Halfway There

January 22, 2009

I should be beaming with pride right now because I have officially made it through one full year of service as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan.

But I’m kind of freaking out.

I have only eleven months left to get done everything I need to get done in order to prove my time here successful.

And I don’t know if I can do it.

My goals for Peace Corps Turkmenistan 2009 (in no particular order):

-Finish the Turkmen-Russian-English cookbook

-Write a grant for the printing costs of the cookbook

-Have a successful book club (IN PROGRESS, WOOOOOO!)

-Bring my intermediate students to the advanced level

-See at least one advanced student get into a university (I know this is out of my hands, but it would be awesome…simply awesome)

-Draw a world map with my students

-Write a grant for a dvd player for my school

-Score Intermediate High in Russian on the Language Proficiency Test

-Score Advanced Mid in Turkmen on the Language Proficiency Test

-Take the GREs and score well

-Apply to grad school

-Figure out what the heck I’m going to do with the rest of my life

One year has past and at this time last year I was a scared new volunteer, freezing in cheap Talkuchka boots not really sure what I was doing here.

A year later, I’m no longer scared, the Talkuchka boots have completely snapped on the bottom allowing muddy water to seep into my socks, and I’m not unsure what I’m doing here…only of how to accomplish everything that needs to be done.

Just a few more weeks of winter...