Jessica Goes to Central Asia Part 2

As most of you know, I spent the summer in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Haiti. I also spent parts of my summer stopping at friends' houses in Missouri and touring NYC for the first time. It was a wonderful summer, and I got to cross so many things off my bucket list! I've been back at school for about two months now, but I've started to feel the travel jitters again.

So I am happy to announce that I was accepted to go Tajikistan as part of a cultural exchange program. You don't know where that is? That's okay. I didn't either. As soon as I heard about it, I googled, "Where is Tajikistan on a map?"and looked at all the pictures. I also studied the wikipedia page on it. To simplify, it is bordered by China on the east, Uzbekistan on the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and Afghanistan to the south.

I've been captivated by the middle eastern culture since meeting friends (a couple of them spent the summer in Kyrgyzstan), swapping stories, and reading books by Khaled Hosseini. His book "The Kite Runner", which is now one of my favorites, portrays the culture so beautifully. I've been obsessed with the language, food, and holidays ever since. I am thrilled to be going.

I leave in May, the day after I graduate. What a crazy time that will be! For the next several months, I will be learning the language and the culture in order to be prepared by the time I get there.

I will also be trying to raise the funds so that I am able to go. This will be done in two ways.

My Wild Thing Paper Co. etsy store - click here.

My fundraising page - click here.

If you have any questions or comments, I would LOVE to talk about it. (I'm kind of obsessed with travel stories).

Please keep me in your prayers, and if you feel called to, support me in the one of the ways listed above. Thanks so much, everyone! I'll be keeping you posted as I learn more about this trip!