We've arrived!

...at least for now! We are in the Istanbul airport, awaiting our flight to Azerbaijan. Google, in all it's greatness has translated everything into Turkish, so if there is something weird here, sorry! Our flight went well, 10 hours is a long time on a plane, but it was a smooth flight and it seems like they were feeding us every 2 hours or so, so everyone was happy. it's really humid here, as it was in New York as well. It's a little bit crazy going everywhere with 53 other people, but we are managing fine. Checking in in New York was full of long lines and sweaty people. We've currently been traveling for 18 hours straight. The Istanbul airport is neat! they have burger king, starbucks, oregon chai (!!!!), and Hermes, Cartier and Burberry. Very interesting dichotomy! We're all still in good spirits, excited to get there! Heres a picture for the time being.

Everyone all together at the hotel:

Off We Go!

Well we're almost off! We leave tomorrow morning for Azerbaijan! Our staging was informative, the general outline was as follows:

• Day 1: 2-7 PM Registration, Welcome/introductions, safety and support, anxieties and aspirations, nuts and bolts (money!). And paperwork!
• Day 2 (today): 8:30-6 PM, Managing risk, PC Policies, Cultural adaptation, bridge to pre-service training (in-country) and departure details.
• Day 3: Depart!

So we depart tomorrow and it goes something like this:

• 9:30 AM: Depart hotel, drive to New York JFK airport
• 4:30 PM: Fly out of NY on Delta to Istanbul.
• 9:40 AM, Weds: Arrive in Istanbul, Turkey.
• 1:15 PM: Fly out of Istanbul to Baku, Azerbaijan
• ~5 PM: Arrive in Baku, catch bus to Guba, 3 hours away.

Guba will be our first training site and then we move on to other sites. That schedule goes like this:

• June 28: Guba, Olympic Center
• June 29: Guba
• June 30: Guba, First night with host family
• July 1: Sumgayit City
• July 2: Sumgayit City, begin Pre-service training. We will be living with the same family for the next nine weeks.

Soooo....They tell us we will not be able to reach a phone (much less the internet) for the next few days, so don't worry, we will be back as soon as possible! Hope all is well!

Staging in Philadelphia

Hello from the East Coast! We made it here just fine yesterday, got cheesesteak sandwich and promptly passed out. It had been a long couple of days leading up to it... we were tired. I think Jesse slept about 13 hours straight and I slept 12 hours off and on! Phew!
This morning we got up and went to Old Town. We saw the Liberty Bell and went into the building were they held the first congress and senates. It was really neat to see where our nation was born, right before we give two years of our lives to serve our country. Then we came back to the hotel where we had training for 6 hours. We met all the other 52 volunteers. It turns out there are 7 of us from Oregon and 2 or 3 from Washington. The Northwest is very well represented!!

I also want to take some time to send our thanks and love to all our friends and family! It means so much to us to know how much support and love being sent our way. You will sustain us during our journey, there is no doubt about that! We also cannot wait to come home and be able to share our experience with everyone! We love you all!!!! Please keep in touch!!

Thanks for reading, we'll try to update again before we take off for Baku. Please leave comments, email us or send us letters. All our contact information can be found in the Contact section on velcrotoes.com.
On a side note: OOOOO-SSSSSSS-UUUUUU!!!! OREGON STATE! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!! How 'bout those Beavs?!?!?

D-I-isney-Y

Whew, our California adventure is done... we're back in Eugene. We had a really good time visiting lots of our family members and doing tons of fun things!

June 1st we flew into LAX where my aunt Nancy picked us up. We drove through Bel Aire and Beverly Hills into Hollywood. We walked around the walk of fame and outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. We had lunch at Mel's Drive-In. We went to Huntington Beach and met Mal and Dick for drinks and walked on the beach.

June 2nd we drove with Nancy down through Newport Beach to have lunch in Laguna Beach. We went back to Huntington Beach and had dinner with Harlin.

June 3rd we went to Disneyland and California Adventure with Mallory and Harlin. We were there from 9am til 11pm. It was a long, fun day! We went on Space Mountain, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Tower of Terror, California Screamin', Bear Mountain Water Ride, Soaring Over California, The Tower of Terror again, Soaring Over California again then Indiana Jones again. We even found wine in California Adventure! It was a long day, but so much fun with Mal and Harlin.

June 4th we went back to Disneyland by ourselves. We didn't get there until 10, but we still got a lot of good stuff in! We went on Snow White, Pinocchio, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan, Small World, Buzz Lightyear, and the Jungle Cruise! We left at about 3 and took the long way home, through Long Beach. When we got home, we looked at Micheal's photos from his time in Peace Corps in Chad. He was really helpful with advice and positive words for us. It was good that he was so positive and supportive about us going, having already done it himself.

June 5th we flew up to Concord to spend time with Jesse's grandma. We had lunch at In-n-Out Burger then drove up to Mt. Diablo. It was a beautiful day, so it was nice to drive through a park and get out and look around at the top of the mountain. Jesse made spaghetti for dinner with his grandma and his aunt Mary.

June 6th we drove to Bodega Bay to have lunch with Jesse's aunt Liz. Then we drove up the coast to Fort Ross, an old Russian trade port. Then we drove back though Bodega Bay down to San Francisco by way of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had dinner in the city at Scoma's on the wharf. It was excellent seafood! On the way back to Concord we stopped to see Jesse's aunt Rose. It was a long day with lots of driving, but lots of great sites along the way!

June 7th we hung around Jesse's grandma's house, Jesse helped her with some things around the house and spent some good time with her. Then we took BART to Oakland where we went to sushi with Annie and her brothers John and Richard. Good times and good food! We flew home the next morning, thus ending our California adventure!!

Now we're in Oregon, counting down the days until we leave. We're down to 12 days now. It feels very crazy. I'm anxious and excited. Part of me wants to stay here longer and part of me is so excited to get on with it!! I'm sure this is how I'll feel until we leave, with the emotions exponentially growing!

Thanks for reading!
Carolyn