Peace Corp's newest

22:00 19 September 2008 

Wow, I have so much write about, I am going to have to break it up into several entries. First of all, I am a volunteer! Yay! I swore in yesterday at a nice ceremony, the ambassador spoke as well as our country director and three trainees (now volunteers) gave speeches in Kyrgyz, English, and Russian. The highlight for me was the actual swearing in. As representatives of the U.S. government, we take the same oath of office that the military, senators, and even the president take. Coming from a family with two parents that retired after careers in the Navy, it was a really meaningful for me to be able to take the same oath. While I will be “defending the Constitution” in significantly different ways than the others that say the same words, I do like to think of my service not just as a service to Kyrgyzstan, but equally to America as well. Okay, enough patriotic waxing, onto the stuff you may find more interesting.

I am angry at the Postal system. Packages being opened and stuff stolen from them is a big problem among volunteers, and now twice I have failed to receive Gatorade from my parents. As you know, gastrointestinal problems are a normal part of life here, and part of their treatment involves re-hydrating yourself. Peace Corps gives us Oral Rehydration Salts, basically a glucose and electrolytes mixture to add to water. Unfortunately, it tastes awful but they won’t provide us with Gatorade because it is expensive. I thought I was being clever by asking my parents to send stuff, but as I said, it has been now twice stolen from my packages. The worst story of theft- or at least the most bewildering- was a friend who received a package in which his mother had sent a bag of American candy. The candy had been meticulously taken out, eaten, and then the empty bag was replaced filled with the wrappers of the candy. How bizarre, and talk about adding insult to injury!

We had a goodbye feast with all the families of our training village the day before we left to go to permanent sites. The celebration was complete with plov and lots of food, but was without the typical vodka because of Ramadan. Tears were shed as we said goodbye to our LCF, she was really a wonderful person and a fantastic teacher. She has had a tough time recently, her husband died not long ago, and she said that having the volunteers to interact with and work with was a much loved distraction for her. I am going to miss all of the families too, even though the language barrier existed, they were so gracious and welcoming that I will remember them for the rest of my life. Anyhow, it’s getting late and I am tired, I have my first classes in the morning.