What is there to do but enjoy the hustle of Peace Corps service. The entire month of April was spent away from Lesnoye. For the first three weeks, I assisted 11 energetic new volunteers at their Pre-Service Training. Every single day demanded professional attention. Four of the new volunteers within my group will serve in my state.

After my trainer contract ended, I headed over to Kokshetau to co-lead a presentation about the Peace Corps for the new counterparts. This was a challenge for my regional manager requested me to lead the presentation in Russian and I simply had no time to prepare while down South. Either way, the presentation went better than expected but some drama added some spice to the meeting. The deputy state education superintendent came to the meeting and verbally attacked Peace Corps administration and the new counterparts. She basically labeled the Peace Corps the ‘Kiddie Corps’ by stating that being positive role models is not sufficient enough, most volunteers do not have enough prior professional experience to be placed within Kazakh schools, and that the Youth Development Program has been ineffective in reaching out to the educational needs of Kazakhstan’s youth.

And more bad news, Peace Corps decided not to replace me with a new Kaz-23 volunteer this year. Their reason stemmed from all the sheer drama that has persisted since the Kaz-22 volunteer was re-located in January. I support the executive decision but nonetheless, the thought that I will be the first and last volunteer at my site stings a bit. We’ll see what the next month brings!!!