Sunday, July 31, 2011

July Updates

7/18
Nothing like a crazy Kyrgyz weekend of adventures! I experienced a lot of firsts in honor of Marissa and Bert's Birthdays... eating dog, camping, and discotecha!
1st- dog meat is actually pretty tasty! Very tender meat and the cook at the Korean restaurant knows how to cook delicious meat.
2nd- After having a blast doing awkward dance moves (jazz hands, robot, acting like animals, ect.) at a discotecha in Cholpon- Ata, our group of about 16 spent the night on the beach. The boys made a great bonfire out of the wood we collected that afternoon and then we all passed out after the fire had died. Although it was not an intense camping excursion, I still don't really see myself seeking out another camping adventure any time in the near future. I'd rather sleep with a roof over my head and easy access to a kitchen for breakfast. Bottom line: all and all it was one heck of a weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Fun, laughs, and good times!!
On a not so happy note... it has been confirmed that IST (in service training) conference will be done by oblast instead of the entire country together due to budget cuts. Looking forward to spending time with all the K-19s in my oblast for a week in August but will miss seeing other faces from other oblasts :(
Other than that... looking forward to a week of: tutoring (my russian tutor is also throwing in some Kyrgyz survival language (aka shopping at the bazar and negotiating taxi prices)), project research, maybe enjoying some beach time, and finishing my current book (The Road). Nothing too exciting.

7/27
After spending a week in bed with an awful case of strep throat, I'm now dealing with a VERY full stomach. Yesterday was the first day I felt almost 100% and it was spent at my first Coy Soy (celebratory sheep slaughtering ritual). It was such an awesome day of cultural immersion. I arrived at my host family's extended family's house around 10am (after the sheep had been slaughtered) and helped my host aunt and host mom make the national bread, borsock. Which was followed by a prayer of thanks at a table filled with bread, salads, and cookies. After filling up on that platters of potatoes and various sheep parts (heart, lungs, liver, stomach, kidneys, and ribs) were brought out. Round one of meat was surprisingly not too bad. It was a little nerve racking to eat such foreign foods, but it went over better than expected, unlike round 2. After round 1, we all left the table for break. Little did I know it was only a 5 minute breathers before round 2 (the sheep head (blow torched face), limbs, tail, tongue, and intestines). The face was the better cut of meat from that round. Also part of round two, every volunteer's least favorite kyrgyz dish, bishpar mak (greasy noodle dish with chopped up intestines and various sheep parts). This dish is also consumed by hand rather than utensil. Instead of tea with round two, we drank shorpo mixed with kefir (shorpo- funky tasting sheep broth. Kefir- sour homemade yogurt).
It safe to say that some parts of the sheep taste better than others. I ate almost every part of the sheep minus the brain and ear. This whole process took over 8 hours. Might I also add that a huge part of Kyrgyz culture is hospitality, aka always putting more and more food on the guest's plate. I feel as though I'll never be hungry again or want to eat sheep. Coy Soy is a very interesting part of this country's culture and happy that I got to experience it. This ritual has definitely enriched my cultural views and overall service experience.

7/31
WHERE IS THIS SUMMER GOING?! Can't believe July is over. August is going to be a crazy busy month and fly by faster than a blink of an eye.
Upcoming Events- 1st week- working a health and life skills camp Balykchy followed by a weekend trip to Naryn!
2nd week- spending the week at site getting ready for the rest of the month and enjoying fruit while it's around.
3rd week- conference in Bishkek! (keeping my fingers crossed the 110 degree temp starts dropping drastically)
4th week- IST conference in Karakol
September 1st- MOVING INTO MY OWN APARTMENT! (finally completed the required 3 months of host family life at site)
early september- canning for winter with the site mates! Lots of work ahead to prep for the dreaded winter.
Early september- projects start to kick off in full swing since tourist season/ summer rest season will be over.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

6/3
PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) said all of us need to be proactive about our mental health... so after a successful solo trip to the bazar (bought myself some fruits,veggies, eggs, and tupperwears. Not too exciting) I walked to the beach! Since I guess i'm the only person with nothing to do or the only one who doesn't know where the good beach is, I got to have a private beach party. Nothing like relaxing in the sand, drinking crystal light (thanks to the rents amazing carepack), and listening to the beach boys on my ipod. Mental health status for today: fantastic!
Side note: one perk about living in an apartment complex... full nights of sleep!!!! So far I have not been woken up multiple times a night to dogs barking over nothing or an early wake up call from farm animals!! absolutely heavenly!

6/4
Good time killer… hand washing my laundry even though they have a washing machine. Killed about a solid 2 and a half hours. I’ll be spending the rest of my day attempting to studying and probably going for a walk/ trying to figure out what this city has to offer. Yippee.
-after a relaxing my relaxing afternoon at the park with my ipod and peanuts, I decided to pick up some potatoes at the bazar so I could make home fries and eggs for breakfast. While at the bazar, I stuck up a conversation with the woman selling me my potatoes and she threw in a free onion. Going to use that “I’m a Peace Corps health volunteer and I will live here for 2 years,” line more often!
So excited to meet up with some site mates in Bolstery to check out the baraz tomorrow!!

6/6
“Happy Birthday” mom!! Hope it’s a good one lady! Enjoying an ice cream and the beach to celebrate her day.
BISHKEK TOMORROW!!! Spending the rest of the week at the Issyk-kul hotel for some fun meetings! So excited!!!!

6/11
I returned back to site last night after and amazing few days in Bishkek. The conference was very informative and worth while, now I just need to start writing grants and setting up education classes.
It was so much fun to spend 3 nights in the Issyk-kul Hotel with a bunch of k-18s and some of my k-19s. Not to mention, it was nice to get treated to delicious Kyrgyz food and the option to shower everyday.
After one of our conference days, a bunch of us roamed around the city! I still not an expert on how to navigate the city but at least I know some essential locations (begamot (the closest thing to McDonalds in country), the PC office, and Osh Bazar).
It was so nice to see my friends and spend time living the high life in Bishkek, but now it's time to get productive...

6/17
I officially have a rough draft of my personal two year plan!! I'm so excited to have an idea about the direction I want to take with my service. Now all I need to do is figure out how to make it all happen! Easier said than done.
It's been a great week back at site. I spent time with my sitemate, Lindsey and her visiting family. She took us to the cultural center in Cholpon-Ata. We lucked out and got an English speaking tour guide, so we were able to learn a lot about this fabulous country!
My site mate, Lola, who lives in the village of Sari-Oy (about a 20 minute taxi ride away), had all of us over for a dinner party! She did an amazing job cooking! I know the 6 of us are hoping that North shore dinner parties will become a weekly tradition!
It's finally Issyk-Kul welcome weekend time! So so so excited to meet everyone in the oblast and spend time with some old k19 friends in a beautiful beach house in Bolstery!

6/21
I think Issyk-Kul had the best welcome weekend ever! It was so nice to spend saturday on the beach (even though it was chilly from all the wind and dark clouds). A few of the volunteers were in charge of cooking meals and they all did an amazing job! We all couldn't help but eat too much haha. It was such a relaxing weekend that went by way too fast. Now I need to figure out when I will have time to travel to other parts of the oblast to visit everyone!

6/26
So glad my computer has viruses. One of my sitemate's, Bert, spent over 8 hours working on my computer for the price of omelet ingredients. I need to stick to internet cafes and hope my virus software picks up on things that infect my USB. Gotta love it.
Work at the hospital has been pretty uneventful. I got to sit in on meeting that was conducted in Kyrgyz, so I had no clue about what was going on. Whops. Maybe next time they'll have something in Russian.
Tuesday night was our weekly north shore dinner party and to no surprise it was a fantastic evening filled with Thai food! Sadly, most of the ingredients came from a care pack so it won't be something we'll be able to eat regularly. Either way it was a delicious treat and very generous of Lola to contribute to our meal.
A few of us had a great weekend hanging out in Lindsey's apartyment. The weather was gorgeous but sadly we didn't make it to the beach. Which is probably a good thing because it would have been crowded and we would have draw a lot of unwanted attention. That's life in the PC fish bowl.

7/3
I started Russian tutoring this week and it was rough. My tutor does not speak any English and talks so fast. After one hour I'm completely drained and in need of a nap haha. Lessons are only twice a week, so I guess it could be worse.
I also, started a women's club this week! It's a combo of a 30 minute workout class followed by a quick health lesson. We meet twice a week and so far so fun! I met with the director of the children's village of Cholpon Ata to set up the same concept for their kids and staff members. So, I'll be doing dacne classes for the girls , sports days for the boys boys, and fitness classes for staff members! I'm hoping that it will be as well receipted as my first group. Can't wait!
North Shore dinner was only a small group of us (half of our group was out of town for camps or family visiting). We still had a fun evening and looking forward to having everyone back at site.
Sadly, the weather has been crummy this week. Sunny and warm for a few hours and then cold and rainy. Not ok. My friend from Naryn came to Issyk-kul this weekend and it was unfortunate we all couldn't spend time at the beach but at least we all had fun hanging out at Lindsey's and getting delicious Korean food.
My host sister's 9th bday was this weekend so I made her mini cupcakes with the mini cupcake maker Lindsey inherited from a k17. Even though cookies are everywhere baking anything other than bread is not common thing to do in Kyrgyzstan. They were shocked that I knew how to bake and also interested in the mini cupcakes (since cupcakes don't exist here. Only cakes from the store).
Lindsey has the complete series of “Mad Men” episodes so we've been working on completing season one in our free time. She has successfully hooked me on the show!
Today, Lindsey and I went shopping at the bazar and of course it turned into an adventure. A lady, on vacation from Kazakhstan, asked if she could take a picture with us. Haha she was so excited to get to meet Americans .

7/4
HAPPY 4TH of JULY EVERYONE!!!! Always proud to be an American! Hope everyone has an amazing holiday and enjoys their grill out and fireworks!

7/8
Forth of July was such a blast! A bunch of us got together for some homemade potato salad, watermelon, hot dogs, and our attempt at blizzards! After our stomachs were nice and full it only seemed reasonable to sit on the beach and relax it off. The only thing missing from our mini American celebration was a beautiful display of fireworks (we'll have to buy a bunch at New Years and save them for the next forth of july celebration).
Usual slow week. Got some health work done, read Tina Fey's book, Bossypants, still working on my other book, Diffusion of Innovations, finished season 1 of Mad Men with lindsey, and getting excited to hike the Than Shun Mountains on Saturday with a few of my sitemates! Not a very exciting week but still a good one!
About 7 ½ weeks until I can move into my own apartment!!! So excited to have personal space and quite! Keep your fingers crossed I'm able to find one with a refrigerator (hot water heater would be amazing too but highly unlikely)!

Here is my address (if you send me something just print both the Cyrillic and English off...easier for the post office and will get to me faster.):

For Letters:

КЫРГЫЗСТАН
ОБЛ. ИССЫК - КУЛЬСКИЙ
Р/Н. ИССЫК - КУЛЬСКИЙ
Г. ЧОЛПОН-АТА
ДОВОСТРЕБОВАНИЯ
МЭДЛИН ЭНН МУДРOНИЯ

Madeline Mudronja
OBL. ISSYK-KUL
R/N. ISSYK-KUL
G. CHOLPON-ATA
DOVOSTREBOVANIYA
KYRGYZSTAN


FOR PACKAGES:

КЫРГЫЗСТАН
ОБЛ. ИССЫК - КУЛЬСКИЙ
Р/Н. ИССЫК - КУЛЬСКИЙ
Г. ЧОЛПОН-АТА
ДОВОСТРЕБОВАНИЯ
МЭДЛИН ЭНН МУДРOНИЯ

Madeline Mudronja
OBL. ISSYK-KUL
R/N. ISSYK-KUL
G. CHOLPON-ATA
DOVOSTREBOVANIYA
KYRGYZSTAN

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

6/3
PCMO said all of us need to be proactive about our mental health... so after a successful solo trip to the bazar (bought myself some fruits,veggies, eggs, and tupperwears. Not too exciting) I walked to the beach! Since I guess i'm the only person with nothing to do or the only one who doesn't know where the good beach is, I got to have a private beach party. Nothing like relaxing in the sand, drinking crystal light (thanks to the rents amazing carepack), and listening to the beach boys on my ipod. Mental health status for today: fantastic!
Side note: one perk about living in an apartment complex... full nights of sleep!!!! So far I have not been woken up multiple times a night to dogs barking over nothing or an early wake up call from farm animals!! absolutely heavenly!

6/4
Good time killer… hand washing my laundry even though they have a washing machine. Killed about a solid hour and a half. I’ll be spending the rest of my day attempting to studying and probably going for a walk/ trying to figure out what this city has to offer. Yippee.
-after a relaxing my relaxing afternoon at the park with my ipod and peanuts, I decided to pick up some potatoes at the bazar so I could make home fries and eggs for breakfast. While at the bazar, I stuck up a conversation with the woman selling me my potatoes and she threw in a free onion. Going to use that “I’m a Peace Corps health volunteer and I will live here for 2 years,” line more often!
So excited to meet up with some site mates in Bolstery to check out the baraz tomorrow!!

6/6
“Happy Birthday” mom!! Hope it’s a good one lady! Enjoying an ice cream and the beach to celebrate her day.
BISHKEK TOMORROW!!! Spending the rest of the week at the Issyk-kul hotel for some fun meetings! So excited! Keeping my fingers crossed we hit up osh bazar and the beta store before we head back to site.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Things i'll miss about PST life:
-my host family!!!!
-seeing all of the k19s, PC staff, ect on a regular basis
-hearing the call of prayer multiple times a day
-the view of my different running routes
-kant park and a samsa
-JAM!!!! esp on fresh bread!
-having my days scheduled for me
-all the carbs and grease and sweets at ever meal (JK!)
-being close to so many volunteers
-being able to speak English with people every day/ language


Things I'm looking forward to at site:
-my site mates and life on the north shore!
-not having a 9pm curfew
-cooking for myself (aka not only being fed carbs soaked in grease)
--writing my first successful grant
-improving my language
-getting my secondary project(s) up and running
-being successful with my counterpart and my primary project
-getting an apartment
-visiting other oblasts/ volunteers
-canning party with lindsey and emma
-having volunteers visit me (esp the east shore 4!)
-seeing everyone at mid-service training
-seeing everyone at COS conference in 2 years

“a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”

Sunday 5/29
Today was not a small victory day… it was a big victory day! 10 of us climbed a mountain. My first real hike!! The hills in Athens did not prepare me for the steep incline of this up hill and downhill battle. Who ever said downhill is easy did not do this hike. It was definitely part of the battle haha. Made it. Survived. And glad I did it! Hands down it was worth all of the battle wounds and sun burn. If I can practically scale a mountain I can make it through the next two years, one step at a time. After over 6 hour of hiking I’m looking forward to a good night of sleep!

5/31
I GOT THE BEST CARE PACK EVER! Thank you to my wonderful rents! Hit the jackpot and got the hook up! Nothing beats clothes, dried fruits and nuts from Costco, gummies, and such! A day later I’m still super excited about it and I feel like that it’s not going to wear off any time soon. The fun of yesterday didn’t end there… a drink with some health kids, dinner with the LCF group, and goodbye Kyrgyz bbq with my host family! I cannot believe how fast these past 2 months have gone!
Today, the K-19s had a loverly counterpart conference at the Issyk- Kul hotel (aka best chi breaks ever). Due to my site change this was the first time I met my new counterpart, and she’s great! Surprisingly, I understood more of her Russian than I thought I would be able to. So far, it looks like we’ll be able to work well together.
Tomorrow morning… the US ambassador will swear us in as Peace Corps Volunteers!!! (then off to meeting my new family)

“Everything you want in this world is right outside your comfort zone”

6/2
I’m officially a volunteer!!!! Congrats to all of the K-19s! Thank you so so much to all of the LCFs and PC staff that have worked us to death to make this all possible… Kyrgyzstan here we come!!! Swearing in was such an awesome experience. Even the Japanese ambassador made it out here for it. Big event (PC 50th anniversary) and big names haha. Icing on top of the cake of an exciting day… legit HAMBURGERS at the PC office with staff and volunteers! So much fun and so delish! They even had a frigde filled with American sodas (first time I’ve seen diet coke in country) and American ice cream sandwiches (the amazing kind… chocolate chip cooks and chocolate chips on the side). We’ve only been out of country and really appreciated the taste of America… can’t image next year when the K-20s get sworn in.
I arrive in Cholpon-Ata after sunset and was greeted by a LOUD 2 year old host brother, 8 year old host sister, and 11 year old host brother (who played kamous (a Kyrgyz instrument kind of like a guitar) for me), and my new host mom and grandmother. Big family in an apartment… silver lining… they have a legit flushing toilet!!! Living the dream!
When I woke up this morning, I looked out my window and saw that I have a lake view. The first words out of my mouth, “hello gorgeous.” Great way to start my day, funny girl quote and beautiful lake view! My host mom and sister took me on a tour of the city and to the hospital where I work. They dropped me off for my first day of work (glad she didn’t hold my hand haha). Spent about 2 hours getting acquainted then my counterpart took me to her village for chai and to show me a bazillion pictures. Then she took me back to my house where we consumed more chai and my host mother showed me a bazillion pictures of her family. Let the good times roll.
I’ve only been a volunteer for one day and I’m already exhausted. Thank goodness my counterpart said that in the summer we rest! Good thing I’ll be resting in this beautiful city, but by resting I mean studying Russian, summer camps w/ k-18s, figuring out where everything is, and mapping out projects. Here we goooooo….

check out k-19 swearing in at: www.ustream.tv/channel/k-19

Friday, May 27, 2011

Sunday 5/8
What a great weekend it turned out to be. We were all bumming out about our hiking trip being canceled but ended up arranging our own fun with our first free saturday! The day started off with a great hour and a half run with my running buddy, bri guy! Squeezed in a little internet cafe time and got a sweet new nokia bar phone (yes it's an old school nokia and it's amazing! Never thought i'd own one again but they are all the rage here. So excited to have a phone that will work more than 25% of the time and will receive saftey and security messages!!)
After a short adventure in kant city my two friends and I walked the next village over, Luxenburg, to guest at one of the LCF's host houses. One of the language groups made AMAZING mexican fajitas!!
the fun of the afternoon did not stop there...went back into Kant to an amazing hidden cafe (with lazor lights once the sun goes down and covered patio seating around back) and danced the night away! The safe was definitely entertained by how much fun we were having dancing to michael jackson and pitbull (btw... pitbull is HUGE here. Kyrgyzstan loves him!). Cafe Keremet... we'll be back!

Tuesday 5/10
Tomorrow morning... permanent site visit! I'm so nervous to meet my new host family, my counter part and everyone else at the hospital that i'll be working with, and hoping my village is as awesome as my welcome packet makes it sound! Keeping my fingers crossed!
Today in honor of one of our k19's bdays (happy bday claire!!) a bunch of us went out for a quick bday toast and some amazing cheesy bread. Awesome find in counrty and really hoping we're able to find other places with it around the country. If not we'll have to visit this Georgian cafe a lot throughout or 2 years. It's pretty much the closest thing to motzerella sticks or anything in that category of comfort greasy foods haha (pleanty of oil and grease in the food here but not the same or even close!).

Sunday 5/15
I survived site visit! What a crazy adventure it was from start to finish! I have been placed with a Kyrgyz speaking family in very small and isolated kyrgyz speaking village. That was definitely one of the many factors that made the visit super overwhelming. My village is located right on the base of a mountain and has the most breath taking mountain views in pretty much every direction! The cooler mountain air was such a nice break from the heat in chui.
Throwing out some shot outs to some amazing k18 volunteers who helped me make my site visit go a lot better that it could have gone.
-Andrew... thank you for coming and being my translator with my host family and hospital director! Huge help and was great to get a tour and learn about the village.
-Akash... thank you so much for taking me into karakol city for the afternoon/ welcome get together and making sure I got back to my house safely!
-Kevin... thank you so much for hosting all of the new k19s near and in karakol city. Delicious food and it was great to meet almost everyone in the area.
The 6 hour drive back to bishkek was a lot more fun than the 6 hour drive to site. The east shore 4 (megan, john, matt, and I) shared a taxi and had a blast laughing about all of the crazy awkward moments of our visit. Including megs awesomely hilarious banya experience with her director and other teachers haha at least her rear is thoroughly clean now thanks to her new director hahaha. And for some cultural exchange... John's village slaughted a cow in his honor and then proceeded to have a water fight... welcome to kyrgyzstan enjoy some cow cheek. We all walked away with some great memories.
After being crammed in a cab for 6 hours after a stressful few days we decided, even though we were all super tired, to stop back at cafe keremet for a little before heading home for dinner with our families. A bunch of other volunteers stopped by and we got to laugh some more about awkward moments in country haha. Only in kyrgyzstan! Gotta love it!

Wednesday 5/18
What a week and it's not over yet. Lots and lots of meetings regarding the downfalls of my site placement... crossing my fingers something gets worked out stat!
Silver lining... it's bday week! Happy bday to steve, bob, and casey!
Had a great “only in Kyrgyzstan moment” during my morning run! Ran with almost 100 bulls (thankfully none of them started to charge or else that could have been bad) but it is probably the closet I will get to running with the bulls in Barcelona haha
Yesterday, the health volunteers went into Bishkek for a presentation/ training at the peace corps office! Love trips to the office! We also met our new k18 volunteer trainer... thanks for the baked goods (all of us really appreciate it! So tasty!)
I feel like a lot of my blog is dedicated to my love for food but anyways... while in Bishkek we got a taste of the closest thing to mcdonalds in country, “begamont”. The fries were super crispy and delicious. Ketchup is not the same in country. But the chicken cheese buger hit the spot for sure! Thanks to our health promotion program manager for treating us to lunch! Delish!

Sunday 5/22
I am seriously soooo full right now! The director of programming and training invited the Issyk-kul and naryn k19s to his gorgeous apt in Bishkek for a luncheon! It was super super delicious and all of us ate our weight and then some. It was seriously legit! (might have to go back next weekend and crash the Chui and Talas k19 luncheon haha jk)
After the luncheon, on our way to the marchutka stop, a bunch of us made a pit stop at Alato Square. As if looking American doesn't draw enough attention, we decided to join some local kids and splash around in the fountain! Not going to lie, it was a lot of fun and a great break from the summer heat!

Friday 5/27
Wow it's been a crazy busy but very productive week! Where to beign...
On Tuesday the all of the health volunteers had to teach a health lesson, on a topic of their choice, for 10 year olds. The real kicker... it had to be taught in the local language (aka I had to teach in Russian...ahhhh) it was def very nerve racking but all of us survived and did not get anything thrown at us haha. Now, I know that I can teach kids around the country about tooth brushing in russian! Hopefully, i'm able to learn more technical language so I can teach about other health topics for a potential secondary project!!! Even though it was super stressful, it was hands down a great experience that I'm glad I got before leaving for permanent site.
Speaking of permanent site... I got re- assigned to CHOLPON ATA, ISSYK KUL! I could not be more happy! So many K19s are jealous about the fact that i'm going to a post soviet resort city that has amazing resources and luxuries but they all plan on visiting and hanging out on the beach with me! I will miss being part of the East Shore 4 but i'll will visit them and the Karakol City cluster a lot. Life on the north shore is definitely going to be great, I've entered the posh corps haha.
On Thursday I got to call my family and give them the great news. Always nice to talk with them! They were also very enthusiastic about my new site and eager to come visit!
Thursday was also when I had to present my field work health project (but that was boring so I won't waste blog space on those details haha) Before our presentations we did get to have a mini health k19 party, thanks to our program manager for providing delicious chocolates and “little debbie wannabe” cake thingies.
This week, the k19s had our last PST (pre service training) disco. Sadly, since all of us are busy with projects and studying for our language exam, not a lot of people showed up. Silver lining, we had an awesome group that did show up and there was legit delicious cake!!
I had my language exam this morning... rocked it (sort of). Language is still shaky (normal considering i've only been speaking it for 2 months) but I got a level above where I need to be. Can't wait for the next exam in 6 months haha. So glad I don't have my exam on saturday like some people. Just get to look forward to a saturday of language and an interview with the country director.
Almost forgot to mention... we had a training on how to can and use a rice cooker. Now we can all survive the winter!!! It was very interesting and now I feel like I can actually eat well in country when I finally get to start cooking for myself at permanent site. So excited for the canning party with Lindsey (k18 who also lives in cholpon ata) and emma (who live in the village next to us... only a quick marchutka ride away!).

Count down to swear in...4 days!


FAVORITE MOMENTS IN COUNTRY (so far)...
 skipping rocks with matt on lake issyk-kul with matt on our way to permanent site visit
 sports days
 coming home after a morning run and my host mom asking me if it’s raining. I had to explain that it was not raining but that people get hot when they run so they get sweaty and gross.
 watching my first american movie in country
 helping my host sisters make manti
 watching my host mom and sisters make the lagman noodles (it's impressive)
 chi time with my host mom (these seem to be where my language break throughs happen)
 dancing at cafe keremet with a bunch of k19s
 “the box” in istanbul airport (didnt happen in kyrgyzstan but luke, aaron, and I laugh about it still)
 drooling over all the food we miss (esp that amazing italian dinner in phily)
 “running with the bulls”
 first solo marchutka trip (suprisinly I didn't get lost)
 getting a hot samsa and enjoying it in the shade of Kant park.
 The mountain view in the KR (going to miss my PST village)
 teaching in russian for the first time (yay!)
 signing autographs for 5th form students
 first trip to the peace corps office and the UN house!
 Issyk-kul and naryn oblast luncheon

Friday, May 6, 2011

3/31
I moved into my host family's home after the matching ceremony (aka the most nerve wracking moment of my life). Thankfully, they know some English and have been sooo helpful with language! The family and I each have a russian to english dictionary and that has been a huge help. I've been carrying a small notebook around to write down new words that I learn so it doesn’t go in one ear and out the other. My host mother asked to see my language notes and went over things with me from training (aka I need to work on my spelling and definitely my handwriting).
The food is great! Not sure what i've been eating but I'm enjoying it for sure! The first night, my one of my host sisters made pizza! It really made me feel welcome. My host mother has 4 children (one older son and 3 daughters). Her two youngest daughters live at the house (age 16 and 7). I’ll meet her oldest daughter this weekend when she visits. I played cards with them to practice my numbers (not sure what game we played or what the rules were but I've got my numbers down haha). Almost forgot to mention that I'm living with chickens too haha they live outside of course. All the families in the village have farm animals and uses dogs for security instead of pets.
It's definitely a great experience so far! I feel super overwhelmed in language classes but hopefully after 11 wks (6 times a week) i'll be able to get a good enough grasp on things. My LCF (language/ culture facilitator), Usen, took my group to one of the markets in the village and taught us words for different foods. Fun times.
My ipod has been a great comfort blanket. Nice to listen to familiar sounds. Missed the memo on bringing a kindle and wish I figured out how to get movies on my computer before I left the states. Either way I'm surviving and have lots of studying and host family time to keep me busy. Still don’t have a cell phone and will probably only have internet twice a month. Surprisingly, I don’t feel as disconnected as I thought I would!

4/1
After getting lost on my way back to training after my lunch break, my house mom drew me a map that consisted of the two streets I have to walk down to get from point A and point B. Feel like I’ve mastered my route, just got the rest of the village to cover. Today, Usen gave us a mini village tour and saving the rest of the village for another day. We saw lots of little grocery stores, city hall (where some of last years riots were), pharmacy, hostpital, hair solon, and a billard hall/ café. This village is hopping haha. Even a monument for soldiers that died in WW2 who lived in the village and read in both Kyrgyz and Russian, “Never forget, nothing forgot.”
I haven’t been here that long but have been receiving lots of looks like I don’t fit in. Little kids will point and say what is that, people will go silent when I walk by, and cars will even slow down to check out the American. It’s kind of humorous.
Even though I’ve lost my concept of time, the concept of having language training on a Saturday doesn’t sound fun, especially since I have a mini test. Need to get my study on! Keeping my fingers crossed I get the piece that’s missing for my water filter tomorrow. The emergency water supply in my medical kit is starting to get low and thinking I should probs get more bottled water soonish. So until then I’ll be pounding some tea to stay hydrated. Word among volunteers is that our water purifying tabs are gross. Miss clean tap water and automatically heated water.

4/4
I was enjoying the beautiful spring weather that we've been having until the temperature randomly decided to drop and snow. Hopefully it warms up soon. Oh well. I got to spend the day watching titanic dubbed over in Russian and some other american movies and tv shows. I wish they had english sub titles haha especially today when one of my favorite shows, sex and the city, came one. Guess it'll be my motivation to understand the language. Feel like I have the vocab of a 2 year old.
Today, I definitely realized that I was no longer in the states. On my way to language training in the morning, I almost got stampeded by a bull. Luckily, it slid to a stop a few feet away from me. I was wide awake after that. Then on my way home for lunch break I got chased by an angry dog. Not my day with the animals.
Other than that... just attempting to catch up on sleep and getting into the swing of things here. Crossing my fingers I get my cell phone soon so I can stay in touch with other volunteers outside of my village, not to mention I still need to call home! Also, I need the part to my water filter that I've been missing so I don't use up all of my emergency bottled water and purification tabs. I'm hoping medical has it on Wednesday when I go in for more shots. Fun stuff!

4/5
Woohoo for clean water! My water filter is up and running! Haha
So excited for hub day tomorrow/ aka the first time all 43 of us will be reunited again, after moving in with our host families! Can’t wait to see everyone! Every Wednesday all of the volunteers meet up for culture, safety, and health classes. Should be exciting.
Found out that we won't be getting our phones for probs another 2 weeks. Seriously cannot wait!
I have such a great view! Huge snow covered mountains that put the rocky’s to shame. I can’t believe that it took me almost a week to notice a huge mountain range right in front of me.

4/10
I got 4 more shots on Wednesday but silver lining was they gave us juice boxes again afterward! Yay! It was a lot of fun getting to see everyone that the day went by too fast. That evening we got to go to the internet cafe in Kant city for a quick 10 minutes (was bummed I didn't save a lot of my emails in the right format on my usb for time efficient copy and paste). Oh well it happens. Our LCF took us on a mini tour of the city, including the local bazar. Definitely the biggest highlight of the day was getting mail from my rents! It was a great pick me up.
Thursday was an interesting day. The entire health promotion group got together went to the school in my village to talk about simple healthy lifestyle practices (hand washing, teeth brushing, clean water, ect). Thank goodness we had translators with us or else that could have been a huge mess. The kids had sooo many questions about America and at the end of it asked for all of our autographs. One kid even had us sign his soccer ball.
Friday night I did my laundry for the first time in 2 weeks, all by hand. Yup, it all had to air out on the clothes line. Let’s just say that Victoria’s secret is out in Kyrgyzstan. That was definitely another step out of my comfort zone, gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
So weird how Sunday it was snowing and by Wednesday it was in the 70s. Hopefully the nice weather is here to stay. To switch things up, some of our language lessons have been outside so I'm finally starting to get some color. Saturday afternoon, after language classes, my language group and I went to the school to play some football, as they call it here. A few local kids even came over and joined our “game”. Having fun but can't wait to not have to deal with the language barrier.
One of my family’s chickens seems to have it out for me. Two days in a row it’s tried to attack me. I’m waiting for the day that it’s dinner. Knowing my luck that day won’t be coming home soon. Oh well at least my host family is getting entertainment from me running away from chickens. Haha
Today was a great afternoon! Our K-18 peer mentors organized a sports day for all of us! It was so much fun to hangout with everyone. We sang the American national anthem before our “football” game (not sure how culturally sensitive that was but guess we all needed to not feel so far away from home). We also fit in a game of ultimate Frisbee which got pretty intense. Really hoping it turns into a Sunday afternoon tradition!

4/16
Had a busy and fun week! My language group started a “lunch time rotation.” All of us are living with host families from different cultural backgrounds so we’re getting tastes of foods from different countries. (Uzbeck, Kyrgyz (my host family), Russian, and Turkish). Lots of good food! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it becomes a regular occurance haha.
Wednesday, I finally got my cell phone! It’s a crazy complicated phone but hopefully I figure out how to work it asap! Incoming calls are free for me so skype call me! Soooo exciting to finally be connected with everyone! It’s going to be a fun weekend!
Thursday, the health volunteers got to go into Bishkek for some meetings (women’s health clinic, missionary of health, and Peace Corps office). It was our first time at the Peace Corps office! Super exciting! (high security building!). They have such a beautiful garden outside of the security office and before you walk into the building. Had a great meeting there about the HIV/AIDS situation in country. Learned lots!
Friday, all of the K-19s went into Bishkek for a city tour and PC office tour. Our chaperone took us to an amazing pizza place and then walked us around for a few hours before it was our groups turn to visit the PC office. Since we didn’t see everything we were supposed to our LCF is taking us back for a language and culture lesson next Sunday.
Today, after language and lunch my buddy and I went to the village next to ours (kangesh) to meet up with some volunteers. It was a lot of fun to be out of our village and just relaxing. Also, it was sooo nice to watch my first American movie in country! (been watching too many dubbed over movies and tv shows… was great to finally be able to understand what I was watching!)
Sunday, have our volunteer sports day in Luxenburg! Super excited to play some ultimate Frisbee and football international! Keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t rain!

4/19
I finally got to call home!!!! I got an international sim card and figured out how to activate it! Was really great to catch up with the rents, wish our conversation didn’t fly by so fast! Definitely, a huge highlight for me!
I have a language progress check sometime this week so definitely stressing out about that! Lot’s of studying to do!
Monday after a super stressful day of language my buddy and I went to kangesh for a quick movie and my first coke in country (sadly it was not as good as it is in the states… guess I won’t be drinking a lot of soda here)! It was what we needed before hitting the books.
My host chickens still hate me. So embarrassing that I frequently get attacked by chickens haha my host family is probably getting a kick out of it haha. Gotta love it.
Other than that… looking forward to Bishkek on Sunday/ easter. Also, can’t wait to see how Kyrgyzstan celebrates the holiday! Saturday, all of the K-19s are going to volunteer are going to spend the day volunteering at an orphanage in Kirshulk! Should be a fun time!
Missing everyone in the states and hope all is well!!!! Thinking of everyone!

4/22/11
So, I pretty much think tonight has been the best night in country thus far! All day language training, was definitely killer and stressful, but we all survived it. After language, all of the volunteers celebrated Lennon’s Birthday but cleaning up our village for a few hours (As if we didn’t already stand out, just have us pick up trash for a few hours haha). After trash pick up, my new running buddy and I went to kangesh for a quick visit! So much fun!! One of the volunteers got an Easter care package and shared! American candy and snacks have never tasted so good!
Tomorrow, all of the K-19s will be volunteering at an orphanage in Kirshulk (painting, cleaning, ect.). Afterwards… sports with the kids. Should be a fun day.
Sunday, my language group will be going to Bishkek for a language/ culture lesson in the morning. Followed by celebrating Easter with our host families!! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a chocolate bunny!

4/25
Saturday, was a lot of work and a lot of fun! We painted and cleaned up the orphanage playground, helped set up a volleyball court, brought a bunch of candy, cookies, and juice for the kids, and played games with the kids in the afternoon. Afterwards a bunch of us went to our favorite café in Kant City for some… PIZZA! So delish!
I got to call home for my dad’s birthday and a Happy Easter! Was great to catch up with the rents and hear about life in the states
Sunday, was a busy day. My language group went into Bishkek to go to the 3 big bazars in country, they were packed!! It was a great cultural experience and of course great way to practice some of our language. I was able to get a few summer tops (packed a ton of winter and didn’t really come prepared for the hot spring/ summer weather). It’s April and in the 90s… not looking forward to experiencing the heat of August. Modest business causal is not the best for summer. Especially, in a small crowded marshutka without windows.
We ate a delicious lunch at a café in Bishkek. I got lamb since it’s an Easter tradition in my family. It wasn’t as good as my mother’s but still hit the spot.
Sadly, my host family did not celebrate Easter. I missed out on that cultural experience but got to hear about other trainees experiences. Oh well… still have time to experience other holidays.

4/28
Sooo excited! Finally, had my first real time convo with a friend from America, Miss Lauren Zimmerman! Definitely, a highlight for me! So much better than facebook messages. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out the time difference with others from the states and get in touch with more people asap!
We had our language progress midterm exam this week. Had to take mine while being sick but thankfully I still did well! Still have a long way to go but moving in the right direction! Would not be where I am with language without my family and LCF always helping me! I can definitely say that I’m surrounded by a lot of supportive people in country and know that I have people back at home rooting for me as well.
Being sick in country is not fun! Throwing up in an outhouse is worse than throwing up in a toilet in the states. So glad I was feeling better the next day! Survived my first time being sick in country and crossing my fingers it doesn’t happen again for a long long time.
Wednesday (4/27), we had our k-19 disco!!! SOOO much fun to let loose with everyone for once. The peace corps staff was probably loving how excited we were getting about all the fresh fruits they bought for all of us. I had my first kiwi ever, and it was kind of tastey! Lots of fun, laughs, and good times for sure! I know all of us are hoping we get to more discos in the future! That night will probably be one we’ll remember throughout and after our service.

Thinking of everyone in America and hope all is well!!!

5/1
Culture day was a great success on Saturday. Lots of cultural exchange! Each language group put together a skit about Kyrgyz culture (my Russian speaking group of course focused on Russian culture). They were all really entertaining and everyone did an awesome job speaking the language. Also, each language group made a traditional dish to share with everyone. My group made Palmeanie (a tortilini type thing stuffed with meat and onion). I had to read the recipe in front of everyone, in Russian. Omg, I was sooo nervous (thank goodness only stumbled over a 2 words, could have been a lot worse).
A bunch of groups from around the country came and performed as well. We got to hear a lot of readings from the epic of Manas, listen to national instruments and songs, and even saw a few skits about Kygyz folk tales! It was very interesting!
Yes, afterwards a bunch of us went into Kant City! Always a good time! This time we went to a different café, attempting to explore the area. We had a great group but were probably were a little loud for Kyrgyz culture. Thankfully we were the only people in the café so it wasn’t too too bad. All of us are working on not being the loud American we are used to being. Hopefully, we’ll get there soon.
So excited for sports day tomorrow! My village is hosting it so hopefully there will be a good turn out and nice weather!
When I came home in the early evening I got to have my first experience with cooking in my host family’s kitchen! We made a Kyrgyz food, Montey (it’s like a streamed pot sticker (it can also be fried) stuffed with meat, onion, and potato). Mine didn’t look at presentable as my sister’s but it was a lot of fun to hangout with them and be included. Later, at dinner my host mom offered to help me find a Kyrgyz husband haha. She said I’m 22 and a beautiful woman that I need one. I told her no thank you I was good for now haha (Women get married around age 18-23… anything past 25 is rare and considered very old).

5/4!
SITE PLACEMENT ANOUNCEMENTS!!!!!! SOOOO EXCITED! Before the start of hub day the Peace Corps staff drew a giant map of Kyrgyzstan in the parking lot and called us each out by program to our oblast! It was such a pleasant surprise! I did not think I would be going to Issyk- Kul since a lot of people wanted to go there but that is where I am headed!
I will spending the next two years in Issyk Kul oblast in the village of Taldy Suu!!!! It’s about a half hour from the lake and a half hour from Karakol city!! I’ll be in the mountains, so I’ll be looking at some great skiing in the winter! My village is about 10,000 and beautiful! I have 4 site mates about 15-20 minutes away and there are a bunch of volunteers in Karakol! So excited to not be super isolated!
Most importantly, I have such an amazing assignment! I will be working for a Family Group of Physicians that works with 10 other surrounding villages. I will be working on campaigns of health promotion such as: nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, disease prevention (TB, alcoholism, heart disease, STDs, HIV/AIDS, ect), oral hygiene, and reproductive health and protection of mother/ baby health. Sounds like I’ll be busy busy! I can’t wait to meet my counterpart and start working (hopefully my language skill catch up asap so I can be more efficient as a volunteer). I am going to be the 2nd volunteer at my site.
Next, Tuesday I will meet my next host family and spend some time at site (Wednesday through Saturday). I have 4 awesome site mates about 15-20 minutes apart, and could not be more excited about that. Was nervous about being super isolated but this will definitely be manageable. We’re already planning beach days! Hopefully, I will still be as excited, if not more excited, as I am right now about my site, after the visit!

5/6

Such an awesome week! Had a fun night in Kant on Monday, followed by site placement of Wednesday, and Thursday was fabulous!
Thursday, I started off the day with a great hour long run at 6am. That was followed by a quick phone call home to share the excitement of my placement and to quickly catch up. Then I had to book it to a fun filled morning of language class. Lunch at my LCF’s house was delicious as always! We ate 2 different salads and ormoe (a lasagna type dish: layers of “wanton” with either meat or green onion). I can definitely say that I’m a fan of the food, for sure! After lunch all of the health volunteers went into Bishkek for the 2nd time this week. (Tuesday, we went to the national TB hospital and got to go in the lab and all around the campus. Very interesting. And we got to meet up with Business volunteers for a delicious chinese lunch!) Thursday’s trip was to the UN House!!! As of now, it’s been one of my favorite field trips! After turning in our passport at the security office to get into the building we got to wear special id badges to open gates and doors. We all felt super legit! One of the National Program Analysist’s for UNFPA (united nations populations fund) gave a great lecture of mother and baby health in Kyrgyzstan. Hopefully, I will get to work with them on a project they have going on in my new village in Issyk Kul.
After our Bishkek trip, a group of us met up in Kangesh for a little Cinco DeMayo party. We all chipped in for ingredients to make some delish Mexican food. Sadly, the 9pm cerfew rolled around way too soon. Thursday, was also Kyrgyz Constitution Day, so my host sisters got to stay home from school.
Today, Friday, has been a gross day weather wise. Cold and rainy. We had language and a tech session. Silver linings: my host mom made us my favorite Kyrgyz dish for lunch (lagman – home made noodles with a very tomato and spicy thin sauce with meat and veggies). Also, during our tech session we got to go the magazine next to the government building and get ice cream!
I’m looking forward to a much needed chill night of dinner with the host family followed by sweat pants and a movie.
Saturday, we were supposed to be going to Issyk Cta Resort for hiking and hanging out. Sadly, it is snowing in the mountains so the resort is closed for the weekend (weather here is so weird). Hopefully, we reschedule our trip. At least we get to enjoy a free Saturday!
Did I mention that my host family now has 25 new baby chicks! Super cute but now I get to look forward the those growing up and worrying about them attacking me on my way to the out house hahaa

Saturday, April 23, 2011


3/31
I moved into my host family's home after the matching ceremony (aka the most nerve wracking moment of my life). Thankfully, they know some English and have been sooo helpful with language! The family and I each have a russian to english dictionary and that has been a huge help. I've been carrying a small notebook around to write down new words that I learn so it doesn’t go in one ear and out the other. My host mother asked to see my language notes and went over things with me from training (aka I need to work on my spelling and definitely my handwriting).
The food is great! Not sure what i've been eating but I'm enjoying it for sure! The first night, my one of my host sisters made pizza! It really made me feel welcome. My host mother has 4 children (one older son and 3 daughters). Her two youngest daughters live at the house (age 16 and 7). I’ll meet her oldest daughter this weekend when she visits. I played cards with them to practice my numbers (not sure what game we played or what the rules were but I've got my numbers down haha). Almost forgot to mention that I'm living with chickens too haha they live outside of course. All the families in the village have farm animals and uses dogs for security instead of pets.
It's definitely a great experience so far! I feel super overwhelmed in language classes but hopefully after 11 wks (6 times a week) i'll be able to get a good enough grasp on things. My LCF (language/ culture facilitator), Usen, took my group to one of the markets in the village and taught us words for different foods. Fun times.
My ipod has been a great comfort blanket. Nice to listen to familiar sounds. Missed the memo on bringing a kindle and wish I figured out how to get movies on my computer before I left the states. Either way I'm surviving and have lots of studying and host family time to keep me busy. Still don’t have a cell phone and will probably only have internet twice a month. Surprisingly, I don’t feel as disconnected as I thought I would!

4/1
After getting lost on my way back to training after my lunch break, my house mom drew me a map that consisted of the two streets I have to walk down to get from point A and point B. Feel like I’ve mastered my route, just got the rest of the village to cover. Today, Usen gave us a mini village tour and saving the rest of the village for another day. We saw lots of little grocery stores, city hall (where some of last years riots were), pharmacy, hostpital, hair solon, and a billard hall/ café. This village is hopping haha. Even a monument for soldiers that died in WW2 who lived in the village and read in both Kyrgyz and Russian, “Never forget, nothing forgot.”
I haven’t been here that long but have been receiving lots of looks like I don’t fit in. Little kids will point and say what is that, people will go silent when I walk by, and cars will even slow down to check out the American. It’s kind of humorous.
Even though I’ve lost my concept of time, the concept of having language training on a Saturday doesn’t sound fun, especially since I have a mini test. Need to get my study on! Keeping my fingers crossed I get the piece that’s missing for my water filter tomorrow. The emergency water supply in my medical kit is starting to get low and thinking I should probs get more bottled water soonish. So until then I’ll be pounding some tea to stay hydrated. Word among volunteers is that our water purifying tabs are gross. Miss clean tap water and automatically heated water.

4/4
I was enjoying the beautiful spring weather that we've been having until the temperature randomly decided to drop and snow. Hopefully it warms up soon. Oh well. I got to spend the day watching titanic dubbed over in Russian and some other american movies and tv shows. I wish they had english sub titles haha especially today when one of my favorite shows, sex and the city, came one. Guess it'll be my motivation to understand the language. Feel like I have the vocab of a 2 year old.
Today, I definitely realized that I was no longer in the states. On my way to language training in the morning, I almost got stampeded by a bull. Luckily, it slid to a stop a few feet away from me. I was wide awake after that. Then on my way home for lunch break I got chased by an angry dog. Not my day with the animals.
Other than that... just attempting to catch up on sleep and getting into the swing of things here. Crossing my fingers I get my cell phone soon so I can stay in touch with other volunteers outside of my village, not to mention I still need to call home! Also, I need the part to my water filter that I've been missing so I don't use up all of my emergency bottled water and purification tabs. I'm hoping medical has it on Wednesday when I go in for more shots. Fun stuff!

4/5
Woohoo for clean water! My water filter is up and running! Haha
So excited for hub day tomorrow/ aka the first time all 43 of us will be reunited again, after moving in with our host families! Can’t wait to see everyone! Every Wednesday all of the volunteers meet up for culture, safety, and health classes. Should be exciting.
Found out that we won't be getting our phones for probs another 2 weeks. Seriously cannot wait!
I have such a great view! Huge snow covered mountains that put the rocky’s to shame. I can’t believe that it took me almost a week to notice a huge mountain range right in front of me.

“If there ever comes a day when we can't be together keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever” Winnie the pooh

4/10
I got 4 more shots on Wednesday but silver lining was they gave us juice boxes again afterward! Yay! It was a lot of fun getting to see everyone that the day went by too fast. That evening we got to go to the internet cafe in Kant city for a quick 10 minutes (was bummed I didn't save a lot of my emails in the right format on my usb for time efficient copy and paste). Oh well it happens. Our LCF took us on a mini tour of the city, including the local bazar. Definitely the biggest highlight of the day was getting mail from my rents! It was a great pick me up.
Thursday was an interesting day. The entire health promotion group got together went to the school in my village to talk about simple healthy lifestyle practices (hand washing, teeth brushing, clean water, ect). Thank goodness we had translators with us or else that could have been a huge mess. The kids had sooo many questions about America and at the end of it asked for all of our autographs. One kid even had us sign his soccer ball.
Friday night I did my laundry for the first time in 2 weeks, all by hand. Yup, it all had to air out on the clothes line. Let’s just say that Victoria’s secret is out in Kyrgyzstan. That was definitely another step out of my comfort zone, gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
So weird how Sunday it was snowing and by Wednesday it was in the 70s. Hopefully the nice weather is here to stay. To switch things up, some of our language lessons have been outside so I'm finally starting to get some color. Saturday afternoon, after language classes, my language group and I went to the school to play some football, as they call it here. A few local kids even came over and joined our “game”. Having fun but can't wait to not have to deal with the language barrier.
One of my family’s chickens seems to have it out for me. Two days in a row it’s tried to attack me. I’m waiting for the day that it’s dinner. Knowing my luck that day won’t be coming home soon. Oh well at least my host family is getting entertainment from me running away from chickens. Haha
Today was a great afternoon! Our K-18 peer mentors organized a sports day for all of us! It was so much fun to hangout with everyone. We sang the American national anthem before our “football” game (not sure how culturally sensitive that was but guess we all needed to not feel so far away from home). We also fit in a game of ultimate Frisbee which got pretty intense. Really hoping it turns into a Sunday afternoon tradition!

4/16
Had a busy and fun week! My language group started a “lunch time rotation.” All of us are living with host families from different cultural backgrounds so we’re getting tastes of foods from different countries. (Uzbeck, Kyrgyz (my host family), Russian, and Turkish). Lots of good food! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it becomes a regular occurance haha.
Wednesday, I finally got my cell phone! It’s a crazy complicated phone but hopefully I figure out how to work it asap! Incoming calls are free for me so skype call me! Soooo exciting to finally be connected with everyone! It’s going to be a fun weekend!
Thursday, the health volunteers got to go into Bishkek for some meetings (women’s health clinic, missionary of health, and Peace Corps office). It was our first time at the Peace Corps office! Super exciting! (high security building!). They have such a beautiful garden outside of the security office and before you walk into the building. Had a great meeting there about the HIV/AIDS situation in country. Learned lots!
Friday, all of the K-19s went into Bishkek for a city tour and PC office tour. Our chaperone took us to an amazing pizza place and then walked us around for a few hours before it was our groups turn to visit the PC office. Since we didn’t see everything we were supposed to our LCF is taking us back for a language and culture lesson next Sunday.
Today, after language and lunch my buddy and I went to the village next to ours (kangesh) to meet up with some volunteers. It was a lot of fun to be out of our village and just relaxing. Also, it was sooo nice to watch my first American movie in country! (been watching too many dubbed over movies and tv shows… was great to finally be able to understand what I was watching!)
Sunday, have our volunteer sports day in Luxenburg! Super excited to play some ultimate Frisbee and football international! Keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t rain!

4/19
I finally got to call home!!!! I got an international sim card and figured out how to activate it! Was really great to catch up with the rents, wish our conversation didn’t fly by so fast! Definitely, a huge highlight for me!
I have a language progress check sometime this week so definitely stressing out about that! Lot’s of studying to do!
Monday after a super stressful day of language my buddy and I went to kangesh for a quick movie and my first coke in country (sadly it was not as good as it is in the states… guess I won’t be drinking a lot of soda here)! It was what we needed before hitting the books.
My host chickens still hate me. So embarrassing that I frequently get attacked by chickens haha my host family is probably getting a kick out of it haha. Gotta love it.
Other than that… looking forward to Bishkek on Sunday/ easter. Also, can’t wait to see how Kyrgyzstan celebrates the holiday! Saturday, all of the K-19s are going to volunteer are going to spend the day volunteering at an orphanage in Kirshulk! Should be a fun time!
Missing everyone in the states and hope all is well!!!! Thinking of everyone!

“You never really leave a place or person you love, part of them you take with you, leaving a part of yourself behind”