I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Krygyzstan from 2005-2007. I worked as a TEFL/Community Development Volunteer. This is my story.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Not so different
So I have been trying to think of all the things that are the same about Kyrgyzstan and America and my list is slowly growing. One of the things I've noticed is that all the marshrutka drivers wave to each other when they pass each other like all the bus drivers to at home. And in a lot of them, they hang up their first earned som. See? It's not that different here, afterall.
My record so far for not banyaing is now 15 days. My sisters really don't care about my personal hygiene as much as I do, so I think I'm going to have to start making my own appointments at the private banya in my village. The thing is that I don't even think I smelled all that bad but I did notice that my skin was sloughing off at every opportunity. I don't think I'll ever go that long without bathing again.
One of my closest friends here, Jordan, just got news that he got Medically separated- although I am secretly convinced that he just did it to compete with me for having the most medical problems since being in country. I guess I underestimated his competitiveness because I just spoke to him and he's now back in America. We think he was allergic to cold weather because he's never spent an extended amount of time out of the Houston humidity so hopefully his cough and health will improve soon. You're in our thoughts and prayers, buddy. Like most of the other people and guys here he dropped a ton of weight. 35 pounds. (Are you eating your protein, J?) He didn't even have that much to lose but I guess being in a third world country will do that to you. Especially if you're from Texas where red meat is it's own food group. We miss him dearly and it'll be hard without him because America just re-claimed one of our best. Hopefully he gets a new Peace Corps assignment soon so next winter when Kyrgyz starts getting cold again I can fly over to Africa or Thailand for a nice little holiday. We're keeping our fingers crossed for Thailand.
Christmas was good here. We celebrated by going over to the Hyatt for their brunch. A group of us stayed there for 3 1/2 hours and I successfully achieved my goal of gaining back all the weight I lost since being here. It was really amazing that I consumed that much food in one sitting. Even the guys were impressed.
Everything else here is going alright, I have about 2 1/2 weeks off for the winter break so I'll be doing more reading than normal. So far, I've finished 14 books so if you are at a loss for ideas about what to send, I just gave my mom a hefty list of ones that I want to read so you can always call her (hint, hint). Also, if you plan on regifting, I don't judge- so just send me any Christmas gifts that you don't want (hideous sweaters with bells or bears on them are totally fine with me). I hope everyone's holiday was warm and filled with cheer, you have all been in my thoughts and prayers.
I have received a few e-mails talking about Christmas and all of the fun chores that go along with it... tree decorating, card writing and holiday shopping. My response is this, it's Christmas? It definitely doesn't feel like it here... hmm, probably because I'm in predominantly Muslim country, perhaps? It's in a week but I feel pretty unattached to it. It's my first Christmas away from home so I know it's going to be difficult but the other volunteers in my area are all going to celebrate by having dinner at the Hyatt, (I wonder if they have lobster in this country?) so that should be nice to spend it with them.
My mom sent me a package and she put some cooking ingredients in it and one of the items was flour. Flour? Are you kidding? I have a cell phone in this country! If they have phones, I'm pretty sure they have mooka (flour in Russian) here. Bread is practically a national meal. Anyways, it did make me laugh so I guess that's the most important thing. Oh mom, you're so good to me. Speaking of packages, I have another mailing tip: Although the padded envelopes are easy to mail, they're easy to break into. Either use a small box or perhaps wrap the envelope in duct tape? Actually, you should probably use duct tape in every mailing situation because they don't have it here so they can't reseal the package if they open it.
So Bishkek is getting pretty slippery. I'd say it's a 9 out of 10 chance that I will be Medivac'd to D.C. before the winter is over. They don't have salt here so it's basically a 3 inch layer of ice on every single sidewalk. Charlie and I were going to a Cafe last weekend and immediately after I said, "don't let me fall" he slipped and dragged me down with him. I fell 2 other times after that and I got him back because I pulled him down with me once, too. After the hardest one I actually had to look on the ground to make sure my brains weren't splattered everywhere, I was sore for 3 days after that one. As goofy as they look, I'm going to have to break out my neon green yak tracks.
So yeah, like I said, I have a cell phone. I am making $3 a day and it costs 1$ to call for one minute so I can't afford to call home but since I know you all have jobs and are making much more than me, so you can call me instead :) My number is 0-11-996-502-17-35-82. You can also text me by following these directions:
1. Go to http://smsgate.bitel.kg/ 2. scroll down as the site is in Russian 3. At the bottom of the screen there is a menu bar, look for SMS 4. Click on it 5. Put my number 173582 in the Number box and type in a message 6. Press the button on left which is Russian for send 7. Make sure you say who it's from because I have no way to identify who is sending me the text.
Everything else is going well, teaching is a lot harder than I thought it would be so I'll have to come up with some creative lesson plans and games. My break is from the 25th of Dec. till the 11th of January so I have a lot of time to think of good lessons for the next quarter. I'll probably go to the embassy to look for some books because a few of my classes don't have any. My Russian is coming along slowly. I think I am going to move out of my host family because 1) If I listen to 50 cent one more time I'm going to stab myself in the eye and 2) Since they speak English they won't talk to me in Russian because they want to practice their language. It's generally pretty frustrating but it's important to me so I try to study as much as possible.
So we joke around that one of the reasons to E.T. that is perfectly acceptable is if you fall into a pit toilet. No questions asked, just go home and hang your head in shame for the rest of your life. So yesterday, I was going to the outhouse and my kitten followed me, I kept saying "Nieliezya" which means "not allowed" in Russian but it kept coming anyway. So I go in, shut the door and it starts clawing it's way inside and it finally gets its head poked through, but I put my hand down by the door (while I was mid-squat) to keep it from getting through. Side note: our outhouse is particularly big since it's on a small hillside so it's a good 12-13 foot drop. So anyways, I finish up and open the door but keep my foot next to it so the kitten can't get through but before I knew it, it bolted over my foot and was 1 nanocentimeter from falling in the outhouse. In one fell swoop I grabbed it and tossed it 4 feet and right into the snow. I don't think it knew what was going on because when I finally picked it up it's heart was racing, and I think it got mad at me because it didn't come around me for the rest of the night. It should have been thanking me because there's no way we would have been able to get it out, and trust me, death by outhouse would be the worst kind.
My New Family
So I am living with 3 sisters and I feel like I'm in a sorority house or something. Japar, 26, is married but her husband is living and working in Moscow and her daughter is living with her parents in a village outside of Tokmok. She's an accountant, I think. Jildes, 21, is a student although she had exams yesterday and I haven't seen her crack a book. Kundus, 19, works at a Korean firm, and she teaches Kyrgyz, I think. Japar is the serious one, Jildes is the cute, bubbly one and Kundus, the youngest (and true to form) is the wild one. It's nice not having parents to tell me to put on my hat every time I leave the house but it's not without trade offs. I think I have heard 50 cents "The Candyshop" and Christina Aguliera's "Dirty" about 8,000 times since I've been here. I think I will have to educate them about what good American music is.
Japar speaks pretty decent English which is helpful but at the same time it's too easy to rely on so now I am going to have to work extra hard on my Russian. As of right now I am signed up for 9 hours of tutoring per week, so we'll see how that all goes. It's still the most difficult part about being here and adjusting because communication is so key.
My School
So my closest friend her is my 17 year old student, Danier. I call him my groupie because he comes over every day just to ask how I am. I went guesting at his house one of the first nights but it was pretty daunting because his father used to be a Russian teacher so he kept grilling me and quizzing me about everything. Talk about being put on the spot. I am teaching 18 hours a week but it's going to be hard because I'm supposed to be teaching 6,7,8,9,10 and 11 grades, so my lesson planning is going to be somewhat difficult. A few of my classes don't have books so I think I'll try to focus on conversation for those. My task seems pretty daunting at this point because I'm trying to remember what I've learned for the last 3 months in training but I feel like I can resort to a few standard games until I get my bearings.
'Stache Tober
So for the month of October, none of the guys shaved as it was PST tradition for the last few years. So Bohee and I took it upon ourselves to do "leg-hair November" and not shave for the entire month. It's now mid-Dec and I still haven't shaved but I try to rationalize it by telling myself that I'm only doing it to keep warm. When I told this to Bohee, her response was, "Ha, I too have given up being a woman."
You know that episode of Family Guy where everyone has completely useless super powers, like being able to grow long nails really quickly? Well, I have two completely useless super powers here. One, I can navigate the pitch blackness ridiculously well. It can be the middle of the night with no stars in the sky and I can make it back and forth to my outhouse, only wiping out once! Also, kittens love me here. Most of you wouldn't consider that a super power unless you know my history with cats. I hate cats. Cats hate me. But not here, my kitten at my new home curls up on my chest and nuzzles my neck, at first I thought it was cute but now I think about how dirty it must be and throw it off me.
I have a new address. It's pretty sketchy because I don't have a P.O. Box but hopefully this works. Don't send packages yet, I want to make sure I can get letters first.
Central Post Office Bishkek 720000 Kyrgyzstan Persavich
Yup, that's it. Cross your fingers while I work on trying to get a real address here. Apparently no one has ever heard of packages or postage here.
I have so much more to say but no time to say it. So send me lots of letters!
Note: these ramblings, observations, attitudes, beliefs, opinions and views do not in any way relfect those of Peace Corps or the United States Goverment.... so don't even think about it.
