AUGUST!!!!

I can’t believe it’s mid August already. This summer has been super busy and has been flying by. In June I took my cat to Bishkek to get spayed and spent some time with my PST host family. In July I traveled to every oblast to conduct TOTs for the anti-Bride Kidnapping Toolkit I helped create and revise. And this month my NGO – the Central Asian Alliance for Water had a Youth Festival. It was more like a camp because the 90 children all slept over. I helped with icebreakers and sports and pool games. Three of the K17s helped out too. On the last night my NGO invited us all for a celebratory dinner at a fancy restaurant. I got chicken with mushrooms in a cream sauce. It was yummy.

This summer I’ve also been spending a lot of time on my thesis. Draft 1 was submitted June 1st, the second draft submitted July 1st and I’m currently working on my third and final draft.

Next week I’ll be helping a volunteer friend with her summer camp. I’ve always wanted to be a camp counselor. I’ll get to co-lead sessions on self-esteem, healthy relationships, and arts and crafts! It’s a 6-day camp about 4 hours from where I live – up in the mountains at a camp facility. We’ll sleep in cabins, use outhouses, and bath in a stream. I’m looking forward to the cooler temperatures. It’s been about 100 degrees or hotter everyday here and I never knew I could sweat so much. My favorite summer activity has been cold showers! When you live in a place with no A.C. you do what you gotta do to cool off.

It’s almost time to start giving away my stuff and think about packing up. I leave Kyrgyzstan in 33 days – and will be arriving home September 16th. I haven’t been home in two years. I feel like I’ve been in Kyrgyzstan forever, but I sort of feel like I haven’t been away from the US that long. Either way though, it’s going to be a huge culture shock. So if I act a little weird when I first get home, just give me some time to readjust to that fast-paced life I used to know.

I’m already starting to get sad thinking about saying goodbye to my friends, co-workers, and community here. But I’m really excited about seeing and reconnecting with my family and friends at home.

Oh and the food! This is what I want to eat/drink upon my return to Americastan (in no particular order): Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla Iced Coffee, bagels with cream cheese, sandwiches (with kosher spears), a chicken finger sub, guacamole, sushi, Burke’s mint patty and coffee health bar frozen yogurt, chicken pot pie, salads (with lettuce and salad dressing!), good spicy Mexican food, margaritas, salmon, a lobster roll, broccoli, blueberries, bacon, spinach, nachos, quality wine, quality beers and micro brews, seltzer water, limes, and anything my dad cooks/grills. I will be poor and unemployed upon my return so if anyone wants to take me out I’ll pay you back with crazy stories and good company!