3 years (!) later
Trip Start
Aug 13, 2002
1
116
Trip End
Nov 20, 2004
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New Orleans, Louisiana
Monday, September 3, 2007
First, about Uzbekistan and the Peace Corps program. It was very disheartening to witness from afar the close of the Peace Corps program in Uzbekistan in June of 2005, just about 7 months after I left. PCVs like Teressa and Frank had to suddenly close their serivce making an abrupt departure from the country. It was incredibly hard for them and the people they (and their predecesors) had built strong relationships with. I can't begin to express the shock that the volunteers felt in leaving their friends, families, students, counterparts so suddenly. I feel so incredibly fortunate that I didn't have to go though that - I was sandwiched between groups that interupted serivce - those before us evacuated in 2001 and then my group and the one after completed service. In June 2005, the Uzbek government stopped issuing Visas for Peace Corps Volunteers (after the May 2005 Andijon massacre) and the Peace Corps was forced to close the program.
As far as the people I left...most of them are still in Uzbekistan going about business as usual. Except...Nodira married Jonathan and is now living happily in Utah. A few of my students made it to the U.S. to study - one in Hawaii - I told her she was not really experiencing the "true" America but I was damn jealous. Others are working as translators or whatever. It is difficult to find work in the NGO sector nowadays. Which I have to admit, is depressing. I just hope that some of the young people I inspired found a way to be true to their inner selves and are living according to their own personal values.
I'm currently living in New Orleans. I'm going to school full-time for the first time since high school at the University of New Orleans. My current major is Urban Studies with a concentration in Non-Profit Organization, But, I have to admit, I'm drawn to and am considering switching majors to the "useless" study of English Literature. I love being in an academic setting and don't care if my studies contribute to a good career - I have enough job skills to make anything work. The smartest post- Peace Corps thing I did was the cross country roadtrip that lasted 3 months - it made me realize what is good about this country of ours. I strongly encourage anybody re-entering U.S. society to do the same - especially White Sands, New Mexico. While I was traveling, I left the cats with my Gran. Two years later, my Gran and Mishka are both gone, but Kitty Kitty Mooshook is with me in New Orleans. And we're learning to live it up Cajun style!
Peace to you all.
Shari
