It's official. I've made my travel arrangements and am set to leave at 11:45am on Sunday, June 24th.

I've made all the plans, bought all the goods, I will get the Power of Attorney signed today....here I go....

I was waiting until I received the next piece of Peace Corps mail, my instructions on how to make travel arrangements to Philadelphia, but I grew impatient (who, me?), so....

There is an address you can send letters (lots and lots of letters!) to during my pre-service training
(June 27-Sept. 10).

I don't want to post it here for all to see, so feel free to email me if you want it.

I will receive mail about once a week (think: Americorps). They ask that no large packages (books etc.) be mailed until after training (so not to this address). I ask that too, since I'm going to be carrying everything with me to my new home once training is over.

Now I'm just waiting for that letter and studying Azeri. I now know more Azeri than any other foreign language. How useful!

Also, here is something I found from a fellow blogger (http://vera-causa.blogspot.com/) about Azeri cuisine:

Traditional food in Azerbaijan includes bread, pancakes and thick soups. Pilaf (plov), both savory and sweet, is a favorite in Azerbaijan. The savory pilaf is prepared using rice with meat, or fish, and vegetables and spices; the sweet version often contains dried apricots and raisins (which are also used on occasions to flavor meat recipes).

Spiced poultry, lamb, mutton and beef are featured prominently in Azerbaijani cuisine. Kebabs and lamb, or pressed minced meat, grilled on skewers are popular. Minced meat is also combined with rice to stuff aubergines, cabbage leaves and vine leaves. Savoury pastries filled with vegetables make a tasty snack. Vegetables, such as aubergines and tomatoes are often pickled. Dairy products, for example, yogurt and "kurut", a dried type of cottage cheese, are used in recipes.

Cakes and sweets include baklava and halva. Fruits available are apples, cherries, grapes, melons, raspberries, plums and peaches.

Sherbet drinks are very popular; mineral waters are available and sweet black tea is a favourite drink.

Just in case anyone was wondering...
The following is a timeline of my Peace Corps application process:

November 16th - Sent in electronic application
December 21st - Interview
January 8th - Nomination to NGO - Youth Development
February 20th - Begin medical appointments
March 9th - Sent in medical clearance application
March 22nd - Invited to Azerbaijan - class 5

Quit Job - check
Graduation - check
Trip to Maine - check

6 weeks and counting...

Peace Corps creeps closer and closer...
In the next few weeks I'll be receiving instructions for buying my plane ticket to Philadelphia.
Between now and then I'll be studying Azerbaijani.
But it's hard.
There's a lot of words that look the same but have different meanings.
Like Sag Olun (pronounced sarolun - with a french "r") which I've seen translated both as "thank you" and "goodbye" ugh....
There are so many things I won't understand until I get there...
You can only prepare so much...
I can now say (or at least read and understand) a few phrases such as, "where is the bathroom", "I don't understand" and "do you speak English"

Found someone to sublet my apartment.
Selling my old computer soon.
Then my car.
Don't know exactly what I'm going to pack.
I've been talking to a friend who's off to Moldova for PC at the beginning of June.
Yeesh.
Can't fathom what my life will be like in six months...