Overseas!

Here's my first update from my next adventure, brought to you by the free wifi in the Istanbul airport. All the US airports charge a fee, which is a bunch of baloney and why I haven't updated until now. I briefly got a slow connection at staging Monday night, but it was only for "one day" which is not 24 hours, but merely until midnight. Thus, I didn't get everything done that I would have liked to get done.

I am simultaneously excited out of my mind and nervous out of my mind, so the two clash and explode within me, resulting in a sort of low-burning flame of indifference. Thus far, the people I'm meeting are wonderful people. I am quickly realizing how incompetent I am... everyone else has so much more travel experience, knows languages, is prepared for grad school, etc. etc. But conversations are more than pleasant, and even though I'm horribly socially awkward, or at least nominally socially awkward, I'm getting along well enough.

Hearing more about Georgia at staging, especially from the returning volunteers, helps a LOT with the nervousness. I'm a bit worried about the food--namely, that I'll gain 50 pounds from all the potatoes and hachapuri! Yikes! And I'm worried about getting sick, because most people apparently do so. And "getting sick" does not include a cushy bathroom in which to throw up, but rather an outhouse. But I'll make do. After all, this is how some people live. They're not "sacrificing" anything, and they don't have the option to leave and have different conditions. Hopefully I can keep that in mind.

I've already posted my phone number on facebook. If you need it, I'll post it on a friends-only post. It doesn't cost me to receive calls or texts, and texts are rather cheap for me to send. So that seems like a great way to keep in touch, as I don't know how often I'll be able to get online. Maybe I can set up Twitter and update that via cell phone? I dunno. We'll see.

So, a little more on what I'm doing:
I'm at a layover in Istanbul right now, waiting to go to Tbilisi. We're going to be in a hotel for a couple days, and then I think we're going to go on some village visits? I'm not quite sure, but I'll figure it out more as we get there and get paper itineraries and whatnot. PST doesn't sound like it'll be as bad as I thought it would; we'll get into groups and stay in villages around the central training village. These small groups will go to language and training lessons together--I'm very excited to see who's going to be in the same group as me. (as I?)

I'll have to register my blog when we get to Georgia and talk with the people there and start to settle in. Just so you know, this is my personal opinion blog and does not necessarily reflect that of Peace Corps. But hopefully it's not to out in left field, unless it's in a good way.

Okay, I'm running low on battery power because my laptop only lives but a few minutes when on wifi. I'm going to post my phone number in friends only, then head out. Later!