(Soon to be) Home Sweet Home

Over the last two months my communacative abilities have gone from mute/dumb to the level of a 3 year old. Its been challenging to say the least but I have muddled my way onto marshukas, the public transportation of choice, to bazaars and through meals. I even gave a toast on my host sisters birthday, no verbs were congegated, its was choppy as hell but at the end I got hugs and kisses from the family and an A for effort!

But due to this lack of communication I have been completely out of touch with national and international news. I had received clips of information here and there but no full stories on the world outside of my small town in Kyrgyzstan. Despite this lack of news I wanted to touch on two events that many friends and family have been concerned about; a plane crash in Kyrgyzstan and the war in Georgia. First of all I want everyone to know that I am safe and have not been directly affected by the war. All of Kyrgyzstan is watching this war intently with hopes of a smooth resolution. My heart goes out to everyone who has been affected by this war.

Second, there was a Kyrgyz plane that crashed at the main international airport in Bishkek. Unfortunatly several lives were lost, but the damage has been cleared and business is as usual at Manas Airport. This last Friday I flew out of the airport to explore my permanent site. The airport was just as I remembered it two months ago as we all scurried off the plane upon our middle-of-the-night arrival in Kyrgyzstan.

I am currently here in Jala abad where I am exploring the city, getting to know my next host family and introducing myself at my future NGO. So far I have found this town to be a beautiful little city. I am in the south of the country and so I will be warmer than majority of the volunteers through out the country, also Jala abad is located right on the edge of the Fargana Valley so the fruits and vegetables will be bountiful. Within the city itself there are two large universities and a major bazaar where I will be able to find whatever I need during my time in Kyrgyzstan. In addition to all this there are three internet cafes which is really exciting because I will have more access to the news and my email!!! As for the local population, there is a large Uzbek and Kyrgyz population, but significantly less Russians than there are in the northern part of the country. The people have been very hospitable and as I walk in and out of shops and through the bazaars I am finding people who are more than happy to help me in English.

As for my living quarters, I am living in a very nice compound where my host family grows grapes, apples, tomatos and walnuts. I have a bedroom where I have two beds, a wardrobe and a small table to work off of. The family that I am living with has been very hospitable and although the language barrier is difficult I am begining to see it as an opportunity to improve my russian and pick up some Kyrgyz.

Today is the first day of Ramadan and the first day of school, as a result the country has taken today as a bit of a holiday. This has been really nice for me as I have taken the day to stroll around the city with a couple who are begining their retirement by serving in the Peace Corps. As we walked around the city we saw all the boys and girls dressed in their best suits and dresses with flowers for their teachers. Ginger, the wife of the couple, is assigned to work at one of the local universities so when she met up with Fritz (her husband) and I she was carrying a bouquet of roses that one of her freshman students had given her!

Tomorrow I will be meeting with my NGO whose primary goal is to work with and promote Women's leadership within the Jala abad region. They have had volunteers previously and have done a lot of work with other volunteers in the region so I am pretty excited about working with this group!!!

Before I sign off I wanted to end with a quick note back to America; from what I have read and heard from my parents, there is a nasty hurricane headed right towards New Orleans. For all those people in that area, please know that you are in my thoughts. I hope you come back to dry homes, strong levees and the same sense of pride I know you all have down their in Louisianna.

Jalal Abad, here I come!

As the K-16 group only has one opportunity to see each other per week there tends to be unofficial topics of discussion for each week. Last week people talked about culture day. Culture Day is an event sponsored by Peace Corps where each group of trainees reenacts an element of Kyrgyzstani culture. The community that I live in has a large Turkish population so we were asked to demonstrate a Turkish wedding.

Despite the trainee involvement and participation in the event, we actually have very little say in the organization or implementation of this event. This day is dominated by the host mothers. These women orchestrate the performance, prepare the food, find costumes, in fact I did not even dress myself that day, two host mothers did. In addition to all of that they took on the role of cast director, and after much discussion I was nominated to be the bride of our Turkish wedding. I was not consulted prior to this decision but I figured when in Kyrgyzstan….

The day turned out very well, there was music, dancing, singing, and costumes. One of my favorite parts of the day was walking around and seeing my peers dressed in national outfits. I had been decorated in a soft pink dress (with sparkles) and hidden under a veil all day long. I am proud to say that despite the fact that we witnessed a Kyrgyz wedding, a Russian wedding and a Turkish wedding; no goats, sheep, cows or horses were harmed in the making of culture day -- Very unrealistic. I have only attended one Kyrgyz wedding thus far and although I did not see the killing of any animals, I did see some huffs missing a cow to the side of the wedding tent.

With culture day out of the way, there was only one thing on people’s minds this week. Wednesday had been a highly anticipated day; trainees were loosing sleep over it, it was the root of all gossip and it was constantly on my mind. This Wednesday was the day we found out where we were going to spend the next two years of our life, what we would be doing there and who we would be placed with.

Seeing as this is so important to trainees, over the years peace corps has developed a site placement ceremony where each volunteer is called out on to a giant chalk-outlined map of Kyrgyzstan, one at a time, where they are handed a packet with their placement overview and told to stand in the region where they are to live for the next two years. As the trainers slowly called out all 59 volunteers excitement started to buzz and visions of 2009 and 2010 began to form in everyone’s minds. Another piece of the puzzle had been solved.

Just as important as where we are placed, is who we were placed with. Over the past 7 weeks, several friendships have solidified and romances have begun to blossom, so when the Tien Shan mountain range was placed between people, emotions began to rise. As for me, I was not disappointed. I will be working for an NGO in Jalal Abad called Women Leaders of Jalal Abad. On paper it looks great, but I'm hesitant to boast about my placement until I actually see where I'm living and what my NGO is like. Next week all the trainees will be going to their future site, I have a feeling that topic will dominate conversations for the remainder of our time in training.

First month in KR

So I realize I have been here over a month and have only posted one blog, so first of all I would like to apologize and let everyone know that I am doing well and loving my life in Kyrgyzstan! I don’t have regular access to internet at the moment so please be patient as I post these blogs!
Just a snap shot of life here; I am staying with an lovely family about an hour outside Bishkek, who have 3 daughters (ages 5,13, 15), a brother (age 20), a kitten, a puppy and a guard dog. The daughters know a few words in English, but for the most part there is a lot of broken Russian and gestures used to get points across. I am proud to say that I have managed to get some of the town gossip despite my inability to form complex sentences! What can I say, we all have our strengths and I like to call mine inter-personal skills!
As for the living situation things are fine- I hesitate to say great because it has hit 45 degrees C (over 100 degree F) more than once and there is no AC. Plus there are regular blackouts through out Kyrgyzstan so I’m never quite sure when the lights are going to work…but to counteract all that the house I’m staying in is comfortable! I have my own room with a twin bed, desk and a wardrobe so I can have some privacy. Just outside my room is the living room where they have a couple of couches and a tv. The shows are all in Russian and I have spent several evenings watching a Russian soap opera about some blind redhead with my host sisters, its pretty intense! Anyway next to the living room is the dining area and bedroom for the kids. The parents sleep on the floor in the living room, I can’t tell if they usually sleep in there or if they have given me their room.
But that is basically it for the house, it is fairly modest, the kitchen is outside and in the back of the garden) is the outhouse—it’s a squatter. Despite the fact that I have been here for over a month I still don’t like going to the bathroom out there!
The food has been fine, I have eaten a lot of soup, rice and noodles. A tomato and cucumber salad is served with most meals along with homemade bread and jam. There has been a lot of simple carbs and oils in every meal and despite the fact that I walk about 4 miles a day I still don’t think I have lost weight which says something about how rich the food is! Right now is melon season, and the streets are just lined with watermelon stands! It’s been so nice eating watermelon everyday!
A typical week day for me begins at about 7 am when I wake up, have breakfast, get dressed and leave for about a 25 minute walk to class. I usually meet a friend about half way there and we walk the rest of the way together. From 8:30 to 12 is language lessons, which is hosted at a Turkish woman’s home, during the lesson there is a lot of interactive learning where we interview people around the house and play little language games to help us practice our vocabulary and grammar. There are 5 trainees in this language group which is big enough for a diversity of ideas but small enough to receive personal attention. My Russian feels like it is coming very slowly but my instructor has given me very positive feedback and is constantly reminding us that Russian is the 2nd hardest language to learn- right behind Chinese. I don’t know if I believe it, but it makes me feel better so I’ll take it!
After language lessons I go home for about an hour so I can eat lunch and grab some materials for the next lesson which is either technical training, cultural training, or medical/safety training. One of the technical training assignments is that we work with a non-profit organization. The NPO that my partner and I have been assigned to work with is an organization who supports the Tajik refugees in the local community. So far we have grammatically cleaned up a brochure, have started translating another pamphlet and we are planning on giving a training session on how to use Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. We only meet with them once a week but so far it has been very educational working with them.
We are usually done with lessons around 4 pm, from there I either go play with the other volunteers or go home where I decompress, have dinner, take a shower and call it a day. Usually by 10:30 pm I am exhausted and falling asleep!
So that’s life here in Kyrgyzstan! I love hearing about what’s going on in your lives so feel free to email me and let me know how you are doing!
Some highlights so far-
- I bought a cell phone so I have spoken to my parents a couple of times!
- I cooked dinner with a friend for his host mother- from scratch and without a recipe!!!
- I carried a bucket of water from the stream outside our house so I could help with chores
- I went to a hot-spring about an hour away from where I’m staying- the view was beautiful
- I almost got squashed by a herd of cows when walking home one day
- Sharing Russian beers with friends
- Exploring a bazaar in downtown Bishkek- it was 20 sq. km!
- Riding in marshukas (the public transportation) with two people for every seat on the bus!
- Watching the sun set on the Tien Shan mountains