PC update + EurasiaNet story on Kazakhstan

I just called Sato Travel and got my 18 August flights booked for Washington DC! I've also started packing, picking out a couple of bags that fit the Peace Corps size requirements (limit of 107" l + w + h). I have gifts for my host family and I think I've got enough warm clothes, but sadly, I don't have enough formal attire yet - and I haven't even gotten around to considering what books I want to bring. This Peace Corps thing is really happening - and it's starting to really sink in.

There's an interesting article that was posted yesterday on EurasiaNet about Kazakhstan's active and spirited anti-nuclear movement. In Soviet times, Kazakhstan played host to the Semipalatinsk-21 nuclear testing site, and that has caused some major ecological and public-health problems which, as President Nazarbaev says, 'centuries will be required to restore'. Speaking at Semey last month, NAN called for a renewal of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It seems Obama may have an enthusiastic regional ally on this particular foreign-policy front; I pray something can be made of it.

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