See you on the flip side!

In five hours, I am scheduled to wake up, throw my two, 50 pound suitcases, one carry-on and a backpack into my father's Toyota Corrolla and head to the airport.

What does this mean to you? It means I am thatmuch closer to actually doing this whole Peace Corps thing. AND you will be able to stop asking when I am actually leaving -- because it's finally happening!!

Here's the most important information -- how to contact me while I'm in training. It turns out that PC is really touchy about getting packages during training, so if you feel the urge to reach out (and please do), then pick up a pen and paper and write me a letter. I know, soooo 1950s, right? (Editor's note: Mail will take about 3-4 weeks to get to Ukraine)

Letter-writing romanticism aside, here's how to do just that:

Peace Corps/Ukraine
PCV Andrea Zimmermann
P.O. Box 204
Kyiv, Ukraine
01032

If your mailing service requires a street address, use this:

Peace Corps/Ukraine
PCV Andrea Zimmermann
111A Saksahankoho Street
Kyiv, Ukraine
01032 

This address will only be valid through Dec. 17. I will make sure to update my mailing address once I reach the site.

Once I arrive in Ukraine (which should be Saturday or Sunday. I'm a little fuzzy on the timeline because we are going to leap-frogging a lot of time zones) you should know that access to communication devices such as the telephone and internet will be unreliable until Decemeber when I reach my permanent site.

In fact, I would expect pretty much total radio silence for the next three months while I attempt to learn Ukrainian and/or Russian and figure how to survive. That way, if I am able to email or post a blog entry, you will get that same feeling as when you find $20 in your jeans.

Yes, Mom, I should be packing those last-minute doodads rather than writing this blog post... With that in mind, I'm off to do just that ... oh and to get some sleep!