Warning: This blog is going to contain more details about what I have been up to over the past few weeks.
1. Culture Day:
Culture Day is exactly what it sounds like, a day of Kyrgyz Culture. For training, all of the volunteers are split up into different villages. On Culture Day, each village arrived to a field in front of the school in my village with a “cultural skit” prepared. My village re-enacted a Turkish wedding; another town re-enacted the ceremony for a baby’s first steps. One town re-enacted the ceremony for the first time a baby is put in the craddle. Others portrayed both Russian and Kyrgyz wedding rituals. Etc, and so forth.
To start the day off, we all got together and built a yurt. I had been told that yurt building was a community effort. But it wasn’t until I saw how many people were necessary just to old the structure together in the beginning that I fully began to understand all the energy that goes into building a yurt. I do not even know how to go about beginning to explain yurt buildingover the internet. Maybe if you google it you can find more information.
My host aunt made 40 kg of plov plus tomatoe & cucumber salad to feed all of the trainees and their host families. After all of the skits and lunch, my host cousin and myself started a giant turkish dancing party which quickly turned into classic american tunes from the 80s and 90s. Overall, it was a very exciting day and the first time all of us were able to hang out with out having some form of training envloved.
2. Site Placement & Site Visit:
Site placement was the “ceremony” that took place a few weeks ago at which point all of the volunteers We walked into training the Wednesday of our site announcement to find a giant map of Kyrgyzstan drawn on the cement. As we got our placements, we had to stand on our part of the map. It was a very entertaining process filled with much excitement and anticipation. I really enjoyed getting to visualize the distance between myself and my new friends, as well as who would be closest to me. My site partner used to be a pastry chef and has already promised to teach me how to make mozzerella cheese. I think we will get a long just fine after that.
My new family is all over the place. My host mom is from the Caucus, dad is Uigur (part of China), brother-in-law is Tartar… In my house there lives a mother, a father, a sister, her husband and child, a brother and his son AND NOW me. I joke that I will get to live with every minority in Kyrgyzstan and never have the full on experience of living with an actual Kyrgyz family. I am really looking forward to living with them. They have been a training family for years, which means they understand the “odd” things about Americans.
3. My Permanent NGO
My new NGO is amazing. It is called “Delight and Consolation.” I have no idea how to sum it up other than saying it works in various areas of welfare. The NGO started with a Dairy Farm which now pays the salary of 8 workers. The NGO is run by a Director (who was schooled in partially in Denmark), an accountant, a social worker, and another lady who runs all the farm business. They have started Self Help Groups in Kant, some of which down as a mini microfiancing group. They work with pensioners and other people who cannot make enough money to live above the poverty line. They started a chicken breding group to help generate income for the adults and pensioners struggling to survive. People get chickens and sell the eggs/meat for more money. Each year a certain percentage of eggs and baby chickens are given to the NGO to be redistibuted to new families. For the children of these families, they have started life skills training programs, sports programs and health education classes to help keep them off the streets. Everyone keeps a long of their daily activities which is turned into the director at least once a month and the director writes a report to fianancers at the end of each year. The organization is incredibly organized from what I can tell so far. I am very excited about getting to work with them.
4. NGO Practicum Projects:
For our community project, my ngo helped organize a clean-up of the NGO’s facilities. We having been using the building for Peace Corps training and were originally going to have a Field Day there back at the beginning of August. The best part, after the crazy Americans took to the bushes with the hos and axes, and after the trash had been piled up, out came the matches. In Kyrgyzstan fashion, all of the trash and rubbish was burned at the end of the event. Several of the PC Volunteers were taken aback because they thought it was a safety and health risk to burn everything.
Our NGO had asked us (the three of us helping out there during training) to put on a flag football tournament. We will start the morning by teaching the locals how to play flag football. It will be very interesting since none of us have extremely amazing Russian. We have decided to just have several small 15-20 minute games so that everyone will get a chance to play. And for those of use who are less sporty, we will have field day games inbetween each event. I am very excited. Several of the volunteers have said they will come so it might turn into a rather BIG event.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
a day in kyrgyzstan
If the light shinning through my window does not wake me up, I arise to the sound of a crackling whip. The cow parade has begun. Every morning at approximately 6:30, after milking, the cows are let loose from the barn to be herded to a grazing field. The entire scenario is reversed at approximately 7:00 PM when the cows come home to be milked and tethered to their stale for the night. It is quite an amazing feat to sit outside on the side of the road as cows surround you on all sides. Each cow walks to her own house and will “moo” incessantly until the gate is magically opened by one of the sons. It is a rural rush hour.
Despite the seemingly slower pace to life, it is easy to get lost in the weekly schedule of language school and training. The routine varies little each day. Even my host family forgets which day is which. However, like life anywhere else, the little things each day make the biggest differences. Today, another volunteer from my program went home. Needless to say, school was rather depressing. I came home to find that all the women had just come home from the market with enough fruit to feed a small army. We sat for a few hours plucking stems off the sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted. We cleaned plums, apricots and peaches. We cored and sliced apples. It looked like a Hallmark greeting card with 6 local ladies and 6 volunteers sitting on milking stools and tree stumps in a circle, knives in hand and buckets in the middle. The fruit was placed into clear jars filled with boiling water and sugar and then capped for storage until winter.
That is right. I help preserve fruit. My host aunt let me take a bowl full of apples to make a pie. I am pretty sure that this was partly to amuse me with something to do and to amuse her as the silly American girl cooked. In America, I cook pies all the time how hard could it be to throw one together in Kyrgyzstan… especially when they use a completely different measurement system. I can now say I accomplished making a pie by eyeballing the ingredients for the crust. AND it was edible too!
I keep getting emails asking what the people are like “over here.” They are just like people everywhere else. Meaning that, while the customs may be slightly different from America, they still love to laugh and interact with one another. I live with a Turkish family in a community of jokesters. There is never a dull moment with any member of my host family. One of the volunteers has compared my house to a college apartment because we always have so many people over. They love to dance and sing also. It is not uncommon for me to roll over at 1 AM and here music still playing outside.
In the news:
-My host brother is going to be getting married. There will be a “small wedding,” which I think roughly translates as an engagement party. The actual wedding will be held in October and I am supposed to come back if I live close enough by.
-This week we will be finding out our permanent assignments.
-The Trainee Culture Day was a successful event. All of the other villages came to my village and put on skits about different cultural traditions. We had a giant picnic with plov, melon and watermelon. We build a yurt! Then after lunch, along side the Turkish host mothers, I helped start a giant dance party. It was quite a blast.
Despite the seemingly slower pace to life, it is easy to get lost in the weekly schedule of language school and training. The routine varies little each day. Even my host family forgets which day is which. However, like life anywhere else, the little things each day make the biggest differences. Today, another volunteer from my program went home. Needless to say, school was rather depressing. I came home to find that all the women had just come home from the market with enough fruit to feed a small army. We sat for a few hours plucking stems off the sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted. We cleaned plums, apricots and peaches. We cored and sliced apples. It looked like a Hallmark greeting card with 6 local ladies and 6 volunteers sitting on milking stools and tree stumps in a circle, knives in hand and buckets in the middle. The fruit was placed into clear jars filled with boiling water and sugar and then capped for storage until winter.
That is right. I help preserve fruit. My host aunt let me take a bowl full of apples to make a pie. I am pretty sure that this was partly to amuse me with something to do and to amuse her as the silly American girl cooked. In America, I cook pies all the time how hard could it be to throw one together in Kyrgyzstan… especially when they use a completely different measurement system. I can now say I accomplished making a pie by eyeballing the ingredients for the crust. AND it was edible too!
I keep getting emails asking what the people are like “over here.” They are just like people everywhere else. Meaning that, while the customs may be slightly different from America, they still love to laugh and interact with one another. I live with a Turkish family in a community of jokesters. There is never a dull moment with any member of my host family. One of the volunteers has compared my house to a college apartment because we always have so many people over. They love to dance and sing also. It is not uncommon for me to roll over at 1 AM and here music still playing outside.
In the news:
-My host brother is going to be getting married. There will be a “small wedding,” which I think roughly translates as an engagement party. The actual wedding will be held in October and I am supposed to come back if I live close enough by.
-This week we will be finding out our permanent assignments.
-The Trainee Culture Day was a successful event. All of the other villages came to my village and put on skits about different cultural traditions. We had a giant picnic with plov, melon and watermelon. We build a yurt! Then after lunch, along side the Turkish host mothers, I helped start a giant dance party. It was quite a blast.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The hardest part about writing a blog is finding something thing witty and entertaining to share. The second hardest part is finding internet often enough.
I left the United States of America almost two weeks ago but so much has happened it feels like two months have past. I spent my first few days as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT) in Philadelphia new faces and being overwhelmed with information. It was a crash course on making new life friends for the journey ahead of us. Exhausted we pressed on to Kyrgyzstan where we spent three more days learning about the people and the culture of our new home.
Being in Kyrgyzstan was a surreal feeling. The new faces signal a new land but we were trapped inside the hotel with our fellow country men. The application process was finally over and the realization that we had become PCT was setting in. We had said good-bye to loved ones and were carefully handed new friends and family. Our third day in here we were finally given a few hours of freedom. With our Language and Culture Facilitators (LCF), we went to the supermarket, the flower shop and an internet café. I felt like such a child being marched through the city with my babysitter helping me find what I needed. I was introduced to Kyrgyz mass transportation… the marshuka. The marshuka is approximately the size of a 15 passenger van only tall enough for people to stand up. On either side there are a few seats but most people stand pressed so closely to another person you could feel their heart beat. It is a rather exhilarating way travel.
Our first day in country, the U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan took a break to come welcome us to Kyrgyzstan. No worries Mom, I was dressed appropriately. She talked to us for a while about our role in Kyrgyzstan. According to the director, she is a strong supporter of the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan.
The culture lessons were by far the most entertaining part of our stay. Kyrgyzstan is made up of two main people groups--Russians and Kyrgyz-- but lacks not in variety of immigrants. Our sessions focused mainly on life in a Kyrgyz family since the majority of PCT would be living with one. The first topic of discussion… drinking. As an ex-soviet country, vodka is prevalent. Our trainers gave us a host of excuses to use in order to politely abstain from vodka. “I don’t drink.” “I am on medication.” “I am sick.” “I am allergic.” “The Peace Corps director told me I couldn’t.” “I am a recovering alcoholic.” And my personal favorite--“I’m Baptist.” The second topic of discussion… using an outhouse. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory so I will spare you the enthralling details. Moving on, I learned about the Krygyz banya. Once a week, families enter the banya to bathe. Basically, it is a two room building (one for clothes, one for bath) that transforms into a sauna to sit in anywhere from 1-3 hours. You have buckets of cold water to bathe with and to dip your towel in. You use the wet towel to beat the sweat off yourself. I have not had a chance to banya yet but I have taken full advantage of the summer shower--an outdoor shower. If I continue to mention every little detail this blog will become ten pages long.
Now, onto the most important stuff… my host family. After all of the hoo-ray in Bishkek, we were all anxious to meet our new family. We were hustled into a giant ceremony where each town was called up onto stage individually and PCT had to find the person with the matching slip of paper. Each paper had our name and the name of our host mother on it. It was quite literally a MATCHING ceremony. My host brother and host mother speak a little English which helped make the first night a hundred times easier. All the members of my host family--mother, father and brother-- are very lively, entertaining people. They have welcomed me with open arms and are egar to help me learn to speak Russian properly. They have had good practice since I am not their first volunteer. I really enjoy spending time with them. In three days, I have gone from knowing one word of Russian to being able to speak a few three word sentences. My host father’s niece lives next door. She also is hosting a PCT and has three little boys (ages 6,8,10). I spend a lot of time trying to play games with her boys when I am not studying.
Both houses are small farms. From what I can tell we grow pears, raspberries, apples, cucumbers, and other vegetables. We also have a roster that laughs instead of crowing, chickens, sheep and cows. Next door they have ducks. Needless to say, I run around the lawn saying “Goosey Goosey” (phonetic Russian for ducks) much to the chagrin of my neighbor. We have a dog named Kiki and an unnamed cat that are the family pets. The cat thinks Kiki is its mother which is hilarious to watch. Apparently, one of the last volunteers spoiled Kiki so now Kiki LOVES foreigners. The instant I come outside, the little thing will run over and within inches of my feet, roll onto its back for me to rub its belly. If I do not do a good enough job, she then follows me around outside jumping at my leg until I pet her some more.
Ten other volunteers live in the same city. So, I am not completely cut off from English as originally imagined. Despite our curfew, we still manage to hang out some. We are all in the same program which means that we do training together ever afternoon. In the morning, we are split into groups of five for our language classes.
I fear this blog has gone on too long and I am beginning to monopolize the internet. Thus, I bit you farewell and hope that I have given you enough stories to keep you entertained until next time. Sorry this was so long!
Cheers.
I left the United States of America almost two weeks ago but so much has happened it feels like two months have past. I spent my first few days as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT) in Philadelphia new faces and being overwhelmed with information. It was a crash course on making new life friends for the journey ahead of us. Exhausted we pressed on to Kyrgyzstan where we spent three more days learning about the people and the culture of our new home.
Being in Kyrgyzstan was a surreal feeling. The new faces signal a new land but we were trapped inside the hotel with our fellow country men. The application process was finally over and the realization that we had become PCT was setting in. We had said good-bye to loved ones and were carefully handed new friends and family. Our third day in here we were finally given a few hours of freedom. With our Language and Culture Facilitators (LCF), we went to the supermarket, the flower shop and an internet café. I felt like such a child being marched through the city with my babysitter helping me find what I needed. I was introduced to Kyrgyz mass transportation… the marshuka. The marshuka is approximately the size of a 15 passenger van only tall enough for people to stand up. On either side there are a few seats but most people stand pressed so closely to another person you could feel their heart beat. It is a rather exhilarating way travel.
Our first day in country, the U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan took a break to come welcome us to Kyrgyzstan. No worries Mom, I was dressed appropriately. She talked to us for a while about our role in Kyrgyzstan. According to the director, she is a strong supporter of the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan.
The culture lessons were by far the most entertaining part of our stay. Kyrgyzstan is made up of two main people groups--Russians and Kyrgyz-- but lacks not in variety of immigrants. Our sessions focused mainly on life in a Kyrgyz family since the majority of PCT would be living with one. The first topic of discussion… drinking. As an ex-soviet country, vodka is prevalent. Our trainers gave us a host of excuses to use in order to politely abstain from vodka. “I don’t drink.” “I am on medication.” “I am sick.” “I am allergic.” “The Peace Corps director told me I couldn’t.” “I am a recovering alcoholic.” And my personal favorite--“I’m Baptist.” The second topic of discussion… using an outhouse. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory so I will spare you the enthralling details. Moving on, I learned about the Krygyz banya. Once a week, families enter the banya to bathe. Basically, it is a two room building (one for clothes, one for bath) that transforms into a sauna to sit in anywhere from 1-3 hours. You have buckets of cold water to bathe with and to dip your towel in. You use the wet towel to beat the sweat off yourself. I have not had a chance to banya yet but I have taken full advantage of the summer shower--an outdoor shower. If I continue to mention every little detail this blog will become ten pages long.
Now, onto the most important stuff… my host family. After all of the hoo-ray in Bishkek, we were all anxious to meet our new family. We were hustled into a giant ceremony where each town was called up onto stage individually and PCT had to find the person with the matching slip of paper. Each paper had our name and the name of our host mother on it. It was quite literally a MATCHING ceremony. My host brother and host mother speak a little English which helped make the first night a hundred times easier. All the members of my host family--mother, father and brother-- are very lively, entertaining people. They have welcomed me with open arms and are egar to help me learn to speak Russian properly. They have had good practice since I am not their first volunteer. I really enjoy spending time with them. In three days, I have gone from knowing one word of Russian to being able to speak a few three word sentences. My host father’s niece lives next door. She also is hosting a PCT and has three little boys (ages 6,8,10). I spend a lot of time trying to play games with her boys when I am not studying.
Both houses are small farms. From what I can tell we grow pears, raspberries, apples, cucumbers, and other vegetables. We also have a roster that laughs instead of crowing, chickens, sheep and cows. Next door they have ducks. Needless to say, I run around the lawn saying “Goosey Goosey” (phonetic Russian for ducks) much to the chagrin of my neighbor. We have a dog named Kiki and an unnamed cat that are the family pets. The cat thinks Kiki is its mother which is hilarious to watch. Apparently, one of the last volunteers spoiled Kiki so now Kiki LOVES foreigners. The instant I come outside, the little thing will run over and within inches of my feet, roll onto its back for me to rub its belly. If I do not do a good enough job, she then follows me around outside jumping at my leg until I pet her some more.
Ten other volunteers live in the same city. So, I am not completely cut off from English as originally imagined. Despite our curfew, we still manage to hang out some. We are all in the same program which means that we do training together ever afternoon. In the morning, we are split into groups of five for our language classes.
I fear this blog has gone on too long and I am beginning to monopolize the internet. Thus, I bit you farewell and hope that I have given you enough stories to keep you entertained until next time. Sorry this was so long!
Cheers.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
I made it to KYRGYZSTAN
Ok, so I figured I should check in. I do not have time to say much now, just enough to let you know I made it here. I promise later I will give more details. I hope all is well. Take care!!
Monday, May 19, 2008
The next two years of my life...
Dear Friends & Family, Let me start by saying that I promise to keep this blog as up-to-date as humanly possible, despite the fact that I probably will not have internet on a regular basis.
"So... what will you be doing now?"
That question could win an award for being the question I hear most often but then, I guess I did just graduate from Baylor.
I have joined the Peace Corps and on July 3 will be moving to Kyrgyzstan for the next two years and three months. I do not know yet where in the country I will be living or exactly what I will be doing. I do know that my first three months will be a super intense immersion language training in country. I am supposed to be working with the Sustainable Organization and Community Development Program. My understanding is that I will be assigned to a few different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or community-based organizations but what I will be doing for them EXACTLY is the part that is unknown.
Right now I am incredibly excited and nervous, especially since this has all happened in the past week and a half. So that is it! That is my life for the next two years.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)