Packing

I know when Kimberly and I were preparing for the Peace Corp we searched everywhere for some information on what to pack and what to pack it in. We weren't very successful so I hope that this might help some future Peace Corp volunteer...at least a little bit.

I can't tell anyone what to pack since I haven't actually gone, but I have been told that many people over pack. You can get many items you take in the country that you are going to. We chose to get one hiking pack and one backpack for each of us. Eventually, we ended up using one more bag to pack some additional items. So, the first picture is the backpacks that we are carrying on, and the second picture is the 3 bags that we are checking.

Another thing we did was get Compression Sacs (like vacuum bags, but you roll the air out yourself) to put some of our items in. It saves a good bit of space.

You'll see in the picture that we actually have a hiking pack and then an army duffel bag. Well, we were advised by someone at REI to get cheap army duffel bags to put the hiking pack in for checking it at the airport. Apparently, this is so that TSA doesn't cut the straps on your hiking pack. The army duffel bag is actually a good bag in itself, but it doesn't have as good of support for carrying as the hiking pack. I would recommend it as a good cheap bag alternative.

I hope this was helpful to someone. If you have any questions feel free to leave a message here with an email address and I'll try to respond as soon as possible.

Things I'll Miss, Things I Won't...

I'll miss:

• My family
• Duke basketball
• Alabama football
• Baseball
• Chick-fil-A
• Indoor bathrooms
• Durham, NC
• My church
• Lost

I won't miss:

• A 9-5 job
• Traffic
• Buying gas for my car
• Bills
• Commercialism
• Humid summers

Our Story

I've realized one thing, everyone has a different story about how they came to be in the Peace Corp, so I thought I would post ours.

Kimberly and I had been looking for something exciting to do, something more than just a regular 9-5 job, but were unsatisfied with everything we had found. Either it cost too much or it wasn't what we were looking for. Sometime in July of 2007, Kimberly's mom had emailed her information about the Peace Corp because the daughter of a lady she worked with had just returned and she thought we might be interested.

August '07 - I read the information and was instantly sold. We went to an informational meeting and knew it was for us. We immediately filled out an application, and it was accepted within a couple of weeks.

September '07 - Met with our regional representative for an interview and she later nominated us.

February '08 - We learned that we had been nominated for North Africa and the Middle East for Health Extension.

March '08 - We began getting medical and dental check-ups.

May '08 - Medical and dental information was sent into the Peace Corps office and we were just waiting for clearance.

December '08 - We had been told that if we hadn't received an invitation by the end of the year to contact the Peace Corp's office. Since we hadn't heard anything up to that point, we assumed that no news was good news. In the middle of December we learned that the Peace Corp did not have a piece of our paperwork. Our Medical Officer had left his job and the position had since been filled with two other people. Because of this, notifying us had been lost in the shuffle.

January '09 - We learned that even though we had turned in our paperwork all of the invitations for our country were now gone.

February '09 - Recieved our second nomination, this time for Central Asia. Later in the month received an invitation to serve as Health Education Volunteers for Turkmenistan.

July '09 - We redid our dental check-up since it expires after a year.

August '09 - We finally were fully cleared to enter as volunteers into Turkmenistan.

September 29th - We fly out for Philadelphia for staging and then finally on to Turkmenistan!!

So, that's our story. It's been a long process, but we are now only 2 weeks away and soooooo excited!

About the blog

So, this blog is the chance for me and my wife (Kimberly) to keep track of our experiences during our time in Turkmenistan with the Peace Corp. The title for the blog came from the coordinates of Turkmenistan. It is located just north of Iran and Afghanistan and just south of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and was a part of the former Soviet Union.

We leave here on September 30th and are scheduled to arrive sometime early on October 1st. During our training, which is the first 3 months, we will not be able to call or send email at all. Internet access won't be very accessible after that either, but we hope to update as often as possible. Most times we'll type up posts on our computer and post later when we get the chance.