The last couple of weeks I've been thinking about water. It's been raining more than usual, which has had an impact on this year's crops; things are not growing. Joni's counterpart has a field where they planted watermelons, by now the watermelons should have been growing, but this year- no such luck. Water is very much a part of my daily life, not that it wasn't before, but I spend a lot more time thinking about water these days. My apartment, and actually my whole village, does not have running water. The village also has no ground water, so traditional wells are not an option. To get water I take two buckets and walk back behind my apartment building to a fellow teacher's house, where I can fill my buckets. The woman has an in-ground tank that gets filled with water as it empties. The walk there isn't too far, but the walk back seems endless. Water is deceivingly heavy! And the handles of those buckets- they dig into the palms of your hands, which is uncomfortable. This past week, the teacher's "well' was empty! So I haven't had water all week. To flush my toilet I had to go to the canal- which is full of lovely muddy water, and collect two buckets. Not really the best water for drinking or cleaning, so my apartment is a bit of a mess.
I also got a kitten! The kitten was Anthony's, but he decided he was actually allergic to it, so the kitty came my way. He's really cute, and very little. I've named him Timurlane, after Timur the "lame," who was a mongol warrior. Timurlane really lives up to his moniker, he's fiesty and fierce.
School was supposed to end May 25, but because of our long break in winter, school has been extended until June 13th. Not that students or teachers can be found at school. Many have already left for smaller villages and fieldwork.
Joni and I have been gearing up for summer camp! I'm really excited. The camp is going to be for high school girls from all over the Jalalabad Oblast. We have a lot of volunteers interested in helping out, which is great. I think it's because everyone heard how awesome our winter camp was, and now they want to help with summer camp!
My parents are arriving in a matter of hours! They missed their connecting flight in London, and so got redirected through Istanbul and are arriving in the morning. I'm pretty excited; it's been almost exactly a year since I've seen them. I have no idea what we are going to see and do, but as always in Kyrgyzstan- I'm going to go with the flow.
It's been a few weeks. So much has happened, but at the same time it feels as if I haven't really done anything. After Nooruz, I settled back into my school schedule, although my students did not. My afternoon classes are "specialized courses," and seem to be optional. I have spent many afternoons over the last few weeks staring at an empty classroom.
My English clubs are going really well. All the kids that come want to be there and to learn. Sometimes English club is my favorite part of the week. On Mondays I've started teaching one lesson at the Russian school in my village. Don't be misled by the term 'Russian' though, the students are mostly Krygyz or Uzbek, they just have all their classes in Russian. At the Russian school is a really young and awesome English teacher, Gulnaz. She's really motivated to improve her English and her teaching. Teaching with her is fun, and every week, I'm reminded why I became a Peace Corps volunteer.
In the first week of April, Jalalabad had a guest! Eric Weiner, an author from the US (he wrote The Geography of Bliss) came for a visit. He had met Fritz and Ginger (two volunteers down here) when they were back stateside in January, and he came out for a visit because he was writing an article for New York Magazine about Peace Corps.The article should be coming out either next month or the month after. I'm not really sure. But his visit coincided with a birthday party, so we all got to meet and talk with him.
At the beginning of April, I started looking for a new place to live. I had several options available and then I moved into an apartment about two weeks ago. The apartment is nice, albeit very soviet, and it does not have running water. Volunteers have lived in the apartment in years past, and so it came stocked with some books in English, as well as a lot of furniture. I have to be very Kyrgyz and go down the street with buckets to collect water, but luckily I'm only on the first floor.
So far I really enjoy the freedom of getting to cook my own food. The diet I was on with my host family was… minimal- I have lost a lot of weight over the last few months. Now I can cook my own meals, and eat things besides soup, and just maybe my clothes will fit again by the end of the summer!
I spent last week in Bishkek. I went to the K17s training to help give a session with the medical unit about sexual assault. It was a long way to go for only 5 minutes of talking, but it was necessary. Myself and another female volunteer were there to talk about a couple of incidents that happened in the last few months. I can remember sitting in that session last year, not really listening, and dismissing the statistics that the doctors gave us. I think that by having the two of us share, it made the statistics seem more real. While I was standing in front of the sixty of them, it certainly looked like they were all listening. So perhaps, next year's statistics will be one less.
We found out a couple of days ago where all the new volunteers are going. Ariel, Joni, and I are excited about the three new volunteers headed our way. I met a couple of them when I was up in Bishkek, and they seem awesome and fun. They're coming down for a few days at the end of May. We've been planning a few fun things to introduce them to the amazingness that is the south.
Starting today holiday season is in full swing. There are three holidays during the next week, and it looks like school is going to be cancelled until the 10th. My friend Cameron from Talas (an oblast in the North) is coming down for a visit this week, so at least I'll have things to fill my week with.
There are two acronyms I find myself using a lot these days: TIK (this is Kyrgyzstan) and CAWA (Central Asia wins again). Peace Corps' abundant use of acronyms must be rubbing off on me. At least once a day I have a TIK moment, such as this afternoon when I found a walnut in my purse, unshelled of course.
I had an ultimate CAWA moment last week. The K-16s were headed to Bishkek for our PDM conference. Ariel, Leslie and I were taking a taxi. The driver picked us up around 7 am, on time amazingly, and we set off. After several hours in the car, and past the half-way point, we reached a road block. The road was closed due to an avalanche and seven deaths, and would remain closed for another five days. We called the PC office and informed them and then turned around. Our instructions were to drive to Osh, and get on the first flight. We called all the volunteers planning to drive and informed them as well. Before we even reached Osh, still a five hour drive away, we discovered that all flights were sold out. We frantically tried to organize a flight from the car (not easy) with our intermittent cell phone service. Peace Corps told us not to bother because the first flight out wasn't until Thursday and we would miss the entire PDM conference by the time we arrived. So only a select few of us headed up Thursday for a different training, which was taking place Friday.
Rather than go back to school or to Jalalabad, we stayed in Osh for two days. For two days we saw the sights, and ate some good food. We stayed at one the 16s' apartments- he, however, was not prepared for guests. So it was an uncomfortable two nights. While there we walked around and enjoyed the glorious weather- I even got slightly sunburned. Spring had begun, everything was green and the apricot blossoms were beginning to bloom; it was so warm that I didn't even need to wear a sweater.
My weekend in Bishkek was ridiculous, and not necessarily in a good way, though I did get to see all of the other 16s. PDM was the last time that all of the 16s would be together until our close-of-service conference. Friday night turned into a serious incident. I can't discuss the details, but it really pissed me off. The week after I was filled with anxiety and stress, waiting for the situation to be resolved. And now I have to watch four of my friends go home.
School is back in session, but the holiday season has begun! March 21st is the biggest holiday in Kyrgyzstan. Nooruz, or Navrus in Uzbek, dates back to Zoroastrian times. While not originally an Islamic holiday, the holiday has been adopted throughout Central Asia as an Islamic holiday. Traditionally, a dish called 'sumalak' is made. It takes about twenty-four hours of constant stirring to create sumalak. As to what exactly is in it, I'm not sure, but wheat is definitely in it. It involves boiling down, then adding more liquid, then boiling down again until the consistency is like carmel. They do this at least seven times.
I spent Nooruz in Jalalabad with the other volunteers as it was also Leslie's birthday. The big park in Jalalabad had a huge festival going on, which is where spent some time. In the park there is a giant ferris wheel, so of course we had to get on. It was one of the scarier rides of my life. Despite going very slowly, the small chain across the gap did not make me feel better. It was a very TIK moment.
The news here is full of events. There was an alleged 'assassination,' general elections were called, and the opposition parties have organized nationwide protest rallies. It's been a crazy couple weeks for Kyrgyzstan and for Peace Corps. Just in time for the K-17s. The 17s will be here in less than a week! It's crazy that enough time has passed for a new crop of volunteers to arrive. To me, it still feels like I got here yesterday.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Me at the big temple on Lantau island. Monastary on Lantau.
The second largest seated bronze Buddha statue, on Lantau.
Buddha on Lantau
Kari and I enjoying Hong Kong at night
I got a haircut!
Kari and I on Lantau
Out to dinner with Kari's Chinese family
Hong Kong during the day
The only picture of Patrick, Kari and I... at Ikea
They had Mister softee!
Yes, this place actually exists. Also- most people in HK speak English- how'd they let this one get by?
On our hike.
Kari and I on the hike.
Patrick and I went on this epic walk down mountain in the middle of HK. This is the sweet view.
We met Jackie Chan! Ok not really, he was made of wax.
The oldest stairs, or maybe street, in HK.
We went to an outdoor market.
Fruit at the outdoor market.
more fruit
We went out for dim sum with Patrick's friend from Hong Kong.
Patrick and I reunited, I had also recently bathed.
My trip to Hong Kong, sorry Gong Kong, was amazing. A bit overwhelming- so many people, so many tall buildings!- but still awesome. I really enjoyed getting to see Kari and Patrick and eating all kinds of delicious foods!
My trip started out auspiciously enough. I decided to take a taxi to Bishkek rather than fly. A taxi because there is no such thing as public transport here. There are no buses or trains that go up to the capital. My only two options are to fly or to take a taxi. Flying, one way, is about 2500 som to Bishkek; a taxi to Bishkek is about 1000 som. The taxi ride is along the Osh- Bishkek highway, which isn't so much a highway as a sort of paved road. The nine-hour drive from Jalalabad to Bishkek goes through some of the most beautiful countryside in Kyrgyzstan. At one point the road hugs the Uzbek border, and before long climbs into a 10,000 foot mountain pass. The drive was absolutely stunning. I would say that the drive is one of the highlights for a visit to Kyrgyzstan.
I got to Bishkek a bit early, and had to wait around the airport for awhile before my first flight left. Traveling to Hong Kong was a bit ridiculous. It took me 60 hours to get there. I flew from Bishkek to Almaty, Kazakhstan to Seoul, South Korea and then finally to Hong Kong. While it took a long time to get there, I enjoyed the travel. Each stage of my trip offered a bit more "civilization." Almaty was more developed than anywhere in Kyrgyzstan- they had escalators!
My first encounter with modern life- the escalators- did not go well. I haven't been gone that long, so I really have no excuse, maybe I was just really tired? I was wondering around the Almaty airport and I attempted to go up the down escalator. Normally this wouldn't be something to mention, except I didn't get it. I spent three minutes in absolute confusion about why I wasn't going up and kept getting pushed back to where I started. THREE MINUTES!! People were staring, and I was confused. Oops- what a great way to start the vacation.
By the time I got to Hong Kong I was tired, I had lost my luggage, and I was really hot (I was still wearing my winter clothes). Kari met me and we enjoyed a very flavor filled Thai meal.
I spent the next two weeks lounging, enjoying the comforts of a hot shower, and seeing the sights. One day Kari, Patrick and I went on an eleven mile hike. It was beautiful! Hong Kong, for a city filled with so many high-rises, is full of hiking opportunities.
While I, almost, easily slipped back into modern life, my computer did not. The second I tried to connect to the internet- it broke. I managed to get it fixed in Hong Kong, the hard drive needed to be replaced, but I lost all my files. Oh well.
My trip back was not quite as event filled, although I did almost get stuck in Korea. The airline would not let me on the plane! Then immigration got involved and was basically a giant mess for three hours. But I got on the plane eventually, and made it back.
It was hard to get on the plane. I was expecting a certain amount of reluctance to want to return to Kyrgyzstan, but I was not prepared for the amount of anxiety I felt. I really did not want to get on the plane. To come back to bathing once a week, eating food that I don't really like, and coming back to a village where I no longer feel safe all the time. But I did, I got on that plane, despite my reservations, and I am glad I did.
School started while I was gone, so I was back in the classroom this past Monday. Standing in front of 15 Kyrgyz students brought me back to why I'm here. They were all so excited that I had returned, they even did their homework! Walking around my village and seeing people I know shout hello, it really felt good to be back and reminded me that I am indeed part of this community.
This next week I'm headed back to Bishkek for PDM (project-design and management) with the rest of the K-16s. This will be the last time that we will all be together until our close of service conference in 18 months. And by that time we'll have probably lost another 15 volunteers.So I'm excited to see everyone and swap stories of what we did over the winter break, and make plans for the summer.
There will be a lot of talk about the K-17s. The new group of volunteers is set to arrive at the end of March. Ariel, my sitemate, and I already know that we are getting a 17 in our village! And since the position that the volunteer will have is so specialized, we got to pick the volunteer, so we already know who's coming down here. Hopefully the volunteer is as awesome as their resume leads us to believe.
That's it for this edition. Happy March and Happy Women's Day (March 8 and a very big holiday here)!
Friday, February 13, 2009
My host mom and dad with our New Year's tree.
Family friends and my host parents on New Year's eve.
Me, my host brother Aziz and my host mom on New Year's Eve.
Me and my host mom.
Kyrgyzstan from the window of the airplane on my way to Bishkek from Jalalabad.
My counterpart, Aigul, and Joni's counterpart on the plane.
This is how I dry my clothes during the winter...
A sweet camel was just walking down my street.
Some of the girls waiting to go to camp. Notice their bags with their stuff. Awesome. Guldana, in the purple, has a sweet Barnes and Noble bag.
Team T-rex presenting their flag.
One of the team-building activities.
Team-building.
learning about HIV/AIDS (VICH/SPID in Russian).
Boys brainstorming about why boys are better than girls.
Our sweet homemade basketball hoop.
CAMP! All the campers and counselors.
A group preparing for their presentation.
Problem-solving activity.
They put me in charge? Also, that's my sweet new Kyrgyz hat.
Here in Kyrgyzstan, which is really a legacy of Soviet times, is the tendency to take words that start with H, and switch the H to a G. So that Hamburger becomes Gamburger. I think it's rather funny. For the most part it's every word/ name that starts with an H. However, while hamburger becomes gamburger, hot dog does not become got dog, it stays hot dog. WHY? Every time I go to a gamburger stand- gamburgers make a lovely cheap lunch or snack- I ponder this question. Why gamburger, but not got dog? It just seems so silly that if people are going to go to all the trouble to say Gong Kong, Garry Potter, gamburger, they would just go all the way and also say got dog.
This is just one of the many things that I find interesting about the Kyrgyz language. Kyrgyz is a Turkic language, apparently a native Kyrgyz speaker can understand someone speaking Turkish, but I don't have any evidence to back this up. Vocabulary-wise, Kyrgyz is somewhat limited- but that certainly makes it easier to learn. The same word in Kyrgyz is used for all parts of the leg including the foot (boot), summer is said the same as slow (jai), head the same as start (bahsh), and before the same as nose (morun).
Kyrgyz also only has four tenses: the present, which is the same as the future, the continuous present, and the past tense. This makes it really difficult, for me at least, to say something that I would normally say in English in Kyrgyz. They also don't use the verb to be or to have, they have them, but they are not used very often.To say I am going to the bazaar. You would say: Men bazaarga baram. This roughly translates as: I to bazaar go. I really just think of how a cave man would speak in English and think of it that way in Kyrgyz. It's probably insensitive of me. A fellow volunteer pointed out that Kyrgyz was originally a language that was meant to be shouted from horseback- so long complicated sentences and vocabulary were out of the question. It makes sense to me.
Despite the limitations of Kyrgyz- it is an awesome language. I like that there is so much vocabulary overlap- it says something about the culture. If you think about it, it makes sense that there is the same word for summer as for slow- because in the summer you can be slow and lazy, it's a season of slow days.
Basic Kyrgyz vocabulary/phrases:
Salamat Sizba- Hello; very formal, literally means- are you alive?
Salamat Cheluk- response to the above
Kandysiz? How are you?
Jockshi- good
Jaman- bad
Jaman Emes- not bad
Rakhmat- thank you
Oba- yes
Jok- no
Bir- 1
Eki- 2
Ooch- 3
Tort- 4
Besh- 5
Alte- 6
Jeti- 7
Segiz- 8
Toghuz- 9
Ohn- 10
Ohn bir- 11
Ohn eki- 12
Winter Camp!
Winter camp was this last week. It was awesome. I still cannot believe how well it went. I spent most of the week in shock watching the kids participate and have fun, even when doing the lamest activities. At one point Nate and I were talking, and we were both amazed at how well things were going, and how most of the activities we were doing would never work with older students.
Camp started last Sunday. Joni and I had told the counselors, who were local 11th form and university students, to arrive at 1:30 because the campers were arriving at 2 pm. When Joni and I got to the meeting point, at 1:25, all of the campers were already there! Everyone was excited. We quickly checked them in and shuttled them to the sanatorium where camp was held. That first afternoon we played capture the flag- it was a huge hit. They loved it! It was a great way to start off camp.
The next four days we focused on life skills and HIV/AIDS, part of the requirements for the grant money. We had sessions on:
Life Goals
Self-Esteem
Team-Building
HIV/AIDS information
Communication
How to Give a Presentation
Community Service/ Volunteerism
Healthy Relationships
Stereotyping/ Diversity
Problem Solving
All of the sessions went splendidly and the Peace Corps volunteers and locals who helped all did a great job facilitating. I still cannot believe how smooth everything went. AMAZING.
In the afternoons we had pick your own activity. Campers could pick between sports, arts and crafts, dance, movie, English club and debate. All of them had excellent turnout. Arts and crafts was especially popular, even among the boys. Kyrgyz kids don't really get an opportunity to make stuff like that- so they loved it. Also well attended was English club and debate! It's winter break and these kids actually wanted to learn! Again, camp went so well.
In the evening, we had camp-wide activities. Assassins was popular, although I think that is because of the theatrical way the volunteers died. On Wednesday night we had a scavenger hunt. The kids had to find things like how to say hello in ten languages, all of the volunteers' birthdays, and complete a rather hilarious obstacle course. Thursday night, the last night of camp, we had a talent show. All of the teams performed. There was a lot of dancing and singing. Although the most well received act of the evening was from the volunteers. We sang a song about Kyrgyzstan to the tune of "Bonjour" from Beauty and the Beast.
All in all camp was great. I had so much fun. I'm exhausted, but it was worth it. And it looked and sounded like all the campers had fun. Joni and I are already gearing up for summer camp!
Hello all, sorry for my prolonged absence. It's been a very crazy last few weeks. I spent New Year's Eve with my host family, which was interesting. New Year's is one of the biggest holidays here in Kyrgyzstan. Families get a New Year tree, and the decorate them with lights and ornaments. Also, Santa Claus makes a visit and everyone gets presents. We even sang Jingle Bells. It was awesome.
After New Year's Eve, I came into Jalalabad, and have been going back and forth ever since. Because we have no school until March 2nd, I lack a schedule at the moment, and I haven't been spending much time in my village. We had a Peace Corps training in Bishkek for a week. All of the 16s headed up with our counterparts and we exchanged lesson ideas, and practiced our Kyrgyz. I thought that my Kyrgyz was wretched, but I ran into my Kyrgyz teacher and he said that my Kyrgyz was way better than it was during trainig. Sweet. It was fun to see all of the 16s, especially the ones I haven't seen at all during the last four months.
At IST (the training I just attended in Bishkek), there is a long-standing tradition of the Baltika Challenge. Baltika is a Russian beer that is sold here. It comes in various degrees of alcohol, and they are rated from 1-9, with Baltika 9 having twice the normal amount of alcohol in it. Every year at IST, each oblast has a team compete in the Baltika challenge. There are a lot of rules, but basically each team drinks: 1,3,5,7,9,9,7,5,3,1, as fast as possible. The winner being the first to finish. Jalalabad Oblast, to my knowledge, has never won. There's always talk about Talas or Naryn being the best, and there was certainly a lot of trash talking before the big event, but never underestimate the underdog. After Issyk-Kul's scandalized win (they cheated), Jalalabad was declared the winner! So thanks to my awesomeness and four others from J-bad, we finally won some oblast love. Baltika Challenge winners 2009!
The last week, after IST, has been devoted to winter camp! Joni and I have been planning away and getting things done all week. I went to the bank on Wednesday to pick up the camp funds that had been deposited into my account. Because we are having overnight camp, I requested a lot of money on my grant application. I got to the bank and the woman looked up my account info and her mouth dropped. She announced to a room full of locals that I was taking 90,000 som out of the bank, uncomfortable. I was terrified that I was going to get robbed on my way out. Luckily that didn't happen and the kiddies are going to get an awesome camp!
Winter camp starts on the 1st, and goes until the 6th. Then I'm off to HONG KONG! I am really excited about my upcoming trip and getting to see Kari and Patrick. I'm a little worried that I will be very overwhelmed by the hub-bub that is Hong Kong. It's a really big city, with lots of people, lights, and tall buildings- overstimulation. But it should be awesome. I'm excited to be warm and to eat delicious food.
And just because it's awesome here's our J-Bad chant: Jalala- What!?!? BAD! Jalala-Who!?!? BAD! Jalala-Kandie!?!? JAMON!
Kandie means what, and jamon means bad. I have way to much free time on my hands these days.Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday!
Timurlane, my new kitty. 
My kitchen, with a broken fridge
the entryway, with buckets awaiting water
my bedroom
the living room, i got lucky with the furniture- normally apts don't come with quite so much
how i cook- homemade hotplate, and a small red oven
view behind my bedroom- I forgot that it was ever that green
My two counterparts- Salima, and Aigul at my birthday party
Cameron and I went to my host family's house for my cousin's bday
My 11 yr old host cousin, right before I moved out- she was my favorite person in that house
