Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!!!

Hey everyone! This is my first blog entry on blogspot which I found to be more user friendly than the original blog site that I was going with. This is also my first entry since I began this insane journey! So I am in Kyrgyzstan! I really can’t believe it and even though I am here is sill feels surreal to me. The Peace Corps does a really good job of slowly easing us into this new way of life, and if their warnings are any indication things are still going to get a whole lot more interesting and intense as time presses on. So let the weaning begin I suppose, the hotel in Philly was amazing….a huge plush bed (with like five pillows), a flat screen high definition television, air conditioning and even a computer suite in the room), the hotel we are staying in outside of the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, isn’t nearly as luxurious BUT there is running water and a toilet that flushes (even though the TP is like that paper we use for streamers at home), both things I am warned that I should expect to do without when I move in with my host family on Wednesday.
There are 62 of my fellow Peace Corps trainees, we are knows as K-16’s which denotes that we are the sixteenth class of volunteers to come to this country. A lot of my new peers seem like really cool people. There are A LOT of 22 year olds which makes me feel old (remember I turned 26 on the 4th, and not to be negative but without my friends and family it really was a lame birthday….I can’t wait to celebrate 29 with you all when I return). Overall, they are a group of peppy folk, and I think together we will all do very good for our new country! The dude I have been rooming with is a 53 year old playwright from Brooklyn named Michael (not Mike he quickly informed me), he is a really cool guy with some awesome experiences under his belt and way relaxed sort of attitude about life that I hope to learn from. There is also this awesome older couple from North Carolina named Fritz and Ginger, they are pretty freakin amazing! Like I said there are other cool people but I have spotted a few major know-it-alls, and the sort of people who have to make sure that you know they have done more than you in life (like Penelope from SNL), I have a good feeling this experience will humble those folks. The bottom line is we are all here to do good things and grow as individuals.
Homesickness hasn’t really hit me too hard yet! I miss calling my mother already, and a world without Ashley is already hard to swallow (buffet!)! I also sort of miss someone I met right before I left The States, but have discussed the situation with this person and am cautiously optimistic about my new friend and what our relationship could potentially turn into when I return, this however is not the focus at this point….just something to maybe look forward to! Regardless of what happens it is nice to really connect with someone again, it has been a while, and my relationship with the evil midget lawyer had soured me for a while, I am thankful that my new friend has shown me that there are still amazing people out there!! Anyway, enough of that…sheesh!!!
Ok, I am about to end my first entry…hopefully not too boring! Today will be a full day of rules, regulations and learning my new language of Kyrgyz! Lauren if you read this don’t kill me over punctuation….and Ryan if you are reading, I will be sending you and email about the aforementioned portion that probably got an eyebrow raise out of you!

Alright guys, Lovingood out!