A few days...

A few Days…
August 24, 2007

This afternoon, after language class, after lunch, after SOCD Practicum Week 1 De-briefing, after a village group meeting, after receiving my first package in the mail and discovering its contents had been rifled through, I went to fill up two buckets of water for my family. When I got to the water spigot it was just trickling out. I put my first bucket under and decided to make friends with the fat old Turkish lady selling watermelons and tomatoes on the corner. After introducing myself and asking about her products I asked her name and pointed to my house across the street. She said she already knew that I lived there. After talking for five minutes I noticed the water had stopped running altogether. I asked her what was wrong with it and she handed me a tomato and said, “Eat, eat. Don’t bother with water, later it will work.” (At least that’s what I think she said.)

I was so excited today when our Program Manager came for our meeting and handed me my first parcel of mail! I ripped it open and inside was a beautiful sticker picture from Nathan with a note from Carolyn on the back. She sent a book – “Three Junes” – for me; which I have not read yet but heard was good. And also “Make Way for Ducklings” and another kids book and stickers for my youngest host sister. The note and the customs declaration said that 5 scarves were included in the package, but they were not inside when the package got to me. Apparently this happens regularly. It’s a good example of the corruption here.

On Monday I will go to the post office and see if they can do anything. I’m sorry Carolyn! It was so nice of you to send these gifts. I feel badly that you spent the money and energy to send them and half didn’t arrive. I explained what happened to my family and they were very appreciative of your thoughtfulness. The whole family took turns looking at the books and even the older sisters were interested in reading them to practice their English skills.

I hung Nate’s picture on my wall. It makes me happy and sad at the same time to look at it. I felt homesick for the first time today when I saw it. A small part of me feels guilty for being here and not home, with Nathan, during these two years of his life. I have to keep telling myself that he won’t forget me and I can make this experience educational for him too by writing letters and sending him stories. I also have to remind myself that when he’s older he’ll probably think that what I did was cool, and he won’t be mad at me for missing his 4th and 5th birthdays and Christmases.

I’ve been here for just about 2 months already. Some days have been really hard. Others have been amazing. On not-so-good days I feel frustrated with the language, hard on myself that I’m not learning more or learning faster, and exhausted. I haven’t had any breakdowns yet, but I’ve had a couple nights where I’ve gone to my room shortly after dinner and lost myself in books and music. I suppose that’s a healthy way to deal with stress. Writing helps too.

This last week has been especially difficult because every morning we have language class for 3 hours then go home for a quick lunch, then travel into the city for our practicum. Next week is the same schedule. Talking to the country director today she said that if we can get through this, (meaning PST) we can get through anything. It hasn’t been bad – I don’t want to cause any worry – it has just been really busy. We calculated the hours per week we spend on PC related activities is about 60. This weekend for instance, we have 4 hours of language on Saturday, and then spend 8am-6pm on Sunday in the capital with current volunteers. I’m craving sleeping in past 7.

But, on good days, fat old Turkish ladies give me tomatoes on the street corner, I remember how lucky I am to be here doing this, I have incredible moments of bonding with my host sisters and mother, and I laugh a lot with my fellow trainees. This afternoon when Cameron and I were walking home from class together we saw the cutest puppy in a yard we walked by. Then, near the intersection where we part ways, a motorcycle with a sidecar sped by – the sidecar was piled 6 feet high with some kind of green grass or straw and we couldn’t see the driver. It looked like a huge pile of weeds driving by. It was so funny we had to stop walking, tears were streaming down both of our faces and Cameron lost his breath, while I stumbled over my bike and collapsed on the cement. It is still small things like that – which are so typical here that I take for granted sometimes, but are really quite inspiring and instigate much needed comic relief.

I love walking to class sometimes because I get to see so much that is every-day here, but stuff I’d never see at home. For example, donkey’s pulling carts of families, a teeny soviet car literally stuffed with watermelons, groups of Kyrgyz men squatting and wearing their traditional felt hats. I get to walk by cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and children playing in roadside streams. My neighbor kids always greet me with big smiles and say hi. Sometimes I give them high fives or stop to play with them for a few minutes.

On days when I feel confident about my language learning progress, when I converse with locals, or successfully bargain at the bazaar I’m really happy here. I feel empowered and driven and motivated to integrate, to learn, and to do well. My host family has been really supportive and interested in what I’m doing and learning, but they’ve also been really good about giving me my space and alone time.

The other day my sisters and mother went back-to-school shopping and when they got home were really excited to model everything for me. After they were finished my host mom took out this ancient teal green fur coat that she loves and modeled it for me, throwing it over her housedress, strutting back and forth across the room. Then she made me try on Asela’s new clothes to find out what size I am. I mimicked her strut and we all had a good laugh. Eliza, the 3 year old, came running into the room to see what we were doing and she slipped and slid on the rug. Although she was instantly in tears my host mom was desperately trying to conceal her laughter because it was really funny how far she flew. When she couldn’t, she exploded and Asela, Tina, and I couldn’t stop laughing at her, while tiny Eliza remained on the floor pouting, but not really hurt.

Our Friday Night Game Night was supposed to be at my house tonight, but because of the weird scheduling this week, we pushed it back to tomorrow night. It should be fun. I invited our language teacher who’s 23 and the country director, plus the other 9 volunteers from this village. Last week at Meg and Theo’s we made cocktails and played this game where one person leaves the room while the rest decide on a common problem, then the person returns and by asking questions tries to figure out our problem. With Karen guessing, the rest of us acted like a bunch of unruly children. Our problem was that we all thought we were children. It was so funny, and after Tracey and I had given each other “I heart JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas)” tattoos with sharpies, and the rest of the bunch acting in total chaos, Karen gave up and said angrily, “I quit! You’re all being children!”

August 26, 2007

Game night last night was a success! All 10 volunteers plus our 2 LCF’s gathered in my living room and we amused ourselves for 4 hours with games such as Mafia, Psychologist, and Catch Phrase. Everyone brought chips, chocolate, juice, or vodka. The chips here are interesting. We tried chicken flavored, shish-kabob, and cheese last night along with pineapple, cherry, and peach juice.

I think our language teachers really had a good time. Mostly they probably just enjoyed getting out of their host family’s houses and seeing what we all do when we’re not in class or studying. Both of our language teachers are young and are married with very young children that they don’t get to see very often, or at all, during these three months of Pre-Service Training when they are working for the PC. During the school year they are both teachers back in their hometowns of Osh and Bishkek.

Nicole’s 22-year-old host sister, who just returned from Moscow, also joined our party. She was really cool and spoke English very well.

Today we spent the day in Bishkek. 19 of us went. (Did I mention we lost another trainee last week? Sorry Random) 10 current volunteers met us at the PC headquarters and we split into small groups. The headquarters office was super nice. There was a guard outside and we had to sign in. The yard between the entrance and the building was articulately landscaped with beautiful flowers. It’s a one-story building for the medical, financial, Country Director, and other offices, and then behind the main building is a smaller PCV Resource Building. Inside are computers and a wonderful library of books – technical and leisure. As trainees we are not yet allowed to use the computers or borrow tech books, but I got to take a few novels: “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by, Kim Edwards and, “Vanishing Acts” by Jodi Picoult. I’m having such a blast reading non-school-related books because I haven’t had the opportunity to do so in such a long time. It’s fantastic! (If you ever want to send books, I love contemporary fiction stuff/ Oprah’s Book Club. Some of my favorite authors are Anita Shreve, Jodi Picoult, and Toni Morrison – but I love reading new authors too!)



Anyways, yeah, Bishkek was fun today. We went to this amazing Lebanese restaurant for lunch. For 390 soms 3 of us split this 7-course sampler – including salad, olives and pickles, hummus and tahini, naan, falafel, somosa-like filled pastries, a potato dish, and other deliciousness. It was filling but felt really healthy – a refreshing change.

Later we stopped in the center to watch the changing of the guards near the “white-house” parliament building, watch a go-kart exhibition, buy kiwi ice cream, and check out some sculptures in a garden. We also wandered through a 3 story “Beta Store” to buy face wash, bread, minutes for our cell phones, pastries, bottled water, coke, vitamins, and other miscellaneous items. Also in the same building was an Internet café that we patroned for a while.

Oh we also got to check out one of the volunteer’s apartments in the city. The outside of the building was a little sketchy, but inside was decent and roomy – equipped with 3 beds, 2 couches, and a fridge.

I realized I didn’t label any of the pictures I posted last. So Sorry! They were from, as you can probably guess, the Cultural Event Day, a Turkish Wedding, my fellow trainees and family.

August 28, 2007
So the past 2 days have been spent in Bishkek, with current volunteers, seeing what their NGOs are like and how they are working. It has been interesting, and fun to go into the city. The biggest perk for me was the opportunity to eat at a café or restaurant in the city. However, the restaurants today and yesterday were a bit disappointing. Yesterday we ate in a Turkish restaurant. There were 2 items on the menu: beef and chicken kabobs. I got the chicken and it wasn’t bad, but I was craving pizza and had been expecting a slightly more “American” lunch (I feel slightly guilty admitting this).

So as you can imagine, when our host volunteer took us to the “Pizza Inn” today I was ecstatic. When I opened the Pakistani menu I was overwhelmed with choices such as kiwi pizza, a pea/mushroom/kielbasa pizza, chicken legs, filet-o-fish, etc. The picture-book menu advertised such pretty milkshakes that we all went for it. It was unfortunate that we all spent a lot of money (relatively) on food that looked and tasted poorly, and we all had stomach aches after.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s lunch, though I should have probably learned my lesson by now, and should lower my expectations. Our program manager is taking us to the “Golf Club” just outside of the city. She said she recently went for her birthday and she thinks we’ll all enjoy their fabulous hamburgers. Yay.

Ohhh So for all of you who are thinking/ considering making the trek out here to visit, we checked out 3 hotels between yesterday and today. The Hyatt Hotel is located in the heart of the city. They provide shuttle transportation from the airport. The grounds and building are beautiful! It’s definitely a 5 star hotel, fully loaded with a pool and spa, restaurant, bar, cocktail lounge, Kyrgyz gift shop, etc. It’s pricey though; rooms start at $275. Yikes, I know. Breakfast is an extra $10 per person. (We snuck in to use the restrooms, which were amazing! Actual white porcelain toilets that flush, white fluffy toilet paper – it was heaven.)

The Ak Keme Hotel is on the outskirts of the city. It’s probably a 4 star hotel. The grounds and building were also very nice. It’s closer to the mountains so the view is much better. The indoor/ outdoor pools were immaculate. The rates were much more reasonable: $130 for a single, $180 for a double, $210 for a suite. Children under 6 stay free (hint, hint). Brunch included. Very western, English speaking staff, accepts all major credit cards. Gift shop, restaurant, bar, spa, laundry service. Not sure about shuttle service. There are Yurts in gardens outside that you can sit in and drink tea.

The third place we checked out was this cozy hostel-like inn called the Hotel Alpinist. It was also located right downtown. The staff was very friendly and welcoming and lets us check out some rooms. Breakfast, cable, Internet, is all included. Single rooms are only $39 a night! Doubles are $65. This place had really cool photos of Kyrgyz people and places on the hallway walls.

All three of the hotels have websites, so if you’re thinking about it check them out:
www.AkKemehotel.com
www.alpinisthotel.centralasia.kg

Also, once I’m settled people are more then welcome to come visit and stay with me. My goal is to have my own apartment by January, unless I absolutely love my new host family. We are required to live with a host family for the first three months as Peace Corps Volunteers.