A Long Day of Traveling...

So today we're headed to Azerbaijan. I've spent the past two days in Philadelphia with the rest of my training group for "staging," which is essentially orientation to the Peace Corps. Now it's time to leave the USA and really begin this journey.

Please don't worry if you don't hear from me right away. No news is good news. When we first arrive in Azerbaijan we'll be in an area without internet access and we won't have our cell phones yet. We'll spend the first few days at a hotel and then be moved to our host families over the weekend. After that we'll have more frequent access to communication via cell phones and internet cafes.

Not too much more right now, but just a recap of the past couple days to say that our training group is amazing! We have 61 people in our group, including 4 married couples and a huge variety of ages. It's definitely nice to have someone (60 other someones) to share those anxieties with and realize that I'm not the only one who has things that are making them nervous...

Check back next week, I'm sure there'll be more by then; after all, I will have traveled halfway around the world, been there for a week, moved in with a local family, and much, much more!