Sending Mail to Kyrgyzstan!

At the post office: The U.S. Postal Service uses the name Kyrgyzstan. The country names “Kyrgyz Republic” and “Kyrgyzstan” are interchangeable and are equally recognized. You may need to clarify to the postal clerk that the package is to be sent to Kyrgyzstan. Airmail delivery of letters and packages generally take between 4-10 days. Your post office will be able to assist in determining a reliable and cost-effective way of shipping items to the Trainee.

A note on sending packages: Please be sure to seal all packages with strong packing tape. Insuring the package may discourage tampering and pilfering. Unfortunately, from time to time Peace Corps Trainees and Volunteers have found that their packages have been tampered with, opened, and/or pilfered of the items inside. PC/Kyrgyz Republic cannot be held responsible for damaged or open packages.

Use this label on envelopes / packages! If you address mail only in English, I will still get it... However, incl udingthe Cryllic version will expedite the delivery!

Getting ready to leave!

Sorry to my fellow K-16's who have tried to contact me in the past month, I have been in Belize with very little computer/internet access. Having spent the past five weeks in Belize, I can't ignore the experience in this blog even though it isn't entirely Peace Corps related. Belize was amazing, and I will definitely always remember my time in the country. If you want to hear travel adventures and stories of Belize I will be glad to share them later!

As for Peace Corps... I leave in 16 days for Philadelphia! That is absolutely insane. I received my travel arrangements today. I will fly directly out of Shreveport at 6:30 in the morning on July 3, which means the day is going to start way too early! I'll fly to Memphis, and then on to Philadelphia where I will arrive around 12:05. The exciting part comes on July 5, when we actually leave for Kyrgyzstan! The flight itinerary given by the Peace Corps at this point shows that we will fly out on the morning of the 5th through New York on to Istanbul. We have something like an 8 hour layover in Istanbul, and then fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan!

Since I've been out of the country, I just started shopping for Peace Corps gear this week. Sort of feels like Christmas! I still have a ton of things to do before leaving!