Forty-two days and counting...

I have forty-two days left in my Peace Corps service...and counting. Why am I counting? Well, because I have been here for over two years, and two years seems to be the limit for me. I had my last English club, and it was great. I had sent out an email to everyone who had given me their email address, and so many came to say goodbye, it was quite touching. Some of the kids in our English club had gotten in to KIMEP, which is considered to be the best university in Kazakhstan. The classes are all in English, and it focuses on Business, Economics, Journalism and International Relations. They are opening a law school soon, and they are raising the tuition by 20% in just one semester, which is outrageous, and there were protests. But the students are not willing to take it further, and the administration knew it, so the committee voted, despite the students standing outside with signs, not raise the tuition. I asked what the next step is, and was told that the students will all still register, because if they don't they won't get the classes they need to graduate.

I am not going to take a trip down memory lane at the moment - I will save that for my last Kazakhstan post. But I will say this - my English club is probably the one thing I have done in Kazakhstan that has given me happiness, and made me feel like I have accomplished something. Some of the kids in our English club have won scholarships to study in America and England, some have entered KIMEP, and all of them have told us how much they liked the club... so I am sad to say goodbye. But also happy, because it was on Friday night, and now, the last month, my Fridays are free...

In other news, I got some documentation for my student loans, and I had applied for $18,000 to cover tuition and got the paperwork for $6,000 - I am not sure what this means or how I am expected to pay for the rest. We shall see...