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!!
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.
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