New Blog for the Peace Corps!

17 days until staging in D.C.!
Bulgarian is much more challenging to learn than I anticipated, but once I tackle the Cryllic alphabet, that should resolve most of my problems. and by resolve, I clearly mean create more opportunities for me to be confused. ;)
I am currently in the process of buying all the random things PC has suggested; down sleeping bag, swiss army knife, cooking knives (yes shawn, those are for the *checked* lugage), and a rain coat. Once I actaully use these items, I can rise above the seemingly inevitable yuppy vandy grad status! congrats to me. :)

So for those of you who are unfamiliar w/ what I"ll be doin as a PCV;
-11 weeks of training in country (starting Aug. 15th)
during this time, I'll stay with a host family. hopefully they'll have children, because that will greatly help me in building my elementary grammar and vocab
- 2 years of service in a selected community
Most likely, I'll live in a modest apartment with water, eletricity and heating. I have about 3 weeks of vacation each year, and some of that *will* be spent stateside at my sister's wedding.
- daily, i'll be employed as a youth development worker (think: boys and girls club program planner)

my current concern revolves around language fluency. I'm sure there are a million other things I should be more concerned with, but I think its tough to have realistic expectations both in terms of cultural adaptation and work experience.

There is another Vanderbilt girl who is a PCV in Bulgaria, and from what she's told me, the prospect of internet access in my apartment (late october) is quite promising! If that's true, keep your eyes turned here for pictures, stories, and the hilarity that will undoubtably ensue when you throw a poor little south dakota farm girl into a nation that existed well before the Ottoman Empire.