Fun, Sun, and Margaritas

Last night was the SLO town goodbye party. I'm not leaving for another week, but Mom and Dad are leaving for South America on Tuesday, and will not be back before I leave.

It meant a lot that so many people came to see me off and offer so much support. Undoubtably I will remember Saturday night on those days when I question my Peace Corps decision. I'll look at the photos from last night and remember that I have such a large support system, and as a result feel more grounded. Below are a few pics from the party! And thank you to everyone who came!

This is how excited I am!

DD and Mom

Maggie

Coop, Sceett, and Zack

Dan, aka "Wyoming"

Zacky!

LC and Mom

Joan and Nancy

Larry, Carrie, and Don

Lori and Coop

Mom and Dad getting ready before.

Steve and Dad.

Pics from Saturday's goodbye party

Today, the final day, the end of my life in New York. With a half-hour cab ride, my five years in New York came to an end.

Last night, some friends came over and with an array of delicious deliveries (East Village Thai, Caracas, Grand Sichuan, and The Cottage) we positioned ourselves around the coffee table for the last time. Chatting about anything and everything an outsider would think it was just like any other Magda gathering, but for the lack of pictures hanging on the wall. We were just a group of friends having, yet again, fun and silly conversation, I recall a rather ridiculous argument over the word irregardless. This morning was more tearful goodbyes, and before long my bags were loaded and I was traversing the Williamsburg bridge.

I have amazing friends, and these last five years, especially the last three, have been, well... indescribable. I have shared food, fun, wine, laughter with a number of great friends. I can only hope for the same in Kyrgyzstan. 

As I sit here at the airport (flight delays= lame), I can't help but think about those final goodbyes, and about that last plane ride that will propel me into an utterly different life. I don't think the monumentality of my decision to join the Peace Corps will really hit me until after training, and I'm dropped at my permanent site while I watch the bus drive away. 

According to my countdown widget I have 5 days, 22 hours, and 21 minutes left until I depart New York. It doesn't really seem real yet, I can hardly believe that I'm leaving in less than a week and in less than a month I will be leaving on my adventure to Kyrgyzstan. 

In the last days I've been finishing last minute packing, selling my furniture and attempting to learn Russian. I received 90 days of online Rosetta Stone software for free, but I need to log at least 40 hours of Russian before I leave. So far I've completed about 5, I guess it I be spending a lot of time in my room logging hours once I get back to San Luis.

Once I get to Kyrgyzstan, which should be on July 7, all of the K-16 volunteers will spend a couple of days in Bishkek, the capital, before we disperse into small groups. Our small groups will be in different villages and will be our language-learning groups. Then after three months of language and technical training, we will be sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). At that point I will most likely be the only volunteer in my small city/ village. The first three months I will live with a host family, as well as the second three months. I can then continue living with my current host family, get a new host family, or live on my own. So there's a little about what my life will be like, for more check out this girl's blog: Kelsey in Kyrgyzstan. A fellow K-16 directed me towards it. 

Now I'm waiting for my staging packet which will have a lot more info about how I'm getting to Kyrgyzstan. Hopefully that will be here by the end of this week.