…and I can’t wait to see you! Please update me with your contact info so we can meet up before I move on to my next adventure.
p.s. I’ll be on vacation in New Jersey for roughly a week. If I haven’t been in touch yet, I will be after I return!
The other night I was having a conversation with one of my sitemates about our post-Peace Corps plans. Although the matter was left unresolved, (at least in terms of the long-term picture,) the conversation was satisfying in that we both concluded that we were looking forward to building roots in the United States. As much as I criticize things going on currently, my love for the USA is true and deep. As such, I’ve decided to do a road trip this summer when I return, and I’m hoping that you guys, my faithful readers, can give me some suggestions of places to see. Part of the impetus for this is the fact that although I teach American History and Geography here, I have not seen much of my own country firsthand. I’m rather familiar with the Northeast, but other than that, I’m a bit wet behind the ears! As you, yes you, have probably been many places I haven’t, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite parts of the country and why. Consider this an assignment !
Well, so I lied. The postal system of Uzbekistan continues to function. The real reason I asked that you not send any more mail to me here is that I will no longer be here as of Wednesday.
The short story is this: Everyone in my group of volunteers has visas which expire on June 1st. Due in no small part to recent events in this country, the Uzbek government has decided to not extend our visas. So, we all have to be off of Uzbek soil by the 1st.
We were presented with a few options at this point. One of them, which I chose, was to transfer to another country and begin service there. So, on Wednesday, I will be flyling to Bucharest, Romania. There I will begin Pre Service Training once again when the latest group arrives in country on June 3rd.
I’ll have a much fuller analysis of the situation soon, maybe in a day or so, but I just wanted to let everyone know that this blog will soon chronicle my Peace Corps experience in quite a different place. Let’s hope for a bright future for Uzbekistan.
Well, early Sunday I’ll be boarding an Amtrak train to Philadelphia where I’ll spend two days filling out forms and getting tons of information thrown at me. Then me and the 60 others in my group will file onto a bus which will take us to JFK airport in New York City. We’ll make our way onto a Delta airliner and take off for Istanbul, Turkey. Once we arrive, we’ll hang out at the airport for a few hours, then get on a Turkish Airways redeye to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Once we get there, at this point, I have no idea what will happen.
As you can imagine, this is a nervous time for me. I’m wondering who the others in my group will be, where exactaly in Uzbekistan I’ll be placed, what my host family will be like, and tons of other more minor worries. But I’m not worried that I am worried. My high school swimming coach, for whom I have great respect, said, “It’s normal to have butterflies in your stomach, but you’ve got to make them fly in formation.” So I’m gonna go on that advice and be nervous, but be in control.
Tonight I went to see Foreign Aids at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. It was a truly great one man show. The guy is a South African performer who does costumes and personas (many of which are female.) He would morph from one to the other brilliantly. The common theme was the AIDS epidemic that is ravaging his country and the fact that the government is not addressing the issue. He told us (between the fanciful stories of his sophisticate alter egos) of how he goes to school across the country teaching about AIDS by talking about sex. It was funny, and he obviously made his presentations to the kids funny, but you could tell there was a great urgency to his message… safe sex or death. Using the themes of ignorance, timidity and fear, he cleverly connects his country’s reluctance to deal with Apartheid as similar to this current crisis. I’ve always thought it takes a very talented person to do a one man show well, so this was quite a treat.
I’ll be packing like a madman tomorrow – currently I have my stuff all over the place. But I think I have everything I need. BTW, I have a new photo gallery, and you may soon see some posts by a guest author. Plenty of surprises in the pipe although WD will be halfway around the world. I hope to keep everyone informed of both the humorous and maddening aspects of my journey, and provide plenty of photos providing I can get a decent internet connection every now and then.
So off off to Uzbekistan – off to a new challenge – and hopefully a great new chapter in my life.
A sincere thank you to everyone who helped make my little trip possible. It was truly a pleasure to spend time with you, as you have meant so much to me over the past few years. Although I’ll miss you all, thoughts of the good times should sustain me. And to those who I was not able to see but who sent their kind words, much appreciated. It’s a bummer when we are hours away rather than minutes.
I’ll try to write a few posts this week before I head out to Philidelphia, PA for my staging on Sunday the 16th. Thanks to an extremely generous offer by Kellen, I will have a laptop with me for the trip. Now, how freequently I will have internet access is another matter entirely. But, I do plan to keep the blog updated and post new pictures as I take them. I hope you will all keep in touch through this website. The “Contact” section, now part of the top menu bar, will be updated with ways to be in touch and an email contact form.