I Have a Plan

03/25/06

IST (in-service training) is finished. Talk about an exhausting week. The first night we were there, a big group of us went out dancing all night and had a great time. In the center of Bishkek, there are westernized stores, the Hyatt hotel, restaurants, and nightclubs. We went to a nightclub called Fire & Ice, and we accounted for most of the patrons. I’d had a few drinks and it was extremely dark in there, but it seemed nice. The strange thing is we brought our own beer. I would say 20 of us volunteers went and maybe 2 bought drinks. But its allowed. The guys pay 200 som to enter the club (which is a little outrageous – about $5) and the girls are free if you’re very nice to the doorman. There were some American military guys there, but they were creepy. One 40 year old man was putting the moves on this young Russian girl and he was married with children. Needless to say, I did not like that guy. That was the best night to go out, because the volunteers who are isolated in small villages went a little wild. After that night, I was never able to catch up on my sleep. My downfall, of not being able to sleep when there’s socializing to be done, got the better of me.

We went to cafés with good food almost every night after our training sessions ended. There is a restaurant called the Metro, owned by a British guy, with lots of food we find in America. They serve hamburgers, club sandwiches, French fried, pizza, buffalo wings, nachos, etc. I ate a club sandwich, a hamburger w/ fries, and chicken fingers (on separate nights). Another night we went to a Chinese restaurant. Andrew and I left the hotel together and went to the Hyatt to use the ATM. I know he is terrible with directions, but will never admit. For some unknown reason I ignored this fact and let him lead me around town. I assumed we would take a taxi and chose to wear heals, even though my feet were sore from dancing the night before. Well, Andrew kept telling me we were close and didn’t need a taxi. He was wrong and we walked for more than an hour. Live and learn. There were about 20 volunteers there that night. One couple in their late 40’s (I think), Scott & Leslie, were out with us that night. All of the 20-something volunteers look up to these two. [They were lawyers in Boulder, CO. The two of them have very sarcastic senses of humor. In their presence, you will be made fun of. No one minds though, because 1) they’re hilarious and 2) they make fun of themselves and each other more than anyone else). We all danced at the Chinese restaurant, with one kid singing karaoke for us.

I was able to go to the Beta Stores (a store carrying western products from food to electronics to clothes). I found a round cake pan, but no loaf pan for bread. Sigh. I and a few girls made friends with the wait staff at the hotel and life was good. They brought us food at all hours of the night while we hung out in the sofa area on our floor. After work, the guys brought up beer, wine and vodka for us and our friends. I taught them how to play dominoes with my broken Kyrgyz and their broken English. They understood and we had a good time playing. On the last night we were there, one of the boys gave me a small bouquet of flowers. The girls and I felt like queens. Sometimes they call me now, but a phone conversation is much harder than an in-person conversation.

Now for a short little blurb on what IST entails. It was 6 days of training sessions to expand on what we learned during our pre-service training. For the SOCD (business) volunteers, there were sessions on grassroots organizing, grant writing, and a short rundown on how to teach English. The English teaching session was not what I had hoped it would be. They focused quite a bit on how to teach vocabulary words, but I was interested in how to teach grammar. I can figure out vocab – I had 3 months of learning vocab. I just use the methods our language teachers used for us. English grammar is a little trickier, and since I do not always use it correctly I just wanted a quick session on the more difficult concepts to teach. I guess I’ll have to keep making it up as I go, and hope that a future English teacher doesn’t speak to these kids and think I was a terrible teacher.

For the last 3 months, I’ve been feeling so worthless and uninspired as a volunteer. I couldn’t think of any projects that were good, and it was really bumming me out. My creative juices started flowing at IST and now I have a plethora of ideas. At this moment, I’m taking a break from writing a grant for my Earth Day – Clean Up Talas project. Earth Day falls on a Saturday, so I’m organizing a clean-up of the river, forest, stadium and pond/park near my house. The volunteers from around the oblast are planning to bring kids from their villages to help out. The grant is for about $136 and will pay for a picnic after we finish cleaning up and cassette tapes. With the tapes I’m going to make mix tapes of American music as the door prize for participating. We’ll also have games and prizes. I need to lure the kids out there to get them to help and then we’ll throw some environmentally friendly lectures at them during the picnic. That’s my first project. Also in the line up are grants for a new medicinal herb farm, a wool processing machine for one of the village handicraft groups, and a simple irrigation system. I want to get these grants written in the next 2 months, because they can take up to a year to get approved, funds transferred, equipment bought, etc. We won’t be able to use them this summer, but hopefully we’ll be ready next summer.

That’s my work life. Home life is going well, but I just realized last week how poor we are at my house. I couldn’t understand how I was running out of money halfway through each month, but I basically support the household. My host mom makes 500 som per month ($12.50). The average for a Kyrgyz person is 1000 som per month ($25). I pay about 2000 som per month and bring home most of the food in addition to that. Ainash buys potatoes, onions, carrots, noodles, sugar, tea, things of that nature. Her sister owns a little shop where she can get tea and other small dried goods as a supplement to her income (her family owns the public banya and pays part of her salary in food). I bring home the more expensive items, like meat, rice, fruit, cheese, and the boy devours it. It’s frustrating to have him eat everything in sight, but I don’t have the heart to say something about it. My host family can’t afford to live decently without the income from me. I don’t mind helping out for the next 2 years, but what will they do when I leave? My mini solution to this problem is chickens. Next month I’m going to buy a flock (correct term?) of chickens and Ainash and I are going to learn how to raise them. For now, I’ll research how to care for them but I’m sure it will be much different in practice. The hardest part will be the little chicks that don’t make it. I’m mentally preparing myself for that, but I know I’ll cry if one dies. Who would have thought I’d be a chicken farmer? I must say I’m excited about learning. We have a chicken coop at my house and Samat is going to clean it out for me. I also requested a small area of the yard for my garden and explained to her how we’re going to make a compost pile. She’s just as eager to learn these things as I am. This will be a busy summer.

Ainash made dinner tonight. Almost every night we eat potatoes, carrots and onions – sometimes with cabbage. I love potatoes, so it’s no problem to me. It’s the fried-noodles-with-carrots-nights that get to me. Anyhow, she kept asking me how dinner was. She does this every time she cooks so at first I didn’t think about it. The potatoes were steaming hot and I couldn’t taste the seasoning. Towards the bottom of my bowl, I realized it wasn’t just steam but cayenne pepper. She was so proud to have started using my spicy spices. There was a grin from ear to ear on her face, but she gave a wink and a shrug like it was nothing to her. This woman cracks me up.

Reminder: I LOVE letters in the snail mail. Don’t be shy about sending them!!!

I almost forgot I'm American.

Wow. I’ve been such a blog slacker. But nothing seems exciting enough to write about anymore.

The highlight of my life in Kyrgyzstan has become my students. They’re so anxious to learn and don’t want to have any days off from class. They are such sweet girls (and a few boys). They want to have class during their spring break and summer break. I was floored when they asked about vacation. And they’re helping me with my Kyrgyz. I shared a bag of Jolly Ranchers with them and they LOVED them.

It’s been ridiculously warm for quite some time now. This past week it’s been in the 50’s. I’ve been walking around with a light jacket. But it makes me afraid of how hot the summer will get.

I’m leaving on Wednesday for Bishkek. We have in-service training (IST) for a week. That means I’ll have a bath every day for an entire week! Oh, I feel clean just thinking about it. Today I washed my hair in a bucket on my bedroom floor. I still feel strange doing that, but you do what you have to.

Ok, this entry is boring even me. Bottom line: I’m still alive. I’m reading a lot (finished War and Peace) and listening to music (feel free to send some burned cds). Soon, I’m going to start tilling my garden and planting my seeds indoors. But I’m waiting for you to send the seeds (they’re on my Wishlist).

I just received an email from our country director telling us there was a crime committed and the biggest bazaar in Central Asia, which is in Bishkek. At the end of the email he said as American citizens we must always be aware of our surroundings. Good thing he reminded me, because I forgot that I'm a circus show. I can't go anywhere without people shouting to me on the street. It will be a long while before I stop being aware of my surroundings. But thanks for the heads up, country director.

I’ll try to update this again soon. After IST I’ll have plenty more to tell. And I fixed up my camera, so I’ll be taking pictures and you can see the people I talk about and what my world looks like.