Introduction - 5 days and counting before the adventure begins

I'm not sure how these generally start and so I'll just begin, seems the most effective to me. I am creating this blog to both record my experiences in Peru and to share them with my family and friends. That being said, who am I?
I'm Allison Eichele, a recent graduate from the University of California, Davis. I graduated with a degree in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology with a focus on Conservation Biology. I also received a minor in Philosophy. I'm interested in conserving the world's amazing biodiversity as well as sharing that amazing-ness with people (especially children) for the long-term preservation of life. This is why I applied to serve with Peace Corps. After 7 months of application process, they accepted me and assigned me to Peru.
I suppose here would be a great time to say that this blog is going to be my own experiences and opinions and does not and will not reflect that of Peace Corps, or the US government, and all that jazz.
So anyway, I've been accepted as a community-based environmental educator and along with 66 other volunteers will be departing the States for Peru on Sept. 16th, 2011, likely not to return till November 2013. It's going to be a long journey with life-changing experiences I'm sure. You may be noticing today's date, doing the math and wondering why I've said in the title that its only 5 more days till the adventure. Well that's because I will be leaving for Washington, D.C. on the 14th for Staging. This will be where I "register" and hand over the last of the paperwork. I'll also receive my visa and no-fee passport, and I will have my personal private citizen passport returned (it was used to issue me the special no-fee one). I'm very much looking forward to getting to see my nation's capitol before I leave it for 27 months.

Things on my mind right now:

1. Am I packing the right stuff to take with me? 
2. Will I be able to manage my stuff and navigate safely in a foreign country?
3. Can't wait to take pictures of EVERYTHING!

I think I've said enough for now; I'll update again if I have something else on my mind to share. I'm hoping to document where I am in my life for each of these posts. That way, later when I look back at them I'll remember the things I was going through at that point in my life. Feel free to provide feedback or suggestions on how to make this ramble better!