Not Always Sunny

Today was staging! This is basically Peace Corps orientation. We did group bonding activities, did some skits, etc. Nothing earth shattering, but I thought I’d let you know I’m an official Peace Corps Trainee and am safe in Philly. My flight out of New York is at 4:30pm tomorrow, though we’re leaving for the airport at 8. I should arrive ten hours later in Istanbul, at 10am, and have most of the day there. We will arrive in Bishkek a little before 2 am and, get this, are expected to arrive in our business casual attire.
Woke up early this morning, 6:30 Philly time, so 3:30 back home. Walked all the way to Reading market only to discover it was closed, ate a stack of pancakes and came back to my room. Of which I was no longer the only occupant! My lovely roommate got in on a red eye, and it was a surprise to see her. Letting her sleep I went out again, but nothing opened till 10 and by then I didn’t want to pay the money for only half an hour at a place, so I walked around in the gloomy weather. Not always sunny in Philedelphia apparently. I did stumble upon a Syangouge where the mueseum part wasn’t open, but the Rabbi and I had a nice chat before I headed out again.
Back at the hotel at 10, I went down to Chinatown with my roommate and indulged in some chicken fried rice, which was very tasty. I hate having to sit still on planes and it was nice to be able to do so much walking today. Of course, it didn’t last as staging began and we were there from noon to seven.
Dinner I had chicken alfredo and then for dessert had delicious ice cream. Really really good. Black raspberry ice cream at Franklin Fountain or something with a similair name. I’ve never seen so many things named after Franklin in my life, but understandable I suppose.
Well, I’m off.

Two days!

You guys, I leave in two days. Thursday morning I'll be at the airport decked out in things too heavy to pack- also known as my gigantic snow boots and winter coat. With my gigantic backpack that when my poor friend Val, who is probably the epitome of slender, tried to pick up yesterday and kind of failed.

Any time I have traveled on a plane since graduating High School has been a trying experience. My airport karma is not good at all, consider my latest experience: trapped in Vegas for three days during Hanukah when I wasn't old enough to gamble. Or when I studied abroad and ended up stranded in a Barcelona airport on my 18th birthday severely sleep deprived and totally alone. In short, I am not optimistic that I will roll into Philly at 7 on the 25th. But that, after much back and forth with the travel company, is the plan.

The past week has been spent trying to see everyone before I leave. I've been scheduling my time down to the hour and it's been odd to think that I'm not going to see my closest friends and family for two years. I don't think I can fully comprehend that yet, its been much easier for me to rationalize going to Philly and Istanbul, but I'm sure that once I'm in Kstan it will all come rushing to me. As such I've gone through many walks in Seattle parks, eaten a salmon burger (for free!) on the Ballard locks, figured out that all movies I see with Sarah end with the protagonist drowning, had my last ridiculous bus ride from Seattle to Kent, eaten gelato, a whole tub of Beecher's cheese curds in record time, has a last bowl of pho, and a really good cupcake. Tonight I'm having fake Seder, since when I read the religious breakdown of Kyrgyzstan it didn't lead me to believe there would be too many Jews there. So my mom has been awesome enough to make me the traditional fixings, which we all know is code for matzoh ball soup.

I am totally packed, as well. Hopefully my host family will like the gifts of honey straws, Seattle key chains, and some smoked salmon. Hopefully also my luggage doesn't get lost. But I've got a change of clothes in my carry-on, (as well as Infinite Jest, War and Peace, and Doubt by Hecht), and my bag of banana grams ready to go. I've given everyone my address and already have three letters my sister Alli gave me to read on the plane. I'm ready to go.

PS It won't last since I picked Villanova, but I'm ranked super high in my bracket right now! And my huskies are surprisingly rocking it.

Write me while I'm gone!

Tired of opening your mailbox to find only bills, junk mail, and hate mail? Wishing you could gloat to someone about how awesome your indoor plumbing is? Looking to make your friends jealous with your worldliness and far flung correspondents? Curious about Kyrgyzstan? Have I got the solution for you!
Write to me in Kyrgyzstan! I’ll be lonely, isolated, and missing English. Which will means your letter will make my day. Also, care packages if you’re feeling generous. I will arrive in Bishek on the 29th of March. (Side note, I’m back in Seattle from the 15th through 22nd so if you haven’t made plans with me then I’d really like to see you before I leave for two years) The following address is good for my Pre-Service Training, which lasts from the 29th of March till late May. I’ll try and post my permanent site address once I get it. Keep in mind mail takes 3 to 4 weeks to get to Kyrgyzstan.

Mail should be addressed as follows:

Kyrgyzstan,
722140, Kant city
97 Lenina Street, RUPS
Mailbox # 22
Tomilyn Rupert

Кыргызстан,
ин. 722140, г. Кант
ул. Ленина 97, РУПС
аб. ящик № 22
Tomilyn Rupert


The PST mailbox will close at the end of November and any mail that arrives after the mailbox is closed will be returned to the sender. (If Blogger messes up the Cyrillic let me know and I'll e-mail it to you)
Things to consider: Number your letters! Mail may get lost or redirected, and it would be handy to understand the chronological order of things or if I missed a letter. You might want to print out this address (you need both of them) unless you can write in Cyrillic. Don’t send me anything perishable, or cash. Make sure that I have your address, and if you know its going to change soon make sure I know that.
Also, people who are already awesome and my pen pals, I’m leaving Portland on the 14th so I wouldn’t post anything after Wednesday.

One month to go!

One month. On the 23rd I’ll be on a plane to Philly, and on the 26th I’ll have my staging. (They’re flying me out three days early without covering three days of hotels but I know to pick my fights carefully and I’m excited to explore the city of Brotherly Love) Which leads me to my next point, in less than a month I’ll be gone.
I mean, I started applying in January/late December of last year and I’ve known my invite for a little while now, but getting the packing list and now having a plane ticket, it’s a little overwhelming.
My current plan is to work my last day on the 12th, spend the 13th with my family here in Portland, and then head back to Seattle to stay with my sister the week before I leave. Which means I have a ton to do.
I’ve been online shopping like mad trying to get things ready. And I had my eye exam to get another pair of glasses, which was pain. My doctor was lovely, but after I had picked out a frame it took them over an hour to figure how to charge me. I’ve never worked so hard to spend so money. So much money that I don’t have.
There is also the matter of where I’m going to stay. I’d like to try couchsurfing, if any of you have experiences with it I’d love to hear it.
But overall, right now: One month! Madness!

Getting more and more exciteed

Wednesday evening I hopped in the car and got my picture taken for my visa and PC passport (I look angry, which, I suppose, is how I’ll look by the time I get to customs) which was a total rip off by Walgreens but done super fast. After dropping off that and some paperwork I felt super accomplished. As I complete each little task this it becomes more and more real and exciting.

Shakespeare action figure for scale

Next stop was this weekend where my Grandpa and his girlfriend took me out to get some Peace Corps gear (that’s what these lovely pictures are of if you couldn’t tell). Seeing as how I’m constantly complaining of the cold in my heated Portland house, I thought it was best to get updated on my winter gear. Now I’m in possession of comfy and warm new snow boots, a sleeping bag to protect me in my unheated new residence, a giant pack that will be most of my luggage, and a nice puffy coat.


Now, I’m a notoriously light packer. I brought for five weeks in Italy in Spain what my oldest sister brings for a weekend in Portland, and I once packed for five days in my handbag. But two years is a long time, and I’m already dreading that challenge that’s ahead. Mostly everyone has talked about how they brought too much stuff rather than too little, so I suppose I’m just getting ahead of myself.


Finally I had the chance to have coffee this afternoon with my uncle’s friend’s daughter who just got back from Peace Corps Armenia. It was lovely to hear her talk about her experiences and it got me thinking about how excited I am for my own. Other than that, I had a nice time hanging out with my cousin going to first Thursday, and some family dinners.

Things to Aspire to

I’ve been given a ton of paperwork, and one of the more enjoyable things was writing my aspiration statement. Though the format didn’t leave a lot of room for creativity, it did cause me to reflect on my goals for service and why I’m doing this in the first place. As I’ve talked with my friend who is considering this herself, if I was doing the Peace Corps for one reason I wouldn’t be doing it.
Reasons to spend two years of my life in a foreign country without constant electricity:
-I’m 19 years old and an idealist and naïve and want to save the world
-I’ve been volunteering since the fourth grade and never regretted taking it further
-I love to travel and hate being a tourist
-I became an anthropology major because I’m deeply interested in other cultures
-I became an English major because I love books, and consequently adventures
-I was born in Renton, raised in Kent, and went to school in Seattle. Besides a brief sojourn in Italy I’ve never had that globe trekking adventure I so crave
-My career goals involve working for an NGO or joining the foreign service, the Peace Corps will help with both
-Learning a language greatly appeals to me
-I want to be challenged, pushed to my limits, and come out a better person
-I genuinely believe in the mission of the Peace Corps
Things I expect
-To develop an appreciation for the Kyrgyzstani culture and the beauty of the people and land
-More competent language skills (though in Russian or Kyrgyz remains to be seen)
-Help my family and friends better understand the Kyrgyz Republic
-Become more patient
-Become more independent and resourceful
-I expect my service to be difficult and frustrating and crazy and to still love it
-I expect that despite abstaining from my alcohol all my life I’ll finally learn to drink
-To come back May 28 2012 and be a different person
-To be constantly surprised, and constantly challenged
-To miss Seattle, even the climate, but mostly the people
-To really miss indoor plumbing

I know I have three months to go, and though right now that seems like a long time, I suspect it will end quicker than I expect. Right now I’m edge of my seat excited, and despite the mountain of paperwork that awaits me and all the things I don’t know, I’m pretty sure that feeling is going to be sticking around a long while.

Resources for my family and friends: This is a beautiful blog about Nambia, and this website will help you find blogs of other PCV. The Peace Corps directs you to this page, and I’d recommend checking out the CIA World Factbook for the basic stats.

Its Official

As I anxiously stood at the window waiting for the mailman to show up, I remember that last year hanging out by the Space Needle for New Years fireworks a radio reporter asked me what my resolution for 2009 was. I responded to join the Peace Corps. And when the mailman finally came at five o clock (!), and handed me (because of course I opened the door to rush out and meet him) my packet it looks like that has officially come true. I have been invited to serve in the Kyrgyz Republic (also known as Kyrgyzstan), leaving for my staging (this part is in a US city, though I don’t know which yet) is on March 26th, 2010, and three days later I’ll be chilling (literally, also as an English teacher I should probably practice less vernacular based vocabulary) in the Kyrgyz republic. I come back May 28th, 2012.

As my friend Sarah eloquently put it: “Didn’t we know that eight months ago?” While I was pretty confident, I got more and more nervous when my invite didn’t come. Three and a half weeks ago I received an e-mail saying 400 positions had been cut and all the invites for the program I had been nominated would get invites in the next three weeks. By the time Christmas rolled around and I was invite free my slight anxiety had built up to pretty high levels. Now though, all I have to stress about is packing. It should be noted (in case you haven’t figured it out) this is going to be my Peace Corps blog, so when I’m gone I’ll be able to post updates on this.

Thoughts about Kyrgyzstan: Bordered by China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the type of government is a republic; 75% Muslim, 20% Russian orthodox, and 5% other; 64.7% speak Kyrgyz and 12.5% Russian; Slightly smaller than South Dakota; temperate in Northern foothills, subtropical in Southwest, dry continental to polar in Mountains; it is referred to as the “Switzerland of Central Asia” sadly not because of chocolate or world peace, but Mountains; the international airport in the major city of Bishek serves London, Moscow, Istanbul, Delhi, and Beijing; I’ll be there.

A roundtrip flight in late June costs 1359, so start saving your money so you can come visit me. And also, happy New Years! PS All pictures are lifted from Wikipedia who probably lifted them from someone else.

Let it Snow

Last night there was fire. The cousins have been clamoring for a fire for quite a while and we got a pretty good one going, sitting super close and drinking hot chocolate. A few renditions of ‘Let it Snow’ were even sung.

Oops. Because it did snow, as I was getting ready to leave work, and it is still snowing. Snow used to be something that I loved and wished for every year without fail. My parents and other adults would complain, but me? A half inch and school was canceled, streets were blanketed in a much prettier way than asphalt, and hot chocolate was almost always guaranteed. Then last year, when I was stuck in Vegas for several days (mind you I’m not even old enough to gamble) and the only place to stay was in Newf Rescue. Mind you, more eventful than the entire tour bus confined trip I was just coming back from.This year though not even the long walk with flats that clearly are not waterproof could bring me down. Part of that, I imagine is snow in its all its cliché white goodness falling in what seems to be slow motion.

The other part is that my invitation is in the mail! That’s right, I’ve been invited to the Peace Corps! For those of you that have been following along, I got nominated to serve almost a year ago, medically cleared several months ago, and have been waiting on edge the rest. In a few days (my guess is Saturday) I will know when and where I am going 100% sure.

As I’ve been freaking out about not getting an invitation this is extremely exciting. I’ll post an update once I get the packet in the mail!

PS Getting back with sopping wet shoes is made better when you find a note like this on your bedstand)