Staging September 29, 2008

Just real quick because I am exhausted… I made it safely to Staging. Woo Hoo! There are 44 people going with me to Turkmenistan, a lot more than I expected but it is very cool. I have actually met 5 people from Michigan, which is totally random! I even fly out here with a guy from MI, that was cool. Overall Staging has been a blur of information and meeting new people, which I actually feel like I am doing really well with and branching out to meet new folks. That’s a big step for me because while I have a fun bubbly personality I am not that way until I get to know you better so kudos for me!

Staging did bring a bit of bad news tho… unfortunately internet is not easy to get in T-Stan so you may go a while hearing from me, no worries tho no news is good news. The blogs I post will actually be really long because I am going to try and pre-write them before posting them. Odds are I won’t be able to update more than once or twice a month so keep checking. OK I am off for now, tomorrow is going to be a long one. Know that I love you and will be missing you all dearly! 

Off to Turkmenistan!

Peacin’ Out September 26, 2008

Well, the day is finally here. I am leaving tonight to go spend the night with Tim and Jess and then tomorrow I am flying out to Philly. I think it all hit me this morning when I went to mass with Mom and Dad to get a blessing from Fr. Jerry. The scripture for the morning was the famous verse from Ecclesiasties 3:1-8 which says “There is a time for everything…” It was just the perfect thing to hit all of us. There is a time for everything and the time is now for me to do what I have been called to do. I have felt a calling for the Peace Corps for a long time and now it is time to fulfill that destiny. This also means it is time to leave my comfort of family and friends, but I am so blessed. It’s hard to leave, but in order to follow the Lord’s will for my life I must leave my friends and family. He has called me to an amazing journey and I would be a fool to pass it up. Thank you again everyone for your kind words, gestures, and more importantly prayers.

 

So I have everything packed. That was challenge… For your info to go to Turkmenistan I am allowed to take 2 pieces of luggage each bag may weigh 50lbs. So I have been trying to pack all week and I must say I’ve had to eliminate some poundage! After a bit of stressful yelling and countless times on the scale with my bags I currently have 2 full bags. One weighing 49 lbs (by our estimation) the other weighing 39 lbs, I also have one very full carry-on and one very full purse. I’ve got it all organized so you can see everything all squished together. Now I know some of you might be thinking “Abby, you can take 12 more pounds of stuff!” Yes, I am well aware of this, but unfortunately as you can see from the picture there is absolutely no room in the red duffle bag (which has the 39 pounds). Ironically, I can fit more things in the green suitcase, but that would take that bag over 50 pounds. This whole spacial battle is why I decided NOT to be a math teacher friends, because even our resident math teacher was having trouble getting it all to work (and I might add he was doing a lot of the stress yelling… love you dad!). 

I also got my voting situation taken care of. I used everyone advice and got a ballot from that website where I can write in my candidate choice. I also learned that I can mail that write in ballot any time I like as long as I am mailing it from a foreign post office. As my plan is to mail my write in ballot either from Istanbul in our 12 hour layover or from Ashgabat like the first day I get there. That way I am positive that my ballot will count. Problem solved and crisis averted! I still do feel that there should be a better system that does not use mail in ballots for US Citizens living out of the country. I believe there should be some sort of an online option to vote absentee. I am planning on drafting a strongly worded letter to my legislator about that by the way. 

 

Other than that things are looking pretty good for my departure. I am very excited to embark on this journey and I know God is totally going to blow me away. For those of you who do not know my flight patterns here it is for you:

9/27/08 Fly from Detroit to Philly

9/29/08 Take Bus from Philly to NYC

9/29/08 Fly from NYC to Istanbul, Turkey

9/30/08 Layover in Istanbul, Turkey for 12 hrs

9/30/08 Fly from Istanbul to ASHGABAT TURKMENISTAN!

10/1/08 Officially land in Turkmenistan!

So there you go! It’s going to be an interesting 4 days, but I am pumped and I am ready. Thanks again everyone for everything!

Voting Help!!! September 23, 2008

Hey Everyone! 

Once again another round of thank yous must go to my fabulous Peplinski half of the family. Thank you so much for the great party and all of the well wishes. It was great to see all of you and spend time at one of my favorite MI locations, Leelanaw County. Thank you all you are amazing and I couldn’t do this without your support. 

 

It’s hard to believe I depart in less than 4 days. It’s just crazy! I am working on getting everything together to go and have run into a bit of trouble that I was hoping someone out there could help me with. A few weeks ago I went to my city office here in Montrose, MI to apply for an absentee ballot. I explained my situation to the desk clerk and asked her if the ballots would be in before Sept 27th so I could vote. She assured me that the ballots would be arriving on Sept 20th and if I brought my absentee ballot back during the week before I left then I could vote before I departed. Well, I went in the city office again yesterday and was informed that there was something wrong with the county ballots and they had to be shipped back. The office told me that they were unsure if the ballots would be in by Friday. Now normally, the office would send a ballot to my house or whatever address I need them to send it to, but because I am joining the Peace Corps mail takes 3 weeks to get to volunteers in Turkmenistan. I am assuming that it would take the same amount of time to get back getting my ballot back to be counted by mid to late November, thus my absentee ballot would be too late to be counted for the election. So my basic question for everyone is what do I do? How do I vote?

 

People who have spent a considerable amount of time with me know that voting in an election is very important to me. I believe that voting is one of the only real ways normal American citizens can have a say in how their lives are dictated. It is, in my opinion, our civic duty to be informed and vote. I also hate the stereotype that is out there about 18-30 year olds and voting and am trying to prove that stereotype wrong. So for the past year and a half that’s what I have been doing. I have been informing and involving myself in the political process. I have watched debate after debate, convention after convention, explored both parties policies and stances, explored my own values and beliefs, and finally landed on a candidate to support. And I have supported this campaign: I have defended it in my own debates, whether at CMU or my local McDonalds, and given money to the campaign because this candidate is a candidate that I truly believe in. Now I feel like all of my work has been for nothing. If I can’t vote in this election, the most historic presidential election of my lifetime, then it is all for nothing. I believe in my country and the democratic process, shoot I am going to go serve my country for 2 years in the Peace Corps, and now I feel like that democratic process in failing me because my voice might not be heard. 

 

Anything anyone can do to help me out would be great. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thank you!

Michigan Tour! September 15, 2008

Once again I would like to state I have the best friends in the world. Thank you to everyone who made time to see me off this weekend in GR and MP. I seriously feel so blessed to have so many people who are supporting me and praying for me on this adventure and I know that God is going to use me for big things. Thank you all seriously. 

In unrelated news… I am very blessed to even have an opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps. With the economy in the state that it is right now a lot of government programs are losing funding. That includes Peace Corps. Check out this article from the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-peacecorps14-2008sep14,0,4944989.story?track=rss 

Also see this article from the Washington Post from last month: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/21/AR2008082103384.html 

Overall more and more people are being declined to serve in the Peace Corps. If anyone reading this is considering Peace Corps service I would urge you to do more research and also checkout the organization called More Peace Corps at http://www.morepeacecorps.org/.

Felling the Love September 8, 2008

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone that I got to spend time with this past week. I truly enjoyed my various goodbye dinners. I can honestly say that I love the support from all of my family and friends and you all will definitely make this journey easier through your support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I truly could not make this adventure without all of you having my back. God has truly blessed me.