Time seems to pass without me realizing exactly how much time has past. Looking at the calendar this week I was shocked to see it's already well into September. One year ago today was my very first day as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and my very first day living in my village. I still can't believe that I've been in country nearly fifteen months. Looking back on my first year of service, I am glad that I made the decision to be here. I may not love teaching everyday, and I may reach my cultural overload every now and then, but when I do fun things like camp, teach a successful lesson, or have a fun teacher training, I remember why I'm here.
I remember awaking the morning after our swearing-in party (feeling a bit hungover) and getting on a Southern bound flight. After a three hour taxi ride, I hopped out with my luggage and walked into my new home. It was scary, it was like starting out all over again. But here I am, survived a year, and still happy about it. Ariel and I have come to be known as our village's "redemption volunteers." There has been something like fifteen volunteers who have served in our village, and only three have finished all two years. Everyone else left before they made it seven months. If Ariel and I didn't make it, the village wasn't getting any more volunteers. To have made it past those other twelve volunteers is great. People no longer seem afraid that we're giong to leave.
There's this ice cream place that we always go to, at least five times a week. Ariel and I were sitting there the other day thinking about how lucky we were and how much we loved our site. The two of us think that we got the best site in the country. Our village has a village feel, but is quite large by Kyrgyz standards, so we have city like amenities. Cafes to eat at, a huge bazaar to shop in, and easy transportation to anywhere in the country.
The last few weeks have been uneventful. Ramadan started, school started, and we celebrated Kyrgyz Independence Day. The weather has started to cool off, which is great, I was starting to really hate the heat (110 and no air-con= unpleasant). The Bazarkorgon girls are planning a rayon wide Harvest Festival that is going to be a fundraiser, but for what exactly we're not sure. That's about all I have planned this fall, which is a welcome break after my hectic summer schedule.
