Destination: Kyrgyzstan

Malinda and I have been given a second chance with the Peace Corps, this time in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan (Kur-giss-stahn), officially called the Kyrgyz Republic. This country is high up in the mountains, on the western side of China, and the northeast side of Kazakhstan. This is horse country. The Kyrgyz are traditionally horse nomads, but under the collectivization programs of the Soviet Union, they now live a so-called "half nomadic" lifestyle, mostly because of the strict authoritarianism that unfortunately has never completely gone away.

Malinda is officially a Sustainable Economic and Organizational Development volunteer, which means that she'll be working with NGOs, economic planners, entrepreneurs, etc. to try to foster economic growth and prosperity there. A lofty goal certainly, but we'll try as best as we can. I will be teaching English (personally, I don't know why they would need it, but I'll provide the service).

So the timeline, as we know it to be at this moment is this:

• Leave for orientation (in the states) on September 14th.
• Leave for Kyrgyzstan on September 16th.
• Stay in the capital, Bishkek and its environs for 3 months, intensively learning Kyrgyz (probably Russian as well).
• The, off to our village for 2 years.

We will be changing our blog to a more appropriate theme, look for links here in the near future. That's it for tonight, I'm tired, and have to work early tomorrow. I'll be working on the new blog and assembling all sorts of goodies and info on Kyrgyzstan for you all, so come back every once in a while over the next week or so.