was a blast seeing all of you and it was a very special send-off.

Memorial Day, we roasted weenies and 'smores with the Kings and Crams in Delroy, OH, then stopped off for some Luggie Loving in Columbiana, OH, then had an impromptu overnighter Tuesday with the Mehls in Boardman, OH, just up the road. We knew they all generally lived in the same area and loosely envisioned seeing all of them, but it worked out better than we could have ever planned. Thanks to all who fed us, allowed us to bathe, and who hugged us with enthusiasm. We're still holding on to two of those. Especially thanks to the Shaffers for making this trip possible by allowing us to drive their brand new Prius, and thanks to them for their above-and-beyond hospitality, love, and constant selfless giving.

Speaking of which, we both put on a little weight the last month, so we had to make an emergency run for some roomier clothes to accommodate for the extra American "culture" we're hoping to leave in Mongolia. From what we've learned, it shouldn't be tough to do, what with all the walking, stomach ailments and repetitive culinary specialties we can expect in our immediate futures.

Training was a blast (though elementary and repetitive), but we've already met some great people we can't wait to know better. Our buddy who lives in Monterey is coming up tonight for one final send-off. On the agenda is pizza, beer and repacking. Not necessarily in that order. We're under the 100lb weight limit, but one of us has too many bags according to PC regulations.

We'll be off the grid for a while during pre-service training (PST), but our goal is to get something out once a week, probably on a Saturday or Sunday, so stay tuned each weekend for the next 10 weeks unless otherwise noted.

We miss you already.

Nathan (and Leslie)

P.S. I think the address came out weird in the email we sent to everyone. For the first three months, it will be:

Trainee’s Name, PCT
Энх Тайвны Корпус
Тов шуудан
Шуудангийи хайрцаг 1036
Улаанбаатар 13
Монгол улс

P.P.S. Thanks, Carmella, for the coffee and the two dollars. It looks like we'll be able to spend it a couple times during training.

Georgi: Nathan's feet are 12.5" and Leslie's are 9.5".

Our Secret Mission to Mommy-golia

We just came back from my Temple University graduation trip to Philadelphia. I had two of the most exciting days of my life! During our stay I became Leslie Ann Shaffer Chamberlain, MMT, MT-BC, turned 28, and found out I was going on a secret mission to Mommy-golia. As we were getting ready to leave, our nephew, Harrison, hopped in my parent’s car, looked me square in the face and said:

“Yaya, we going on a secret mission to Mommy-golia. 3-2-1, BLAST OFF!”

Apparently, he has been enjoying the concept of “secret missions.” He also told Nathan we needed to join him on a secret camping mission to make a tent up in his room. As his aunt and uncle, we go along with anything he says. To match his secret missions we sang the Mission Impossible theme song for him. Too bad we don’t have video of him dancing to it because he had the camera, but he informed me it was better off “safe in his pocket.” I’ll leave it to you to imagine its brilliance. The following video is one of his first attempts at the word “Mongolia”.

Though she can’t say Mongolia either, we also spent some quality time with our niece, Parker. She has a spectacular smile! She is easy to entertain right now, so that helped our egos a little. She also looks a lot like my sister-in-law’s father. We kept trying to just imagine her with a beard. She is gorgeous without it, though.

Kendall Glouner Shaffer & Parker Glouner Shaffer

As a Temple University graduate I received, what I refer to as, a fauxploma. I now am the proud owner of a lovely cherry binder with the Temple crest to represent my diploma. Sadly, I will be in Mongolia when my real diploma arrives. Here’s my photo of the proud MMT (masters in music therapy) and the fauxploma.

LASC, MMT, MT-BC & Fauxploma

We’re looking forward to our “From Cleveland to Mongolia Chamberlain Stay-cation Birthday Blowout!”

Stay tuned for more details!

Open House in Wilmington

It's our going away open house in Wilmington today. We're looking forward to friends and family from points near and far. Our friend Kara and her fiancee had car trouble at the last minute, so we're bummed they can't make it. Otherwise, we're looking forward to about 30 people to help us celebrate.

Nathan's mom and dad have spent a couple hours each day preparing food and the house for company. We have a good spread of sloppy joes, potato salad, and quite the asortment of adult and family beverages. They've been the perfects hosts. We'd stay at this hotel again.

Nathan went golfing this morning with middle brother Kevin and former roommate, Michael Ray, who came in last night from Augusta, GA with Mike Wills, via Atlanta. The rain held off for now. Hopefully it holds off long enough to play cornhole in the back yard.

Dallas was fun

We had a great time in Dallas with Leslie's brother Stephen, fiancee Lisa, and Lisa's 8-year old son Ethan. Because they're getting married in September and we obviously won't be around, we were glad to spend some one-on-one time with them. They showed us a really great time, including a fun family Mother's Day gathering they hosted at their house, which was attended by Lisa's parents, her cousin and her aunt. We helped plan and execute the menu with Stephen while the others were at church. It included Chipotle grilled chicken, a strawberry Gorgonzola and walnut salad, rice and various fruits and veggies. We were also able to rid their kitchen of the largest Costco bottle of Riesling.

Speaking of Costco, we found a 320 gig USB hard drive for $170, and it's not much bigger than a deck of cards. We decided not to buy another computer, so the extra space for music and pictures really worked out great; and it doesn't require an additional power supply. We bought an 80 gig drive about 6 months ago for a little more than half that price and it was way bulkier. We feel like we won the jackpot with the new one.

The challenge as we wind down our time stateside is eating and drinking all our favorites, but to not outgrow our clothes in the joviality. Results have been mixed, to say the least. We need to exercise more moderation and exercise more, period.

Leslie received word that she got and A- on her final thesis. All that's left is the results from her final paper in her supervision class. Graduation is next week and we're confident everything should fine.

Our going away open house is this weekend at 3PM. Some of our favorite people in the world will be joining us for lunch, etc. at Nathan's parents' in Ohio. Some people we were hoping to see before we left won't be there for various reasons, but we'll still have a good time.

We're selling our car to Nathan's dad this weekend. With the cash from that, we'll pay off the credit card debt we've mounted in last few months.

The countdown continues...

No Rent, No Jobs, No Problem

Friday was Nathan's last day at work. His supervisor took him out for an exquisite farewell lunch, and he ended the day forgetting his prized name placard on his desk, perhaps not quite prepared not to come back. Even still, his first, real, big-kid job is now a past-tense, bulleted list on a resume. No turning back now. Mongolia or bust.

Sunday, with the indispensable help of Leslie's parents and our friends Justin Stuempfle and Mike Lilly, we packed all of our worldly belongings into a 17’ U-haul and two cars, one of which we towed on a trailer. A couple hours of cleaning later, we hit the road for Erie - security deposit in hand - with an overnight stop in northeastern PA at a White Haven Comfort Inn. Monday morning we made our way across a rainy Pennsylvania, tailed by Leslie's parents, to our storage facility in Erie. After an early dinner we transferred the world’s most comfortable king-sized bed, coma-inducing couches, and most everything else that won't be going with us to Mongolia snugly into their new home.

We took a little trip to Tinseltown movie theater for “Baby Mama” (2 thumbs up), and then crashed hard for the night. Though we slept well, the moving hangover carried on through the day as we zombied the U-haul back to its rightful owners, creaked to the mall for some odds and ends, and shuffled to the lawyers office to sign over our powers-of-attorney to Leslie’s parents. We clearly have a case of the blahs.

Tomorrow, Nathan is looking forward to golf at Peek’n Peak Resort in nearby NY, where we found a great deal: $13 for 18 holes. Leslie will be working on her final project for grad school and trying to work in a massage at the resort, where, incidentally, she worked in high school.

We have a ton of administrative things to accomplish for the Peace Corps in the coming days as well, and we have to move ahead more aggressively with learning the language. We’ve read through the 104-page welcome book, and we continue to learn more about our future home each day. Even still, it's been hard to pursue with so many other life events converging at once.

We’re also debating buying a second computer to take with us. We’ve found one from Dell we might like, and even though it might be in our price range, we just can’t decide whether we’ll need two. The debate continues. Bulk and weight remain a concern as we are only allowed 100lbs of luggage.

Though we’re homeless and unemployed, all in all, we’re holding up well and looking forward to the wedding this weekend of our best man, Eric, to his sweetie, Emily.

Moving Prep, Leslie Passes Her Comps

It's been a long couple of weeks of packing and prepping. Slowly but surely we're about half way done. Leslie's parents will be here this weekend to help us load the U-haul and clean up. We also have some great friends here who will help us lug our stuff down and out on the first leg of the trip to a storage facility in northwestern PA.

Big news to report: Leslie got an email from the illustrious Dr. Dileo, head of the Temple music therapy graduate program, letting her know she passed her comprehensive exams. All that's left now is a few edits on her final research project about self-care practices among music therapists and a paper for her supervision course.

Nathan's co-workers are closing up shop early tomorrow and taking him to McGillin's Ale House around the corner for some beers in his honor, and tonight we're meeting some friends at Lucky Strike for some swanky cocktails and bowling.

Already, the stresses of moving, quitting jobs, finishing school and starting a new phase in our lives has taken a (hopefully short-term) toll. Neither one of us is sleeping well.

It's all starting to get (sur)real. Nathan is waiting for the other shoe to drop, while Leslie just doesn't want her shoes - dropped or not - to be in Philadelphia anymore. Thankfully, most shoes are securely packed.

We'll be moved out of town by Monday.

Chamberlains Head to Mongolia in June

We are excited to announce that we will be heading to Mongolia with the Peace Corps on June 2, 2008. For 27 months, Nathan will be a business adviser working with community groups and NGOs like CFH International & Mercy Corps to facilitate the development of small businesses, agri-business, cooperative development in urban areas and tourism. Leslie will be a life skills trainer in community youth development. Besides working directly with local youth, she'll be creating and developing training programs for youth leaders, social workers, and staff for organizations working with children.

We'll fly to San Francisco on May 30, then on to Mongolia on June 2. We're super excited. And we super can't speak the language. We will spend three months in intensive classes, but we can't even pronounce the Russian-like Cyrillic letters yet. All we know about Mongolia is Genghis Khan, and the good things we've heard about their BBQ (which is neither Mongolian or BBQ, apparently.) As we learn more, we'll put it up on our blog, which is under construction.

In the meantime, Nathan's parents have offered to hold an open house for us May 17 in Wilmington, OH. We hope you'll pencil it in now and join us, because we'd love to see you. Because it's ridiculously expensive and we'll only be making a $124 a month, there's no guarantee we'll be home again until almost 2011!

Otherwise, Leslie is finishing up her music therapy masters comprehensive exams at Temple and is all set for her May 22 graduation (and birthday). We're out of Philly on April 28.

Hope to see you soon!