Details of my living situation

Several people have asked about what my living conditions will be like, who I'll be staying with, etc. Here are your answers - ta da!

-When I get to Turkmenistan, I will be staying in the capital, Ashgabat, for approximately 3 months to recieve training in language, culture, and technical skills. At this point, all of the other PCV's will be staying there too, but we will each be living with a separate host family.
-Once I'm done with training and I pass all the requirements, I will be sworn in and given a perminant site. This site could be anywhere in the country, but I won't know where it is right away because they pick your placement based on your personality and skills that they observe during training. This will be the site that I live in for my two years of service. For the first six months I will be required to live with a host family (a different one than the one I'll have in the capital). After six months, if I choose to, I can get a place of my own, but most people don't do this unless they don't get along with their host family.
-I will have regular access to water and electricity (but sometimes they go out for no apparent reason).
-There really aren't any regular toilets, just out houses with "squatties".
-Depending on the location of my perminate site, I may or may not have regular internet access. I will be taking my laptop with me so that I can write journal entries while I'm at home and then upload them when I get a chance, so you may go a while without hearing from me, and then see a large number of entries all at once.
-My diet will consist mostly of meat, fat, and rice. Yum.
-The weather is actually pretty similar to KC - hot summers, cold winters.
-I will be working with health care professionals who are nationals. My goals are to help them assess the problem areas of the community, plan outreach programs, and evaluate them.
-I'll be able to start different clubs for the kids and maybe run a summer camp! I really want to have a soccer club.
-I'll be allowed to have visitors and take vacation after I've been in the country for six months.
-I am allowed two 1 month vacations back to the states, plus several days off each month for fun in or near Turkmenistan.

Ok, that's all for now...let me know if you have more questions!

Turkmenistan!! (and my attempt to practice uploading pictures)

I accepted my invitation to Turkmenistan last week! They have sent be a whole packet of more paperwork to fill out (of course). Right now I'm working on applying for my new passport and visa, as well as updating my resume and writing my aspirations statement.

Here's what Turkmenistan looks like, in case you have googled it yet:


Remember to check the right side of this page for new links to information about Turkmenistan and the Peace Corps in general.


Packing will be a huge issue. So far I have very nice hiking backpack, a really warm sleeping bag, and a few other helpful things (thanks to Mom, Aunt Susie, and Grandmother!). My dad plans to get me a digital camera, so I'm good there. I updated my wish list on the right for those who still need birthday present ideas. Gift cards to places like Target are also welcome. Honestly, I really don't plan to take much else because I should be able to buy stuff there...and if I can't then it probably isn't critical that I have it. If everyone who currently lives there can manage without it, I believe that I can as well. A really great birthday present would just be hanging out with me before I go. I know that I will miss everyone when I'm gone, so I'd like to spend as much time with the people I care about as possible.

A note on comments:

So, I have NO idea who left the last two comments on my blog because they didn't put their names on them. If you want me to reply or to know that you wrote a comment, you'll have to leave your name.

That is all.

My invitation!

So, I talked to my placement officer again, and he said he put my invitation to Turkmenistan in the mail yesterday! I should have all sorts of information to give you once I get my invitation packet! For now, my recruiter gave me a link that might be helpful: http://www.friendsofturkmenistan.org/

Once I get the packet, I'll have 10 days to make my decision about whether or not to go to Turkmenistan. I'm sure that I'll say yes, but I'll keep all of you updated on my decision as well.

Medical Clearance!

I got a call today from the Peace Corps telling me that I'm healthy enough to serve!!!! They're supposed to call me later this week and talk to me about where I'm going! I'm SO excited!!!!

Update!

I talked to my placement officer today! She says that the program in Turkmenistan REALLY needs me, so I'm even more likely to end up there then I thought. Of course, with my french skills, it's still possible that Africa could need me more. They are trying to get my medical clearance done early, so hopefully I'll have my invitation by the end of this month!

Helpful Resources!

On the right side of my webpage you should see some new items. I have started a birthday wish list (which I will add to once I know exactly where I'm going). I also have a list of links you may want to visit because they have some valuable information about health and safety and keeping in touch with me once I'm gone. Enjoy!

The Waiting Game

So, I've tried to do the blog thing before, but I wasn't very good at keeping it up, so I stopped after like three posts. But NOW I have a reason to write here all the time......

I'm joining the Peace Corps!

Most of you reading this already know about me and what I'm (hopefully) doing, so I'll just give a brief overview to catch everyone up.

I applied for the Peace Corps in February and I was accepted and nominated for Central Asia as a community health volunteer, leaving in September. I just finished my medical clearance packet and I'm waiting for my invitation. If I am invited to the program that I was nominated for, I'm about 99% sure that I'll be in Turkmenistan (yeah, I had to look it up on a map too). Otherwise, there's a posibility that I'll be invited to western Sub-Saharan Africa to do a similar job in September. I wasn't nominated for this one because I felt the job in Central Asia fit my background better, but with my french speaking skills, they may feel I'm better suited for Africa anyway. I really don't care which one I end up in....it's going to be exciting, scary, and new no matter what.

So, the deadline for them to invite me to Central Asia is August 13, so I should know before then where exactly I'm going. For me the next month is going to be agonizingly slow. If you know me at all, you know that patience isn't really my strong point. I just found out that they recieved my medical kit and are reviewing it right now, so keep your fingers crossed that I didn't miss anything!

Also, my friend Beth is joining the Peace Corps, and she's leaving on July 9th to go to Honduras! I'm really excited for her, and somewhat jealous that she gets to leave before me. And I'm REALLY jealous that she speaks spanish and gets to go to latin america with the hot latin guys. Why did I take french in high school?

UPDATE: My dental records were cleared by the Peace Corps today! I'm still waiting for the rest of my medical records to clear.

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