It’s been a while since I posted last. It has been a little more difficult to keep up on my blog posts this year. I have thought a lot about why it has been so hard for me and I honestly believe that it’s because my life has become so normal here that I rarely think, “Hmmm… this is strange, I should tell people in the States about it.” With 20+ months in and 6 months to go I think I’ll make a blog of personal bests and favorites (or least favorites). I’ll keep some of them to myself because I’m not proud of all of them.
Coldest temperature it has been (and I went outside in it): -20C (Middle of winter and had to go outside to the toilet really late at night)
Most layers of clothing: 7 (under shirt, long underwear, long sleeved shirt, sweater, fleece, and a 2 layered jacket)
Most people in one CAR: 10 to Kyzyl Tuu, my friend’s village that is 45 minutes away.
Longest ride home from Bishkek (the capital)… usually 6-7 hours: 12 hours (I was moving to site with my host parents and our car broke down halfway there. We were stuck at a rest stop for 4 hours)
Longest stretch w/o bathing: 16 days (during the winter)
Longest stretch w/o washing my hair: 8 days (I wear a ski hat most of the time during the winter so I barely noticed)
Longest time w/o out power: 3 days (that’s really good because the rest of my village my first fall here didn’t have power for 7+ days)
Grosses thing I’ve ever eaten: Meat Jello. It is exactly what it sounds like, they boil the bones and add carrots, onions, and meat. It smells and tastes like dog poop. I hate it so much I don’t want to remember the name of it!
Strangest thing I’ve learned to like: Kymyz (fermented mere’s milk)
Strangest thing I’ve ridden in a taxi with: A goat in the trunk. Well, having farm animals in the trunk is normal, but we didn’t know it was there. We just heard it start making noises and were confused.
Strangest thing that I have had said to me in English from a local: “You have beautiful eyes…. And … hair.” (My friend Heather and I were on the train in Kazakhstan and some man came up to us, said that to me and then walked away.)
Best shirt with English writing: “Funky Fresh and in the Flesh” (worn by many teenage boys in and around Bishkek) or “Save gas… Toot in a jar” (worn by my student to club on a daily basis)
There are so many other things that I could have shocking numbers for, but I just never thought to count them because it’s my normal life here. For example, I’m sure the number of days in a row that I’ve eaten potatoes is an insane number. I just don’t think about it because there really isn’t much else to eat and I don’t want to think about it because it will make me sad.
This has been an interesting time in my life. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Apa (Alma eje)- I love you and miss you!
Some of you may have heard but I’m sure that most of you haven’t. My host mom passed away on Sunday. We all greave different ways and I need to work through my thoughts about everything. The best way I can think of to do that is to do a tribute blog about her. She was one of the most amazing people I have ever met (I hate when people only say nice things about people after they die but I honestly can’t think of one thing that I could say about her that is bad). I like to write in bullet points so I’m going to list the things that made Alma eje (eje is used in Kyrgyz for older women and it’s a sign of respect) the wonderful human being that she was.
• Apa (mother in Kyrgyz and what I called her) always made me feel like I was a part of the family. Many volunteers feel like they are guests renting out a room, but I was loved and cared for just the same as anyone else here. I would come home from long days at school and she would be there with chai and would sit with me and talk to me about my day. I always knew that I could talk to her about anything even if I didn’t know how to say it. She would sit patiently and wait for me to finish what I was trying to stay with my childlike language ability to express myself.
• My worst day of school I came home and just wanted to be alone. My head hurt from being so frustrated. I had taught the worst class in the school and they were throwing chairs, hitting one another, yelling, and just causing a ruckus. When I got home I went straight to my room and I got a knock at my door a couple minutes later telling me to come drink tea. I got up, reluctantly because I just didn’t want to think or do anything at that moment, but I drank tea with her. When I was sitting there my eyes started to well up with tears and she asked me what was wrong. I told her the whole story through my broke Kyrgyz and tears and she just listened. When I was finished she told me that she understood (she taught for 26 years and had been through it all) and that the other volunteer that lived here before me for two years had the same problems. She also told me that after a year my language will be better and I will be able to control the classroom better. She helped calm me down and made me realize that I will be able to make it though the next two years of being in a foreign country w/o my friends and family from home.
• If we were all sitting at the dinner table and everyone was having a conversation about something she would stop and take the time to explain to me in simpler terms what they were talking about. Even if it was about something that didn’t pertain to me or wouldn’t matter to me either way she always wanted me to feel included. I remember a day when they were just talking about their sheep, how many they had, and how they were going to come home and when. There was no reason that I needed to know that, but she was thoughtful enough to understand that it’s nice to know what people are talking about. I had the most interesting conversations with her at the dinner table around 9pm (because that is usually when we eat dinner here). We could sit there for 1.5-2 hours talking about anything; a tv show, elections and comparing the difference between the US and KG, military, holidays, childhood stories… she would think of a topic of the night and see where it went from there.
• I never heard her yell at anyone. I lived with three children (her grandchildren) on a regular basis and several more that came and went throughout these past 16 months and she always found other ways to guide them and teach them.
• We would listen to the children play and laugh in the other room and would talk about how a child’s laugh is one of the best sounds in the world.
• This summer we were making plans of constructing a shurdok (Kyrgyz rug) together. We picked out the colors and everything. I was really looking forward to not only sitting down and making it with her, but also spending that time with her and practicing my language. She is one of the most patient and even tempered people I have ever met.
• Ever since last summer I have witnessed her with her friends and neighbors. It has been very interesting because I will listen in on their conversations when we were all drinking tea or they were making felted wool for rugs and the friends would gossip about each other. She would just sit there, never say anything about anyone but just be a sounding board. Other times she would joke about the neighbors being drunk and not be good workers because they came late or because they worked slowly, but it was always in good humor. I would tell her stories about what they would say to me or do to me (the drunk female neighbors) and we would laugh and laugh. She had the best laugh.
• My friends who have met her all join me in saying how wonderful she is. I had a long conversation with another volunteer about how we had the best two host moms in country. We couldn’t decide between the two who was better because they were so different, but I still say that Alma eje is #1 in my book.
• I know that she impacted a lot of lives here as well as mine. Over this past year of her leaving to go to Bishkek for treatments and other things I couldn’t go a week without several people asking me if she had come home yet or when she will be coming home. She taught for 26 years at the school I now work at. She was an active member in her community and she loved everyone.
• She had been in and out of the hospital and treatment for a year and this summer she came home because she knew that my friends were coming from the US to visit. She rode in a taxi for over 6 hours to meet them. When I came through the gate it had been a couple months since I had seen her last and she hugged me so hard. She wouldn’t let go. It was at that moment I knew how much I meant to her as well.
I will forever remember my host mom for the amazing woman that she was. She made my life in Kyrgyzstan better and I will use the things she taught me for the rest of my life. The best thing I can do for her is to have her live on in me.
Alma eje (Apa), I love you and I will miss you! You will forever be in my heart. Thank you for all the love you have given me. I could not ask for a better Kyrgyz mother.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
home alone
Summer is starting to wind down and the beginning of a new school year is on the horizon. I look forward to teaching my second year in a foreign country. These past few weeks I have been preparing for lessons and how my counterpart and I want to run our classroom. I am really looking forward to working with her this year because last year at this time I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I thought that I was going to work with one woman and a few days before school started I was told that I was working with another one. It turned out to be a great change of plans and over the past year we have really bonded and learned a lot from each other. Each time that we get together to write lesson plans and curriculum we work for a few hours and then she takes the time to teach me how to make Kyrgyz food. It has been a great experience for me. At the end of break I plan on teaching her how to make some American food so she can make it for her family!
Over the past week things have been very different at my house. My host sister and her three children went to Bishkek for vacation, school shopping and looking for a house to buy. I guess all the houses they looked at were too expensive or too old and not worth the money. I’m sad that they couldn’t find a house, but at the same time I’m really excited because that means that they will still live here with me. This house would be way to quiet without those girls!
My host mom left to go stay at the lake for 10-20 days (that’s exactly what they keep telling me). Whenever I ask about the place she is staying at they just say it’s a house with one other woman and a doctor. She has been very sick and I think this is part of her getting better. I am excited for her to come home because my Kyrgyz life is better when she is here!
My host dad took my host mom to the lake and came back. They were very worried for me because the left me here one day alone. They had my host sister call to make sure that I was ok and I wasn’t scared. It was really sweet. I kept telling them that I lived alone for a year but they still think that I will get scared. I didn’t even stay alone. I had two friends who live nearby come over and we made pizza, banana raspberry bread, cinnamon rolls, and granola. It was a tasty evening. My host dad was supposed to stay for two days and he came back early and I think it was because they were nervous for me. While they were gone I had to take care of the animals. Feed the chickens and the horse and collect the eggs from the chicken. It took me back to when I was kid and would take care of my best friend’s family’s horses and dog. Well for the past few days it has just been my host dad and me here. I don’t know how to make Kyrgyz food and I know if I cook food that I like he won’t like it because he doesn’t like any flavor in anything. But the cute thing is that he baked the bread (it’s unheard of for men to even boil noodles so the fact that he made the bread is amazing, and it’s not too bad). We have hard boiled eggs for dinner every night and during the day we pick raspberries and black currents. My host sister and her kids should be coming home soon (or so he says), and I hope it’s sooner rather than later because I can tell he is really bored without anyone here. It’s been great for me because I get some time to myself and I have forgotten how much I like that.
While my host mom was here the neighbor women came over to prepare the wool for Kyrgyz rugs. I wanted to help them, but they were always drunk. That didn’t really sound like fun to sit with them as they were drunk and try to talk to me. I can’t ever understand them anyway. One day my host mom told me that they were bad workers because they always showed up late and when they were there they worked slowly and they always showed up drunk. Well, the day before I taught my niece comparatives and so she asked me what the English word for drunk was and then proceeded to use it in the grammatical form that I taught her. She said, “Gulanda is drunker.” I told her that she needed two things to compare to so she said, “Gulanda is drunker than Mairam.” HAHAHA. I think she understands it! I laughed so hard!!
After they finished the wool my host mom asked me what color I wanted my Kyrgyz rug to be and she told me the colors she had. We decided on sky blue and white with brown piping. When she comes back we will make the rug together. It will be a great project for me and a great thing to bring back to America with an awesome memory!
Sorry that this blog entry is a little scattered, but so has been my summer!
Over the past week things have been very different at my house. My host sister and her three children went to Bishkek for vacation, school shopping and looking for a house to buy. I guess all the houses they looked at were too expensive or too old and not worth the money. I’m sad that they couldn’t find a house, but at the same time I’m really excited because that means that they will still live here with me. This house would be way to quiet without those girls!
My host mom left to go stay at the lake for 10-20 days (that’s exactly what they keep telling me). Whenever I ask about the place she is staying at they just say it’s a house with one other woman and a doctor. She has been very sick and I think this is part of her getting better. I am excited for her to come home because my Kyrgyz life is better when she is here!
My host dad took my host mom to the lake and came back. They were very worried for me because the left me here one day alone. They had my host sister call to make sure that I was ok and I wasn’t scared. It was really sweet. I kept telling them that I lived alone for a year but they still think that I will get scared. I didn’t even stay alone. I had two friends who live nearby come over and we made pizza, banana raspberry bread, cinnamon rolls, and granola. It was a tasty evening. My host dad was supposed to stay for two days and he came back early and I think it was because they were nervous for me. While they were gone I had to take care of the animals. Feed the chickens and the horse and collect the eggs from the chicken. It took me back to when I was kid and would take care of my best friend’s family’s horses and dog. Well for the past few days it has just been my host dad and me here. I don’t know how to make Kyrgyz food and I know if I cook food that I like he won’t like it because he doesn’t like any flavor in anything. But the cute thing is that he baked the bread (it’s unheard of for men to even boil noodles so the fact that he made the bread is amazing, and it’s not too bad). We have hard boiled eggs for dinner every night and during the day we pick raspberries and black currents. My host sister and her kids should be coming home soon (or so he says), and I hope it’s sooner rather than later because I can tell he is really bored without anyone here. It’s been great for me because I get some time to myself and I have forgotten how much I like that.
While my host mom was here the neighbor women came over to prepare the wool for Kyrgyz rugs. I wanted to help them, but they were always drunk. That didn’t really sound like fun to sit with them as they were drunk and try to talk to me. I can’t ever understand them anyway. One day my host mom told me that they were bad workers because they always showed up late and when they were there they worked slowly and they always showed up drunk. Well, the day before I taught my niece comparatives and so she asked me what the English word for drunk was and then proceeded to use it in the grammatical form that I taught her. She said, “Gulanda is drunker.” I told her that she needed two things to compare to so she said, “Gulanda is drunker than Mairam.” HAHAHA. I think she understands it! I laughed so hard!!
After they finished the wool my host mom asked me what color I wanted my Kyrgyz rug to be and she told me the colors she had. We decided on sky blue and white with brown piping. When she comes back we will make the rug together. It will be a great project for me and a great thing to bring back to America with an awesome memory!
Sorry that this blog entry is a little scattered, but so has been my summer!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
My Amazing Kyrgyz Family! :)
I have lived with one family for 14 months and I feel like it is time to dedicate one blog post to everything that is wonderful about them. I’m going to do it in bullet points because I feel that is the best way to list some of the great things that I love about them:
• They are always so happy to see me. No matter how long I have been gone on trips to do work or see friends they are always excited to have me walk through the gate and be home!
• I have many volunteer friends who have families that lecture them about silly things that shouldn’t matter (e.g. the way they wash their clothes, drinking cold water, how they cook American food…) but my family just uses those opportunities to learn about my culture and they way I function in life. I have taught them how to cook different American foods, American games, and just explained to them how our cultures may be different but it is interesting to learn about each of them. Neither is wrong or right, just different.
• I have started a few rituals with my nieces because I spend most of my time at home with them. When we eat dinner together we usually finish and then have a big group hug. They now know the word, “HUG.” When my friends were here one of the, Aidana, went up to my friend Laura and said, “hug” and then wrapped her arms around Laura. My friend was shocked by this because it wasn’t something that she was expecting, but she loved it! After our group hugs we might go into tickle wars where we all just start tickling each other and keep saying, “tickle tickle.” At the end of the night we will have a tooth brushing party together. This is great because many people in this country don’t know how important it is to brush their teeth which results in rotting teeth and eventually having to get them replaced. But I’m hoping that by starting early they will always want to brush their teeth regularly.
• My 15 month old nephew has started walking and talking and becoming his own person. Today while we were eating dinner he stumbled into the kitchen and was playing with a cell phone (his favorite thing in the world). I pretended to take it from him and he would run away. Then he started saying, “ticka ticka ticka.” It took me a minute to figure out what he was trying to say. He was trying to say, “Tickle Tickle,” like I say with his sisters. This went on for 10 minutes or so. “Ticka Ticka Ticka,” and his finger pointed out poking me. SO CUTE!!!
• Every time my nieces come to get me to eat food or drink tea they knock on my door and say, “Come eat food.” or “Come drink tea.” When I have friends over they get a kick out of it!
• Playing soccer with them is awesome. Usually it’s me against the two of them. I still usually win and for some reason they always want to come back for more. I’m not nice to them, I tease them, and throw the around a little, and they still like me. Not sure why, but I love them.
• For their birthday (they are two year apart with the same birthday) I gave them snickers and a hand lotion from America. The lotion was named, “PS I love you.” We talked about what I love you means for a little while and then after we drank tea together the younger of the two looked up and said, “I love you.” I almost cried as I said back to her, “I love you, too.” I meant every word of it.
• Aidana, 11, the older of the two, is very perceptive. She can tell when I have enough playing and need to go be by myself. She will just stop playing right then and then tell her sister that we are done and that they need to do something else. That makes me want to play with them more because she makes it easy to play with them!
• How much they love to help me cook anything: Pizza, cinnamon rolls, cookies… anything.
• My amazing host mom who has been through so much this year with her health but still always has a smile on her face and whenever she is home always makes me feel like I’m one of her own.
• My incredible host dad who reminds me every day that there are good men in Kyrgyzstan. Walking around town, having guys yell bad things to me that I don’t want to here can bring me down and then I come home and he is always there to show me that he is amazing. Everything I leave on a trip somewhere he shakes my hand and kisses me on my cheek. Whenever he meets my friends he does the same to them. He always takes time to get to know them and make them feel like they are always welcome.
• I hear so many not great stories about what other families do to their volunteers but taking advantage of them, asking to borrow money, charging them too much for things in their house, making them feel like they aren’t welcome in their house. I am so grateful that I have the family I do because they would never do any of that.
• I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! I am their second volunteer and they sometimes talk about when the other volunteer left and they cried. Then they usually follow it with saying when I leave they are going to cry again. I know I won’t be able to hold it in!
Back Row: My best friend from HS Laura, Aichuruk (niece, 9), Diana (exchange student who lived with Laura and Krissy 7 years ago who is from KG), Aidana (niece, 11), Azia (their mom and my host sister), My host mom
Next Row: Begiam (host sister who lives in Bishkek) and her son Erjan, Krissy (friend and Laura's sister), Me holding my nephew Nurmo
hammad (Nikolish), Aideme (niece, 5... Begiam's daughter), My host dad!
• They are always so happy to see me. No matter how long I have been gone on trips to do work or see friends they are always excited to have me walk through the gate and be home!
• I have many volunteer friends who have families that lecture them about silly things that shouldn’t matter (e.g. the way they wash their clothes, drinking cold water, how they cook American food…) but my family just uses those opportunities to learn about my culture and they way I function in life. I have taught them how to cook different American foods, American games, and just explained to them how our cultures may be different but it is interesting to learn about each of them. Neither is wrong or right, just different.
• I have started a few rituals with my nieces because I spend most of my time at home with them. When we eat dinner together we usually finish and then have a big group hug. They now know the word, “HUG.” When my friends were here one of the, Aidana, went up to my friend Laura and said, “hug” and then wrapped her arms around Laura. My friend was shocked by this because it wasn’t something that she was expecting, but she loved it! After our group hugs we might go into tickle wars where we all just start tickling each other and keep saying, “tickle tickle.” At the end of the night we will have a tooth brushing party together. This is great because many people in this country don’t know how important it is to brush their teeth which results in rotting teeth and eventually having to get them replaced. But I’m hoping that by starting early they will always want to brush their teeth regularly.
• My 15 month old nephew has started walking and talking and becoming his own person. Today while we were eating dinner he stumbled into the kitchen and was playing with a cell phone (his favorite thing in the world). I pretended to take it from him and he would run away. Then he started saying, “ticka ticka ticka.” It took me a minute to figure out what he was trying to say. He was trying to say, “Tickle Tickle,” like I say with his sisters. This went on for 10 minutes or so. “Ticka Ticka Ticka,” and his finger pointed out poking me. SO CUTE!!!
• Every time my nieces come to get me to eat food or drink tea they knock on my door and say, “Come eat food.” or “Come drink tea.” When I have friends over they get a kick out of it!
• Playing soccer with them is awesome. Usually it’s me against the two of them. I still usually win and for some reason they always want to come back for more. I’m not nice to them, I tease them, and throw the around a little, and they still like me. Not sure why, but I love them.
• For their birthday (they are two year apart with the same birthday) I gave them snickers and a hand lotion from America. The lotion was named, “PS I love you.” We talked about what I love you means for a little while and then after we drank tea together the younger of the two looked up and said, “I love you.” I almost cried as I said back to her, “I love you, too.” I meant every word of it.
• Aidana, 11, the older of the two, is very perceptive. She can tell when I have enough playing and need to go be by myself. She will just stop playing right then and then tell her sister that we are done and that they need to do something else. That makes me want to play with them more because she makes it easy to play with them!
• How much they love to help me cook anything: Pizza, cinnamon rolls, cookies… anything.
• My amazing host mom who has been through so much this year with her health but still always has a smile on her face and whenever she is home always makes me feel like I’m one of her own.
• My incredible host dad who reminds me every day that there are good men in Kyrgyzstan. Walking around town, having guys yell bad things to me that I don’t want to here can bring me down and then I come home and he is always there to show me that he is amazing. Everything I leave on a trip somewhere he shakes my hand and kisses me on my cheek. Whenever he meets my friends he does the same to them. He always takes time to get to know them and make them feel like they are always welcome.
• I hear so many not great stories about what other families do to their volunteers but taking advantage of them, asking to borrow money, charging them too much for things in their house, making them feel like they aren’t welcome in their house. I am so grateful that I have the family I do because they would never do any of that.
• I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! I am their second volunteer and they sometimes talk about when the other volunteer left and they cried. Then they usually follow it with saying when I leave they are going to cry again. I know I won’t be able to hold it in!
Back Row: My best friend from HS Laura, Aichuruk (niece, 9), Diana (exchange student who lived with Laura and Krissy 7 years ago who is from KG), Aidana (niece, 11), Azia (their mom and my host sister), My host mom
Next Row: Begiam (host sister who lives in Bishkek) and her son Erjan, Krissy (friend and Laura's sister), Me holding my nephew Nurmo
hammad (Nikolish), Aideme (niece, 5... Begiam's daughter), My host dad!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
I'm still here and ALIVE!!
I have been told by a few different people that I need to write a new blog entry because the last one was not a happy one. Well, the great news is that the reason I haven’t been writing blogs is because I have been so busy with doing great things this summer. I just finished a great week on lake doing a leadership camp for boys and girls in Kyrgyzstan. This was an AMAZING camp where we had the best students we had in our schools come together and learn about many different topics and then create a plan for a project to share the information with their community. My students decided to do a series of seminars on nutrition. It made me so proud that the information that I have been giving them for the past year has been sticking and they want to share it with their friends and community members!!
At this camp we covered many topics including self-esteem, nutrition, critical thinking, self defense, yoga, our bodies and how they function, LGBT, project planning and many other things. Every volunteer took a few sessions to teach in pairs or by themselves and some of the best lessons and activities I have ever seen were presented at this camp. We had students interested and participating better than I have ever seen before at a camp.
We really realized how much we made a difference and how much they appreciated the camp when after we came back from visiting a waterfall in a nearby village all of the kids went into a room and wouldn’t let us in there. They were planning something. We had a campfire that night (w/s’mores which by the way were one of the first food items in country that had actually made me homesick) and they all sang Kyrgyz songs for us. We sang American songs for them and had a great time. After the campfire they told us that we needed to come back to the conference hall and they had prepared something for us. After we all sat down and were ready, they all came out in a line and introduced themselves. They were each one of the volunteers or translators and said a little bit about themselves. The girl who was me was dancing around and making funny noises. It was amazing how well they nailed each of our personalities. It was hilarious. They did a few skits while in character and then gave short little speeches again. After each speech they said if I misrepresented you I’m sorry. I think they were afraid we would be offended, but it was great. They were able to use American humor so well! Then after they were finished they asked us if they would have a dance party and there was no way we could say no at that point.
The next morning after they presented their projects and we gave them their certificates they said they had something else for us. They all got in front of us again and gave us each metals of achievement. Mine, of course, was the “Most Joking Around.” I am so glad that we did this camp and brought the kids we did. They were great!
Now to jump backward in the summer. I have done so much and now half of the summer is over. I have stayed in a yurt five nights, I have gone to many different bodies of water, I have hiked several miles over a pass and back down the other side, I have gotten several blisters on my feet in the strangest places (between the toes).
Here is a schedule to date of my summer:
May 23 Went to Bishkek to help with training the newbies and to prepare for a camp (the one I just finished)
June 1 Friends came from America (AMAZING)
June 3 To my village- we went to jailoo (where the animals go for the summer to hang out, eat great food and get exercise), then to tash rabat (more about that later), and hung out with my family where my friends gave presents and bought a Kyrgyz rug from my host mom (she got an offer from the President of Kyrgyzstan but she saved it for Krissy because she said she would).
This is at the top of the pass on the way to Naryn.
June 6 To Song Kol (a beautiful lake where we relaxed and stayed in a yurt) This part of the trip was great because we got to do so many new cultural things: Milk a cow, make cream from that milk, set up a yurt, sleep in a yurt, make new friends while only speaking Kyrgyz…
Diana and the woman who let us help her family set up their yurt!!
June 8 To Issyk Kol (the largest alpine lake in the world) This was the part of the trip where we stayed in a hotel, went dancing, and got to see more of touristy part of the country.
June 10 Said goodbye to the girls and went back to Naryn to welcome the new volunteers (I cried when I said goodbye… it was such a great trip and I loved having them here!!)
June 12 To Ugut (Heather’s village) for a lifeskills camp. At this camp we had a blast, introduced kids to new healthy ways of eating great food, played many sports, taught girls and boys about their bodies and how to respect them, and cooked great food with other volunteers. My counterpart came to this camp to be a translator and it was so awesome. I feel like we connected so much more. We cooked together and she got to see me with my American friends and see that I’m not completely strange. All in all it was a good camp.
June 18 To my village to regroup
June 22 To Bishkek to get money because my ATM PIN stopped working. So frustrating, but I was able to order the English books for my school. The banks are electronically connected here. They are slowly moving toward that by having ATM’s and giving people cards, but the branches don’t communicate with each other. Before I got my card I could only take money out at the branch in my village. Now, I can take money out anywhere in the country as long as the ATM accepts my bank’s card. But the problem is that if it doesn’t work then I’m not able to take money out of my bank (even in my village) until I get it fixed in Bishkek and that is a 6 hour ride in a taxi and 500 som (one way).
June 24 To Song Kol for a hike from the lake to Heather’s village. We ended up getting a free ride out there. The bad part is that nothing in life is free. We had to sit in the back of a very small old soviet car with four of us back there. One girl was on Heather’s lap for over ten hours. I had a sleeping pad below my feet and had my knees at my chest and another girl was having problems with her back. We got to the place were staying at 11 pm and we showed up to a feast with the whole sheep and everything. We were so tired, but we knew that this was going to happen so it was nice to mentally prepare ourselves. We left in the morning and were driving back closer to the lake so we could hike the whole thing. The people we were with wanted us to stay with their friends because they were worried about us, but we promised to stay near a family who set up their yurts on our hike. We met some great people and had a lot of fun.
We all realized and agreed on this trip that it was so great to be able to do something like this, meet locals and completely interact with them in their local language. I was a really great moment and a good feeling about what we are doing in this country.
June 26 To my village to work again
July 2 To Naryn City to celebrate the 4th with some friends. Sometimes it’s the little things that help keep us going and not get too homesick.
July 3 Back home
This crazy storm prevented us from hiking.
July 8 To Tash Rabat (a old structure left behind from the silk road. It was thought be used a caravan. Stayed a yurt another 2 nights.
July 10 Back home
July 18 Left for camp with 2 of my students and several more from various villages in Naryn Oblast and we met up with various students and volunteers from Issykul Oblast.
July 23 Karakol to spend a night with my friends before I head back the Bishkek to pick up my books that I bought with the money that so many of you donated. Thank you so much.
I hope by July 26th I will be heading home and will be able to work with my counterpart and get some work done on our curriculum.
My summer isn’t over and there is so much more to come, but so far I have done so much and seen so much of this amazing country. Every day that I’m here I’m so happy that I was placed in a country that is so beautiful and that I get to work with such great people.
I hope this makes up for my lack of blog writing.
At this camp we covered many topics including self-esteem, nutrition, critical thinking, self defense, yoga, our bodies and how they function, LGBT, project planning and many other things. Every volunteer took a few sessions to teach in pairs or by themselves and some of the best lessons and activities I have ever seen were presented at this camp. We had students interested and participating better than I have ever seen before at a camp.
We really realized how much we made a difference and how much they appreciated the camp when after we came back from visiting a waterfall in a nearby village all of the kids went into a room and wouldn’t let us in there. They were planning something. We had a campfire that night (w/s’mores which by the way were one of the first food items in country that had actually made me homesick) and they all sang Kyrgyz songs for us. We sang American songs for them and had a great time. After the campfire they told us that we needed to come back to the conference hall and they had prepared something for us. After we all sat down and were ready, they all came out in a line and introduced themselves. They were each one of the volunteers or translators and said a little bit about themselves. The girl who was me was dancing around and making funny noises. It was amazing how well they nailed each of our personalities. It was hilarious. They did a few skits while in character and then gave short little speeches again. After each speech they said if I misrepresented you I’m sorry. I think they were afraid we would be offended, but it was great. They were able to use American humor so well! Then after they were finished they asked us if they would have a dance party and there was no way we could say no at that point.
The next morning after they presented their projects and we gave them their certificates they said they had something else for us. They all got in front of us again and gave us each metals of achievement. Mine, of course, was the “Most Joking Around.” I am so glad that we did this camp and brought the kids we did. They were great!
Now to jump backward in the summer. I have done so much and now half of the summer is over. I have stayed in a yurt five nights, I have gone to many different bodies of water, I have hiked several miles over a pass and back down the other side, I have gotten several blisters on my feet in the strangest places (between the toes).
Here is a schedule to date of my summer:
May 23 Went to Bishkek to help with training the newbies and to prepare for a camp (the one I just finished)
June 1 Friends came from America (AMAZING)
June 3 To my village- we went to jailoo (where the animals go for the summer to hang out, eat great food and get exercise), then to tash rabat (more about that later), and hung out with my family where my friends gave presents and bought a Kyrgyz rug from my host mom (she got an offer from the President of Kyrgyzstan but she saved it for Krissy because she said she would).
This is at the top of the pass on the way to Naryn.
June 6 To Song Kol (a beautiful lake where we relaxed and stayed in a yurt) This part of the trip was great because we got to do so many new cultural things: Milk a cow, make cream from that milk, set up a yurt, sleep in a yurt, make new friends while only speaking Kyrgyz…
Diana and the woman who let us help her family set up their yurt!!
June 8 To Issyk Kol (the largest alpine lake in the world) This was the part of the trip where we stayed in a hotel, went dancing, and got to see more of touristy part of the country.
June 10 Said goodbye to the girls and went back to Naryn to welcome the new volunteers (I cried when I said goodbye… it was such a great trip and I loved having them here!!)
June 12 To Ugut (Heather’s village) for a lifeskills camp. At this camp we had a blast, introduced kids to new healthy ways of eating great food, played many sports, taught girls and boys about their bodies and how to respect them, and cooked great food with other volunteers. My counterpart came to this camp to be a translator and it was so awesome. I feel like we connected so much more. We cooked together and she got to see me with my American friends and see that I’m not completely strange. All in all it was a good camp.
June 18 To my village to regroup
June 22 To Bishkek to get money because my ATM PIN stopped working. So frustrating, but I was able to order the English books for my school. The banks are electronically connected here. They are slowly moving toward that by having ATM’s and giving people cards, but the branches don’t communicate with each other. Before I got my card I could only take money out at the branch in my village. Now, I can take money out anywhere in the country as long as the ATM accepts my bank’s card. But the problem is that if it doesn’t work then I’m not able to take money out of my bank (even in my village) until I get it fixed in Bishkek and that is a 6 hour ride in a taxi and 500 som (one way).
June 24 To Song Kol for a hike from the lake to Heather’s village. We ended up getting a free ride out there. The bad part is that nothing in life is free. We had to sit in the back of a very small old soviet car with four of us back there. One girl was on Heather’s lap for over ten hours. I had a sleeping pad below my feet and had my knees at my chest and another girl was having problems with her back. We got to the place were staying at 11 pm and we showed up to a feast with the whole sheep and everything. We were so tired, but we knew that this was going to happen so it was nice to mentally prepare ourselves. We left in the morning and were driving back closer to the lake so we could hike the whole thing. The people we were with wanted us to stay with their friends because they were worried about us, but we promised to stay near a family who set up their yurts on our hike. We met some great people and had a lot of fun.
We all realized and agreed on this trip that it was so great to be able to do something like this, meet locals and completely interact with them in their local language. I was a really great moment and a good feeling about what we are doing in this country.
June 26 To my village to work again
July 2 To Naryn City to celebrate the 4th with some friends. Sometimes it’s the little things that help keep us going and not get too homesick.
July 3 Back home
July 8 To Tash Rabat (a old structure left behind from the silk road. It was thought be used a caravan. Stayed a yurt another 2 nights.
July 10 Back home
July 18 Left for camp with 2 of my students and several more from various villages in Naryn Oblast and we met up with various students and volunteers from Issykul Oblast.
July 23 Karakol to spend a night with my friends before I head back the Bishkek to pick up my books that I bought with the money that so many of you donated. Thank you so much.
I hope by July 26th I will be heading home and will be able to work with my counterpart and get some work done on our curriculum.
My summer isn’t over and there is so much more to come, but so far I have done so much and seen so much of this amazing country. Every day that I’m here I’m so happy that I was placed in a country that is so beautiful and that I get to work with such great people.
I hope this makes up for my lack of blog writing.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
What I didn't know 12 hours ago...
What I didn’t know would happen only 12 hours ago:
I woke up this morning at around 7am. The day seemed as if it would be a normal day. I went to school and taught my club and halfway through my counterpart called me and asked me to bring my camera. That’s a normal thing because I’m the only person at my school who has a camera. I already had it with me at school so everything was great. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it was not for school, I had my services offered up by my director to go to a neighboring village and take pictures for this man who designs banners. Not at all what I was expecting. Also, I was told 2-3 hours tops and that is also not what happened. Now I have lived in this country for almost 13 months and I now know that things don’t go as planned (ever). So I thought maybe it will be like 4-5 hour but not much more. I ended up coming home 9.5 hours later. Let’s start from the beginning.
I went out to meet the men and we waited for about 15 minutes for the taxi to come. While wait the designer got a call saying that the driver couldn’t find his license plates. Last time I checked those usually should stay on the car. We got a ride to the center and waited for him there. After about 1.5 hours we were off to Ak Moiun. At this point I’m still not sure why I’m there or even what is going on. But after living here for as long as I have I’m so used to that that it didn’t really bother me. Well it turns out this man has been travelling all over the country designing banners for people and schools. They were carting around a full desktop computer, but please tell me how they are doing that but somehow don’t have a camera of their own to take pictures. Well, this school wanted pictures of all their teachers and so they needed a camera so they could do that.
While on our 15 minute trip to this village the designer man decides that he has taken a liking to me and wants to bride kidnap me. He leans over at one point and whispers into my ear that we should get married and I could stay in Kyrgyzstan and be his wife. Sadly, that is not even close to the first time that has happened to me. The thing that was new was that he said he was going bride kidnap me and I would be his. He kept linking arms with me and making the man in the front seat take pictures of us. While all of this is happening the other people in the car are just laughing and telling me that I need to stay. I keep telling him that it’s not possible and that I’m going to go back to America and that I miss my family too much. Pretty much just telling him everything that I can think of to get him to stop.
At the school they set up the computer and start to design posters and other things. I try to avoid being any part of it. I let the younger guy take my camera because he seemed pretty computer savvy and I didn’t want to be near the other guy. I did pretty well staying away until we went to eat lunch. He made me sit next to him. He tried to force me to eat more and more while asking me if he was skinny or fat, strong, beautiful. I played along for most of that because it got him to stop faster.
After lunch I went into the corner of the room and just sat and read my book. I am so glad I brought a book because that is was saved me. 9.5 hours of sitting and doing nothing would have driven me insane. The crazy part is that I didn’t even get mad at all until the ride home. It took the guy so long to come to the car so we could leave. While in the car he goes back to bride kidnapping me. He asked me what I would do if he would take me and I said I would leave. He told me I couldn’t but jokes on him their cultural things don’t work on me. I won’t be shamed if I leave. HAHA, jerk. He kept linking arms with me and I don’t know if this was intentional or not but he kept touching my chest too. I was livid at this point. He also took my phone and called his phone with it so he could have my number. I will be changing my number if he calls me.
There is a point in the road where it splits and you can go down the hill to by village or the other way to Naryn City. Well the driver turned away from my village. That is when I started yelling. I said I need to go home and take me back. They told me they were getting gas and I kept saying take me back. They did just get gas. I was almost to the kicking and screaming stage (and for those of you who know me… that’s not a pleasant stage for anyone involved). They did ended up taking me back to my village after that but I refused to talk to anyone the whole rest of the way home. When we got to At-Bashy I told them to stop way before my house and I would walk the rest of the way home. I didn’t want this guy knowing where I lived. They let me out and thanked me and I just walked away.
My family was so worried about me and when I walked through the gate they were all standing there wondering where I had been. They guy told my host sister (because she is an assistant principal at my school) that it would only be 3-4 hours and I finally came home 9.5 hours later!
Today is now named worst day in country!
Disclaimer: I just want to say that not all people/men in this country are as horrible as this man. Actually on a daily basis I interact with many men who are wonderful and helpful. This is just one isolated incident and he is a jerk just like there are jerks in America. I am actually just as mad at the other people in the car who were just laughing and making jokes out of it. When I got home I told me host sister and she was not happy. She said it was shameful and wrong.
I woke up this morning at around 7am. The day seemed as if it would be a normal day. I went to school and taught my club and halfway through my counterpart called me and asked me to bring my camera. That’s a normal thing because I’m the only person at my school who has a camera. I already had it with me at school so everything was great. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it was not for school, I had my services offered up by my director to go to a neighboring village and take pictures for this man who designs banners. Not at all what I was expecting. Also, I was told 2-3 hours tops and that is also not what happened. Now I have lived in this country for almost 13 months and I now know that things don’t go as planned (ever). So I thought maybe it will be like 4-5 hour but not much more. I ended up coming home 9.5 hours later. Let’s start from the beginning.
I went out to meet the men and we waited for about 15 minutes for the taxi to come. While wait the designer got a call saying that the driver couldn’t find his license plates. Last time I checked those usually should stay on the car. We got a ride to the center and waited for him there. After about 1.5 hours we were off to Ak Moiun. At this point I’m still not sure why I’m there or even what is going on. But after living here for as long as I have I’m so used to that that it didn’t really bother me. Well it turns out this man has been travelling all over the country designing banners for people and schools. They were carting around a full desktop computer, but please tell me how they are doing that but somehow don’t have a camera of their own to take pictures. Well, this school wanted pictures of all their teachers and so they needed a camera so they could do that.
While on our 15 minute trip to this village the designer man decides that he has taken a liking to me and wants to bride kidnap me. He leans over at one point and whispers into my ear that we should get married and I could stay in Kyrgyzstan and be his wife. Sadly, that is not even close to the first time that has happened to me. The thing that was new was that he said he was going bride kidnap me and I would be his. He kept linking arms with me and making the man in the front seat take pictures of us. While all of this is happening the other people in the car are just laughing and telling me that I need to stay. I keep telling him that it’s not possible and that I’m going to go back to America and that I miss my family too much. Pretty much just telling him everything that I can think of to get him to stop.
At the school they set up the computer and start to design posters and other things. I try to avoid being any part of it. I let the younger guy take my camera because he seemed pretty computer savvy and I didn’t want to be near the other guy. I did pretty well staying away until we went to eat lunch. He made me sit next to him. He tried to force me to eat more and more while asking me if he was skinny or fat, strong, beautiful. I played along for most of that because it got him to stop faster.
After lunch I went into the corner of the room and just sat and read my book. I am so glad I brought a book because that is was saved me. 9.5 hours of sitting and doing nothing would have driven me insane. The crazy part is that I didn’t even get mad at all until the ride home. It took the guy so long to come to the car so we could leave. While in the car he goes back to bride kidnapping me. He asked me what I would do if he would take me and I said I would leave. He told me I couldn’t but jokes on him their cultural things don’t work on me. I won’t be shamed if I leave. HAHA, jerk. He kept linking arms with me and I don’t know if this was intentional or not but he kept touching my chest too. I was livid at this point. He also took my phone and called his phone with it so he could have my number. I will be changing my number if he calls me.
There is a point in the road where it splits and you can go down the hill to by village or the other way to Naryn City. Well the driver turned away from my village. That is when I started yelling. I said I need to go home and take me back. They told me they were getting gas and I kept saying take me back. They did just get gas. I was almost to the kicking and screaming stage (and for those of you who know me… that’s not a pleasant stage for anyone involved). They did ended up taking me back to my village after that but I refused to talk to anyone the whole rest of the way home. When we got to At-Bashy I told them to stop way before my house and I would walk the rest of the way home. I didn’t want this guy knowing where I lived. They let me out and thanked me and I just walked away.
My family was so worried about me and when I walked through the gate they were all standing there wondering where I had been. They guy told my host sister (because she is an assistant principal at my school) that it would only be 3-4 hours and I finally came home 9.5 hours later!
Today is now named worst day in country!
Disclaimer: I just want to say that not all people/men in this country are as horrible as this man. Actually on a daily basis I interact with many men who are wonderful and helpful. This is just one isolated incident and he is a jerk just like there are jerks in America. I am actually just as mad at the other people in the car who were just laughing and making jokes out of it. When I got home I told me host sister and she was not happy. She said it was shameful and wrong.
Friday, April 22, 2011
My trip to Bishkek
It’s been a while. I have been really busy with traveling around the country, doing work, and preparing for summer. The new trainees came to country 4 weeks ago and they are going through training right now. I went to Bishkek to talk about what I do and what life is like for me. The first thing I talked about was being a teacher and try to give them an idea of what it will be like when they start their service. Then I helped the medical staff give a session on mental health. Yeah, I know… am I really the person to be giving advice about mental health? But it was fun. I opened with a dance party to help loosen them up and show them one way to distress when things get a little overwhelming. It was great and they started a congo line and danced around the building. It was really awesome to see that they still had energy even after everything they are going through.
Also, when I was in Bishkek I watched a few soccer games with some friends. It was so great to watch sports again. The Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game was at 2am our time so when it finally finished and I got to bed it was 5am. But I still woke up at 8am and went to sports day with the new training. I was so tired and found myself spacing out much of the sports playing. But we played ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and American football. Felt so good to play sports and be active. All in all it was awesome to be able to spend time with the newbies. They are a great group and I think they will do great things here. I am excited for them to come to site and see which ones will be near me. Only two weeks away.
Yesterday I took the long trip home. I have done this trip in anywhere from 4-12 hours. The sad part about those times is that one of the fastest times was in the winter with snow on the roads and the slowest was in the summer and the car broke down and we had to wait for another one to come. Well this trip took 7 hours. So it was in the middle, but it felt like forever. I try not to talk on the long rides because it is inevitable that some guy will want to talk to me and ask me the same questions over and over again. The guy in front of me was the guy this time. I’m not sure if he was drunk or just annoying. He started by talking to me in Russian and I just shook my head like I didn’t understand. Then I made the mistake of saying “рахмат” (thank you). I spent a good length of time of that trip trying to stop talking to him. It would not be as bad to talk to people, but I can tell exactly how the conversation will go: I get asked what my name is, where I am from and what I do (none of that is bad). Then we get into me being asked if I will go somewhere with them. Be it the lake, America, anywhere. Then I get asked if I am married or have a boyfriend and no matter what my answer I get told that I need marry their son to be their daughter-in-law. I will then get offered some horrible food or drink that most other people in the car have eaten off of. No matter how much I refuse they keep insisting. All of this happened and more.
Also, one more thing that has become a trend with at least 80% of my rides to or from Bishkek… someone pukes. Mostly small children and it smells horrible. This time it was a very small child and it missed my by inches. The worst part is that it went all over the floor and no one cleaned it up. So I sat next to a pile of vomit for at least an hour and half. It has to be the windy bumpy roads that causes. But they never learn. The kid will puke and then the parent will give them some more food to eat and the whole cycle starts over again. Not my favorite Kyrgyz experience!
So there you go. A little update of my past few weeks.
Brooke
Also, when I was in Bishkek I watched a few soccer games with some friends. It was so great to watch sports again. The Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game was at 2am our time so when it finally finished and I got to bed it was 5am. But I still woke up at 8am and went to sports day with the new training. I was so tired and found myself spacing out much of the sports playing. But we played ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and American football. Felt so good to play sports and be active. All in all it was awesome to be able to spend time with the newbies. They are a great group and I think they will do great things here. I am excited for them to come to site and see which ones will be near me. Only two weeks away.
Yesterday I took the long trip home. I have done this trip in anywhere from 4-12 hours. The sad part about those times is that one of the fastest times was in the winter with snow on the roads and the slowest was in the summer and the car broke down and we had to wait for another one to come. Well this trip took 7 hours. So it was in the middle, but it felt like forever. I try not to talk on the long rides because it is inevitable that some guy will want to talk to me and ask me the same questions over and over again. The guy in front of me was the guy this time. I’m not sure if he was drunk or just annoying. He started by talking to me in Russian and I just shook my head like I didn’t understand. Then I made the mistake of saying “рахмат” (thank you). I spent a good length of time of that trip trying to stop talking to him. It would not be as bad to talk to people, but I can tell exactly how the conversation will go: I get asked what my name is, where I am from and what I do (none of that is bad). Then we get into me being asked if I will go somewhere with them. Be it the lake, America, anywhere. Then I get asked if I am married or have a boyfriend and no matter what my answer I get told that I need marry their son to be their daughter-in-law. I will then get offered some horrible food or drink that most other people in the car have eaten off of. No matter how much I refuse they keep insisting. All of this happened and more.
Also, one more thing that has become a trend with at least 80% of my rides to or from Bishkek… someone pukes. Mostly small children and it smells horrible. This time it was a very small child and it missed my by inches. The worst part is that it went all over the floor and no one cleaned it up. So I sat next to a pile of vomit for at least an hour and half. It has to be the windy bumpy roads that causes. But they never learn. The kid will puke and then the parent will give them some more food to eat and the whole cycle starts over again. Not my favorite Kyrgyz experience!
So there you go. A little update of my past few weeks.
Brooke
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tash Rabat (stone structure)
One year in and I have so much to look forward to. I have begun to map out my last 14 months and see what I need to do when to accomplish everything I want to. Much of it will be done over the summer, and that’s good because that gives me things to do this summer. I am really excited to see what the next year brings me because this past year has brought me so much. Last night the new trainees arrived to country and we are all so excited for them to be here. It brings back so many memories that seem so long ago, but they were only a year ago. Makes me grateful that I don’t have to go through training again! Training was a really hard time for me, but now I am able to function in this foreign land, communicate with the locals, have friends who don’t speak English, and eat food that I will be happy to leave when PC is over.
My friend Heather, a volunteer who lives nearby had a friend come from America. They came to my village and I showed them around. We also went to Tash Rabat (stone structure). This is a stone structure that they can date back to the 10th century. They think that it was some sort of hotel for the travelers along the Silk Road. There are several rooms and dark tunnels in it. I went there last summer with some other volunteers, but it was cool to go in the winter/spring with snow still on the ground. One of the coolest parts of this place is since Kyrgyzstan and especially the At Bashy region (where I live) is one of the least researched places in the world there aren’t restrictions from go inside or on top of the structure so you can see it up close and personal. It’s really interesting to look at the construction and wonder and imagine how they built it. There are parts inside where there is still plaster on the walls and you can tell that designs were carved into them. So much history. Going there makes me really realize how young America is and how much happened all over the world before America even started to develop into the country that it is today.
Tash Rabat is at least an hour past the last village before China. There are still houses and families who live near the structure year round, but their houses are all alone. There is one house that has been build right near the structure and they are in charge of it. During the summer they set up yurts for tourist to stay in and they also have horse treks that people can go on. Since we went in the winter nothing was up, but they did have a camel and a wolf to take pictures with. We think they found the wolf as a puppy and just put a chain around its neck to keep it there. It is really sad. The camel wasn’t very happy either and kept trying to eat our hair. We were charged to take pictures with the animals as well as to go inside Tash Rabat. Well, Heather and I weren’t charged to go in because we are volunteers in this country but Diane had to pay 50som (a little more than a dollar) to go inside. It’s really nothing when you think about it, but 50som has become a lot of money to me. Especially when I can call America for 25 mins for that amount of money.
On our way home, our taxi driver suddenly stopped the car and started pointing out into a field. I felt like I was home with my dad pointing out a random bird or something. Well there were several prairie dogs out in the field running around. They were everywhere. I had never seen them here before. It was really cool.
The road that we have to take to get to Tash Rabat is really bad because right now it is being redone. It is the only road that goes from China to Bishkek (the capital) and they Chinese have made a deal with Kyrgyzstan where they will pave a new road and they can drive their trucks through it. It is a 3 year project and last summer was the first summer of it. Last summer they chewed up the whole road and then they are going to start paving. Well, when we were driving we passed a huge semi truck and it kicked up a large rock (larger than my fist) and it started bouncing toward our car. It hit the windshield and it cracked and spider-webbed out. Small shards of glass landed on Heather, who was in the front seat, and the driver. It was really scary. Luckily it didn’t go through the window because it would have hit him. This morning I saw him when I was walking around town and he told me that he will go to Bishkek tomorrow to get a replacement. He said it will cost 3500som ($75) to fix it. Sounds like nothing to us, but it is so much money to him. But as a said before at least no one got hurt! I wish I would have taken a picture.
I think there was some sort of underground system with this structure. I had heard at one point that they kept prisoners in these holes.
Tash Rabat
Diane (Heather's friend) and I are warming our hands over the imaginary fire under the dome inside the building.
This is our taxi driver with the camel after he tried to eat his hair. This is the taxi driver who always says hi to me. He is really great. His name is Zoo baike (you call any man older than you baike).
This is the wolf they found as a puppy. As you can tell we kept our distance.
My friend Heather, a volunteer who lives nearby had a friend come from America. They came to my village and I showed them around. We also went to Tash Rabat (stone structure). This is a stone structure that they can date back to the 10th century. They think that it was some sort of hotel for the travelers along the Silk Road. There are several rooms and dark tunnels in it. I went there last summer with some other volunteers, but it was cool to go in the winter/spring with snow still on the ground. One of the coolest parts of this place is since Kyrgyzstan and especially the At Bashy region (where I live) is one of the least researched places in the world there aren’t restrictions from go inside or on top of the structure so you can see it up close and personal. It’s really interesting to look at the construction and wonder and imagine how they built it. There are parts inside where there is still plaster on the walls and you can tell that designs were carved into them. So much history. Going there makes me really realize how young America is and how much happened all over the world before America even started to develop into the country that it is today.
Tash Rabat is at least an hour past the last village before China. There are still houses and families who live near the structure year round, but their houses are all alone. There is one house that has been build right near the structure and they are in charge of it. During the summer they set up yurts for tourist to stay in and they also have horse treks that people can go on. Since we went in the winter nothing was up, but they did have a camel and a wolf to take pictures with. We think they found the wolf as a puppy and just put a chain around its neck to keep it there. It is really sad. The camel wasn’t very happy either and kept trying to eat our hair. We were charged to take pictures with the animals as well as to go inside Tash Rabat. Well, Heather and I weren’t charged to go in because we are volunteers in this country but Diane had to pay 50som (a little more than a dollar) to go inside. It’s really nothing when you think about it, but 50som has become a lot of money to me. Especially when I can call America for 25 mins for that amount of money.
On our way home, our taxi driver suddenly stopped the car and started pointing out into a field. I felt like I was home with my dad pointing out a random bird or something. Well there were several prairie dogs out in the field running around. They were everywhere. I had never seen them here before. It was really cool.
The road that we have to take to get to Tash Rabat is really bad because right now it is being redone. It is the only road that goes from China to Bishkek (the capital) and they Chinese have made a deal with Kyrgyzstan where they will pave a new road and they can drive their trucks through it. It is a 3 year project and last summer was the first summer of it. Last summer they chewed up the whole road and then they are going to start paving. Well, when we were driving we passed a huge semi truck and it kicked up a large rock (larger than my fist) and it started bouncing toward our car. It hit the windshield and it cracked and spider-webbed out. Small shards of glass landed on Heather, who was in the front seat, and the driver. It was really scary. Luckily it didn’t go through the window because it would have hit him. This morning I saw him when I was walking around town and he told me that he will go to Bishkek tomorrow to get a replacement. He said it will cost 3500som ($75) to fix it. Sounds like nothing to us, but it is so much money to him. But as a said before at least no one got hurt! I wish I would have taken a picture.
I think there was some sort of underground system with this structure. I had heard at one point that they kept prisoners in these holes.
Tash Rabat
Diane (Heather's friend) and I are warming our hands over the imaginary fire under the dome inside the building.
This is our taxi driver with the camel after he tried to eat his hair. This is the taxi driver who always says hi to me. He is really great. His name is Zoo baike (you call any man older than you baike).
This is the wolf they found as a puppy. As you can tell we kept our distance.
Friday, March 18, 2011
My "finals" week
Sometimes it is just easier to give a rundown of my previous day or week because I feel it gives the best representation of my life here. This will be for the past week (the week before spring break where I should be giving exams so I can turn in grades).
Monday: It was a pretty normal day. My counterpart and I made a Jeopardy game (some things don’t change) for a study day before the tests. We gave it to both of my 11th grade classes and the 8th grade class. It was so great for the 11th grade classes because they were really into trying to answer correctly and they were really showing how much they learned. It was awesome. Then 8th grade came. I think this class is the bane of my existence. I want to help them and teach them, but they just want to mock us and do anything but sit quietly. Most classes will have one or two boys that are disruptive and many times they don’t show up to class. Well, every boy in this class is tentek (naughty) and that is about 10 boys that are disruptive and obnoxious and make teaching that class not fun. If the boys were not in the class it would be a lot of fun and they would learn so much more. But as it is now most of class is focused on trying to get the boys to stop hitting and throwing things.
Tuesday: We gave the test to the 8th grade class and they cheated on the whole thing. Cheating in the country is not something they look down upon nor do they think that it’s cheating. I went outside the classroom to give the oral part of the test and my counterpart stayed in the classroom to watch the students and make sure they didn’t cheat. Well every time I walked in the room to get another student the students were climbing over the desks and looking at each other’s papers. Well, there goes trying to prevent that. She told me which ones were cheating and we are going to make them take it over, but I wanted her to stop it when it started. At least I know that I’m needed here and there are things that I can work on. Then… I was supposed to have two different 9th grade classes after we gave that test. My counterpart then told me that the students were setting up for a first aid seminar for the next day and we couldn’t teach them.
Wednesday: First Aid seminar. No classes today so that means no test given to 11th grade and no study session to either of the 10 grade classes. I was given the job of taking pictures of the day as the students acted out various situations where first aid is needed and then recited text about first aid. They wanted to take my camera and take pictures with it and then give it back to me but I kindly offered to take them (because I already have horrible luck with cameras and I want to be the one to break it if it breaks).
Thursday: Second day of First Aid seminar. No classes again. My counterpart told me that we were going to have a party for Nooruz (a holiday on the 21st of March) and that I needed to make some food. Well, took that as it would be at 3pm that day. So I went home and made cookies and then showed up to school with them. No… the party is on Saturday. So, what did I do? Ate the cookies and I’m going to make something else for Saturday. This night that is what I had for dinner.
Friday: One student is in one of my 10th grade classes. One out of 16 students is there. That means no test review day. As for the other 10th grade class all of the students are there. We played Jeopardy and they did awesome. This is my favorite classes because all of the students are interested and fun to teach. I am able to teach most of the class in all English and they understand most of it. We have started doing a video club and they love watching all my American girlie movies that have subtitles. Next year I get to choose which classes I will teach and they are one of the few classes that I will keep. They make me happy! After this class we went to the teacher’s room to wait for the next class to start. Well, the teachers started talking about the teacher’s party that will be on Saturday and kept talking 15 minutes into the next class. This class (11th grade) we were going to give them their test but we couldn’t because there wasn’t enough time. I went to the class and there were only 6 of the 14 students so it would have been pointless anyway. I watched them play a card game and I never understood what they were doing.
Then, I went home because a man from Peace Corps HQ came to KG last week and is interviewing volunteers and staff about everything. They picked 19 volunteers at random and are interviewing them about their service, staff support, training… ect. The best part about that was he brought me Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and mini Kitkat bars. Awesome. Then I went to the post office and got a surprise package. There was cheez-it’s in it. And gum, and cookies, and soap, and bobbypins, and letters. It is a great package! Thanks Lauren. I’m still waiting for one more to come from my sister and I’m excited for that one too because it has some great food in it. And patches for my pants because all of my jeans have busted out on the inner thigh. See there is a reason why I have so many pants in America. It’s so my pants don’t bust out! (To all my students who read this and remember the time I ripped my jeans in class playing volleyball, that was an isolated incident).
I then met with an English teacher in my village. She teaches at a different school and is trying to get a volunteer for next year. We went to the café and ate lunch/dinner. And we had a lot of fun. I’m starting to get some local friends and meet with them more regularly. I’m helping her with her English and she is helping me with my Kyrgyz. It was a really great way to end my hectic and frustrating week.
My conclusion to this week is that if I get frustrated with it all I’m going to be frustrated all the time. After the first day of not teaching I told my counterpart that we were just going to give the tests after break and hopefully they will remember at least some of the information. My patients and tolerance has gotten a lot better over the past year. In 11 days I will have lived in Kyrgyzstan for one full year. Amazing. I’m so amazed with how much has become normal. Just under a year ago so many things were a struggle and now are just how I function every day. When I go home people are going to think I’m strange.
I’ve included some pictures of the first aid day.
An example of some students showing what to do in a first aid emergency.
This is my zowvich (assistant principal) with some students showing off a gas mask.
This is some students showing what to do in case of radiation exposure because there are a lot of radiation sites in Kyrgyzstan.
Monday: It was a pretty normal day. My counterpart and I made a Jeopardy game (some things don’t change) for a study day before the tests. We gave it to both of my 11th grade classes and the 8th grade class. It was so great for the 11th grade classes because they were really into trying to answer correctly and they were really showing how much they learned. It was awesome. Then 8th grade came. I think this class is the bane of my existence. I want to help them and teach them, but they just want to mock us and do anything but sit quietly. Most classes will have one or two boys that are disruptive and many times they don’t show up to class. Well, every boy in this class is tentek (naughty) and that is about 10 boys that are disruptive and obnoxious and make teaching that class not fun. If the boys were not in the class it would be a lot of fun and they would learn so much more. But as it is now most of class is focused on trying to get the boys to stop hitting and throwing things.
Tuesday: We gave the test to the 8th grade class and they cheated on the whole thing. Cheating in the country is not something they look down upon nor do they think that it’s cheating. I went outside the classroom to give the oral part of the test and my counterpart stayed in the classroom to watch the students and make sure they didn’t cheat. Well every time I walked in the room to get another student the students were climbing over the desks and looking at each other’s papers. Well, there goes trying to prevent that. She told me which ones were cheating and we are going to make them take it over, but I wanted her to stop it when it started. At least I know that I’m needed here and there are things that I can work on. Then… I was supposed to have two different 9th grade classes after we gave that test. My counterpart then told me that the students were setting up for a first aid seminar for the next day and we couldn’t teach them.
Wednesday: First Aid seminar. No classes today so that means no test given to 11th grade and no study session to either of the 10 grade classes. I was given the job of taking pictures of the day as the students acted out various situations where first aid is needed and then recited text about first aid. They wanted to take my camera and take pictures with it and then give it back to me but I kindly offered to take them (because I already have horrible luck with cameras and I want to be the one to break it if it breaks).
Thursday: Second day of First Aid seminar. No classes again. My counterpart told me that we were going to have a party for Nooruz (a holiday on the 21st of March) and that I needed to make some food. Well, took that as it would be at 3pm that day. So I went home and made cookies and then showed up to school with them. No… the party is on Saturday. So, what did I do? Ate the cookies and I’m going to make something else for Saturday. This night that is what I had for dinner.
Friday: One student is in one of my 10th grade classes. One out of 16 students is there. That means no test review day. As for the other 10th grade class all of the students are there. We played Jeopardy and they did awesome. This is my favorite classes because all of the students are interested and fun to teach. I am able to teach most of the class in all English and they understand most of it. We have started doing a video club and they love watching all my American girlie movies that have subtitles. Next year I get to choose which classes I will teach and they are one of the few classes that I will keep. They make me happy! After this class we went to the teacher’s room to wait for the next class to start. Well, the teachers started talking about the teacher’s party that will be on Saturday and kept talking 15 minutes into the next class. This class (11th grade) we were going to give them their test but we couldn’t because there wasn’t enough time. I went to the class and there were only 6 of the 14 students so it would have been pointless anyway. I watched them play a card game and I never understood what they were doing.
Then, I went home because a man from Peace Corps HQ came to KG last week and is interviewing volunteers and staff about everything. They picked 19 volunteers at random and are interviewing them about their service, staff support, training… ect. The best part about that was he brought me Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and mini Kitkat bars. Awesome. Then I went to the post office and got a surprise package. There was cheez-it’s in it. And gum, and cookies, and soap, and bobbypins, and letters. It is a great package! Thanks Lauren. I’m still waiting for one more to come from my sister and I’m excited for that one too because it has some great food in it. And patches for my pants because all of my jeans have busted out on the inner thigh. See there is a reason why I have so many pants in America. It’s so my pants don’t bust out! (To all my students who read this and remember the time I ripped my jeans in class playing volleyball, that was an isolated incident).
I then met with an English teacher in my village. She teaches at a different school and is trying to get a volunteer for next year. We went to the café and ate lunch/dinner. And we had a lot of fun. I’m starting to get some local friends and meet with them more regularly. I’m helping her with her English and she is helping me with my Kyrgyz. It was a really great way to end my hectic and frustrating week.
My conclusion to this week is that if I get frustrated with it all I’m going to be frustrated all the time. After the first day of not teaching I told my counterpart that we were just going to give the tests after break and hopefully they will remember at least some of the information. My patients and tolerance has gotten a lot better over the past year. In 11 days I will have lived in Kyrgyzstan for one full year. Amazing. I’m so amazed with how much has become normal. Just under a year ago so many things were a struggle and now are just how I function every day. When I go home people are going to think I’m strange.
I’ve included some pictures of the first aid day.
An example of some students showing what to do in a first aid emergency.
This is my zowvich (assistant principal) with some students showing off a gas mask.
This is some students showing what to do in case of radiation exposure because there are a lot of radiation sites in Kyrgyzstan.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Sunshine!!
I have had the week I have needed for quite some time now! The sun has been shining, which is all I really needed, the snow is melting away (it makes it difficult to walk anywhere because all of the mud, but I’ll take it), my counterpart taught alone today (including wrote her own lessons) and I am seeing progress in how she is teaching, my host mom came home from Bishkek (I always miss her when she is gone), my improved diet is helping my digestive tract, and spring break is only a week away. I am finishing up writing a grant which is going to be great. I have so many other projects going on and they are all things that I enjoy so that is great. I’m just waiting for better food to start showing up at the bazaars. Oh, what I would do for a tomato and cucumber salad right now. But granola has been a godsend. And also food that my friends and family have sent me over the winter. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been without that. I was struggling as it was.
Today I spent a good hour or so (no one showed up to my English club that they begged me for) reading about Thailand and dreaming about what I’ll be doing next Dec/Jan. I just got a huge tax return too and so I’m thinking maybe another trip will be in order! Or I could save the money and have it for when I finish PC so I have something to start off with. Nah… probably not.
On my way home from school today a man stopped me and asked if we had met before. I never know because I meet so many people and I usually meet them all at the same time so I never remember everyone. He was very excited about it though. After talking to him for a while he told me that I knew a lot of Kyrgyz. It’s not really true, but it totally made my day to have someone say that to me. I can understand much more than I can speak, and to people who are willing to give me the time I can communicate a lot by speaking broken language and using gestures.
Oh, also today one of my counterparts that is more difficult to work with told me that maybe we shouldn’t try to force to work together this year because we are both too busy and we will start next year working together. I am so glad she finally came to that conclusion on her own because she will accept that more.
Life is feeling pretty good right now and I am only two months away from summer vacation and my friends coming to visit! This summer is already full of great things that we are going to do here and hopefully by then all of my grants will be funded and I can focus more on teacher trainings at my school. I never thought I would have such a plan here, but as time goes on I am seeing everything fall into place. I want spend my second year working directly with the teachers at my school and less on writing projects. That will help the sustainability of what I have been trying to do here.
Today I am thankful for SUNSHINE!! May your life be full of sunshine and happiness!
Today I spent a good hour or so (no one showed up to my English club that they begged me for) reading about Thailand and dreaming about what I’ll be doing next Dec/Jan. I just got a huge tax return too and so I’m thinking maybe another trip will be in order! Or I could save the money and have it for when I finish PC so I have something to start off with. Nah… probably not.
On my way home from school today a man stopped me and asked if we had met before. I never know because I meet so many people and I usually meet them all at the same time so I never remember everyone. He was very excited about it though. After talking to him for a while he told me that I knew a lot of Kyrgyz. It’s not really true, but it totally made my day to have someone say that to me. I can understand much more than I can speak, and to people who are willing to give me the time I can communicate a lot by speaking broken language and using gestures.
Oh, also today one of my counterparts that is more difficult to work with told me that maybe we shouldn’t try to force to work together this year because we are both too busy and we will start next year working together. I am so glad she finally came to that conclusion on her own because she will accept that more.
Life is feeling pretty good right now and I am only two months away from summer vacation and my friends coming to visit! This summer is already full of great things that we are going to do here and hopefully by then all of my grants will be funded and I can focus more on teacher trainings at my school. I never thought I would have such a plan here, but as time goes on I am seeing everything fall into place. I want spend my second year working directly with the teachers at my school and less on writing projects. That will help the sustainability of what I have been trying to do here.
Today I am thankful for SUNSHINE!! May your life be full of sunshine and happiness!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Fun in the snow!
Everyone has been saying that this year we have gotten so little snow. Well, it's all coming now. In the past week or so it has snowed 4 or so days. We played in it and had a difficult time making a Кар киши (snowman) but we made it work!
We built a snowman and named him Fred. These are my nieces with him.
Me and Aidana and Fred.
Me and my niece Aichuruk with Fred.
The neighbor kids always want me to play so I came out to play in the snow and they were building igloos!!
We built a snowman and named him Fred. These are my nieces with him.
Me and Aidana and Fred.
Me and my niece Aichuruk with Fred.
The neighbor kids always want me to play so I came out to play in the snow and they were building igloos!!
Monday, February 21, 2011
The day I almost met the president of Kyrgyzstan
My day almost meeting the president of Kyrgyzstan.
I haven’t been feeling well so I have been lying in bed not doing anything for the past few days. I woke up today with a splitting headache but I had heard wind that the president might come to my village. That was enough for me to pull myself out of bed, wash my greasy hair that hasn’t seen water in over a week and put on mascara. I got dressed and was trying to figure out what I was going to do because I got ready an hour before my first class of the day when I got a phone call from my host sister, who is the assistant principal at the school. She told me that the president was coming and I needed to get to school. I book it into school thinking she would be there in the next hour or so. No such luck. I wait around in the teachers’ lounge for a good 20 minutes talking to the teachers and just observing. The school was in chaos at this point. All of the students were running around scrubbing the school down from top to bottom to prepare. One teacher shows up, I had passed her on the road as I was running to school, and we exchange pleasantries. She looks at me and notices that I have mascara on. Of course I have mascara on, I know that there will be pictures of me taken today and I want it to look like I have eyes. Well, as every teacher walks into the teachers’ room she points out that I’m wearing mascara. Good observation, thank you! She seems to not notice the fact that the entire school is running around, scrubbing floors, painting walls, and changing posters, but she notices that I have added black to my eyelashes.
Around this time the director comes in and craziness follows her. I don’t think I ever heard her voice at a normal level the entire day. Not quite sure why she needed to yell everything at everybody. With that my counterpart and I scurried off to our classroom (which really is no longer my classroom because it was taken away from me… another story). We stand and watch the students scrub that classroom down. They remove the cotton insulation from the windows (aren’t we going to need that because it is still winter) and mop the floor for the um-teenth time. Another teacher comes in the classroom and looks at the desks and tells the students to clean off the writing on them that some previous students decided was necessary to share with the world. At this point my counterpart has left to do something else and the teacher comes up to me and tells me that these students didn’t write this and it must have been my club students. Not sure where she came to this conclusion because all the writing was in Kyrgyz (not English) and there have been many different classes in this classroom that haven’t been my classes. Not to mention that some of these desks had come from somewhere else in the school with the writing already on them before they arrived here. I tried to explain that to her but with the combination of my splitting headache and horrible Kyrgyz I’m sure it did not come out exactly as I intended it to. Oh well. I went and taught two classes after this and then had to leave because my head hurt too much. The President was supposed to come by 4pm at this point.
While at home my host niece told me that she wanted to go back to the school with me when I was going to go back. We head out at about 3:30 and the whole way there she is practicing her English. This girl is 10 and she is amazing. She is coming up with sentences that I have not taught her with very few mistakes. We have been working on the difference between me too and me either. In Kyrgyz they are the same so we were thinking of examples and practicing. We get to school and wait, and wait, and wait. Meanwhile the principal comes back in the teachers’ room and starts yelling about something again. I have no idea what she upset about so I am very uncomfortable. Turns out some teacher has left for the day with still having some classes left to teach. So my counterpart and I are left with the duty of entertaining them. I say entertaining them because this is a class that we don’t teach and I have never met before. My counterpart starts playing a game with them just to keep them busy. This class ends and we are still waiting for the president to come. We decide to go to the “English classroom” to wait some more.
While waiting my other counterpart comes in and says we are going to teach 6th grade together. Wait a minute, I don’t teach this class. Why am I being told that I will be teaching this class? I ask her several times why I am going to teach with her and she just keeps saying that we will teach together. Finally I get her to tell me that it is because they want it to look like I’m working when the president comes. I’m pissed at this point. I go in the classroom with my second counterpart and stand on the side. I have no idea what she is teaching. She keeps handing me the book and telling me to teach something. She decides that she wants to teach present simple so she writes on the board:
I paint I don’t paint
You paint You don’t paint
He/She paints He/She doesn’t paint
We paint We don’t paint
They paint They don’t paint
Then again hands me the book and says write sentences on the board. I’m really irritated at this point but I end up pulling a really great activity out of nowhere. I get all the students participating and talking. I tell her that it’s her turn and she doesn’t know what to do. Didn’t she write a lesson plan? Ugh! While all of this is going on the president finally shows up to my school. There is a Center for Children’s Learning next to my school and they went there first. We can see the guards and the cars and police everywhere. Then we can see her come out of the center and they stand there for a few minutes, then they’re gone. WAIT A MINUTE… they’re gone? Yeah, they drove off to where ever they were going next. All of that for nothing. The cleaning, teaching classes that aren’t ours, the yelling, the chaos… and she just drives off. Strangely enough it didn’t upset me too much that she didn’t come, I have gotten used to this not happening when they are supposed to. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!
I haven’t been feeling well so I have been lying in bed not doing anything for the past few days. I woke up today with a splitting headache but I had heard wind that the president might come to my village. That was enough for me to pull myself out of bed, wash my greasy hair that hasn’t seen water in over a week and put on mascara. I got dressed and was trying to figure out what I was going to do because I got ready an hour before my first class of the day when I got a phone call from my host sister, who is the assistant principal at the school. She told me that the president was coming and I needed to get to school. I book it into school thinking she would be there in the next hour or so. No such luck. I wait around in the teachers’ lounge for a good 20 minutes talking to the teachers and just observing. The school was in chaos at this point. All of the students were running around scrubbing the school down from top to bottom to prepare. One teacher shows up, I had passed her on the road as I was running to school, and we exchange pleasantries. She looks at me and notices that I have mascara on. Of course I have mascara on, I know that there will be pictures of me taken today and I want it to look like I have eyes. Well, as every teacher walks into the teachers’ room she points out that I’m wearing mascara. Good observation, thank you! She seems to not notice the fact that the entire school is running around, scrubbing floors, painting walls, and changing posters, but she notices that I have added black to my eyelashes.
Around this time the director comes in and craziness follows her. I don’t think I ever heard her voice at a normal level the entire day. Not quite sure why she needed to yell everything at everybody. With that my counterpart and I scurried off to our classroom (which really is no longer my classroom because it was taken away from me… another story). We stand and watch the students scrub that classroom down. They remove the cotton insulation from the windows (aren’t we going to need that because it is still winter) and mop the floor for the um-teenth time. Another teacher comes in the classroom and looks at the desks and tells the students to clean off the writing on them that some previous students decided was necessary to share with the world. At this point my counterpart has left to do something else and the teacher comes up to me and tells me that these students didn’t write this and it must have been my club students. Not sure where she came to this conclusion because all the writing was in Kyrgyz (not English) and there have been many different classes in this classroom that haven’t been my classes. Not to mention that some of these desks had come from somewhere else in the school with the writing already on them before they arrived here. I tried to explain that to her but with the combination of my splitting headache and horrible Kyrgyz I’m sure it did not come out exactly as I intended it to. Oh well. I went and taught two classes after this and then had to leave because my head hurt too much. The President was supposed to come by 4pm at this point.
While at home my host niece told me that she wanted to go back to the school with me when I was going to go back. We head out at about 3:30 and the whole way there she is practicing her English. This girl is 10 and she is amazing. She is coming up with sentences that I have not taught her with very few mistakes. We have been working on the difference between me too and me either. In Kyrgyz they are the same so we were thinking of examples and practicing. We get to school and wait, and wait, and wait. Meanwhile the principal comes back in the teachers’ room and starts yelling about something again. I have no idea what she upset about so I am very uncomfortable. Turns out some teacher has left for the day with still having some classes left to teach. So my counterpart and I are left with the duty of entertaining them. I say entertaining them because this is a class that we don’t teach and I have never met before. My counterpart starts playing a game with them just to keep them busy. This class ends and we are still waiting for the president to come. We decide to go to the “English classroom” to wait some more.
While waiting my other counterpart comes in and says we are going to teach 6th grade together. Wait a minute, I don’t teach this class. Why am I being told that I will be teaching this class? I ask her several times why I am going to teach with her and she just keeps saying that we will teach together. Finally I get her to tell me that it is because they want it to look like I’m working when the president comes. I’m pissed at this point. I go in the classroom with my second counterpart and stand on the side. I have no idea what she is teaching. She keeps handing me the book and telling me to teach something. She decides that she wants to teach present simple so she writes on the board:
I paint I don’t paint
You paint You don’t paint
He/She paints He/She doesn’t paint
We paint We don’t paint
They paint They don’t paint
Then again hands me the book and says write sentences on the board. I’m really irritated at this point but I end up pulling a really great activity out of nowhere. I get all the students participating and talking. I tell her that it’s her turn and she doesn’t know what to do. Didn’t she write a lesson plan? Ugh! While all of this is going on the president finally shows up to my school. There is a Center for Children’s Learning next to my school and they went there first. We can see the guards and the cars and police everywhere. Then we can see her come out of the center and they stand there for a few minutes, then they’re gone. WAIT A MINUTE… they’re gone? Yeah, they drove off to where ever they were going next. All of that for nothing. The cleaning, teaching classes that aren’t ours, the yelling, the chaos… and she just drives off. Strangely enough it didn’t upset me too much that she didn’t come, I have gotten used to this not happening when they are supposed to. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The adventures of my wallet
It has been a long time since I’ve written a blog. I’ve been staying busy with work, going to Bishkek, and hanging out with my family. Not a whole lot has happened here. I went to Bishkek last week to finish a grant and to start pricing books for a new grant. Turns out the books are much more expensive than I expected, but I think they are going to be a great learning tool and my counterpart is really great at English and it will help her with ideas. It was a very stressful and busy few days in Bishkek, but I managed to squeeze some time in for my friends who got just got back from Thailand. They got married. Their pictures and stories were amazing. It’s always great to see such great people get together.
While in Bishkek I lost my wallet with EVERYTHING in it. As my sister wrote on my blog… some things never change. The great thing that I have learned over the years about when I lose things is not to freak out. It has served me well to stay calm and think happy thoughts. If I don’t find whatever I’ve lost then I’m still left with not freaking out. My friend Heather and I were heading out to our old training village to visit her host sister because she is going to Moscow to work. We took a mini bus to one city and then a taxi to our village. We sat, talked, laughed, and ate. It was a great time and we were so happy to see her sister and dad. When it was time to leave I noticed I didn’t have my wallet. Crap. We searched the house and then searched the village for the taxi that took us there. Somehow we found it and it was not in there. Her host dad starting yelling at the guy for not having it. It’s not like it was his fault. So we got back into the city and figured it was a lost cause because there are so many marshrutkas (minibuses) that go between the two cities we traveled between. There was no way we would be able to track it down. Then next day I went into the PC office and talked to the people there about it. We decided to wait a couple days to see if it would turn up and if not we would start the process of getting new documents. I went about my day and got things done. Around 3 in the afternoon I got a call from this guy asking me in Russian if my name was Emilia (Emily is my middle name). He was reading my documents and was trying to get a hold of me to give them back. In my broken Kyrgyz I told him that I needed to get someone to talk to him. I ran inside the office and got a host country national to talk to the guy. After a few hand offs and negotiating one of the staff members got off the phone and said that he was demanding 1000 som for the return of my wallet. They were going to wait an hour or so and call him back and try to get it back. I just went back to working and finishing things I needed to do in Bishkek. At the end of the day Heather and I went inside so she could learn some songs on the Komuz (the local national stringed instrument). While sitting and listening to people play music the PC staff member walked in with my ID, WITH EVERYTHING STILL IN IT. It was amazing. We didn’t even have to pay a dime (well I guess a som here). I sat there wondering how could he have known my number? Then I realized I had cards in my wallet with my numbers on it so when I add units to my phone I don’t have to tell them the number, I just give them my card. Smartest thing I’ve ever done. He just started calling my numbers and finally got the one that was attached to the simcard in my phone. I still am amazed how it all worked out. But I guess that shows to tell you that happy thoughts can help a lot more than freaking out!
Thank you PC for helping me find my wallet and I promise to keep it with me (Ok… I’ll try to keep it with me) and not leave it places I can’t get it back.
This is a picture of a camel in the middle of the city. I was walking back to the hotel from the PC office and looked up and this is what I saw. It was too good of a picture to not take. Enjoy!! :)
Brooke
While in Bishkek I lost my wallet with EVERYTHING in it. As my sister wrote on my blog… some things never change. The great thing that I have learned over the years about when I lose things is not to freak out. It has served me well to stay calm and think happy thoughts. If I don’t find whatever I’ve lost then I’m still left with not freaking out. My friend Heather and I were heading out to our old training village to visit her host sister because she is going to Moscow to work. We took a mini bus to one city and then a taxi to our village. We sat, talked, laughed, and ate. It was a great time and we were so happy to see her sister and dad. When it was time to leave I noticed I didn’t have my wallet. Crap. We searched the house and then searched the village for the taxi that took us there. Somehow we found it and it was not in there. Her host dad starting yelling at the guy for not having it. It’s not like it was his fault. So we got back into the city and figured it was a lost cause because there are so many marshrutkas (minibuses) that go between the two cities we traveled between. There was no way we would be able to track it down. Then next day I went into the PC office and talked to the people there about it. We decided to wait a couple days to see if it would turn up and if not we would start the process of getting new documents. I went about my day and got things done. Around 3 in the afternoon I got a call from this guy asking me in Russian if my name was Emilia (Emily is my middle name). He was reading my documents and was trying to get a hold of me to give them back. In my broken Kyrgyz I told him that I needed to get someone to talk to him. I ran inside the office and got a host country national to talk to the guy. After a few hand offs and negotiating one of the staff members got off the phone and said that he was demanding 1000 som for the return of my wallet. They were going to wait an hour or so and call him back and try to get it back. I just went back to working and finishing things I needed to do in Bishkek. At the end of the day Heather and I went inside so she could learn some songs on the Komuz (the local national stringed instrument). While sitting and listening to people play music the PC staff member walked in with my ID, WITH EVERYTHING STILL IN IT. It was amazing. We didn’t even have to pay a dime (well I guess a som here). I sat there wondering how could he have known my number? Then I realized I had cards in my wallet with my numbers on it so when I add units to my phone I don’t have to tell them the number, I just give them my card. Smartest thing I’ve ever done. He just started calling my numbers and finally got the one that was attached to the simcard in my phone. I still am amazed how it all worked out. But I guess that shows to tell you that happy thoughts can help a lot more than freaking out!
Thank you PC for helping me find my wallet and I promise to keep it with me (Ok… I’ll try to keep it with me) and not leave it places I can’t get it back.
This is a picture of a camel in the middle of the city. I was walking back to the hotel from the PC office and looked up and this is what I saw. It was too good of a picture to not take. Enjoy!! :)
Brooke
Monday, February 7, 2011
More about life!
This is from a week ago:
I’m in Bishkek right now for some work and medical things and it is amazing how different the life is here. I got to eat chicken burgers and real fries; I bought peanut butter, Pringles, and hot sauce; I got to take a real, hot shower in a room that wasn’t 40 degrees (the last time that happened was almost 3 months ago). It is nice to live up this luxury once in a while, but it makes me miss my At-Bashy home where people know me as I walk down the street and I can speak Kyrgyz to everyone. There are many times in Bishkek where I can’t communicate because the person doesn’t speak Kyrgyz. I also don’t have to tell people several times that I don’t speak Russian when I am back in my village. Luxury is nice, but I really do appreciate my simple life!
These past few weeks back at school have been interesting. I have been having some difficulties with one of my counterparts, but I think we have found a compromise. My other counterpart and are really starting to work well together and I am seeing huge improvements. We often talk about how grateful we are that we are able to work together. I got to meet her husband the other day and he seemed wonderful too. He was so excited to meet me and he also drove me into town so I didn’t have to walk. It’s always so great to really begin to feel a friendship developing, especially when you are alone in a place and have very few friends. I have my volunteer friends, but it is great to start to build bonds with local people as well.
I had a meeting with one of my counterparts and my director (the principal of the school). We talked about future projects that I would like to do and things that they would like done at the school. It seems like we are seeing eye to eye and I am really excited. One goal I have is to build a green house at our school and educate the community about fruits and vegetables. I can really see this helping the community out a lot and helping them get the nutrients their bodies need (especially during the winter months).
I have been having a lot of fun with my family. My family sent presents for them and also flash cards to help teach English. My nieces were so cute with their presents. They got Hello Kitty notepads and they wrote everyone’s phone number in them. They were so excited when they got to my number. They had to show me several times. About 3 nights a week we practice English together. We spell words and count and play games that they volunteer who lived with them before me gave them (candyland and chutes and ladders). I have started to try to tell more stories about my life. They never come out perfectly, but they are really good at understanding and making me feel good for trying. Most of the time when my oldest niece is in the room listening after I finish she will look confused and say, “I don’t understand.” It always makes me laugh!
My schedule is starting to really fill up. That’s good because that helps me focus on what I’m doing here and I don’t get homesick. When there is nothing to do and it is really cold outside it’s really hard to remember why I came here. I’m happy to see progress and see that there is a purpose. Even if it is small, at least I have been a part of a few people’s lives and exposed them to something they would have never seen before.
Life is good. Thank you to everyone who sent me packages and Christmas cards. It really helped to get a little bit of home during this time of year. As the temp drops to -25C (it sounds colder in C) during the night think of me and think warm thoughts.
I’m in Bishkek right now for some work and medical things and it is amazing how different the life is here. I got to eat chicken burgers and real fries; I bought peanut butter, Pringles, and hot sauce; I got to take a real, hot shower in a room that wasn’t 40 degrees (the last time that happened was almost 3 months ago). It is nice to live up this luxury once in a while, but it makes me miss my At-Bashy home where people know me as I walk down the street and I can speak Kyrgyz to everyone. There are many times in Bishkek where I can’t communicate because the person doesn’t speak Kyrgyz. I also don’t have to tell people several times that I don’t speak Russian when I am back in my village. Luxury is nice, but I really do appreciate my simple life!
These past few weeks back at school have been interesting. I have been having some difficulties with one of my counterparts, but I think we have found a compromise. My other counterpart and are really starting to work well together and I am seeing huge improvements. We often talk about how grateful we are that we are able to work together. I got to meet her husband the other day and he seemed wonderful too. He was so excited to meet me and he also drove me into town so I didn’t have to walk. It’s always so great to really begin to feel a friendship developing, especially when you are alone in a place and have very few friends. I have my volunteer friends, but it is great to start to build bonds with local people as well.
I had a meeting with one of my counterparts and my director (the principal of the school). We talked about future projects that I would like to do and things that they would like done at the school. It seems like we are seeing eye to eye and I am really excited. One goal I have is to build a green house at our school and educate the community about fruits and vegetables. I can really see this helping the community out a lot and helping them get the nutrients their bodies need (especially during the winter months).
I have been having a lot of fun with my family. My family sent presents for them and also flash cards to help teach English. My nieces were so cute with their presents. They got Hello Kitty notepads and they wrote everyone’s phone number in them. They were so excited when they got to my number. They had to show me several times. About 3 nights a week we practice English together. We spell words and count and play games that they volunteer who lived with them before me gave them (candyland and chutes and ladders). I have started to try to tell more stories about my life. They never come out perfectly, but they are really good at understanding and making me feel good for trying. Most of the time when my oldest niece is in the room listening after I finish she will look confused and say, “I don’t understand.” It always makes me laugh!
My schedule is starting to really fill up. That’s good because that helps me focus on what I’m doing here and I don’t get homesick. When there is nothing to do and it is really cold outside it’s really hard to remember why I came here. I’m happy to see progress and see that there is a purpose. Even if it is small, at least I have been a part of a few people’s lives and exposed them to something they would have never seen before.
Life is good. Thank you to everyone who sent me packages and Christmas cards. It really helped to get a little bit of home during this time of year. As the temp drops to -25C (it sounds colder in C) during the night think of me and think warm thoughts.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
What my new years was like...
New Years 14 hours before my friends and family was interesting. It was really cute to watch my nieces because they were as excited for New Years as kids in America are for Christmas. There were so many things that were similar and so many things that were different. We had two large meals (one more than normal). The first one was at 7:30 pm and the second one was at 11pm. I made pizza and cookies that I thought were delicious. There was still most of the cookies left and some of the pizza today, so I’m guessing they didn’t like it too much. That’s ok with me because that means there was more for me to eat. We watched the concert that was on TV for most of the night (I snuck away for an hour or so to call home). All four of my nieces and nephew (and I) are all sick so two of my nieces fell asleep before midnight. My host mom and host sister decided that they needed to wake up for the New Year celebration. That turned into a lot of crying and pouting. My nephew is 9 months old and is teething so he was crying too. Then we lit sparklers (the kind that are illegal in America because they are metal and burn people) and my littlest niece burned her finger on it and she started crying. So at one point we had four crying children in the house. I managed to hold it together so no crying from me, but it was pretty entertaining to be on this side of it because I know I put my parents through the same things when I was their age.
Shortly after midnight I went to bed because I hit my limit. I’m pretty sure that they went to bed shortly afterward as well. Yesterday though, I was doing something with my camera and deleted all the pictures on it. Since my computer is acting up I wasn’t able to put the pictures on my computer and there are quite a few that hadn’t been transferred yet. Grr. .. But the good news is that after I cleared off my camera I am able to put the pictures on my computer. So I guess there is always a silver lining. The bad news all the pictures I took at the New Year’s party with all the Kyrgyz people are now gone and my camera is the only one we had there. That’s the hard part about technology.
I am really happy that I spend my New Year’s with my family because it was great to celebrate their largest holiday with them. Now I have a week of vacation to relax and do some planning for other projects. I probably should do some cleaning too.
Today at breakfast my host mom told me that January and February are the coldest months here, but not to worry because come March the temperature starts to go up. Ah I guess that’s good news. I remember when we first came to Kyrgyzstan on March 29, 2010 a day or two before that was their last snow of the year. Oh man, it’s going to be cold! I will be thinking warm thoughts and layering like crazy. I think my max so far with layers is seven at one time. I feel like the little brother on “A Christmas Story” when I go outside sometimes.
Жаны Жылныздар Менен (Happy New Year!)
Brooke
This picture is of my front door. The frost extends about 5 FEET to the right all along the wall, but the wall is white so you can’t see it. It is COLD here!
Shortly after midnight I went to bed because I hit my limit. I’m pretty sure that they went to bed shortly afterward as well. Yesterday though, I was doing something with my camera and deleted all the pictures on it. Since my computer is acting up I wasn’t able to put the pictures on my computer and there are quite a few that hadn’t been transferred yet. Grr. .. But the good news is that after I cleared off my camera I am able to put the pictures on my computer. So I guess there is always a silver lining. The bad news all the pictures I took at the New Year’s party with all the Kyrgyz people are now gone and my camera is the only one we had there. That’s the hard part about technology.
I am really happy that I spend my New Year’s with my family because it was great to celebrate their largest holiday with them. Now I have a week of vacation to relax and do some planning for other projects. I probably should do some cleaning too.
Today at breakfast my host mom told me that January and February are the coldest months here, but not to worry because come March the temperature starts to go up. Ah I guess that’s good news. I remember when we first came to Kyrgyzstan on March 29, 2010 a day or two before that was their last snow of the year. Oh man, it’s going to be cold! I will be thinking warm thoughts and layering like crazy. I think my max so far with layers is seven at one time. I feel like the little brother on “A Christmas Story” when I go outside sometimes.
Жаны Жылныздар Менен (Happy New Year!)
Brooke
This picture is of my front door. The frost extends about 5 FEET to the right all along the wall, but the wall is white so you can’t see it. It is COLD here!
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