June 13, 2000

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s just the beginning of our journey, but we’re already in deep! After our first day at staging yesterday here in Chicago, we are now waiting for our 8:45pm flight to Frankfurt. After we arrive in Frankfurt, we have about a 3-hour layover until we leave for Sofia, Bulgaria. Most of the people here are just out of college, however there are some middle-aged people here with us. There are about 70(!) other people going with us. There is one lady who is in her 60’s or 70’s and she brought about 200 lbs of luggage! (The weight limit for our luggage is 102 lbs!) There are people from all over the country. We’ve met people from all over the country – from Georgia to Long Island, from Oregon to Texas, and on and on. So we are waiting this afternoon – about 5 hours – until we board the bus here from the Radisson to Chicago O’Hare.

They’re taking very good care of us so far and I’d have to say that we are in good hands with the Peace Corps. They’ve given us plenty of spending money, including $25 for just showing up here at the hotel. The leaders of this staging event, especially the guy in charge (Mark) seems to be very caring and willing to help us in any way. At the end of our meeting yesterday, he read “Oh The Place You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. It was almost like a prayer. The whole room was quiet and listening to every word. After he was done, we clapped for him (or maybe it was more for us).

Everyone is flooding into the lounge here after returning from the mall. We still have another hour and a half until we need to meet at 5pm, but they are finding a place on the floor to sit. There seems to be a feeling of caution and excitement in the air. Most people are making friends fairly easily.

Some are letting it all hang out and others are choosing to be a little more cautious. Across the lobby there is a group of three guys who are crowded around another laptop, squinting at the screen, trying to learn Bulgarian from a language tutor program. I can hear them trying to imitate the sounds they hear over the speakers.

One girl is already sick and we’re watching her luggage (it’s probably food poisoning.) And we’ve been informed that there have already been three deaths (!) this year in the Peace Corps, worldwide (not just in Bulgaria!) due to transportation accidents. I guess accidents happen overseas also! We’re not worried, though, and we hope you aren’t either (Moms and Dads!).

We’ve also been informed that the next three months (training) could be the hardest months of our experience. Also, we will be living in a town about an hour outside of Sofia for training. None of the Bulgarian families have hosted Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV’s). That is good since they can’t compare us to anyone else! This is getting better and better! : )

I’ve also met another person who studied Slavic and eastern European culture and hopes to be a Byzantine Orthodox Priest. His first preference was to go to Slovakia, but he is satisfied with Bulgaria. I’m interested to hear more about his story. There are so many other people here with us and the lobby is getting louder and louder. It’s getting harder to concentrate on this letter.

See you on the flipside!

PEACE!

Josh