It is all happening very fast. On Monday I was given the opportunity to travel to Kyrgyzstan. Initially, I thought that it would be just a service project where I would work in local industry or, hopefully, a Kyrgyz orphanage on the shores of lake Issyk-Kul. (Check out the map.) But, when I told my minor advisor, Dr. Mehrdad Kia, about my planned trip to Kyrgyzstan, he was ready to pull out all the stops. Thanks to the vast network that the Central and Southwest Asia Studies Center has developed, I will not only get to work with locals in the East, but meet with students, and professors in Bishkek, as well as travel throughout the country. Besides being able to do some good work in a very poor part of the world, I will also be able to represent my country and school. I will get to work with children struggling to make their way. And I will also get the opportunity to share my experiences, knowledge, and insight, as well as an American perspective on the region with college students. The opportunities being given to me are ones that come only once in a life time, and I hope to make the absolute most of them. But it wont be without the help of the Central and Southwest Asia Studies Center, Volunteers for Peace, America's Unofficial Ambassadors, and my parents/girlfriend/family/friends.
