Alright. So finally a rundown of the last couple weeks...

So I started off my Peace Corps adventure by flying to Philadelphia on August 17th. We had some general information sessions on the Peace Corps as an organization, policies, etc... It was also an opportunity for me to get to know the 60 other Peace Corps volunteers that will be serving in Kazakhstan the next 27 months.

Two days later we took a bus to NYC where we flew to Kazakhstan. It turned out to be an extra long trip as we had a ten hour delay in Frankfurt, but essentially just meant more time to get to know people.

I arrived in Kazakhstan jetlagged, but excited. We spent one night in Almaty (one of the biggest cities in Kazakhstan) and the next day we were driven about an hour away to our training base in a small city called Esik. We were met by our host families who immediately took us to our new homes.

I have to admit having a host family was the part about the Peace Corps that I was most nervous about. My host family ended up being just an older, retired woman named Mira. She was very nice, but spoke no English. Her apartment was very nice, especially by Kazakhstan standards. I had my own bedroom with a desk, running hot water, a tv, a washing machine... After the next week I became less nervous as we kind of figured each others habits and schedules out. Unfortunately after being here about three weeks, Mira's doctors decided that she needed to go to the hospital to get treatment for high blood pressure. This past Friday I had to move out of her place into a new house. This was difficult because I felt I had just begun to feel comfortable living with Mira. The new family is very different. It's a married couple and their 3 and 11 year old daughters. They are very energetic and talkative, which is good for improving my Russian, but not as great when it comes to personal space and alone time. It can be a bit frustrating now, but I'm confident in the next few weeks I'll adjust.

Anyway, a lot of my time is spent away from my host home. First of all, I have Russian classes from 8AM-12:30PM six days a week. Russian is incredibly difficult, but I feel like I am improving just fine and I'll admit living with a family who doesn't speak English is helping. In the afternoon I have Technical Training from 1:30PM-6PM. During this time we have sessions about how to work with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Kazakhstan, maintaining our health and sanity, and other skills that will be useful while here. We also have "mini-internships" two afternoons a week with local NGOs. I am working with the Kazakhstani Union for the Blind, which is run by two Kazakh ladies, one of which is blind herself. My job is mainly to observe and learn, but I am also working to create a logo and a brochure for the organization which is fun. This schedule is really tiring, but clearly helpful. It also gets me excited about the work I'll be able to do once I get sent to my permanent site (the one I'll be at for the remaining two years) in November.

So this is the basic overview of the last two weeks. Now that I've gotten it out the following posts will be able to include more fun stories of weird food, panic attacks, and the cow man. But for now you should know that I am doing well. While I have had my difficult moments, I am lucky enough to be surrounded during the day by other Peace Corps volunteers who are amazing. We all have a lot of fun and keep each other stable. I have already begun to form a few of what I am sure will be long-term friendships. Of course, what also keeps me sane is thinking about all my friends and family in the great US of A :)

Anyway, this is it for now. Feel free to shoot me an email (mizenerj@gmail.com) or package full of Starbucks coffee :)