finally.

"finally." is the first of what I hope will be many journal entries covering my adventures and mis-adventures as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central Asia. So to all the folks reading this entry at home (or a work) let me offer you a little arm chair vacation and inspiration as I tackle life in the Kyrgyz Republic over the next 2 years.

It's a little embarrassing but when the Peace Corps called and invited me to Central Asia I thought I had won lottery- "Score! They are sending me to Thailand! Yes!" I could almost hear my 8th grade social studies teacher Mrs. Appellet groaning in defeat.

So what qualifies as Central Asia and where is the Kyrgyz Republic? Five independent countries comprise Central Asia. In order of size they are Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. To give you a greater sense of where these countries are.... take a look at the nice map, complements of worldatlas.com http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/kg.htm

And what will I be doing there for the next 2 years? Glad you asked. The Peace Corps will be assigning me to a non-government organization (NGO) where I will work as an Organizational and Community Development Specialist. OCDS assist their host organization with a variety of programs including fundraising, membership, recruiting local volunteers, educational programming, social events, networking, and research.

So over the next 30 days I will pack up my life and leave LA, spend 2 weeks in Texas visiting family and friends, fly to Philadelphia for Peace Corps "staging" and finally, by July 9th, land in lovely Kyrgyz.

So come back soon. Leave me a comment. Ask questions.

Til next time-