Fish babies?

I am alive. There has been a lot of problems with promise of internet and then being let down. It wasn’t working last week and this week there were too many people on it and it wouldn’t work for anyone. So, here’s hoping that it works this week!
I can feel the effects of massive amounts of nan (bread), sugar in all forms and my (fat… butter, sheep’s fat, etc) forced on me at all times of the day. I do my best to refuse it, but it is always around and my family, well every family at that, want you to eat, eat, eat. As I sit here my stomach is hurting because it is not used to the food. For those of you who know me well know that this is a common occurrence, but there is something that makes it worse being in a foreign land and being worried about possibly passing gas at awkward times. What do I say if I do and it’s loud? What if it stinks? These are questions I have running through my head. I can’t convey to them why my stomach hurts and they won’t really understand why the food is doing it to me. At least I’m not having other problems that some other trainees have had… worrying about making it to the toilet in time. Here’s to hoping that my digestive track with return to normal and I will learn to eat in a manner that my body will be able to adjust to. (I bet many of you were wondering when the BM jokes and stories would start coming… nothing too crazy yet…)
For the good news. Our cat just had kittens a few days ago and they are so cute. Three little ones that are just so tiny. I want them to get big so I can play with them. Chicks are starting to hatch too. I got to hold a yellow one the other day. So exciting. Very very cute.
Tomorrow we are going to an orphanage (our HUB site where all the volunteers meet once a week) and we get to play with the kids and help build things and paint. I am very excited to play Ultimate Frisbee with the kids! It will be a nice break from language training. My head has been spinning and it doesn’t help that today some friends came over before we went for a walk and after I came back my host mom said that one of my friends speaks much better Kyrgyz than I do and that I need to speak more. I try to speak more, but everything I know we have already talked about. Oh well, I just keep saying to myself… “One day this will all make sense.”
So I am keeping a list of the worst things I have eaten in country. Tonight took the cake on the worst food. This is the second time I have had it and I’m a little afraid that this is going to be a common occurrence because they don’t usually repeat foods. The other night I looked at my plate and it looked like fried tongues. They were about the size of a small dog’s tongue. Well my host mom asked me if I knew what they were and of course I didn’t. So she told me in half Kyrgyz have English… saying “Balak babies.” Balak is fish… and babies well we all know what those are. Well it turns out that it was fried fish eggs. They taste like very fishy and salty sand that is slightly crunchy because it’s fried. It disintegrates in your mouth as you bite into it. That did not do well with my bloated belly.
That’s all for now. I’ll return soon with new interesting stories to share.

Ups and downs, but loving it!

Today was an up and down day for me! I started overwhelmed and stressed. I cried in language class several times because I was so frustrated. I sit next to a guy who is learning his sixth language and he said that Kyrgyz is a difficult language to learn. Good job Brooke for starting with this one!! J HA. I have days (but mostly moments because I just started learning it a week ago) when I think that there is no way that I will ever get this, but then I have times when I know I can. My parents always taught me to finish what I started (thanks Mom and Dad) and I’ve only just begun a two + year journey. I love everything about this place. I love the community, I love the small farm in my back yard (I will get more into that soon), I love that I wake up in the morning to see the Tien Shen Mountains in my backyard. It is utterly amazing here. It smells like cow everywhere here (and if you know me well you know that I love that). I have to stop in the road to let a heard of sheep pass by. I can go and study at a friend’s house and it is rude to not stay and have chi (drink tea and eat bread). I believe that this country was made for me! I miss everyone very much, but if I had to go anywhere I’m glad I’m here.

Ok, now about my family. I have a mom and a dad and 5 siblings. Sadly, only my apa (mom in Kyrgyz) lives here during the week. This is really good for me though because two of my sisters speak English very well and I don’t practice Kyrgyz when they are around. My host dad, two host sisters, and host brother come on the weekends. They live in Bishkek so during the week it is just my host mom and me. I do see our communication getting progressively better. She knows less English than I know Spanish so we it has been a challenge. My host dad works there and the kids go to school there. I really enjoy how much the community enjoys the fact that I am trying and want to learn more and they help as much as they can. Not only my host family helps me but everyone everywhere in the village. I got lost (not really lost, but passed my street) today and I was able to communicate to a local where I was trying to go and he helped me. Such a good moment! It gave me hope that I can do this. I have found that the little things are going to be what are going to help keep my spirits up. I have a daily grateful list and everyday I have to find at least one thing that I am grateful for here! It’s really not that hard, but I need to make sure that I’m looking for those things because if I don’t then I will drown in the bad things.

We have many chickens and sheep, a couple goats (2 more after Saturday because new kids were born), a cow, a puppy and a kitten. I am in heaven because when I walk to the toilet in the backyard I have to walk past all of them and they all make me laugh. Also, in the mornings as I’m walking past them I look toward the mountains and it is incredible.

My good thing for Saturday was that it was Banya day. Banya is similar to a sauna, but it’s how they bathe. They sure do know how to do it here. They heat up a room and there are rocks in it that you can pour water on to make steam. You have hot and cold water in there and you mix them. It has a learning curve to figure out how to wash and rinse yourself, but it is amazing. It was hilarious watching my host mom show me how to wash myself and my clothes in there. My host sisters (who both speak English) were both standing on the side laughing with me. I love banya day!!!

Laughter has been my saving grace. When I have a communication block with my host mom we just laugh. It is great that she can do that. We get a little frustrated, but she is very patient with me and understands that I really am trying. I think that this is really going to help me grow and teach me patients for the future.

I will take pictures of where I live and my room. I have kept it really clean. It is amazing how easy it is to keep it clean when you don’t have very much stuff (only a hundred pounds is not that much). Maybe that’s the trick for when I come back to the US… I’ll only have very few things and then it’s hard to be messy because there isn’t very much to be messy with. Hmm… novel idea!

Oooo… Cultural moment. So, I found out that when you say “um…” like most Americans do when they are thinking it is a very bad word here. I need to break that habit, especially when I start to work in a school with children. Most people that I talk to here know that I am learning the language and understand that it’s a nervous habit, but I need to either say “aahh” or “mmm” but not together. My host sisters laugh at me when I say that.

Anyhow… that was a long message. That is the main gist of how life is here for me! The people are amazing and hospitable beyond belief. I love chi (tea) and that’s good because I have at least 7 cups a day (not exaggerating). I love you all and miss you.

Brooke

PS This was a few days ago. A lot has happened since but this one was so long I didn't want to overwhelm people. I am in a safe location for those of you worried.