4 months down

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