Small Steps....

I have made tiny steps forward towards my departure to Bishkek that will happen in April.  I finally went and applied for my Diplomatic Passport last week and made reservations for my flight to Almaty, Kazakhstan.  Since you may not fly into Bishkek with a dog, I will fly into Almaty and stay the night and depart next day for Bishkek by vehicle.  I still need to contact United Air and get Nika on the flight as excess baggage, etc.  but at least I have begun the process. 

Currently I am scheduled for language through March 22nd, then I test at noon on the 22nd and only can pray that I reach a 2/2 proficiency level.  I am currently in language classes daily and we all have our peaks and valleys and right now I feel like I am in the Valley of Death!  Getting back into the groove of class and learning so many new vocabulary words a day has been challenging this past week.  I had a head cold and just could not get motivated!  We have switched to two hours a day of reading and each day brings about 30 new words to memorize but these are not your normal words.  Of course not!  These are words about diplomacy and politics - news!  Peace Keeping Forces, Atomic Nuclear Energy, Terrorism, Attack, Bombings, Middle East, Leadership and Commander In Chief, etc.  My head aches just mentioning all of them.......

Once I complete the test and pass (hopefully), then I will have a week of distance learning most likely to take care of a couple classes online that Post feels I will benefit from and then five days of consultation days to tie up loose ends and meet with key people that I will work with in different bureaus and prepare my pack out possibly.  Maybe I will send my car during this time on to post - I then will have one week of class on Project Management April 8-12th and then one week plus of vacation.  I haven't decided what to do for that week since I will need to take Nika with me, etc.  I may fly to Oklahoma and bring Nika.  Not sure yet!  Reservations are made for a departure from DC on April 22nd to Almaty.  Time is ticking.....so much to see and do before I depart. 

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