Tuesday July 17th

So I’ve been here in Kyrgyzstan, and like I said yesterday it feels like I’ve been here for months. My stomach hasn’t given me as much trouble as I was expecting (thank god!) because my family’s outhouse is hardly bearable for a quick squat. It is a true outhouse – triangular in shape, wood, with a diamond shaped cutout hole in the floor. On occasion it’s equipped with crêpe- paper like toilet paper. Although – when I got home from the city today the walls/roof of the outhouse were gone and my host father and his friend and/or brother were busy (re)building a new one farther back into the yard. I’m excited for the new outhouse smell – or lack thereof!

Most families around here have “banyas” which are kind of like saunas but low tech. Families that have these usually take one banya a week. My family however has what they call a sun shower. Basically a big container of water above the shower is filled with water in the morning and covered with a glass sheet. By the end of the day the water is warmish, so everyone showers then. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to take a shower everyday. I try to be real quick though because it’s a bit of a haul to carry buckets of water from down the street. My family does not have running water, however, we do have electricity.

Today at hub day we found out another colleague went home. We were all shocked to learn who it was because he had seemed so adaptable and up for the challenge. Apparently though the dropout rate in this region of the world for PCV is really high.

One of the major problems here is trash. There are no landfills, so there are no trash collections, so there are no trashcans. Everyone burns their trash in their outdoor ovens, as fuel for cooking. Plus there is a lot of trash on the streets – but not as much as you would imagine. People are really into reusing things (even to refill and resell in stores is okay), plus with few shops and stuff of that nature in the villages, most people are self-sufficient and thus generate less waste then Americans do.

There are 2 small shops in my village, 2 gas stations, and 1 school. It’s been really interesting because I live on the 1 main road that runs through town toward Lake Issukul in one direction and toward Kant in the other. All of our neighbors have cows, sheep, ducks, roosters, and other livestock. My family only has a puppy. But every night around 7pm people sit in front of their houses to watch the cows get herded home. People ride horses and wagon karts pulled by donkeys. Although most people have cars. The host families that volunteers stay with are upper-middle class.

From my bedroom window I can see a snow capped mountain and strain to imagine what anything other than 100 degrees feels like. Yesterday afternoon a bunch of us gathered at one volunteer’s house to study for a bit. The view from his house is amazing – he lives along side a field that is usually filled with horses and right beyond that are the mountains. His host brother and sister speak a little English so they had a blast hanging out with us and making fun of our elementary Russian speaking skills.
Later in the evening, one of our Language and Culture Facilitators (LCF) – Elena took us on a walk to some ancient Buddhist burial grounds and temple on the outskirts of the village. It was incredible. After walking for about an hour we passed through a field of cows and bulls grazing and up to the top of one of the mounds. The panoramic view was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. There were mountains on the horizon in all directions and endless fields of corn, cows, Kyrgyz Cowboys, and horses. It was hot enough to see camels though, unfortunately, we did not.

“Guesting” is really big here. In the past 6 days I must have met most of my host family’s friends, family, and neighbors. When I wake up there are new people here, when I come home from school there are others, and even in the evenings more stop by. I’ve met aunts, uncles, cousins, and many people whose relationship I cannot figure out. Since my host family is Kyrgyz most of the time they speak to the guests in the Kyrgyz language, while I sit and try to pick out bits and pieces of conversation, until my host mother tells everyone I am learning Russian and then they all switch over. Seems like everyone is bi or trilingual.

So our homework for this past Sunday was to ask our host family to help us do laundry – or teach is how. Saturday night my host sister Aslena walked with me to the store to buy soap and on Sunday after gathering 6 buckets of water, she pulled a miniature washing machine out of a closet and plugged it in outside. After we heated water and dumped in into the machine, she loaded the soap and I my clothes. After the 5-minute spin cycle we took the clothes out, rinsed them in cold water, and hung them (still rather soapy) to dry.

Today, while in the city we looked at cell phones. The PC gave us enough money in NJ to save some for a phone, which they recommend we purchase. The phones ranged from 1,000 – 6,000 soms. I hadn’t exchanged money yet so I didn’t have enough to buy one, but I’m pretty sure I’ll buy the 1200 som one – which is about $45. With that phone I will be able to receive calls from the states – if anyone needs to call.

The Internet isn’t as cheap or as accessible as I thought it would be. All of the Internet cafes charge not by the hour, but by the size of the memory you use (I forget what its called). So today when I spent 10 mins checking my email, it cost about a dollar – which doesn’t seem like a lot, unless your budget/ allowance per day is $1.50 like mine is. I may have to revert to old-fashioned letters. Or pre-type my emails and blogs and save them on flash drives.

All in all I love this new life and the daily challenges and successes. Every little task is a test of patience and openminedness. My germaphobic tendencies have gone out the window, as well my desire for material things. Living here is all about building relationships and living simply. I was fortunate to get placed with a kind family that has made this transition easier. I can’t wait until I can communicate better!