Ten Time Zones to Go!

Do you know how heavy 100 pounds is?  Well, let me tell you, that's A LOT of luggage.  It certainly looked fine when it was sitting in my bedroom.  But as I trapezed through the airport I started having second thoughts.  Foolish Anne, when will I learn?!

 

I made it safely to DC and this afternoon 74 trainees will board the plane for Kazakhstan.  I guess it is good to travel with so many people who are in the same situation as me, but every one of these flights is heart wrenching. I cried… scratch that… I sobbed yesterday when I left my family.  Today I'll probably do it again when I call home right before leaving the US.  

 

I'm excited about where I'm going, but I wish Kazakhstan would have wedged itself right between Mexico and Belize rather than staking claim on that spot of land by Russia and China.

This is it!

After two years of planning, eleven months of applications, and a lifetime supply of medical records, I am getting ready to start my journey as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Destination: Kazakhstan

Job Title: High School English Teacher

Language: Choosing between Russian and Kazakh, but I can tell you this: That Spanish I studied in college probably won’t help much! J

I feel like George Hibbert in the movie, Saint Ralph.  At one point, Hibbert asks the priest, “Did you ever not know and still jump?”

In planning for the Peace Corps, I have read gobs of articles, talked to countless volunteers, and made one packing list after another.  It seems like I’ve been preparing for this since the birth of Methuselah. (Okay, maybe not that long.)  But now that it’s time, I’m not sure I am ready. All the textbooks in the world can’t prepare me for the challenges I’ll face.  Just like George Hibbert, I don’t know what’s in store for me.

What I do know is that I have one phenomenal family.  I have extraordinary friends.  I have a community that has been more supportive than I ever could have dreamed possible.  And I have my faith.  No matter what, I know I am surrounded by love and I can’t ask for anything better than that.

I don’t know what will happen in this next chapter… but I’m still going to jump in. 

And you know what?  I have a pretty good feeling about this!  Kazakhstan, I look forward to meeting you!