Staging aka the "omg this is really happening" moment

Although I've already been in country for close to 3 weeks, I thought it would be best to start from when I officially became a Peace Corps Trainee or PCT (I'm not technically a volunteer until the swearing in ceremony at the end of August). Before we start, I should say I don't have any pictures during this time because it was my first time meeting all of these people and I didn't want them to think I was weird taking pictures...3 weeks later and they think I'm weird for totally different reasons.

Before every cohort or group of PCTs heads off to their country of service, they meet in a city in the USA for 2 days. These two days are what we call "Staging" or as I call it the "omg this is really happening" moment. This is when you officially become apart of the Peace Corps and at least for me, it was the first time that it actually felt real. These two days are filled with trainings about the Peace Corps as a whole and activities to get to know your cohort. 

The city that staging is in varies for each group, mine was in Philadelphia. I landed in Philly on a Friday afternoon and actually met two of my fellow PCTs in the baggage claim. It turns out they're also from Houston-adjacent areas so we were all on the same flight. Once we got to the hotel, we had a couple of hours before Staging actually began. I met up with 12ish other volunteers and we all went out for a late lunch. This was a good time to get to know everyone, but also at this point I was already in a weird mental state that I couldn't tell you one thing I talked about.

Staging finally began that Friday evening where we officially went from PC Invitees to PC Trainees. We only had one session that night and it was more of a welcome/break the tension session than actual training. We got to meet the rest of the cohort (there's 26 of us in total) and learn the schedule for the next two days. 

After this one session, we were free for the night to do whatever we wanted. I ended up going to dinner with six or seven other trainees and we celebrated our last night in America by going to CVS to buy last minute things. Random but I spent all of Staging going to CVS 4 times looking for a final Dr. Pepper and not a single one had it...

The next day (Saturday) we had trainings all day which included mostly stuff on PC policies and expectations. The highlight of this day was lunch. Several other PCTs and I went to this revolving sushi place where they had a robot that delivered drinks and we won a prize for eating 15 plates (it was a set of grizzly bear stickers). The best part was at the end of our meal we all got these free plastic cups that have a bear holding sushi on it. I'm not really sure why we got them, but mine is a polar bear and I use it everyday in Kyrgyzstan to catch the water that drips from my broken water filter (long story...). 

Once the day of trainings ended, we had about 30 minutes before we boarded the bus to drive the 2.5 hours from Philly to NYC. These 30 minutes included a final CVS run where they still didn't have Dr. Pepper and we also took our first cohort photo (I would star where I am but I don't know how to, so you'll just have to look):

After a speedy 2.5 hour bus ride (which included a patriotic view of the Statue of Liberty (how fitting?) and the NYC skyline at sunset), we made it to JFK. Once there, we all checked in and went through the panic of seeing if our bags were overweight. Mine technically weighed too much, but the person checking me in let me go for free because we had the same Zodiac sign (go Taurus!). And then after going through security with TSA Agents who were (in my opinion) unnecessarily aggressive, we had a few hours left before our flight. I spent this time eating my final meal in America (chicken fried rice...who's surprised) and finally found my Dr. Pepper (pictured later.

Finally, it was time to board our first flight to Istanbul. To quote the words of one of the greats, Harry Styles, it was time to "leave America." After this quick 12 hour flight, we had a layover in Istanbul where I was able to try Turkish coffee and we attempted to do a reading about the future with the grounds (I thought it just looked like dirt). After that, we boarded our second and final flight to Bishkek (the capital of Kyrgyzstan) with no issues and eventually landed in Kyrgyzstan at 6 AM local time after roughly 30 hours of travel. 

With this, it finally brings to an end or at least what I think is considered the end of Staging. This was a whirlwind of a 3 days (or at least I think it was 3 days) that was filled with a wide range of emotions. In all honesty, the feelings I had during these few days were a lot different than what I was expecting. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I had dreamed about joining the Peace Corps for close to 4 years, and now that the moment was finally there, reality sunk in about what I was going to do.

Anyways to end this on a positive note (or at least what I think is somewhat funny), here's a picture of me at midnight at JFK with my farewell Dr. Pepper (notice the eye bags because I slept for approximately 4 hours the night before)

That's all I have for Staging, this actually ended up being a lot longer than I expected, but if you have any questions (because honestly I have no idea if anything I wrote makes sense) or things you want to know more about, message me on instagram (@emilyinkgz). You should also go ahead and follow it if you don't already because I post more frequently on there.

Anyways, stay tuned for the next post all about our first week in Kyrgyzstan (aka Orientation Week).

- Emily