Things are starting to speed up now as I get closer to leaving for China. A month ago, I felt like I had tons of time left, but now every weekend and most weekdays are filled up clear to June 28.
Several people have been asking me about the earthquake in China and where I'll be situated in reference to it. Unfortunately, I'll be living right in the area that was hit hardest. My first two months will be in Chengdu, which is about 60 miles from the earthquake's epicenter, in the Sichuan province. After the first two months, I'll move elsewhere, but probably still fairly close to Chengdu. The good news is that the Peace Corps seems to have a great emergency plan, and they were able to locate all of the current volunteers within 11 hours. Everyone was safe and accounted for. So if I do happen to be in an earthquake, at least my fam and friends won't have to wait around for days to know if I'm safe.
I don't know how often I'll be blogging until I go, but check back often after June 28. I intend to write an update at least once a week. (But we'll see if that actually happens - I tend to be a terrible blogger.)