December 16, 2004: Headlines: COS - Uzbekistan: Blogs - Uzbekistan: Packing - Uzbekistan: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Packing… for those who are coming with UZ19 in January
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December 16, 2004: Headlines: COS - Uzbekistan: Blogs - Uzbekistan: Packing - Uzbekistan: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Packing… for those who are coming with UZ19 in January
Peace Corps Packing… for those who are coming with UZ19 in January
Peace Corps Packing… for those who are coming with UZ19 in January
Peace Corps Packing…
This post is for those who are coming with UZ19 in January (or are you guys UZ18 since we skipped August installation?)…
OK. Everybody knows I did not pack lightly when I came to Uzbekistan almost one year ago. I pushed the airline limits over the top, and by luck only, did not have to pay for any overage. Despite cutting all the labels off my clothes ; ), I had weight…and mass. I’m writing this now to calm your nerves from all the horror stories you’ve been reading about having to pack everything onto a crowded marashuka, sitting on one bag while hugging another on a six hour ride to Qarshi. I can tell you that if I made it with all my stuff – to Tashkent, to training site, to my host-family, then to my second host-family, and finally out to Andijon – then you will, too. People will help you, from your arrival by Peace Corps staff (Peace Corps even had designated luggage trucks available whenever we had to mobilize en mass), and by the kind locals when you’re trying to stuff the biggest suitcase ever into a tiny Tico trunk. If its definitely not feasible, worse case scenario is you’ll have to give away the twenty pairs of socks your mom packed, or maybe the clothes steamer your least favorite Aunt bought for you at the airport. Also, you will get two trips to lug all your stuff out to site – once during your site visit and again after swearing in…so don’t worry.
Having said that, there are definitely things I wish I hadn’t brought…six months supply of vitamins (medical will give you plenty), the Jenga set gift to my host-family (they were not impressed, and it was a freaken heavy block of wood), extra toiletries (there is plenty here and readily available), two thick towels (they’re an animal to hand wash, and mold as they’re drying), 20XPF film shield and film (its heavy, unnecessary, and I haven’t taken many pictures with my attention hog of a SLR camera anyway), Pac-Safe system (haven’t felt a need for so much security), stationary and envelops (I mostly email and there’s plenty of paper here you can recycle; plus, you have to use Uzbek postal envelops to mail letters anyway, even postcards!), thick thermals (light-weight and thin silk ones work best and travel easier), and Scrabble (no takers).
I don’t regret…all the shoes, sleeping bag, two Nalgenes (already lost one), laptop, digital camera, jump drive, and nice clothes.
I wish I had brought…a good pillow, more DVD’s, more music, more books (via M-bag), two jump drives, and a digital short-wave radio.
When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 27,000 index entries in 430 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. |
| Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress. |
| RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey. |
| Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." |
| Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
| The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
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Story Source: Personal Web Site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Uzbekistan; Blogs - Uzbekistan; Packing - Uzbekistan
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