STAGING
Loading Map
Washington DC,
United States
Thursday, September 9, 2004
Hello Hello....
DC has been quite an experience. I landed here on Sunday afternoon and hurried over to the Smithonian to see all the "stuff" I am supposed to see. After confusing the White House with the Jefferson Memorial, I knew it was time to head back to the hotel and find a map. That was the last of DC I would really see.
That night I was able to meet up with Cara Domilan from Chi O and we went out and had a few drinks in Georgetown which was awesome! I will defiantly keep that in mind when applying for grad schools, but I have a long time before I need to start thinking about that kind of stuff.
The next morning, we finally go to meet our group. There are 38 of us in all. I would estimate there are about 2/3 girls and the rest guys. Very smart and well travelled people. We are a very young group in Peace Corps terms, the oldest volunteer is 29....so it is cool to have people your age to relate with.
The first day we had registration and just basic introductions. Typical orientation things...fears and aspirations etc. It was fun being a group eager to know about Tstan. That was the hardest part about leaving....the reactions from everyone.
Then the real problems began! I woke up a little under the weather on Monday morning. But I didn't think much of it. then on Tuesday morning I woke up and was just plain sick! I was coughing, sniffling etc. Words can't explain how embarrassing it is to be coughing the entire time the Turkmen Ambassador to the USA was speaking!!! I didn't know what to do, leave the room or suffer through. So I got sent back to my room through the rest of training.
So I slept all day and thought nothing of being sick again. I didn't really want to fly over there, but knew I didn't have much of a choice. Well as I was loading my luggage, I was pulled out of line and was told I didn't have medical clearance to go. I needed to go the ER and get a doctor to tell me I was healthy enough to travel. So I spent the next five hours in the George Washington hospital waiting to see a doctor. So I missed the flight out and got some good meds to accompany me for the long flight on Friday.
I will be flying out on my own, which I think will be better than with the whole group. I will be able to sleep with my cough syrup with codeine and I will land in Ashgabat on Sunday I believe. If all goes well.
First impressions of the Peace Corps are amazing! They just keep throwing money at me and they really do take care of you if you are sick. Everything is so organized and well done. I was so curious how they were going to get such a big group to go over to Tstan with no problems and they really did it well! So that was the big drama.
Just so you all know, I will not have access to the Internet or phone for at least 8 weeks. I will update this web site as much as I can, but it may take a little while to get into the swing of things. I hope everyone at home is doing well. DC is a nice city, I may go check out the Arlington cemetery if I feel better this afternoon. Write lots of emails and letters. I will miss you all!
I am so excited to go!
Hear from you all soon!
katy
