My Newfound Appreciation

I have a newfound appreciation for Irish potato farmers and anyoneelse who has to toil in rocky soil.
Life has been incredibly busy since returning to country. As a strangemethod for relaxation, I signed up to help out with a Habitat forHumanity build in a village near Bishkek. The logic was that, since Iused to do Habitat occasionally on the weekends in the states and dogenuinely find the manual labor a great stress relief, I would berelaxing in the comfort of doing something familiar with somevolunteer friends. Don’t get me wrong, I was not naïve enough to thinkthat houses here are constructed in the same manner as homes in thestates but I was a bit caught off-guard by home different the workwas.
The majority of the house had already previously been built and thefamily was living there. We were helping to finish the floor of thefinal room in the house. The walls had already been built and our taskwas to fill in the space with a foot of dirt and gravel (and chunks ofbroken cement) so that they could pour the concrete floor down. Weworked in teams of two or three shoveling, hoeing, and hauling“wheelbarrows” filled with the dirt and gravel concoction into thehouse where the owner tamped it down with what appeared to be animmobile wooden pogo stick. It was part of a trunk from a small treewith a piece of 2x4 nailed to the bottom and a stick nailed to the topend to create a handle. Our wheelbarrows resemble miniature hospitalstretchers made of wood and metal. The kind of thing you would see insome old war film. It was a simple but durably constructed piece ofrounded metal with wooden poles on either side for two people to beable to carry it. We quickly discovered that shoveling gravel is notan easy task despite the ease with which the locals demonstrated thetask. Never fear, the girls quickly improvised a life changing methodof hoeing the concrete and gravel bits onto the shovel. Hooray forteamwork and creative thinking. Granted, the pile of pure rocks andthe pile that was just rocks mixed with dirt that we dug from oursecond day proved to be significantly easier than the pile of brokenconcrete pieces we shoveled from the first day.
The locals were concerned that we were over exerting ourselves andtold us we had to take breaks every 20 minutes. Then, of course, wehad to break for chai time before lunch. In comparison to the taskmaster pace at which the American Habitat workers charge through theday, it was quite awesome to work a little and rest a little. I thinkthey were also a little caught off guard by females hauling gravel asour Habitat team consisted of 3 males and 6 females.
All in all it proved to be a most exhilarating and relaxing weekend.The family we worked with were some of the nicest people I have evermet.

Phyllis and George

I now have a cat. I named her George, after Curious George that is.This name has been met with a surprising amount of understanding. Mysite mate thought this an unfit name for her, as it is a male’s nameand has decided that her real name is Georgiana. Another fellowvolunteer said her real name should be Georgia. She is a source ofnever ending jokes with locals who have seen her as she has orangehair just like me and therefore we were destined to be friends. Iactually found her in the flowerbed at my organization. She had twosiblings and was clearly the runt of the litter. I like her becauseshe was the only one that would come out and play or attempt toexplore the area outside of the flowerbed, despite her eyes beingalmost sealed shut with what looked like the feline version of pinkeye. When I returned to work after the three weeks in the states, shewas still there. So I took her home wrapped in a bandana thenimmediately bathed her. Now she is all clean and healthy. I have beentold by other volunteers and my parents (after a detailed phonedescription) that she is an orange tabby. To me, she is just George, acrazily curious and fearless wonder cat that has managed to get intoevery crack of my apartment without destroying anything. She has alsodeveloped an amazing habit of waking me by chewing on my ears… I haveto admit, I think I will always be a dog person at heart but it iskind of nice having something to stare at besides a slightly puffypink sparkly wall. (And yes, the wall paper in my apartment isdefinitely puffy, pink, and sparkly).
You may remember me mentioning that my host brother from my traininghost family was married back in October. Well him and his wife justhad a baby girl. Phyllis is the newest addition to my first familyhousehold. (Fi-lease would be the Turkish/Russian pronunciation). Sheis the first grandchild. I told my host mom it is hard to think of heras a grandmother now because she is only 42. Phyllis was born at 5 inthe morning the last week of July while I was in the states. I forgotwhat the family told me the name meant in Turkish but I rememberthinking it sounded extravagant. I was also glad that I was able tomeet Phyllis because she was so young. I even got to hold her when hermother needed to go to the restroom and cook dinner. My host motherkept saying that the baby was too young to see or understand what sheheard. However, she would also start crying within a minute of hermother leaving the room. Thus, Farida (her mother who is a totallyawesome girl that I really enjoy talking to when I visit my hostfamily) and I concluded that she can smell/sense her mother. Afterall,the baby would stop crying immediately upon being brought intowhatever room Fa was in. Phyllis looks exactly like Farida. I alsolearned a new Turkish tradition. When I was telling the family goodnight and wishing them a restful evening without too manyinterruptions from a hungry crying baby, I was instructed to pull outa strand of hair or a piece of string from my garment, place it acrossthe baby’s chest, and then say whatever it was my host mother had merepeat in order to properly tell the baby goodnight. It was reallyawesome visiting them again. Now I just have to wait for the end ofSeptember for my other host sister in my permanent host family to givebirth to her son. Then I will have two babies to play with.

My Sewing Lesson

I reached a new level of local domesticity this past week andsimultaneously discovered that knowing how to sew is not merely asouthern woman necessity, it is also equally important in Kyrgyzstan.My organization put on a handicraft training that focused solely onneedlework. I had previously mentioned that it would be fun to learnhow to make souvenirs to bring home and they took this comment ratherseriously seeing as they graciously included me as an attendee in thetraining. This was an excellent idea excepting the fact that it meantI sat in a room listen to instructions in Kyrgyz and Russian from9:30AM until 4:30 in the afternoon.
Life was not all cupcakes and roses, however. Apparently I sew toometiculously. I was jokingly instructed that if I did not learn to sewfaster my husband and children would starve. This comment of coursebrought up questions about American families. People here are alwayscaught off guard by the fact that Americans get married so late inlife and wait a few years before having children. Here women arenormally married by the time they are 24 and have a child within theirfirst year of marriage. I vote that my slow pace was due to the factthat I was being hauled into conversations at the same time I wastrying to sew. My brain simply vetoed this multitasking venture.
The trainer gave me several projects to take home and I am sincerelygrateful for my new hobby.

Homeward bound… Sort of...

So as I packed up my belongings and started the move from my hostfamily’s house to a one-room apartment (with a kitchen and an INDOORtoilet), I got to thinking about packing to go back to Texas for avisit in July. Then that got me thinking about how it had been aninsanely long time since I wrote everyone back home. I think part ofme was fearful that, after the enthusiastic responses I received frommy stories about ice skating through winter, people had much higherexpectations of my writing abilities.

First, I apologize for having not written in so many months. After thesnail speed crawl of work through the winter, life has been moving atcrazy p erson speed ever since the start of April. This is partiallybecause on April 1 all of the new volunteer showed up and since Ilived in a training village I suddenly had almost 15 new site mates.It was crazy! At first I was like “OOOooh new toys to play with,” butthat quickly turned to a “ooo these trainees are individuals withpersonalities too, how boring.” After about three weeks I finallystarted to get used to their presence in my town and began to becomefriends with them. However, aside from my newfound playmates andalmost daily fun time after work, I also helped out with variousthings throughout the entirety of the K-17 PST like doing a fewtechnical trainings for the SOCD and the Health groups and helpingwith the training for the permanent host families. I am sad that theirPST is over because it provided me with a lot of extra work and playtime to keep myself thoroughly occupied for almost three months. Ithelped to rejuvenate me and showed me how far I have come as avolunteer. Although I miss having my new friends within walkingdistance, at the end of the day I am glad that it is over. Onceeveryone left, I got to move into an apartment. (Another volunteer hadbeen living here previously during PST) It’s like I am starting awhole new era of my service. It’s exciting!

Back in March, we had our Project Design & Management conference.Essentially, for three days volunteers and counterparts were splitinto three language groups and learned how to design/manage a projectand how to write a grant. At the end of this conference, each pair ofvolunteer and counterpart put together presentations on a potentialproject that they could do in particular their village or city. Mycounterpart and I had designed a project to give a felt handicrafttraining for the women in our Self-Help Groups because they make felthandicrafts. After the conference, we went back to site where mycounterpart and I wrote a grant for this training, which, as of a weekago, has been funded!! Writing the grant was a time consuming butexciting experience. The ladies are so excited that we got the fundingand I am looking forward to working with them on this project over thenext few months.

The other grant I am currently working on is to do a Leadership themedcamp in August with the volunteers in my oblast. It would be fundedwith money that was left over from our PEPFAR Winter Camps. It couldbe a lot of fun.

Mostly right now I am looking forward to my three weeks at home. I’mso excited about it that it is hard for me to concentrate on muchelse. AHHH!!!

I promise to try and do a better job in the future about updatingthis. Also, I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but if you arebored and wanting to read more about what is going on in Kyrgyzstan,we have a website that lists all of the Peace Corps blogs. Here is thelink: http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/?showcountryinfo,kg

My new Hobby

Date: 12/23/08

I have a new hobby. Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen. After three months of brainstorming possible ways to entertain myself this summer, an idea fell from the sky and landed under my feet. It is such a perfect fit that I cannot believe I had not thought of it sooner. Are you ready to hear what it is? Brace yourselves! I am learning to ice skate. 

I mean, I thought I had come up with every possible solution. I was going to become a fashion designer and create a whole summer collection. I was going to relearn the piano or maybe even give the guitar a try. I had put pen to paper to practice writing, note I did not say spelling. Sorry guys, I feel like that mountain is just too giant to attempt to climb while in Kyrgyzstan.  

Now, I do not mean to get your hopes up. I am not going to be the next Oksana Biule. In fact, I do know if I will ever even see the inside of a skating rink. 

The other day it began to snow again. Naturally, I was super psyched to wake up and the white fluffy powder floating from the sky. Then I was bitterly upset to walk in the inch on sludge on the road. Little did I know that sludge would soon become my friend. 

You see, Kyrgyzstan is a tad bit different than America. For instance, in America we have these wonderful machines called snowplows. I mean I have never seen one in person but whenever the news shows footage of life up north, there are machines scooping snow off the road. In Kyrgyzstan, only the main roads are snow free. In fact, I have learned that you can tell how many cars drive on the road based on how early in the day you can see the cement. The more cars drive on the snow the more it melts away or swept to the side of the road. 

I almost feel sorry for the snow on the major roads. I mean at least on all of the other streets the sun is not instant death. The snow starts to melt a little and then the cars smash it into its snow friends. All these snow friends refreeze together into giant sheets of ice friends. It is like natures prank on mankind. “I see you humanoid. You think you want to play in snow. Ha Ha! I am not snow. I am snow’s evil twin, Iceman.” Lesson learned: Just because something LOOKS like snow does not mean it is snow. 

I have learned a great deal about different types of ice in the past week. Here, most ice looks like snow or at least that is the mistake I made a few days ago. Now I’m an expert at spotting the difference. How did I become such an expert? I got to walk over a mile to work one day, the day after a “heavy” snowfall. Primarily there are two different types of ice. One looks like snow. The other is so transparent you can see the cement through it and consequently, do not often spot it before you step on it. 

My favorite are the hills on the road. I never noticed how bumpy, uneven, downright hilly our streets are until the ice came. It is like learning to drive a standard all over again. You see that three-inch rise in the pavement and the heart starts racing a little faster. You begin to strategize. “Well, if I walk a little more to that side I can put at least one foot in the snow and that should help me brace myself.” But as some scientist proved long ago, whatever goes up must come back down. Going downhill is the worst; falling is almost guaranteed. It gives me flashbacks to my driving lessons. Only, instead of screaming, “Oh no, please don’t stall. Please just don’t stall,” to myself, I have a broken record whimpering, “Please don’t fall. Oh please just don’t fall.” Of course, once it’s all over I allow myself a silent sigh of relief. 

In Texas, and I assume the rest of the United States, we put salt (or sand) on the road. In Kyrgyzstan, they use coal ashes. By they I mean the train station. I have to cross the train tracks on my way home everyday. I was incredibly worried about this because crossing the tracks includes walking down a two-foot high ramp. Needless to say, I have great appreciation for the ingenuous use of coal ash. 

Thankfully, I have not completely whipped out yet (knock on wood). I’ve come very close but like all true professional ice skaters, I manage to save myself at the last minute when all hope seems lost. Plus, I learned to never leave home without my Peace Corps issues glow-in-the-dark neon green Yak Trax. 

Work Update:
Since I now have my computer, I might actually manage to write these blogs a bit more regularly unless we loose the electricity needed to power the computer. Right now we are preparing for IST, which is the week of training that takes place in January (3 months after you get to site). I will be co-giving a lecture on effective communication. In February, fellow Chui Oblast volunteers, Bridgette, Francis and myself, will be putting on Winter Camps. We will be doing Life Skills and HIV/AIDS training. Since we just had our camp training last week, we are still planning the details of the camp. Also, I have started an English conversation club with a few university students. 

World AIDS Day

Date: 12/1/08

I cannot report on everything that is going on in my town let alone country wide today because it would take too much time but...

To give you an update on my work:
Today is World AIDS Day. My counterpart and I hosted a training for the children at our NGO. At first, I did not know how to approach the topic because our children range in age from 8 to 14. Lucky for me, my fearless counterpart already had a book she had prepared with different activities. Last week we planned out the activities for the day; however, since my counterpart speaks Russian a little better than myself, she did all of the talking today.

We had 4 boys and 5 girls show up. Before we did anything, we had the children take a 10 question test about AIDS. My counterpart read fake letters written by a mother and a teenage girl, and explained some facts about AIDS. My director told a personal story about meeting someone who was HIV positive. We played two different games with the children. The first was more of a role play to teach them about how to interact with people who were HIV positive. We had one kid sit in a chair wearing a hat that said “ВИЧ +”. The first three children all reacted poorly to the “HIV positive” child. They said insults or ran away to wash their hands, etc. The last child sat down next to the “HIV positive” child and had a conversation while holding hands. The second game taught the children about how AIDS affects the immune system. Three children attempted to protect the “HIV positive” child from different diseases like tuberculosis, pneumonia, and flu. The “immune system” formed a barricade around the “HIV positive” child and pushed away the different diseases. The “diseases” were trying to tag the “HIV positive” child. At the end, we allowed the children to ask questions and then gave them the same test again to measure what they learned.

Coming up on the work agenda:
Later this week we will have Volunteer’s Day. I have volunteered to help with a cultural training by teaching line dancing and the Texas Two-step to a group of street children/orphans. Right now I am working to set up a TOEFL preparation class and an English conversation hour with various university students. Later I hope to get involved with the dance school in my town. I a working on getting my NGO an anaerobic digester, and I am also looking into research to make the technology more available to Kyrgyzstan. My director and counterpart have asked that I help them learn how to use Powerpoint and other programs on the computer in our office. They also want me to make a film about the organization but this will have to wait until we can find a camera. I am looking into getting balls for the children in our soccer training. Thankfully, work has finally picked up and I am no longer lacking things to do.