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 27, 2011
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
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
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