Leaving Philly

Salut, 

June 11
I am currently writing from the Istanbul Airport with an hour of free Wifi. The last few days have been such a whirlwind; I scarcely can summarize all of it.
Truth be told, I have been afraid. Afraid of going by myself, afraid of missing home, all of those things.
I flew into Philly by myself and met some of the people in my cohort at the baggage claim, several from H Town. Flying into Philly was alright, I watched a ton of Succession episodes and fell asleep in the intervals. I was glad to immediately befriend some of the cohort; we’re twenty-six large. We’re a homogenous group in some ways; the vast majority are 22-28 and recent graduates, despite the fact that the average Peace Corps volunteer age is 28. I’m the youngest, which I quickly found out, and the only one underage (I’m 20). I won’t deny there were immediate anxieties I had once I learned I was the youngest, perhaps a part of me was desperate to prove my worth and overcompensate to prove I belonged in the room. Kyrgyzstan values age.
The people have been amazing though. Welcoming and friendly, and we ate Cava on our first afternoon in Philly, a staple on the Austin Drag that I love so much. Twelve of us were already getting to know each other before staging. Staging was a confusing concept when I arrived, as I called it orientation, staging, but apparently, orientation is the first few days when we arrive in Kyrgyzstan. Regardless, staging is a chance to meet each other, talk about what we’re going to be doing, mingle, and discuss expectations. Our facilitator was Niasa, a Malawi RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer- yay acronyms, there will be many), and the staging lived and died on her ability to lead us. But she did it with spunk, great humor, passion, and thoughtful introspection. I fell asleep on the first day immediately after it was over at 8 pm, retiring to my grand king bed the hotel had provided. Staging is a long discussion, facilitator activities, and chances during the break to meet one another.
We talked about resilience and coping mechanisms, and what to do in complex scenarios. It solidified that I know what I am doing, but I can’t deny it didn’t give me anxiety. One scenario about bribery made me irrationally worried about getting arrested and put in jail.
The airport experience was interesting. We drove up to the JFK airport from Philly. I’ve never actually been to NYC, so to experience it through a bus drive through rush hour rainy traffic was AN experience. We flew Turkish Airlines, and our flight was entirely booked on one of the biggest flights I’ve ever been on. During the entire staging and transportation from the hotel to the airport and arrival, our country desk officer formed us into groups and asked for group leaders. I was the first group leader, and I admit to having mild imposter syndrome about the whole thing. Our country desk officer (CDO) told us that in the past, some Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) have not gotten on the plane, sometimes too frightened or anxious or overall not feeling PC is right for them to board. It blew my mind, considering the sunk cost fallacy and the time it took to get where we are, but I understand it.
Waiting for the flights was my best chance to continue talking with the other trainees, or as Niasa called them, my “government-issued friends,” which I am contemplating renaming our group chat to. While looking for food, I was able to talk to several other volunteers, one who wanted to know my life story and asked about my greatest fears. Definitely broke the ice, and I don’t do a lot of small talk, so it was a welcome relief. Despite being similar in age and background (lots of poly sci and history and international relations majors alongside people with an education background), we all do come from various walks of life. Our oldest trainee was a healthcare practitioner for decades and after being demoralized by the US healthcare system, abandoned it and joined the PC to teach. Sidenote, everyone in my cohort is doing the same thing: teaching English. One trainee was doing archaeology excavations in Turkey. Another worked in a health center and has a background in speech pathology. I’m learning from everyone, and some are well-traveled and others have never been on an international flight before. I am already inspired by a lot of them. While waiting for the flight to Istanbul, I made a birthday calendar so I could keep track of whose we could celebrate during Pre-Service Training (PST), and I definitely didn’t misspell any of them (sorry…).

June 12, 2023
The rest of June 11 is an entire fever dream. I finished Succession on the plane to Bishkek, and my bags ballooned to be much bigger than I had when I first arrived due to airplane goodies like eye masks, socks, and earbuds, which I all shoved in there.
Upon arrival at Bishkek, the sunrise greeted me outside the plane window at 5 in the morning. The jetlag hit very hard. The PC staff woke up early to greet us and tracked our flight as it was 20 minutes delayed. We lugged all our stuff into the charter bus (and a separate big truck) and packed in. One of the PC staff gave us gift bags with Kyrgyz snacks and food (juice, nuts, cookies, etc.), a few of which I devoured. Despite the desire to keep sleeping, most people I spoke to were wide awake. We could not miss the scenic tour of the country. We traveled a few hours east of Bishkek where we reside in a guest house for orientation before we meet our host families on the 17th. Mountains and horses, two things we knew were iconic staples of Kyrgyzstan, and we saw them very quickly. Mountains just outside of Bishkek, off in the distance, the snow on the peak alluring to me. The guest house is nice, with a gorgeous view, and the entire atmosphere feels serene. In a small country most people have never heard of, much less can point out on a map, the mountains feel like faraway walls, closing us into a place that feels peaceful and out in nature. I’m not going to be here very long, but the first impression already was mesmerizing. When we arrived, we were treated to a typical Kyrgyz breakfast, which included tea, porridge, and bread (I’ll look up the Kyrgyz words and add them later). I’m not on the second floor of the guest house, so I popped into my fellow trainee’s rooms to observe the astounding view. Kyrgyzstan will continue to surprise me, and even though I have anxieties, plenty of them, the people around me and the place already make me happy.

 
À Bientôt,
​Grace