Busy busy me!

So since I've been in Jalal Abad I have hardly had a chance to work!!! The previous weekend was spent in Osh at a women's leadership conference that was organized by a volunteer. The whole conference was in Russian so I didn't attend the sessions but there were 40 young Kyrgyz women that did. From what I could tell, the conference went really well. There were some really interesting topics covered including; women in government positions, business women, human trafficking, bride kidnapping and HIV. That is really just the tip of the iceberg too, it was a four day conference so these young women walked away with a lot of information.

Initially being in Osh was so shocking because almost everyone I was in contact with spoke English and in Jalal Abad I have yet to find a large population of English speakers. Most of these English speakers were young women who were attending the conference. They were all so energized, motivated and excited about learning English that I was asked multiple times if I was available to meet with them regularly so they could work on their conversational skills. I was amazed at their eagerness and readiness to learn!

Eventually Sunday came around and the conference ended. After I helped put together the last coffee break and watched the closing ceromony I packed up my rice bag and by four o'clock I was at the marshuka stand. There was already a bus waiting to fill up so I paid the fare (just under $3) and waited for the bus to pull out. That took significantly longer than I expected and I was actually sitting on the bus for over an hour before we finally embarked for Jalal Abad. While I was waiting I watched life at the bus station slowly go by; there were numerous stands selling juice and snacks to travelers, drivers sitting around gossiping as they wathced their rides fill up, people jumping on and off buses with their plastic bags filled to the brim with god knows what!

Slowly seats began to fill , and as I continued to wait I was entertained by the sellers and hagglers that would jump on the bus to get money out of the travelers. The first peddler that came a long was a woman who just poked her head into the bus trying to sell apples, then came the Imam (a muslim priest). As soon as he stepped onto the bus people started rummaging through their bags for change and after he collected money from everyone on the bus he said a prayer for safe traveling. Before he jumped off the bus he looked down and gave me a toothless smile, I felt blessed.

Then came the middle aged woman selling newspapers, she patiently stood at the front of the bus with a newspaper and read out a couple of the headlines in attempts to spark the attention of her audience, no buyers. As she got off a young man poked his head in the bus and wave some dill around, when he saw he had no buyers he continued to the next bus. Then right before we left an older lady got on the bus and walked through the middle isle of the marshuka begging for extra change, eventually she wondered off and almost immediatly we pulled out of the bus station on our way to Jalal Abad.

The drive that evening was beautiful, the sun was setting behind us and the hills and mountails were golden with the light hitting the dry grassy hills. More than once we had to slow down and maneuver through heards of cows and sheep who were followed by shepards on their hourses. It was a beautiful way to end an awesome weekend!

The following Monday I was hoping to pick up work again and really start getting things accomplished, but I had not got two days of work in before the end of Ramadan rolled around, so I was granted another day off! I never thought I would say it but I just want to get to work! Oh well!

My Service begins

Well I made it through swearing in, at one point the group was asked to sing a Kyrgyz national song and I was quite convinced that not only would we be rejected from the Peace Corps but that we would be deported immediatly! It was pretty bad, we butchered the beautiful Kergyz Jeri song! Despite that though, after the swearing in ceremony all the new volunteers were invited to the ambassadors house to celebrate! It was pretty exciting, we were served microwave pizza, chips, salsa and diet pepsi. After only two months in this country I have an appreciation for junk food that I never knew I had.

Eventually we headed back to the hotel and had long night of goodbyes with other volunteers, it was really hard saying goodbye since I had become so close with so many volunteers over these last 11 weeks. I wish them nothing but exciting adventures and a successfull two years of service. The next morning I left the hotel very early to get to the airport. Checking baggage was a mess, I just had so much stuff! The Peace Corps had giving everyone a water distiller, a giant electric heater and a medical kit that I needed to carry to Jalal abad along with literally over 100 lbs of my own crap!!! I'm still not at the point where I can look back and laugh at the situation, maybe in two years I'll see the humour in it. By the time it was all said and done I was 43 kg over the weight limit. Thank God the Peace Corps takes care of overweight baggage!

But here I am at my permantent site! The weather has started to cool down quite a bit already, I comforted by the fact that the Kyrgyz seem to be even more terrified of the cold than I am, I figure if they can survive the winter,so can I!!! One of the first things that I did when I arrived was go to the bazaar, I was hoping to buy a jacket for the winter but I didn't get around to it. The bazaars can just be so over whelming! Every time I go into one I have to tune out 95% of my senses. A typical walk throught the market consists of sellers shouting prices, people asking what you want to buy, shoppers bumping past you, carts flying between and through stands where there are piles and piles of fruits, vegetables, soap, electronics, clothes, doo dads and trinkets! Really if you want something, you can find it at the bazaar- it'll take a long time but you can find it! At one point during the three hours I was there, I was looking for lemons so I could make baba ganaush. For the life of me I couldn't find it but I kept asking merchants and each one continued to maze me through the intricit bazaar untill I found them in the very heart it!!! I was exhausted by the end of it all and just went back to my host family's house and fell asleep! When I woke up my host family was in the midsts of repainting their whole house. Their only son is getting married in less than a month so the whole house must be looking its best for the wedding, I'm really excited to see a Kyrgyz wedding. The wedding is constantly a topic of conversation, more than once my host mother has run her finger across her throat as she explains that a sheep, cow and horse will be sacrificed at the wedding. Its going to be a big party!

As for work, yesterday was my first day at the office. I first went to my host mother's office, she is a director for an NGO that works with local orphans and has a small office not far from my NGO. While I was there she introduced me to a dozen people, many who seemed to be government officials which I am glad to know for future references during my two years here. I was so flattered, as she introduced me and explained what I was doing in Kyrgyzstan she would call me her new daughter!

After we had lunch I went to my NGO's office and talked about what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks. My first project is to creat an English club where young adults can practice their english by exploring issues that the organization is involved in such as human and women rights, anti human trafficking along with less heavy topics like movies, life in America and so on. I'm actually really excited, I think it will be a great way for me to get to know the community!

As for today, it has already been an eventfull one! Apparently it is some type of national holiday- which one, I don't know- but right outside of the park was a stage set up where people were performing traditional kyrgyz dances, childeren were singing and many people were wearing traditional Kyrgyz hats and dresses. After my host mother and I had been watching for a few minutes she took me around and started introducing me to people. Its amazing, the woman knows everyone! Anyway the last person that she introduced me to was a news man who was filming the event...so yes I was asked to speak into the camera and say "Hello Kyrgyzstan, I love you Kyrgyzstan!" in Kyrgyz...I speak Russian...well at least all of Jalalabad will have a good laugh tonight! Damn!

I can only hope that tomorrow will be just as exciting! I will be going down to Osh City where there is a Women's Leadership Conference being put on by one of the volunteers who has already been serving for one year. It will be all in Russian but I think that it is an excellent opportunity to see what other volunteers are doing during their service here and hopefully I will be inspired and find some opportunities for my own secondary projects. I wish me luck as I muddle through another day!!!

NGO

In eight days Pre-Service Training will be over and I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I will pack my suitcases, say goodbye to my training host family and the next day I will be on a plane heading towards my permanent site and only then will my two years of service will begin. Training has been hard and very trying, but I have learned a lot and am better prepared to work with my NGO and within the community thanks to it. Although I will miss having all the volunteers within a twenty minute marshuka ride and I will hate saying goodbye to my first host family, I have a beautiful city that I will be moving to and a NGO which I am really excited to be working with.

Just last week I had the opportunity to spend a day working with them, it was an interesting, inspiring and motivating day all at once. It began when my director picked me up that morning, she pulled up in her sedan with her youngest son in the back who needed to be dropped off at school, the radio was blaring Russian pop music and as soon as I sat down we sped off to the office. The office is actually an apartment where the NGO is based, there are three computers, a television and internet (when there is electricity.) From what I have heard, this is a pretty badass set up for a local NGO! The first thing that I did when I arrived was flip through a photo album that was filled with pictures of previous events and seminars, as I flipped through the book I had another woman sitting next to me explaining all the pictures to me in Russian, she spoke really quickly and every now and then I would catch what she was trying to get across to me, regardless I smiled and nodded as we looked through the pictures. After lunch a translator was brought in, it was a young woman in her twenties who spoke beautiful English. Her husband was at the dentist and she had not been able to find a babysitter in time so she brought her new baby with her. As she translated what the organization was about and what my role would be, she juggled her baby who was bored and starting to get testy. At one point she pulled her shirt up and started nursing the baby but did not miss a beat and continued translating! As the initial shock wore off I had to smile, this scenario would never happen in America!

Regardless of the unintential flashing, thanks to her I learned that the organization had three main categories of work; shaping and guiding women leaders, domestic violence and human trafficking. They have initiated many seminars and events in the community and throughout Kyrgyzstan. One of the projects they would like me to start with is working with a group of school girls in a after school English club, she talked about how her long term goal with this project is to inspire these young women to volunteer and work with the community so one day they will be able to fill their roles.

Another very difficult subject that the organization does some work with is bride kidnapping. This is a Kyrgyz tradition where a man who wants to get married will kidnap a young woman who he believes will make a good wife. Sometimes he will know her and sometimes he won’t. These kidnappings have been divided into two categories; consensual and non consensual. Consensual kidnapping is when the man and women discuss and agree that he will kidnap her. Couples will do this to avoid dowry expenses or if one of the families doesn’t approve of the marriage, by kidnapping her they are avoiding some barriers that they would face otherwise. But the non consensual kidnapping is exactly what it sounds like. After he kidnaps this girl he brings her back to his parents house and the family must try to convince the girl to stay by telling her what a great guy the kidnapper is and how if she were to go back to her family now it would be shameful for both her and her family because everyone would assume that she is no longer a virgin. If she stays, which she usually will because she doesn’t want to embarrass her family, then she lives there for forty days till the wedding. Of course not all marriages happen like this, but it does happen and is very present in Kyrgyz culture

Right now it is illegal and it is very negatively viewed. I am hoping that through this NGO I will learn more about it and have opportunities to work on educating men and women about alternative options to bride kidnapping. Here's hoping for a great experience in Jalal Abad!