Today I have been in country for exactly 4 months. Time sure is flying by. I’m sure there is so much that I could talk about, but all of this has become normal to me and there are so many things are no longer new. I am going to a camp that some volunteers are putting on near the lake next week. I am excited to leave my oblast and see something new. It is a journalism camp and the students are going to write articles about a topic that they are given. I believe this is going to be a great camp. Everything I have heard about the place where we are going to stay at is pretty awesome. It is right on the lake and when we aren’t doing sessions the kids (and we) can play in the water and play sports. AND… I think there are showers, so that is nice. It is weird to think about, but I’m getting used to not bathing everyday, but the thought of a hot shower sounds so great! The best part of it is that they worked it into the budget that we don’t have to pay for our own transportation. That’s really great since it is pretty expensive to get out there. I just figured it out that I get paid a little over $6 a day and that includes paying for EVERYTHING. I pay rent, food, utilities, transportation, entertainment… anything I want to do. And I get paid over twice as much as a normal teacher here. Teachers here (just like in most places) get paid so little. Actually, most service jobs here get paid very minimally. Doctors, teachers, cops… are all some of the least paid jobs. Being a taxi driver you make probably the most. It really makes me sad. Wow this paragraph took a huge detour!!
I have been eating watermelon so much lately. Living in America you don’t really thing about things being in season very much. There are a few foods that you usually only can get seasonally, but you can get most produce year-round. Here that is not the case at all. Right now there is a lot of produce at the bazaar including melon, apricots, plums, apples, tomatoes, cucumbers… I know that in the fall the squashes will come out. But come winter all there will be in the bazaar is potatoes, carrots, and onions. We will be working on my creativity on what I will be eating. Right now I eat most of my meals with my host family, but I might go insane in the winter only eating meat and potatoes. I don’t like either enough to only eat that. Even right now I’m not really getting enough protein because they just boil all the meat together in one pot and I have such a hard time with eating animal fat and all the gristle that sheep has in it I feel like I’m chewing for days. I do eat homemade yogurt everyday and my host mom will make me fried eggs sometimes, but it’s still hard. The other day I went to the local restaurant with another volunteer and I got a full meat platter (which for me is very uncommon) just because I was craving it so much. It was delicious. It was something that actually had flavor!
Everyday is a new experience and I learn so much about their culture but also about myself. As I write these blog updates I really want to paint a true picture of my life here. I’m going to be honest, some days it is really difficult and there are a lot of things from America that I miss terribly. But then, like today… I really was having a hard day and I was tired and I got a letter from home, and then I had a really great meeting with a counterpart and my host nieces started practicing English with me and were so excited to learn and, and, and. There is always something to pull me up and realize that this is very worth being here. I do get lonely, and tired, and frustrated, but the good outweighs the bad tenfold and I realize that I am lucky to be here.
So, if you want to make my days better you are more than welcome to write me letters and better yet send me packages. I do love getting packages. There are flat rate boxes at the postoffice and you can fit as much as you can into the box and send it off for one price. Here is my address again if you are inclined to send me something.
Brooke Huddleston
722600, Naryn Oblast
At-Bashy Rayon, At-Bashy Village
Ity Sylimanov St.
Kyrgyzstan
Кыргызстан
Ин. 722600, Hарын Oбл.
Aт–башы Pайону, Aт–башы Aйылы
yп. Aйты Cулайманов
Брук Хаддлстон
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
My life as a volunteer
A fellow volunteer’s parent just came to visit her and it made me start to think about how normal my life has become. Everything they experienced was new and different to them. Being here for almost 4 months now has already changed me. Here is a list that I have created of things that I’ve noticed that have become normal to me:
• Using an outhouse as my regular toilet and not sitting down to go to the bathroom (I really thought that one was going to bother me a lot more)
• Drinking chi 5+ times a day… I realized that I miss it when I go to volunteer’s apartments who don’t live with a host family.
• Not having a clue what is going on about 90% of the time. Conversations are really hard to follow when they are speaking at a normal pace.
• Re-wearing the same clothes over and over again because it is not easy to hand wash your clothes (I have only washed my jeans once and that’s because I got sick on them).
• Dinner at 9 pm or later. The Kyrgyz people eat dinner really late.
• Being offered 20 sheep to marry someone’s brother/son…
• Having people show up and live with my family for a month or so and then leave for a month or so.
• Hearing strange reasons why I am or someone else is sick… someone just told me they were sick because they were just in hot Bishkek and then came back to Naryn where it’s cold (it’s about 70 here). Or sitting on the ground will make me sick.
• Or the opposite where something will make me strong and healthy… like eating sheep fat… pretty much anything I don’t like is something that will make me strong and healthy (that reminds me of when I was a kid and when I didn’t like something my dad told me it was the best part… thanks Dad). I get told everyday that I’m too skinny and I need to fatten up to be healthy during the cold winters here.
• Watching my little host niece drink out of the spoon that serves the milk for tea then puts it back in the bowl.
• N ever wearing seatbelts. It scares the crap out of me, but you can’t wear one when there isn’t one to wear.
• Knowing exactly where most of your food comes from (this one is a really awesome one!!).
• The best homemade bread… everyday. One of my favorite things since being in country is eating fresh hot bread and tea. It is amazing. That will make up for all the food I don’t like here.
• Waking up to chickens crowing, the calf mooing, and the baby horse naying out my bedroom window.
• Watching an American movie that has been dubbed in Russian. Luckily they are usually poorly dubbed and I can still hear a little English and can get the gist of what’s going on. ( I watched “Harry Potter” or “Gary Potter” as they call him in Russian with my host niece tonight)
These are just a few of the great experiences I have quite often here in Kyrgyzstan. I am so lucky to be able to experience all of this. There is good and there is bad, but I am learning to love it all because that’s the only way I can learn from it all!
• Using an outhouse as my regular toilet and not sitting down to go to the bathroom (I really thought that one was going to bother me a lot more)
• Drinking chi 5+ times a day… I realized that I miss it when I go to volunteer’s apartments who don’t live with a host family.
• Not having a clue what is going on about 90% of the time. Conversations are really hard to follow when they are speaking at a normal pace.
• Re-wearing the same clothes over and over again because it is not easy to hand wash your clothes (I have only washed my jeans once and that’s because I got sick on them).
• Dinner at 9 pm or later. The Kyrgyz people eat dinner really late.
• Being offered 20 sheep to marry someone’s brother/son…
• Having people show up and live with my family for a month or so and then leave for a month or so.
• Hearing strange reasons why I am or someone else is sick… someone just told me they were sick because they were just in hot Bishkek and then came back to Naryn where it’s cold (it’s about 70 here). Or sitting on the ground will make me sick.
• Or the opposite where something will make me strong and healthy… like eating sheep fat… pretty much anything I don’t like is something that will make me strong and healthy (that reminds me of when I was a kid and when I didn’t like something my dad told me it was the best part… thanks Dad). I get told everyday that I’m too skinny and I need to fatten up to be healthy during the cold winters here.
• Watching my little host niece drink out of the spoon that serves the milk for tea then puts it back in the bowl.
• N ever wearing seatbelts. It scares the crap out of me, but you can’t wear one when there isn’t one to wear.
• Knowing exactly where most of your food comes from (this one is a really awesome one!!).
• The best homemade bread… everyday. One of my favorite things since being in country is eating fresh hot bread and tea. It is amazing. That will make up for all the food I don’t like here.
• Waking up to chickens crowing, the calf mooing, and the baby horse naying out my bedroom window.
• Watching an American movie that has been dubbed in Russian. Luckily they are usually poorly dubbed and I can still hear a little English and can get the gist of what’s going on. ( I watched “Harry Potter” or “Gary Potter” as they call him in Russian with my host niece tonight)
These are just a few of the great experiences I have quite often here in Kyrgyzstan. I am so lucky to be able to experience all of this. There is good and there is bad, but I am learning to love it all because that’s the only way I can learn from it all!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Cherry spit
Today my host mom, niece, and I pitted cherries for cherry jam and I just kept thinking about all the hours we spent over the years picking and pitting the cherries from our tree for cherry pie. These cherries are very similar in size but they are the color of bing cherries. Just think of how messy that got with a 10 year old helping. It was fun. We got into a race at one point. I really like doing things like that with my family because it gives me a really great opportunity to work on my language and bond with them. My host mom is really patient and helpful with language. She really lets me try to get my words out without interrupting me which is really good for me! I taught them the words for cherry, pit and spit because I was asking them what the words were and then they did the same for English, we for cherry and pit. Then one sprayed my host mom in the face and so I taught spit. “Cherry Spit” hahaha. Oh… another funny story. My host niece was asking how to say “I’m hungry” in English then she went around the house saying it until we were finished. Then after she stopped for a while she said it again but this time she said “I’m hundred.” We got a good laugh from that one. She always say’s “Oh my god” too. It always makes me laugh because I never expect it. I didn’t teach her that one though. I have been teaching her soccer and showing her my mad skills. It is good to have someone to play with because there are times when I know I should get out of my room, but I just don't want to. Having a child knocking at your door makes it easier to get out and play games and be active!
Friday, July 16, 2010
9 hour hike!!!
I went on hike last weekend. The peak I hiked is called, “Ala Mushuk” which means Spotted Cat. I guess it looks like a cat from the air. Some people tried to show me the part of the cat from the ground and I didn’t see it, but oh well. All I know is that it took the five of us nine hours to do the whole hike. That included stopping for at least 20-30 minutes at the top to let a rain storm to pass and then we hiked down (slid on my butt) on wet ground. It was such a beautiful hike though and it was amazing to see Naryn City from way up high. I was with four boys. For most of the hike I was stay with them until the second half of the end when we kind of lost our original path and had to go down in the trees and it felt like the ground was at a 35-45 degree angle. When we got back I was s exhausted, but at least I can now say that I have hiked the spotted cat. The worst part was though, was that I lost my camera up there. So, I won’t be getting many pictures for a while. (I got these pictures from a friend)
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This is the view of Naryn City
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This is four of the five of us waiting for the rain to go away so we could hike down. It was so cold and wet! Great memories!
Language keeps on going. I am trying to laugh at everything because it is making the process so much less stressful. Yesterday I was at a friend’s house for dinner and I was talking to her host father. He told me that I understand less than my friend Kris does and then I had to translate to her what he said. Ha… it’s all on perspective on how much language you know. A week ago I talked to a local guy who works at the restaurant we go to about once a week and we talked only in Kyrgyz for almost 20 minutes and I only had to ask him to repeat a couple times. I do feel a big difference in my understanding, but my ability to respond is not so great. This winter is really going to be good for my language because it will be so cold and snowy out that I will want to spend all my time in my house with my family. Especially since it will be so difficult to travel.
I am really starting to make some great friends and we are making plans to do some traveling. This summer I will be going to the lake. Actually in about two weeks I will be going there because we are going to be doing a journalism camp. It will be good to see other parts of the country. After I go there there is only one more oblast that I haven’t gone to (that we are allowed to go to at this time… we can’t go to the south because of the instability there).
This country is full of surprises. I don’t know if it is because I just don’t understand what is going most of the time and people talk about things and I just don’t hear it or people and things really just show up and disappear without any notice. I have a feeling it’s the second one. One really good surprise happened today. Usually my family does banya (how we bathe) on Saturdays and it can be anywhere from 2-3 weeks between them. Well today is Friday and I came home from being away for a week and we were having banya. Best surprise ever since it has been about over a week since I washed my hair and it was starting to smell bad and look like it was permanently wet. Another great surprise was when I came home rather than just my host mom and dad there was my host brother and his wife and one of my host sisters and her two daughters (one of which I had never met). They have the same birthday and it is today, so that is why everyone was here. It is hard when you want to be alone and there is a house full of people, but it was ok. I played some soccer with the girls and I watched them try to play “Counter Strike.” It totally brought me back to my sophomore year in college and watching the boys on the floor above me play. It’s amazing how small the world is and how many things here are the same as in America.
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This is the view of Naryn City
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This is four of the five of us waiting for the rain to go away so we could hike down. It was so cold and wet! Great memories!
Language keeps on going. I am trying to laugh at everything because it is making the process so much less stressful. Yesterday I was at a friend’s house for dinner and I was talking to her host father. He told me that I understand less than my friend Kris does and then I had to translate to her what he said. Ha… it’s all on perspective on how much language you know. A week ago I talked to a local guy who works at the restaurant we go to about once a week and we talked only in Kyrgyz for almost 20 minutes and I only had to ask him to repeat a couple times. I do feel a big difference in my understanding, but my ability to respond is not so great. This winter is really going to be good for my language because it will be so cold and snowy out that I will want to spend all my time in my house with my family. Especially since it will be so difficult to travel.
I am really starting to make some great friends and we are making plans to do some traveling. This summer I will be going to the lake. Actually in about two weeks I will be going there because we are going to be doing a journalism camp. It will be good to see other parts of the country. After I go there there is only one more oblast that I haven’t gone to (that we are allowed to go to at this time… we can’t go to the south because of the instability there).
This country is full of surprises. I don’t know if it is because I just don’t understand what is going most of the time and people talk about things and I just don’t hear it or people and things really just show up and disappear without any notice. I have a feeling it’s the second one. One really good surprise happened today. Usually my family does banya (how we bathe) on Saturdays and it can be anywhere from 2-3 weeks between them. Well today is Friday and I came home from being away for a week and we were having banya. Best surprise ever since it has been about over a week since I washed my hair and it was starting to smell bad and look like it was permanently wet. Another great surprise was when I came home rather than just my host mom and dad there was my host brother and his wife and one of my host sisters and her two daughters (one of which I had never met). They have the same birthday and it is today, so that is why everyone was here. It is hard when you want to be alone and there is a house full of people, but it was ok. I played some soccer with the girls and I watched them try to play “Counter Strike.” It totally brought me back to my sophomore year in college and watching the boys on the floor above me play. It’s amazing how small the world is and how many things here are the same as in America.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July.
Happy 4th of July all!! I am sad I don't get to barbecue and watch the fireworks with my friends and family.
Life is all about successes. I have figured that out now more than ever before. If I don’t enjoy the small things all the other big things will be way to overwhelming. This weekend I went to visit a friend so I could be around at least one American on the 4th of July. Well catching a taxi out to his village is not the easiest thing especially since they only come into town around 8-9am and leave around 11-12pm. I went to the taxi stand at 11 and started asking around to all the drivers who was going to Kyzyl-Tuu (Tav’s village). The first driver pointed in a random direction (Tav believes that they take joy in making foreigners go on a wild goose hunt for a taxi) and then I asked another driver who helped me find a car. As I sat in the taxi there were two young boys fighting for at least 15 minutes. No one was crying, so I just ignored it. Finally more people showed up (taxis here wait until the car is full to leave… that way they can get the most money possible because they charge by seat not by the whole car) and it looked as if we were going to leave. Wow there were a lot people. It ended up being 4 children and 6 adults. I had one of the children on my lap, which is common here. The greatest success was that I was able to communicat where I wanted to go, have a basic conversation with the women in the car about why I was in Kyrgyzstan and find Tav in his village only using Kyrgyz. I may not be very great at the language yet, but at least I can get what I want. That is a huge accomplishment.
Returning back home was just as big of an adventure. We headed out to where one catches taxis (hitching rides with cars going into town). There was not one to be found. We were trying to get out of the house at 7:45 to catch one by 8am and we were stopped to drink tea. Tav’s brother showed up and was going to At-Bashy as well so he helped us find a car. He stopped a guy on a horse and took the horse to a neighbor’s house to get us a ride there. We walked to his street as he started driving toward us the car died. Oh no… do I really want to get into this car? Turns out he ran out of gas. We had to wait for a little while he went somewhere to get some. As we waited 3 cars drove past with seats open that I could have gone with them. No, I’m in it for the adventure. After getting the car started again we were on our way. WAIT nope we were stopped by another person to catch a ride but he had more people back at his house that needed a ride as well. With only one seat left in the car I began to wonder if the car was going to be like it was on the way to Kyzyl-Tuu. Yes it was. Well I guess it was a little better… only 7 people this time. THEN (yes there is more) there was construction on the road. We stopped for a few minutes and the driver got out and started kicking the tires. I’m not sure what good that did, but I guess it made him feel better. We made it back to our village without any more problems until we ran out of gas on the way to my house. I just ended up paying the driver and then walking the rest of the way. The best part was that he only charged me 50 som when sometimes they can charged up to 70 som.
Life is good. For the past two days we haven’t had any power. In Tav’s village it came back on last night for a few hours (just enough time to watch Germany destroy Argentina). It is supposed to be turned back on now (says my host mom). I don’t mind that it’s out during the day but it’s hard at night because it is so dark. Just another adventure to remember back on!
Life is all about successes. I have figured that out now more than ever before. If I don’t enjoy the small things all the other big things will be way to overwhelming. This weekend I went to visit a friend so I could be around at least one American on the 4th of July. Well catching a taxi out to his village is not the easiest thing especially since they only come into town around 8-9am and leave around 11-12pm. I went to the taxi stand at 11 and started asking around to all the drivers who was going to Kyzyl-Tuu (Tav’s village). The first driver pointed in a random direction (Tav believes that they take joy in making foreigners go on a wild goose hunt for a taxi) and then I asked another driver who helped me find a car. As I sat in the taxi there were two young boys fighting for at least 15 minutes. No one was crying, so I just ignored it. Finally more people showed up (taxis here wait until the car is full to leave… that way they can get the most money possible because they charge by seat not by the whole car) and it looked as if we were going to leave. Wow there were a lot people. It ended up being 4 children and 6 adults. I had one of the children on my lap, which is common here. The greatest success was that I was able to communicat where I wanted to go, have a basic conversation with the women in the car about why I was in Kyrgyzstan and find Tav in his village only using Kyrgyz. I may not be very great at the language yet, but at least I can get what I want. That is a huge accomplishment.
Returning back home was just as big of an adventure. We headed out to where one catches taxis (hitching rides with cars going into town). There was not one to be found. We were trying to get out of the house at 7:45 to catch one by 8am and we were stopped to drink tea. Tav’s brother showed up and was going to At-Bashy as well so he helped us find a car. He stopped a guy on a horse and took the horse to a neighbor’s house to get us a ride there. We walked to his street as he started driving toward us the car died. Oh no… do I really want to get into this car? Turns out he ran out of gas. We had to wait for a little while he went somewhere to get some. As we waited 3 cars drove past with seats open that I could have gone with them. No, I’m in it for the adventure. After getting the car started again we were on our way. WAIT nope we were stopped by another person to catch a ride but he had more people back at his house that needed a ride as well. With only one seat left in the car I began to wonder if the car was going to be like it was on the way to Kyzyl-Tuu. Yes it was. Well I guess it was a little better… only 7 people this time. THEN (yes there is more) there was construction on the road. We stopped for a few minutes and the driver got out and started kicking the tires. I’m not sure what good that did, but I guess it made him feel better. We made it back to our village without any more problems until we ran out of gas on the way to my house. I just ended up paying the driver and then walking the rest of the way. The best part was that he only charged me 50 som when sometimes they can charged up to 70 som.
Life is good. For the past two days we haven’t had any power. In Tav’s village it came back on last night for a few hours (just enough time to watch Germany destroy Argentina). It is supposed to be turned back on now (says my host mom). I don’t mind that it’s out during the day but it’s hard at night because it is so dark. Just another adventure to remember back on!
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