A Day with Lots of Firsts

I am writing this post from the Seoul airport in South Korea, where I have a 4 hour layover before my flight to Mongolia with my 45 fellow Peace Corps Mongolia volunteers.  My travels from home have included many firsts for me, including:

• My first 14-hour flight, which included tons of complimentary movies and music, a full dinner, snack and breakfast, and about 20 beverage runs (and the necessary trips to the airport bathroom after all of that liquid)
• My first time eating Korean BBQ chicken (it was good, and came with a kind-of-strange-but-tasty carrot, cucumber, and egg salad)
• My first time in Asia
• My first time in a non-English speaking airport/country
• My first time (in several years) traveling without a cell phone, since my contract has ended and my phone wouldn't work here anyway
• My first shared experience with my Peace Corps Mongolia colleagues
• My soon-to-be first time in Mongolia!

I found this photo online, but all of the korean air flight attendants and airport personnel wear this, and they look so cute!  

So far, the trip has been without any major problems.  We have had minor baggage problems and other sorts of things, but I expected this with such a large group.  Working through the different conflicts has helped us to rely on each other and help each other out more, and if 2 heads are better than 1, it can't get much better than 46 smart and resourceful people handling a situation.  I am feeling pretty sleepy because I haven't slept much the past two nights (first packing, then we woke up very early to take buses to the DC airport), and the long flight accommodations weren't quite comfortable enough to make  a long sleep possible.  

I am so excited to be in Mongolia soon, and I will update again when I have a chance!  

Peace (Corps) Out!

Peace Corps Application and Review Process...

....aka the longest, most repetitious process I have ever been involved in.  And believe me, I have filled out my share of applications.  I can appreciate that the Peace Corps has many applicants and has developed a method of weeding out people that aren't truly interested by means of the application process.  I am just incredibly glad that I am almost done!

Tomorrow, I leave home to start my journey across the world.



There are no words.



Here is what I have been up to since the end of school: mainly, spending as much time with my family as I can!

I helped Mom, Dad, and Karie plant flowers for our back deck.

We all pitched in to help Tracey and Phil landscape their new yard.

I spoiled my nephew Clark as much as possible.

See, we are best friends now!

Sisters, 

Sisters, 

All of my sisters!

Congratulations to Tracey on her graduation from her MBA program, I am so glad I got to celebrate it with you!

And most of all, I got to enjoy all of the little moments like these, when my mom can make the funniest faces:

....And sorry, Mom.  I'm sure you won't appreciate me posting these (;

Everyone took a turn keeping the fire going while camping over memorial day weekend, and I endured lots of jokes about how I need to get used to cold weather.  I hope I am not sitting outside in frigid temperatures as long as we did last weekend though!  But our fire kept us warm, and packing my under armor was definitely a good idea.

Lounging around a campfire is my favorite camping activity!

I have loved spending time with my family, and I am both excited and nervous to leave.  There are many unknowns in the near future, but that is part of the draw of the Peace Corps!  I am looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.  

My next post will be from Mongolia!  See you soon, everyone!