All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go….

I leave on Wednesday morning and it occurred to me that I still haven't told anyone how to get in touch with me while I'm over there. First, I should say that I will try very hard to update CG as much as possible but it might not be very feasible for a while and when I do update it might not be very funny—I'll do my best. Internet access varies greatly in Ukraine so there's really no way for me to know how frequently I'll have access to e-mail either, but feel free to drop me a line at my new address, tmcclosk@gmail.com

OK, here's the deal with regular mail—don't send anything valuable because it might not get to me. However, if you insist, I suggest Meest because apparently they're very good about that sort of thing. Really, I don't need anything. Letters are good, though—I like letters and they will probably get to me safely. For the first twelve weeks I will be a trainee living with a host family, and during that time mail can be sent to the address below. In late December I'll move to my permanent site and while mail will still get to me through the PC headquarters, it will reach me must faster if sent to my site directly, so I'll update when I know more about where I'll be.

Thomas McCloskey-PCT
C/O Peace Corps/Ukraine
PO Box 298
01030
Kyiv, Ukraine

I'll leave you with two quotations about the Peace Corps. The first is from The Great Adventure: "David Crozier lost his life in an air accident while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Columbia. In a sadly prophetic letter to his parents, he said, 'should it come to it, I would rather give my life trying to help someone than to give my life looking down a gun barrel at him.'" My sentiments exactly. The second is from a current Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Ukraine: "The Peace Corps isn't for everyone…just the sexy people."

I love you all! HUGS! :-)

Thomas--