Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Growing Pains

Roo has become a feisty “hot dog kitten.” She’s growing long, like one of those hot dog dogs, but she still looks like a baby. When she was little, her people climbing was tolerated because she was so light that it didn’t hurt much but now, at 4 months old, she’s leaving ugly red scratches all over my body. Anti-people-climbing training is underway.

Saint Patrick’s Day came and went uncelebrated. This time last year I was bartending at Senor Flacos and sipping on margaritas…mmmm…

I finally saved enough com to buy a fridge – but last weekend I had a fridge buying fiasco. I spent all day Sunday walking around the entire city looking in all of the new and used appliance stores for a small refrigerator. By mid-afternoon I found the perfect one and even bargained to pay 1,000 com less than the sticker price. After getting it home via taxi then carrying it up to my apartment all by myself I was seriously disappointed when I plugged it in and it didn’t turn on. Luckily I was able to get a local couple to help me take it back to the store the next day and fight for my money back. So now I’m back to square one: fridge-less. Nothing is simple here.

On a brighter note, the weather is awesome. It has been warm and sunny! All of the snow is melted – no big parking lot snowplow piles here – because we don’t have parking lots or plows. I even ventured to wear my flip-flops once, but got some stares, so decided its not quite flip-flop wearing time yet.

My friend Karen moved into a new apartment fully equipped with a washing machine, a fridge, and an aristone! Such luxuries! I took her up on her offer to do my laundry at her place – I’ve washed my clothes in a machine twice in the past 9 months! I have a new and deep appreciation for washing machines. It’s so nice to put on real clean clothes.

I managed to somehow pull my Achilles as soon as spring arrived. I’m not sure when or how I did it, but one day on my way to work I was in so much pain that I could barely walk. So I’ve been trying to rest it which hasn’t been easy to do because I need to walk everywhere for everything.

I got some new books from my mom last week, which look great. Thanks mom! That’s about all that’s new. I’m managing – living day by day. The weeks go by fast. I’m thinking of taking a mini vacation but not sure where yet. I’ve never gone this long without a break before and I’ve been feeling burnt out lately. I think getting away for a while will rejuvenate me. Turkey and Thailand are sounding nice right about now. Anyone want to come or meet somewhere?

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Happy Women's Day to You!

The month of March has been interesting thus far in Kyrgyzstan. One of the biggest holidays here is International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th. Because the 8th was on a Saturday, most people celebrated with co-workers and colleagues on Friday. The flower stands in the center of town were mobbed all day long. Flowers were bought and given to women, along with chocolates, stuffed animals, and other small trinkets. I received a red carnation and a wind chime from my local friend Kanykie, and a small wooden statue of an African looking woman from my tutor.

In honor of Women’s Day the mentor/mentee program at the local university organized a roundtable discussion on bride kidnapping (know as “ala kachuu” here) and showed a short film – Part of Petr Lom’s PBS Documentary. I’m glad I was invited because it was interesting to hear local opinions about this practice, and it got me to thinking about my thesis more.

My little brother turned 4 last week! Happy (Belated) Birthday Nathan!! It was fun hearing about his swimming party at the YMCA and the new Easy Bake Oven he got.

The past few days have been gloriously warm – all of the snow is pretty much melted. The bazaar is much more manageable now. I have a small balcony in my apartment – just big enough to fit one chair. I’ve enjoyed reading out there and soaking in the sun. I let my kitten on the balcony too, but only when I can supervise her. I think she might just be dumb enough to jump off of it after a bird or a fly, not realizing we’re on the top floor.

Cafés have started putting tables and chairs outside again. And some of the seasonal ones are preparing to open. So exciting!

At the end of March we will have another Peace Corps training, this time on Project Design and Monitoring. I have to decide this week who I want to bring with me (it can be anyone from either NGO I work at, who would want to work on a project together).

Old ladies in long skirts, peacock sweaters, head scarves, and orange work vests have been out in full force cleaning up the city. You'd think this would be job for young men, but these ladies get the job done with their homemade brooms. Yesterday on my walk to work I noticed guys on statues scrubbing them clean. And ahh, the smell of buring trash is in the air! All this activity has got me to thinking about Earth Day, which is coming up, and what we could do here...