The end

So most of you have heard by now- my service in Kyrgyzstan has come to end. After assessing the safety situation in the region of the country that I live in, it was decided that the volunteers cannot return. The volunteers from my group (K16) and my region are being evacuated from the country. The volunteers from the K17 group are being placed at new sites in open regions.

Those of us leaving were given Interruption of Service. This means that we were unable to complete our service due to circumstances out of our control. So here I am, three months early, headed home.

After 22 months of being in Kyrgyzstan I have to say goodbye. This is not the way I wanted to leave. I didn't get to say goodbye- not to my host families, my students, my school, or my community. I won't get the chance to finish my projects. The new toilet my school wanted will not be being constructed, Joni's and my three-week summer camp extravaganza is being parceled out to other volunteers.

I have seven hours left in country. I'm at the Peace Corps office with three other volunteers who will also be traveling back to the states. Some staff went down to pack up my house and are returning tonight. I'm hoping that they'll make it in time for me to collect that, but it's possible it won't happen. My cat came up in a taxi yesterday, and thanks to the enormous generosity of Ariel's host family he's flying back with me.

Thank you to everyone who supported me over the last two years. I appreciated your letters, your packages, your prayers, and your emails. It would have been much more difficult for me if I hadn't had such amazing people to lean on. So thank you again for listening to me over the last 22 months. And don't forget to tune in August for the trials and tribulations of volunteer life in the Philippines.

 

I had neglected writing because I really just don't know where to
start. I've spent the last two weeks in a near constant state of
anxiety. No one, myself included, thought things would go so far so
fast. Two weeks ago, well really two and half weeks ago, I was calmly
eating ice cream with Ariel and Alex. I received a call from Peace
Corps that said there were planned opposition rallies all over the
country the next day and to be vigilant. I didn't really think much of
it.

I awoke on Wednesday, April 6, and things had… changed. No one really
seemed to know what was going on. Things had happened through the
night in Talas, one of the oblasts in the North. Peace Corps called
again and we were told to not leave our houses. Gossip and rumors were
flying by text message through the PCV community. The afternoon was
rather uneventful.

Joni got stuck in my village and so she spent Wednesday night at my
house. Starting around 4 pm things began escalating. Joni and I tried
to keep ourselves calm by playing yahtzee and making humus (from
scratch!). Text messages and phone calls came throughout the night,
anytime anyone found out an update. We tried sleeping, but our phones
just kept beeping all night.

We awoke Thursday to relative calm. I had plans to clean my house and
prepare for a few extra PCVs to spend the night. At noon I got a call
that said I had to get my group together and immediately leave my
village. I can tell you right now- no one ever wants to get that phone
call.
I quickly through things in my bag, Joni organized a taxi for us all,
and within thirty minutes we were gone. I squeezed my cat thinking I
would probably never see him again. I left dirty dishes in the
kitchen, food in the fridge, a bag of trash, and my room in general
disarray. We stopped briefly, like two minutes, in Joni's village so
she could grab her passport, and then the six of us were off.

Our plans changed once we were on the road, and at that point it
really seemed as if we were being evacuated. What we heard, not
directly from Peace Corps, was that we were headed to Almaty in
Kazakhstan. This proved to be untrue.

All of the southern volunteers headed north, and we've been in the
same place now for two weeks. Things will seem relatively calm in
country for a couple of days, and then something new will happen. It's
a constant rollercoaster of emotion. One day we think that we will be
able to back to site, another it looks doubtful. This is not the way I
wanted to end my Peace Corps service.

I'm still in state of limbo as to when my stay at this location will
end. I just don't know. I have my suspicions as to what will happen-
I'm just not ready to share what those are. It sounds like I'll know
more by Wednesday next week.

These are photos that I tried to post a little over a week ago, but I couldn't access this site. And better late than never.

Bryan and I hiked to the uppermost point on the right hand side.

View from the uppermost point. Bryan and I are going to try and hike back to the lake and go camping.

Awesome view from our hike.

Joni and Ariel outside our post office. Soviet faces while waiting for the post office lady to return from her three-hour lunch.

A homemade bacon cheeseburger. It was delicious, expensive to make, and so good I documented it. 

My kitty, Timurlan, stalking a hole and waiting for a mouse to pop out.

Summer Camp!

Hello all! Despite the current turmoil in country, we fully expect that camp will take place. Now more than ever it is important to educate the kids of this country and engender leadership skills and a sense of civic responsibility as the country rebuilds itself. So, please donate whatever you can, and ask others you know to donate as well. This is an amazing opportunity for the kids here, even more than we thought before. So please help us get the word out! Thanks to everyone who has donated already and is in the process of donating, we are more than grateful!

Follow this link to donate: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=307-143

Nooruz

Time has flown, and it seems like I've witnessed all four seasons in the last few weeks. My program manager (PM), Maria, came down and I went with her to visit various villages near mine and talk to schools and potential counterparts about Peace Corps and having a volunteer. Maria and I also checked out potential housing for the new volunteers.

 

That same day I had my interview with the PC Philippines people. Also it now looks like I am going to be replaced with a new volunteer. I had discussed it with my PM- how I felt that my school perhaps needed a break after me, and that it would be better to give the volunteer to a school who had never worked with a volunteer before. But it looks like a new volunteer will be headed to my site as my replacement.

 

Nooruz, the biggest holiday of the year here, was a bit of a let down. The day before it started raining, and by four o'clock it was snowing! This just one day after 70-degree weather! The snow continued all day Nooruz, which is supposed to celebrate the coming of spring, and most of the fun activities were cancelled. Ariel and I braved the snow and headed to the center and saw more than a few disappointed faces.

 

One curious thing about Kyrgyzstan is how they dress according to the calendar rather than by the weather. The week previous to Nooruz was glorious- warm, sunny. My counterpart, Aigul, was standing around in a full-length lined leather coat. When I asked her if she was hot, which I was, her reply was no, as it was not Nooruz yet. And then on Nooruz I saw many people who were inappropriately dressed for the snowy weather!

 

Spring break has been the last two weeks. During the first week I went down to Osh to hang out with my friend Bryan and go hiking. The hike, while it kicked my butt, was beautiful and awesome; it was definitely worth it. But I have spent the entire second week of break in bed with some mysterious illness.

 

After watching the blossoms fall off the apricot trees in my yard, the weather was warmed up again and the apple tree in front of my house is blossoming. It's so nice to not have my heat on, to have my door open, and feel the warm sun on my face.

 

As for camp funding- thanks to everyone so far who has donated! Right now we still need about $3700. So if you haven't donated, please please please donate, even if it's just a small amount and tell people you know to donate. We really only have a few weeks left to get the rest, and if we don't- Joni and I are going to have to reconsider camp. Follow this link to donate: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=307-143