Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Salaam! We are in Bishkek today, and we meet our host families tonight. I am very excited, but nervous! I was hoping to be able to post more today (I have a whole account of the mini trip to Istanbul as well as my first impressions of Kyrgyzstan all written up and prepared to post, but I don't really have the time right now. It might have to wait! I didn't quite know what to expect from Bishkek, but for a big city, it is not terribly crowded, the traffic is not horrible, and it seems very clean. Definitely a good impression so far!

Get ready for a super post next time I get to the internet!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bucket List

Five days!

As I check items off my list of things to take care of before departing and add several less crucial things to the lineup, I realized that it has come to resemble something like a "bucket list." My true colors are really shining through here because almost the entire list that remains is under the "Food to Eat Before Leaving" category.

Most of my goodbyes have been said by now. Mom threw a little going away party yesterday and most of my friends and my sister have gone back to their respective college towns. All that is left now, I suppose, is packing. And eating.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Flight Itinerary!

Official date of departure for me is March 27.  I will fly to Philadelphia from Dubuque for one day of "staging" and then off to Kyrgyzstan from there!  It will be a long trip--we leave our hotel in Philadelphia at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and don't arrive in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan until 1:30 a.m. Monday morning! There will be a layover in Istanbul in there, which I am pumped about. 

Today, Mom and I looked around the gift shop in the river museum, trying to get ideas for gifts for my host family, but with no success. I picked up a harmonica and a box of arrow heads that I thought might be okay gifts, but on a closer look, the harmonica was made in China and the arrow heads were contemporary and made in Mexico. ::sigh:: I suppose I will keep looking. Any suggestions from anyone?