May 21: "I've had many troubles, most of which have never happened."--Mark Twain

There are less than two weeks left of Pre-Service Training. They've ramped up our Krygyz lessons, and added another two hours per day of class. My group also has a new Language and Culture Facilitator (LCF), named Rahat-Eje.

Rahat-Eje is a teacher in her late thirties who lives in Talas with her husband and four kids. She demands a lot from us. She thinks fast and talks fast, and very rarely speaks English, although her English is really good. Her lessons move so fast, there's no time to take notes. Here's what I do: I focus, listen, absorb, and try not to get left behind. Then, I go home and pass out for a couple hours. She is an excellent teacher.

One time, after class, we were hanging out in Kylebek's back yard, and I was lying flat on my back, staring into the blue sky with my shades on, bemoaning the apparent learning disability, of which I had been previously unaware, that was causing me to get my ass kicked by Rahat-Eje's lessons every day. I later told another K-18, Brooke, from Washington, about this, and she said that, one time, she had tears streaming down her face during one of Rahat-Eje's lessons. I think we made each other feel better. We are learning Kyrgyz at an accelerated rate.

In a week, we have our site placement announcements. This is on everybody's mind. Where will we go? It's a big deal, and I look forward to watching that day unfold, to gauge everyone's reactions. We've all been told that there are good things and bad things about every oblast, but I lobbied hard for Issyk-Kul because of the big ski resort there. Also, Iskender and Altynai have a summer home there. That said, I'll make the best out of wherever they send me.

It's hard to imagine what my new host family will be like, so I've decided not to worry about it. I will not lose sleep over it. Hopefully I'll get along with them as well as I get along with my current family.