Peacing Out

Today is my last day at home in California before I head out to Kyrgyzstan to be an English Teacher in the Peace Corps for 2 years and 3 months! Wild. This past month I've been living with my parents down here after moving from Eugene, Oregon, where I graduated with a degree in Sociology. After that I worked in the Eugene School District 4J as a substitute teacher to gain some experience in education before I take on teaching high school kids English in Kyrgyzstan. Down hear I've been hanging out with the parents and learning some Russian. The Peace Corps gave all the new volunteers a free trial of Rosetta Stone. Russian is NOT an easy language. Other than that I've been packing, saying goodbye to my buddies, and getting in as much surfing as possible. It wasn't that long ago that I found out that I was going to Kyrgyzstan. During the application process I said I was available to leave in September of this year. Then the Peace Corps called me about 6 weeks ago offering me a placement in Central Asia as an English teacher in early July. Peace Corps sends volunteers to four countries in Central Asia; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Turkmenistan. I'm not sure why but I jumped on it and they sent me an invitation and when they sent me that invitation the mail man put it in a random red storage box that was sitting next to the front door at my house in Eugene. The invitation, which stated the country I'd be living in for the next two years, sat in that box for 5 days and I had no idea it was in there. I was convinced that it got lost in the mail. It was torture I tell you! It was pretty difficult wrapping my brain around the idea that I would be leaving for Kyrgyzstan in less than 6 weeks. Most volunteers find out where they're going four months before their departure date. I have to say though that I'm pretty excited that I'm going to Kyrgyzstan. The people there I hear are truly amazing and the country side beautiful. Supposedly it's the Switzerland of Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan became it's own country in the early 1990's when the Soviet Union collapsed. The locals speak Russian in the more 'Russified' area in the north and Kyrgyz in the south. I hear horse is a delicacy. It's been sad saying goodbye to all my family and friends but I'm really looking forward to this experience. Yesterday I got my last surf session hear in the Pacific Ocean and today I had my last bicycle ride around town. I don't believe I'll be doing much bike riding in Kyrgyzstan and unless Lake Issk-Kul, the world's second highest alpine lake, has a descent break, I'll be out of luck for enjoying those activities that I love oh so dearly. It's interesting how much more enjoyable these activities are when your about to leave them for two years. I'm just about all packed up and ready to go. Tomorrow I fly to Philadelphia where I will get to meet the other volunteers (I think there is about 20 or 30 others) and get a few immunizations. After three nights there I fly to Istanbul, Turkey, where I'll have a seven hour layover. After that I fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. There I will meet my host family and start language and job training for 11 weeks. After that I get my village placement where I will be teaching at the local high school. I will be at that village for two years. Of course I'll get time to travel and do fun stuff while I'm there but nonetheless, it's going to be very difficult. I can bring 100 lbs. of stuff. It's like packing for a huge camping trip. I've got a sweet new backpack, a 0 degree sleeping bag (it gets below 0 degrees in the Winter), a heavy-duty winter coat, and a ton of underwear and other good stuff. I also packed Goldbond. And Walnuts.