So Far.
My Village
I am living in Koshoy, a small village about an hour and a half away from the capital with 9 other volunteers (5 Kyrgyz and 4 other Russians). Several dirt roads stem off of one poorly paved road which basically makes up our entire village. There is one school, one small store and the next village is 20 minutes away. We live at the base of the Ala-Too mountain range, which means I can see mountains and snow-capped peaks from any window and the sunrises and sunsets are unreal.
My Host Family
I live in a Russian family; my mama is 68 and she has silver hair and a silver smile and a wink that could convince you to do just about anything. Her wrinkles are evidence of a life I’ll never even begin to understand. Apparently, when she was pregnant, she was beaten by her husband so she left him to raise her daughter on her own. She worked as a chef for 25 years, owns her own farm and built her house with her bare hands. She is the sweetest most loving person but someone you’d never want to mess with. My sister Tanya is 34 and she helps with running the farm and other daily chores and together they are completely self-sufficient. Everything they eat or use comes directly from their farm and animals- their homemade cheese and jam are the best I’ve ever tasted. Tanya knits and sews and makes down blankets and pillows. We have one cow, lots of chickens (which I now refer to as dinner since I pass through the coup on my way to the outhouse) 2 dogs, 2 cats and 4 kittens. They are both extremely patient with my limited Russian but it’s amazing how humor can transcend any language.
Life in General
It’s very hard to describe in words. Other volunteers agree that we wish we could send a 10 second clip of our lives here to better explain ourselves. It’s no better, no worse, just EXTREMELY different. Overall, I feel like I am adjusting fairly well. Oddly enough it’s fairly easy to adjust to live without all the “proper” amenities. We have electricity (for the most part) but no running water or indoor plumbing. I’m already accustomed to the pit toilets and in some ways they even feel cleaner and more natural (or maybe that’s just what we like to tell ourselves). My mom or sister washes my hair once a week and I take a banya once a week, which is so refreshing. It’s like a steam room/sauna and you just use a basin to do all of your cleaning. By day 6, I’m smelling pretty funky but other than that I really don’t miss showering everyday. Once I even got offended because my mama told me that I needed to wash my hair because it was greasy- I was like “WHAT?! I just washed it 3 days ago!”. I also know I’m accustomed to being here because back in the states I used to freak out if a bug even crossed my path, but the other night in my room I decided which bugs I would kill by assessing whether or not I would mind if one landed on my face in the middle of the night. Needless to say, all of the ones larger than a cricket didn’t make it. And the pace of life is much slower here- the only kind of traffic jams we encounter here is when we’re headed into the city and there is a herd of sheep or cows that take up the entire road. We call them “lamb jams”- it’s like being in a real live version of frogger.
Pre-Service Training
The days in PST are long and exhausting. 4 days a week we have 4 hours of language training per day ad the other two days all 62 trainees go to Tokmok for Hub Day where we have technical sessions and safety and security sessions. We have one day off per week and make 40 som or $1 per day. When we’re not in class we’re either studying, reading, hanging out or sleeping. By Sunday we’re exhausted so our Russian group gets together to have a beer and play a Russian card game called Doorok and talk about anything non-Peace Corps or Russian related.
Site Visits
Last week all 62 trainees went and stayed with different volunteers all over the country to get a feel for what it will be like when we finally get to our sites. I stayed with Martha Van Camp who oddly enough is from Centreville, VA, my hometown. So strange to go halfway around the world to meet someone that you live 10 minutes away from. We sat in on some of her classes, hung out, and made some American food- it was a much needed break. Her host family had running water, a hot water heater, indoor plumbing and a shower- it was practically like Christmas!
The Hardest Part
The hardest part is actually learning Russian, my group jokes that we have to study in a padded cell with no sharp object near us because the rules (or lack thereof) are infuriating. In two years it is my goal to form one coherent complete thought that is correctly conjugated. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If I end up doing that successfully, I think I will take up Rocket Science when I home.
I am living in Koshoy, a small village about an hour and a half away from the capital with 9 other volunteers (5 Kyrgyz and 4 other Russians). Several dirt roads stem off of one poorly paved road which basically makes up our entire village. There is one school, one small store and the next village is 20 minutes away. We live at the base of the Ala-Too mountain range, which means I can see mountains and snow-capped peaks from any window and the sunrises and sunsets are unreal.
My Host Family
I live in a Russian family; my mama is 68 and she has silver hair and a silver smile and a wink that could convince you to do just about anything. Her wrinkles are evidence of a life I’ll never even begin to understand. Apparently, when she was pregnant, she was beaten by her husband so she left him to raise her daughter on her own. She worked as a chef for 25 years, owns her own farm and built her house with her bare hands. She is the sweetest most loving person but someone you’d never want to mess with. My sister Tanya is 34 and she helps with running the farm and other daily chores and together they are completely self-sufficient. Everything they eat or use comes directly from their farm and animals- their homemade cheese and jam are the best I’ve ever tasted. Tanya knits and sews and makes down blankets and pillows. We have one cow, lots of chickens (which I now refer to as dinner since I pass through the coup on my way to the outhouse) 2 dogs, 2 cats and 4 kittens. They are both extremely patient with my limited Russian but it’s amazing how humor can transcend any language.
Life in General
It’s very hard to describe in words. Other volunteers agree that we wish we could send a 10 second clip of our lives here to better explain ourselves. It’s no better, no worse, just EXTREMELY different. Overall, I feel like I am adjusting fairly well. Oddly enough it’s fairly easy to adjust to live without all the “proper” amenities. We have electricity (for the most part) but no running water or indoor plumbing. I’m already accustomed to the pit toilets and in some ways they even feel cleaner and more natural (or maybe that’s just what we like to tell ourselves). My mom or sister washes my hair once a week and I take a banya once a week, which is so refreshing. It’s like a steam room/sauna and you just use a basin to do all of your cleaning. By day 6, I’m smelling pretty funky but other than that I really don’t miss showering everyday. Once I even got offended because my mama told me that I needed to wash my hair because it was greasy- I was like “WHAT?! I just washed it 3 days ago!”. I also know I’m accustomed to being here because back in the states I used to freak out if a bug even crossed my path, but the other night in my room I decided which bugs I would kill by assessing whether or not I would mind if one landed on my face in the middle of the night. Needless to say, all of the ones larger than a cricket didn’t make it. And the pace of life is much slower here- the only kind of traffic jams we encounter here is when we’re headed into the city and there is a herd of sheep or cows that take up the entire road. We call them “lamb jams”- it’s like being in a real live version of frogger.
Pre-Service Training
The days in PST are long and exhausting. 4 days a week we have 4 hours of language training per day ad the other two days all 62 trainees go to Tokmok for Hub Day where we have technical sessions and safety and security sessions. We have one day off per week and make 40 som or $1 per day. When we’re not in class we’re either studying, reading, hanging out or sleeping. By Sunday we’re exhausted so our Russian group gets together to have a beer and play a Russian card game called Doorok and talk about anything non-Peace Corps or Russian related.
Site Visits
Last week all 62 trainees went and stayed with different volunteers all over the country to get a feel for what it will be like when we finally get to our sites. I stayed with Martha Van Camp who oddly enough is from Centreville, VA, my hometown. So strange to go halfway around the world to meet someone that you live 10 minutes away from. We sat in on some of her classes, hung out, and made some American food- it was a much needed break. Her host family had running water, a hot water heater, indoor plumbing and a shower- it was practically like Christmas!
The Hardest Part
The hardest part is actually learning Russian, my group jokes that we have to study in a padded cell with no sharp object near us because the rules (or lack thereof) are infuriating. In two years it is my goal to form one coherent complete thought that is correctly conjugated. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If I end up doing that successfully, I think I will take up Rocket Science when I home.
posted by Katie P. at 2:47 AM
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