Departure

I'm about to leave Princeton, a secluded bubble of spires and crenelations, where, among others things, I spent four years learning about the civilizations and societies of the Near East. Yesterday I graduated and now it's time to go there. For almost a year, I've been planning what will doubtless be the trip of a lifetime.

Planning the trip has been rewarding but extremely complex. I've had to sift through travel blogs to find out how you go about crossing the Pamir Mountains, entering Kyrgyzstan, what you bring to families living in yurts and so much more. My life lately has been a confused barrage of travel antibiotics, obscure airlines, Iranian officialdom and Google Earth.

A few things that İm bringing on my trip..

• Tons and tons of medicine-- Besides the standard stuff like İmodium and Tylenol, the university nurse advised me to bring cipro (antibiotic for stomach issues) and a malaria medication (supposedly South Kyrgyzstan has a touch of malaria in the summers). Then my godmother, who is a well-travelled doctor showed up at graduation bearing a cornucopia of medicines, from cortizone cream to eye medicine to every different type of antibiotic İ could dream up. At this point İ could serve as a country doctor and in a way İ will--what İ dont use İ'll donate to poor families in Central Asia.
• Turkish notecards--hundreds of vocab cards that İ made two years ago to help beef up my rusty language skills.
• Cyrillic chart--Although Central Asia is latinizing its script there is still alot of cyrillic and İm want to be able to read it well.
• Pictures of my family--İ want to be able to interact with people even if there is no common language, so İ figure whiping out small family pictures could go a long way with neighbors on the bus or with those old men drinking tea on the sidewalk.
• A carton of Marlboros--İve been intending to bring small gifts for the people İ meet on the trip or for people who help me. But İ couldnt think of anything until my friend told me that one time he had no way of paying for a Tel Aviv taxi so he paid the driver in American cigarettes that he found on the back seat. American cigarettes are much sought after so İ figure they would make great mini-gifts pretty much anywhere. So for the first time in my life İ bought cigarettes. As for the young street urchins and other children, İ brought small animal figurines so that they're not stuck with cigarettes.