Чёрная Касса

Jyldyz (my new boss), Omurzak, and I went to lunch the other day. As I was proofreading a report that Jyldyz had written in English, she and Omurzak were discussing a way to save money. She said the banks in Talas are not good, because you cannot deposit and withdraw money whenever you want. She then proceeded to tell me about Чёрная Касса which translates to ‘black cash’. It’s a way that women in the villages save money. A group of women get together, and each month they deposit money into the ‘bank.’ The bank is held by one woman in the group, and the holder alternates each month. You can give as much as you want and withdraw anytime. It’s a creative solution to save money if the banking system is so untrustworthy.

And now for an update on the RDC. I got a call from my PC coordinator in Bishkek the other day. Apparently, Sanjar went to the Peace Corps office to complain about me not working with him. After I told him a few weeks ago that I would work with both NGO’s, he hasn’t been at his office when I’ve gone to see him. The rest of the staff at the internet café gives me a bad vibe, so I don’t hang around to wait for him. I much prefer the company at the RDC office. I guess Sanjar thinks I’m his pet volunteer. The PC staff told him that it’s my choice to work where I want. After they figured out all of the details of the situation, they suggested that I not work with Sanjar at all. Well that sneak was not satisfied with this response. When he returned from Bishkek, he called Malinda (another business volunteer) and asked her to schedule a meeting because our coordinator was changing her NGO to the internet café. That was a complete lie. Luckily, she called and asked me what was up before the meeting. I encouraged her to go anyway, so we would know what he's up to. Sanjar has also been asking all of the volunteers to teach another language besides English. None of us know another language well enough to teach it. We just studied in college, but that doesn’t make you fluent by any means.

My host sister has been conspiring with Sanjar, so I’m on the hunt for a new apartment. Jesika was here when all of this was going down. She was in the room with the telephone, fixing her hair, when Aida was on the phone with Sanjar. She started by whispering, and then realized if she spoke in Russian we couldn’t understand. But she said our names, and kept her back to Jesika without looking at her. Sounds sketchy.

Today Sanjar came to the office and asked if I have a Peace Corps stamp. He informed me (didn’t ask) that I would be filling out a recommendation for an application he’s working on. It’s a USAID program that would send him to America for a few weeks. I looked at the recommendation form and I have to rate his professionalism amongst other things. So now I have to explain to him that I know he’s been underhanded and I will not do this for him. I will, however, be filling one out for Jyldyz. I feel like I’m playing favorites, but that’s life I suppose.

My New Jizzob

I'm not working at the internet cafe. Thank goodness, because I don't know how I would have spent my days. Instead I'm working at a place called RDC-ELET (Rural Development Center). They were originally funded by the UK government, but that funding runs out in September and they're supposed to be sustainable by then. Guess what. They're not sustainable. What the NGO does is help poverty stricken people in the villages throughout the state start their own businesses. They give them mini loans to buy sewing machines and supplies, farm equipment, seeds for planting, etc. They've helped quite a few people get started, and they make a good amount of money for Kyrgyz villagers. So they have a good mission, and a good sense of business. It seems that they're dependent on grants and don't want to change that. My job will probably be to get them funding. But in the process I'll be teaching them to write their own grants and find ways to become self sustaining. They also have their hand in tourism and there are some great places to stay around here. If anyone wants to visit Kyrgyzstan, I've got some great resources!

This past week, I spent 3 days traveling around Talas to see the different villages. There was freshly fallen snow and it was beautiful. Dangerous and beautiful. We traveled in a Russian jeep and it was like off roading except we were on roads. But there was very little heat, and my toes and calves were in so much pain. I hope we don't do this again next week.

A Response to Questions

I am currently working in an internet cafe called the Media Center. I believe it was started by UNESCO to be an information resource. So everyday that I work, I have access to the internet. It doesn't always work, but its there. Between my house and work is the bazaar, stores, restaurants, the post office, the White House, and the bank. I'm on the edge of the city, but its still a good location. I'm about a 15-20 minute walk from work, depending how fast I walk.

My buddies from Bolshevik all went in opposite directions. Mike & Brenda are living in Cholpon-Ata (on Lake Issyk Kul) and Andrew is in Jalalabat. I do have 5 other volunteers in the city with me. And in the state of Talas there are 8 of us new volunteers and 7 old volunteers (and by old I mean they've been here for a year).

My apartment is pretty big. There's 3 bedrooms, a room with the toilet, a room with a tub and sink, a large hallway that almost serves as a room, a kitchen and 2 living rooms. My host mom teaches at a medical school nearby (I think). My host sister works with me at the Media Center, and she's really nice. Her daughter is 7 and goes to school. She likes to have things just so, and is a very well-behaved little girl. And she studies every night when she comes home, which is refreshing in a country that doesn't seem to care too much about education. Everyone in my family seems to be educated. One of my host sisters, who lives in Bishkek, studied in Seattle about 10 years ago. That's rare for this country, because its very competitive to join the ACCELS program. Our apartment has an oven, but they use it to store things. I've never seen this type of oven used, everyone who has one stores kitchen wares in it. They use a hot plate or the range on the oven as a stove. At one of the stores in town I saw a large toaster oven for sale. It has a temperature dial and doubles as an oven. I'm debating buying that. And my no-bake cookies didn't happen. I thought I could buy peanut butter here, but I have to go to Bishkek for that. And yesterday I had bought milk as one of the cookie ingredients before I discovered the peanut butter dilemma. So last night I boiled the milk and added some Nesquik that someone gave me. This was the first time I've drank milk in Kyrgyzstan. It scares me. I have been drinking these shakeable yogurt cartons, but they don't sell them in the whole oblast of Talas. I'm trying to get myself used to the milk so I don't become lactose intolerant. I woke up so sick this morning. It took me 1.5 hours to get dressed, and it was only because my host sister told me I need to go to work. Otherwise I would have stayed in my bed. My stomach still hurts, but its getting better. I'll probably have some milk every night until my body adjusts to it. I've been avoiding it for 3 months, but I need to get over that. I just didn't want to get sick like everyone else in my training group.

The variety of foods in the winter is lacking. I went to the market yesterday, and had a hard time finding beans. Talas is known for its beans, and I don't know where they all went. There's plenty of rice, buckwheat, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and eggs. I can also get dairy products. The sour cream is very thick and delicious, almost the texture of cream cheese. The honey is made locally, and sometimes you find a jar that is out of this world. Other times its very solid, grainy and light colored. But its better than pure sugar in my tea. There are plenty of raisins, dried apricots, and cookies. Also, for the first time I saw a slaughtered pig at the bazaar. The Russians are the only ones that sell pork, because their religion does not have restrictions on the other white meat. I was so happy at this discovery, though I haven't bought any pork yet. But it looked like they had bacon on the counter. Mmmm.

I also haven't tried to buy clothes yet. At the bazaar I'm nervous about picking the wrong size. There isn't a place to try things on. There are stores in Bishkek that sell clothes, and I'm pretty sure you can try things on there. The quality of clothes is not good, but some of my friends have bought them and like them. I'm holding out until my clothes are worn through.

New Phone

I was in Bishkek today with a few of my friends. We went to the Hyatt to use the ATM and change money. We were walking through the lobbies like starry eyed kids because everything was so clean and pretty. Six months ago that wouldn’t have phased me. Now I notice every detail. We were so excited to use the bathrooms too, they’re just like the ones in America. I confess that we stole some toilet paper. I felt so low class, but that didn’t stop me. I was impressed by how nice the people were. They knew we weren’t going to spend money, but they didn’t treat us bad like they would in the U.S. We relaxed for a while and had a cup of American coffee. It was delicious, but expensive. The cost was 90 com or $2.25, but these days that’s a lot of money.

We had our language proficiency interview a few days ago. Peace Corps hired a woman who used to teach Russian to volunteers, but wasn’t invited back due to bad reviews. Anyhow, she came to our village and we each had a 15 minute interview. She was horrible. She didn’t smile at anyone and didn’t respond to our jokes or questions. Lemon Face (the nickname we gave her) gave me a low score, but my Kyrgyz learning has been going very well. My teacher went in after I came out and explained to her that the score does not reflect my ability. Lemon Face changed my score, but it still doesn’t reflect my language skill. I was so upset, that I had to walk out on her to keep my temper in check. It felt like Lemon Face undermined all of the work I’ve put into this language with a 15 minute interview. And I have a lot of pride, which made me angrier when I didn’t score higher than everyone else. I came home and cried in my room for a long time. When my Apa realized how upset I was, she went to my teacher’s house and asked her why her daughter was crying. My Apa says I speak Kyrgyz well and the examiner was wrong, and then she brought my teacher home. Apa even put her teeth in before she went to my teacher’s house. Now that’s love. I didn’t think my family had grown too fond of me, but I guess they just have a different way of showing it.

I hope everyone at home had a great Thanksgiving. It didn’t feel like Thanksgiving here. I went to a café with some other volunteers for our feast. We had a great time. I got some of my friends to do the Turkey Dance to a techno song. The tradition lives on! Then I had everyone singing any song we knew. We sat in that café singing for a few hours, which I absolutely loved. I hope Christmas goes as easily as Thanksgiving did, but I doubt it will. The Kyrgyz people thought that Friday was a holiday as well, and we couldn’t figure out why. They saw footage of people mobbing the stores for the Day After Thanksgiving sales, and thought it was a holiday of some sort. The worst things about American culture are the ones that get exported on a mass scale. I constantly have to negate misperceptions people get from watching movies. And they also think that all black people are bad. They rarely see them in Kyrgyzstan and see bad characters on TV. That’s one of the things that bothers me the most, but I can’t change them. I can only offer a little insight that skin color doesn’t matter, and hope they take it to heart.

My Daily Routine

Last week I received a letter from my Great Aunt Mary with lots of new questions about my life here in Kyrgyzstan. Responses are posted here.

When my Apa picked me up at the PCV luncheon she traveled with all of the Apas that are hosting volunteers in Bolshevik and Ak-Beshim. The family that my teacher lives with has a marshrutka, which fits 14 people plus the driver. Mike & Brenda’s host family has a zeal (a big truck they use for farming) and we brought our luggage in that. About 3-4 men were there to take care of our luggage, because the zeal is very tall and our bags were heavy.

To get into Tokmok there are 3 choices for transportation. There’s a bus which costs about $0.15 to ride. If we get up early enough, Alishear will give us a ride in the marshrutka before he goes to work. If we need to get into town quickly, and neither of the first two works out, we can hitchhike. That’s not my favorite way to travel, but sometimes I just have to. To get back to Bolshevik from Tokmok, we have all of these modes of transportation plus taxis. But they charge more, and everyone in the village knows when we come home in a taxi. I try to avoid it because I don’t like people to know exactly what I spend money on and then start asking how much I get paid. I don’t make much, but I think I make a little more than them. Plus, my stipend is mostly disposable at this point – I don’t have a family to support.

Next is a description of my typical day. On Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday I have language classes. I get up at 7:00am, wash up, dress, and have breakfast. Breakfast has been an ongoing battle with my Apa. I always try to make it to the table before she cooks my food so I can make instant oatmeal, but she usually wins. I think I could come to breakfast at 3am and she would have something on the table already. She makes 1 of 4 things: fried eggs with lots of butter, fried potatoes with lots of butter, oatmeal or Cream of Wheat. I actually detest Cream of Wheat, but I’ve found that if I load it up with raisins its bearable. One raisin in every bite is good. I have to ask for any type of fruit – dried or fresh. Fruit isn't freely offered, but they have a lot of apples in storage. They are saving them for the winter. After breakfast, I go to my teacher’s house. That’s where we have class – in the dining room. Class is from 8:00am-12:30pm with a tea break at 10:00. Whoever’s Apa is making lunch that day sends snacks for chai (tea). We usually have bread, homemade jam, cookies and candy. At 12:30 we go to one of the host family’s houses for lunch. They make an impressive spread with bread, jam, candy, salad, tea, and 1 or 2 main dishes.

My first teacher was Kanykei, and my second teacher is Nurguz. They are both Kyrgyz, though some people have Russian or Uzbek teachers. Our village has 6 trainees including me. (We’re actually trainees – not volunteers – until December 3rd when we have our swearing in ceremony). The other volunteers are:

~Mike & Brenda – 35 & 32, Mike is from Chicago, Brenda is from Colorado where they were living for the past 15ish years

~Trent & Rejoyce – in their 30s, from Virginia, Trent was a jeweler and Rejoyce was a kindergarten teacher, a very eccentric couple

~Andrew – 22, from Kansas City, just graduated college with an Economics degree

On Tuesday we have technical training. We take the marshrutka to Tokmok, where the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteers go to the school and the SOCD (Sustainable Organizational and Community Development – fancy label for Business) Volunteers take another marshrutka for another 30 minutes to a town called Ivanovka. The SOCD volunteers go to a dilapidated old building that used to be a collective during Soviet times. In the states it would be condemnable and even here its sub par. But the SOCD directors have ignored our protests. There’s no heat, lots of critters living on the ceiling, and I won’t even describe the toilet situation. Its absolutely disgusting. There’s also live wires hanging out of the wall. The Peace Corps pays to use the space. Last week, we made our voices heard about the conditions. This week I hear we’re going to a different location.

On Wednesday, we have "Hub Day". All of the volunteers go to the school in Tokmok. We have a Medical session, Safety & Security, and Cross Cultural. This is also where we get vaccinations. The sessions aren’t that great, but it’s the only day that everyone is together and we get mail. Also, sometimes current volunteers come to give us advice and answer questions for us. They’re the best source of information, so I really enjoy when they come.

On Sundays, I usually do laundry. Today is Sunday, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I already spent 2 hours and only got half of it done. But I have 2 weeks worth of clothes (I was traveling last Sunday). I ran out of hot water and my Apa said I can finish the rest in the БАНЯ. Sometimes its so hot in there that I think I’ll pass out before I finish washing. And washing clothes by hand does require some exertion, so I don’t know if that’ll work out. And we use lye soap for our clothes. It gets them clean, but it also eats the clothes up. It always makes me sad after I’ve washed my clothes and see that the soap is taking the color out.

Once I’m finished with school, my days are free. I usually visit a little with the old ladies on this street. When I get home I read, write in my journal and study language. I usually only spend the hour of dinner with my family. Speaking another language is exhausting and by the end of the day, I’m usually frustrated with speaking Kyrgyz. And my Apa won’t slow down and say things so I can understand them, and sadly enough I avoid talking to her too much. My host brother and his wife take the time to help me understand and I usually can figure out everything they say to me.

A Visit to Talas

10/30/05
Today we went to the bazaar to buy supplies for our teacher’s farewell party tomorrow night.
Halfway through training we switch teachers to prepare us for changes that might happen during our training. They don’t want us to get used to regularity. I think it will disrupt our learning process.

Anyhow, our friend Azat took us to a section of the bazaar that I was unaware existed – the chicken bazaar (they sell all livestock there – except for the fine delicacy of pork. Lots of people were pushing and shoving to get to the same place. People were yelling at each other in Kyrgyz, Turkish & Russian. Men were walking their newly bought goats, sheep, cows, etc. through the crowds. The poor creatures had to go through that madness to be taken home to their new family and slaughtered. Women walked past us with live chickens held upside down by their feet to keep them incapacitated. Close to the spot where we bought our chickens was a huge crowd of people. At first we thought they were buying dogs, but we soon realized it was a dog fight. It was too crowded to make my way to the front to see if there was betting, and there’s a lot of pick pockets at that bazaar.

After we bought everything on our list, Mike, Brenda & Andrew went to the internet café and I waited at the bus stop with Azat, the veggies and the chickens. Its perfectly normal for people to bring live animals onto the bus. Some people who live in my village and the neighboring village were asking questions about me for literally an hour. They ask how old I am and if I’m married as soon as they meet me. I was tired, so I pretended not to understand and Azat answered all the Qs. This morning there was a crazy lady on the bus. She kept hitting me hard and getting very close to my face when she would talk to me. I didn’t know if it would be inappropriate for me to tell her not to touch me, but in hindsight I should have. She told me I look Turkish and that she has a handsome son to fix me up with. When she asked if I have a boyfriend, I told her I was dating one of the volunteers on the bus. Yikes!

Another observation I’ve made here is that ALL of the older people either have no teeth or gold teeth. They’ll have their 4 front teeth capped in gold and it’s not unusual. But its no surprise after eating a meal with someone. The adults pour copious amounts of sugar into their tea. One day I brought a bottle of pop home for the little devil and saw my Apa adding more sugar to it for him. No wonder their teeth rot out of their head.

Last Friday I missed the bus going to Tokmok for technical training. I didn't really want to go that day. I just went home and studied language instead. The director, Bulot, called and yelled at my teacher instead of at me. She came over and made me hitchhike to Tokmok. I told her I wasn’t catching a ride with someone I don’t know, but she insisted, saying they do it all the time. I barely know the minimal Kyrgyz we’ve learned and that was a bad idea. But I thought I need to go with the flow – this isn’t a vacation. When I was explaining to Bulot why I was late he didn’t really listen to what I was saying. I also noticed he was cutting the women off in class too, but he listened to the men. Why bother asking me a question if you won’t listen to my f*%cking answer? There’s no room for that in the Peace Corps. But the administration here is lacking. I haven’t felt any support from them since I’ve been here, aside from 2-3 people. And I hear it’s the standard with the Kyrgyzstan staff. What a shame.

11/2/05
I found out my site placement today. I’ll be living in Talas City, working for an NGO called Mediamost. They have internet! I’m living in an apartment with a grandma, mom and daughter. I’m not sure yet what the NGO does, but I’m visiting them next week. They’re new and from what I understand, its supposed to be a fairly cushy job.

Talas is in the northwest of Kyrgyzstan and and is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Here’s an excerpt about Talas Valley from Kyrgyz Republic by Rowan Stewart.

The Talas valley is considered by the Kyrgyz to be the cradle of their spiritual treasures. To the Kyrgyz, every mountain, river and pasture here has a tale to tell of the great national hero Manas, for this where the famous Manas epic is said to have unfolded and where it is said to be buried. The valley’s lesser heo is the 20th century writer, Chinghiz Aitmatov, who wrote compelling fiction showing how Soviet life deprived people of their individuality.

…Appropriately for an area of such mythological and cultural importance, Talas valley feels like a self-contained mini-world of its own; beautiful but isolated. As you descend from the 3,330 metre Otmok pass at the valley’s eastern end, it opens before you, a V-shaped vision of soft rolling hills gradually flattening to a wide serene valley through which the powerful Talas river carves its way. Open plains stretch steppe-like across the silver-green valley floor, while the distant snowy peaks of the Talas range to the south, and the Kyrgyz Ala-Too to the north and east, keep the rest of the world at bay. A major reason for the area’s sense of isolated other-worldness is that it is squeezed between the border restrictions of Kazakhstan on one side and the forbidding Central Tian Shan mountains on the other.

I haven’t been there yet, but I hear wonderful things about the area, the locals and the current volunteers living there. It should be good times.


11/10/05
I'm in Talas City visiting my new home this week. Talas has a population of about 30,000 people so the city is relatively small. I live close to the center in an apartment with my host mom (57), host sister (29) and host neice (7). One of my host brothers lives across the hall with his wife and kids. In the apartment, we have a bathtub with a water heater, a flushable toilet and a washing machine/dryer. At my new office we have a whole bunch of computers with Internet and its really nice in there. I'm at work now :). Which means I'll be able to communicate regularly for the next 2 years, and I'll also have a cell phone by the end of December.

I feel spoiled in Talas, and guilty that I'm not living in rougher conditions. I did not expect to have it so good at all; but I'm sure there will still be plenty of help for me to give. I may be teaching english, or computer skills amongst other projects I can create. The office is a multi-media center, tourism office and handicrafts seller. The tourism part was launched one month ago, and they're hoping to start a radio station soon. I don't think Talas City has one yet. That's what I know so far.

Remnants of the Soviet Era

There are so many things here that are different from the U.S., and it’s hard to relate them all. I’m getting used to my new life here, and so I sometimes forget that everything was so strange to me a month ago. I’ve been making notes of the differences to write about and I’ll keep trying to do that.

First of all, many people are still in the Soviet mindset. The LCF (Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator) in the neighboring village is a prime example. If the trainees ask her something she’s already said, she gets mad. I guess its not efficient to repeat yourself. Of course we’ll repeat questions; language is a hard thing to learn. We can’t remember everything the first time we hear it. Also, everyone has the same items in their homes. Everyone’s dishes are the same. The same baby carriages. And everyone wears almost exactly the same clothes. Its like a government issued way of living.

The Kyrgyz people seem to have liked the Soviet Union. They didn’t have it as hard as some people, and I think a lot of extra things were given out. When the government fell, people lost jobs, farm machinery, and lots of other things. So it went from everyone having their own tractor, to maybe one friend of a distant cousin having one. I think they miss the government help. And one of the major issues is getting people to organize themselves to make things happen, rather than relying on the government to do things for them. That will probably be my job for the next 2 years – helping people to function in a business. I haven’t thoroughly investigated the sentiments toward the Soviet Union yet; my language needs to be a little better first.

The cartoon shows on television here are great. They’re very simple and innocent. I think they’re at the same level as what would have been playing in the U.S. in the 50s and 60s. They’re fantastic. Yesterday I watched Cinderella in Russian. I’ve seen it so many times that I know almost the entire script. I actually didn’t mind that it wasn’t in English. Sitcoms are dubbed in Russian, but you can still here the English. That’s annoying, because I’m constantly trying to here the English.

The Russians have redone a few American shows. ‘The Nanny’ is done in Russian. They use almost the exact same cartoon beginning, the same song, the same characters, and house setup. I wonder if the Kyrgyz here know its an American show. The same is done for ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ The Russian Wheel of Fortune is crazy and I haven’t figured it out yet. For some reason the contestants will put random things like wine, kumus (fermented mare’s milk – an alcoholic beverage), musical instruments, etc. up on the wheel. I don’t know what happens to the stuff either. I haven’t paid too much attention, because its not fun to watch when you can’t guess the phrase.

The babies in the villages are CHUBBY. All of them. They don’t have necks. Their arms and legs consist of rolls and their heads are huge. Its hard to imagine them ever being small enough to fit inside a mama. They lose the weight as they start running around, but they hurt you’re arms to hold when they’re babies.

My host nephew is a little devil. He doesn’t listen to a single person and does whatever he wants. He’s 4 years old and no one has control over him. Sometimes there will be 7 adults trying to tell him to behave, and he still doesn’t listen. When he was 2 he drank vinegar. In Kyrgyzstan, the vinegar is between 75% and 100%. If its on your hands it will burn you, and if an adult male drinks one cup he could die. So this child drank it and burned up his insides. He was in the hospital for 8 months and had stitches in his stomach, throat and ears. He’s fine now, but they let him run rampant because they’re so happy he’s alive. Now that he’s become a monster, there’s no turning back.

YOU'LL POOP BLOOD IF YOU DRINK WATER!

Seriously, that's what Shair-Apa told us on Monday after we ate besh-barmak with horse meat. That's right - horse. Not just meat, but stomach and intestines as well. (Besh-barmak translates to five fingers. Its noodles with butter, onions, and boiled meat. Very fatty). The horse that was slaughtered was bred for eating. It was never ridden. The taste is a little tangy, and has a strange aftertaste that I don't know how to describe. It was a situation where it would have been extremely rude to decline the horse meat. And I'm here to integrate, right? So I ate a horse.

Mike & Brenda's host grandfather died on Saturday and the funeral was on Monday. Two yurts were constructed in their yard. They were decorated with felt rugs inside and around the outside. For 3 days and nights there were at least 75 people at that house at any given time. The grandfather's body was laid in one yurt and that's where friends and family could go to see the body. On Monday, the family washed the body and covered it, then carried it to the road. The men all stood on the road with the body and the imam, and the women stood to the side and back a distance. The imam said a blessing and then read the Koran. The men then did a series of gestures and chants. Almost as if on cue, the women started wailing loudly when the ceremony was finished. It was very uncomfortable for us Americans to witness that type of grieving for the first time. The daughters were then led back to the yurt where the body had been, while the men walked the body to graveyard. On the burial day, only men are allowed in the cemetery. The guys told us that at the cemetery they do more chants and blessings and everyone puts a handful of dirt on a shovel which they then toss onto the body. As they walk home the men do a chant that sounds like crying. When they arrived back at the house they went back to the yurt, bowed in front of it and prayed. Then lunch was served. It was an intense day and we didn't understand much of it. Sorry I can't give you reasons behind the rituals yet.

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When they say corruption is rampant in this country, they aren't exaggerating. Here's an example. The local municipality collects money for the water & electricity and then pays the federal government. But they don't always pay. For a week and a half no one in town had water. I was starting to mentally plan for a winter without water. It was just turned back on on Monday. I'm amazed at how excited I was when I saw water dripping from the faucet. I'm really learning to appreciate the small things.

ВеНЕРА was telling me that her 2 boys are being circumcised in December. They're having a big party afterwards and I think I'm invited to come back to Bolshevik for it. I'll already be moved out by then. In Kyrgyzstan the boys are circumcised when they're 2 years or older, but luckily they get anesthesia. And it’s a tradition, not a religious thing. I've never been to a circumcision party before, and I'm excited. It also doubles as a 1 year birthday party for the baby.

Ramadan in Bolshevik

I live east of Bishkek, about 10 miles southwest of Tokmok (on the map). The village is called Bolshevik, but people who don't live here lump it together with the nieghboring village of Ak-Beshim. Together the villages have about 400-500 people. Its close to Kazakhstan, but we're not allowed to go there yet because we don't have visas. And to get into China, I'm pretty sure we have to fly there. But that's second-hand news from other volunteers, so who knows.

I'm adding a few more things to my list of needs/wants. Check out the end of this entry if you are considering sending a package. And I'm adding pictures of the hotel we stayed at in Bishkek. But they'll be dated for september, so look for them.

10/13/05
Last night I was having tea with the Turkish family that lives next door to me. Salbina, my new friend, is their granddaughter. She was telling me that the daughter-in-law, who is only 20 with 2 kids, is a bad wife because she didn't hang up her jacket and doesn't mend clothes. This poor girl was doing everything, while the family sat around and talked. I think I would be the worst wife ever in this culture (if I was inclined to get married).

And yesterday afternoon I got my third round of vaccinations. That makes 11 shots since I've been in country and they're not done yet. I'm always sore and sluggish for a couple days afterwards, but I've been doing well other than that. My roommate for the staging event and first few days in country passes out when she gets shots. At least I'm not that bad off.

I know you all want to see pictures, but both of my cameras are out of commission. I'm pretty sure the digital camera needs new batteries and the video camera is beyond me. I don't know what I'm going to do about that yet. But please send pictures to me (in the mail, they don't work well on the internet). My photo album is only half full, and my host family wants to see more!



10/12/05
This morning I saw my favorite kids' outfit yet. There were six of us waiting on the road for our marshrutka driver this morning. A boy of about 4-5 years ran by in blue long underwear, a light blue long sleeve t-shirt, a purple velour vest, black socks and green sandals. And he was happy as a clam. It was cold too, we were all wearing heavy coats.

Two days ago I stopped to talk to the Turkish ladies on the street. There’s one lady in particular who just cracks me up. She speaks Kyrgyz really fast and then laughs when I don’t understand. But she has a loud, jolly laugh and wears colorful, mismatched village clothes. She’s one of my favorites. While I was sitting with her, one of the other village ladies walked by with her flock of sheep. She wanted to talk to my funny Turkish friend so she told her sheep to stop. And they did. They just waited right where they were in the middle of the road. When she was done talking she gave another command and they started walking again. Like a bunch of dogs. I absolutely love village life.

Later that night, I was at my teacher’s house and she asked if I wanted to go with her to my neighbor’s house. She is staying with a Turkish family and my neighbors are the grandparents of her host family. We went there for a Ramadan tradition to remember the dead. These are bits and pieces of information I’ve put together. Ramadan lasts for 30 days and the remembrance of the dead lasts the whole time. People were at this house all day – reading the Koran, slaughtering a sacrificial sheep, and cooking the sacrificial sheep. When I got there they ushered me into the house where the men were seated in one room and the women in another. A tablecloth is laid out on the ground and the food on top of that. And around the tablecloth there’s tushuks to sit on. I only stayed for tea and the first course (soup). A little while after they’d served the soup everyone became silent. One of the men in the other room was reading a passage from the Koran. These readings are supposed to take about 3 minutes, but this guy made it close to 15. It was in Arabic, so I had no idea what was going on. After about 10 minutes the women started talking and laughing, and eventually the men were laughing in the other room. Everytime we thought he was finished, he would start up again. Turns out it was his 81st birthday. He has the right to take as long as he wants with the Koran. And I don’t think he even noticed that everyone was laughing.

Balykchy & MTV VMAs - Good Times

This blog entry is partly taken from my journal so it’ll go back over the last few weeks. Most of the good stuff is already written there, anyhow.

9/22/05
For technical training, the business volunteers travel to Ivanovka every Tuesday. This morning on the way to training we saw a small green car driving with the back seat full of apples. And I mean FULL. They weren’t in crates and they were up to the top of the car and pressed against the windows. There must have been a divider between the front and back seats b/c they didn’t seem to be falling on the driver. After that we stopped ata bazaar where I picked up a few things and found a COLD orange Fanta. In Kyrgyzstan they don’t drink anything cold and they don’t even have drinks with every meal. This is actually a very superstitious culture and one of the beliefs is that cold things make you sick. For example, if a woman sits on concrete (summer or winter) they say your ovaries will freeze and will insist you sit on a blanket. Another is if someone has a fever they want to give them hot (caffeinated) tea. Room temperature water is considered cold as well. I attribute this superstition to the insanely cold weather they get in the winter. My family doesn’t get upset when I do things wrong like some other host families – thank goodness.

I also did laundry for the first time since coming to Kyrgyzstan. We do it by hand without a washboard. Just a bucket, water and soap. They have Barf soap, which I’ve heard is a Tide brand but I have yet to investigate that. Anyhow, I thought I had done a superb job, but I was wrong. I didn’t rinse the clothes enough, so they still had soap in them. While I was hanging it up, I asked ВеНЕРА if it was good but she just laughed. And then АЗИЗ laughed too. I felt a little foolish, but you really can’t be a PCV and get embarrassed about many things.

10/03/05
This morning as I was leaving the house, my Ata chased me down on the road. I thought I had forgotten something. He came to give me the pen I had left on the outside table last night. And it wasn’t even mine. It made me snap back from my whiny, homesick selfishness. I guess the thought didn’t cross his mind that I have more than one pen. They value everything more than we do, even a pen.

On Saturday, it was Kanykei’s birthday (my teacher). We got her a cake and went to her house to surprise her. She already knew about it, but that didn’t matter. All the Apas found out about the birthday, so they got a cake as well. Then her husband and kids came with a third cake. We all ate, drank tea and danced on the patio. Another volunteer’s Apa has decided we should get married and wants to buy me for him. I told her I didn’t want to marry him, but I wouldn’t settle for less than 20 horses. In this culture, a few cows are appropriate. But 20 horses is equivalent to $20,000 and is an outrageous sum for a bride price. That was my point because I would never consider this Andrew character. Another Apa wants me to be her daughter-in-law too. I guess that’s what they tell you when they like you. Lucky me.

10/06/05
I went to Balykchy to visit current PC volunteers. All of the trainees got to go to various areas around the country. Balykchy is the first city on Lake Issyk-Kul when you’re coming from Bishkek. It was an industrial city during the Soviet era, but when the Soviet Union collapsed it became a bit of a ghost town. All of the factories have shut down but there’s still smog lingering over the city. Everywhere you look is rocks and falling down buildings. Its windy, dusty and not pleasant. Regardless, we had a great time. The volunteers we visited are awesome and it was great to have some autonomy.

One of the volunteers took me to a public БАНЯ (bathhouse). Its intimidating to think about stripping naked and walking in front of other women, but its not. Its surprisingly liberating. The women (and men) in this country are so comfortable with seeing the naked body that it didn’t even phase me. In the U.S., women always tend to judge each other, though we try not to. But this experience really helped me to appreciate the female body. I left there feeling awesome because I was clean and had confronted one of my big inhibitions.

In the last few days quite a few people have asked if I’m Indian and one asked if I’m Arab. I can’t figure out if they mean Native American (one girl said my eyes made me look Indian) or India (because of my nose ring and jewelry). The Kyrgyz people don’t have much experience with other ethnicities, so I’m guessing they’ve thought I was both.

10/08/05
Today Salbina (my new Turkish friend) was teaching me how to knit Turkish socks. I’m going to attempt to make a pair of my own before I move out of this town. That would be pretty cool if I could learn how to knit like she does. When I came home from her house my host family was making manty (similar to periogies or potstickers). I jumped in the assembly line with them and told them I’m turning into a Kyrgyz girl (I was also wearing a scarf on my head). They all got a good chuckle out of that. I asked if they were having a party because that is a time consuming dish to make, and they told me it was a celebration of me coming home from Balykchy. They’re quite the schmoozers cause I ate it up.

After we finished making manty I cleaned my room. When I moved in, Apa had given me flowers and they were still in my room. I brought them out to the burn pile because they were dead. I came back to the kitchen a few minutes later and Apa had cut fresh flowers from the garden and refilled my vase. She’s so sweet. There’s not many flowers left as its getting colder. I got some of the few that are left.

10/09/05
The MTV Video Music Awards were the big event at my house tonight. Its amazing how I’ll sit and happily watch American garbage just because I’m starved for anything familiar. I was glad that I only knew a few songs though, because I thought most of it was crap. Pepsi had an insanely cheesy commercial on – I’m talking Mentos happy, you know people happy on their cell phones, happy walking down the street, happy frolicking in a field of poppies – and it lasted for at least a minute. Air time is so much cheaper here and that’s honestly the first commercial I’ve seen since I arrived. Every other advertisement has been run across the bottom of the screen, like a storm warning.

PCV Visits

This week we get to visit the volunteers who have been in country for a year. I'm in a little cafe across the street from Lake Issyk-Kul. The town is very quaint and attracts lots of tourists in the summer. We've been having a great time and learning to cook adaptations of American food around here. We just didn't know what the good brands are to buy. We learned grilled cheese and french toast, and tonight we're learning to make pizza - Kyrgyz style. Its starting to get cold here, and I'm afraid of the winter. We're finding out our permanent sites next month, and I'm not sure if I want to go to the -30 C region, but I will if that's what they ask me to do. There's people waiting outside for me, so I'll type up more on my computer for next time I'm able to post.

I love and miss you all. I'll send out some postcards soon, but my schedule is pretty hectic for all of training. After December, things will settle down.

P.S. I still haven't gotten any mail, but I know you all wouldn't forget about me.

Life around the village

In Kyrgyz culture, the youngest daughter or the daughter-in-law does most of the household chores. Since ВеНЕРА is one year older than me, I feel awfully awkward having her wait on me. No one around here gets up to help her; they just let her wait on them hand & foot. I could not imagine taking on the workload that she has. She cooks, cleans, does laundry, milks the cows and sells the milk. She also farms a field of sugar beets. Soon it will be time to harvest, and she has to cut down each plant by hand. I plan to help her, though I don’t know if that will be good or bad. I’ve also started helping with the baby and the dishes. It’s not much, but it helps a little bit.

We have an outhouse too. It’s not very fancy, but it gets the job done. It doesn’t have a seat – just a hole in the ground. Its tricky to aim in a hole in the ground while squatting and trying not to hit your leg. And it’s a drafty outhouse. I don’t know what I’ll do in winter. I think I’ll have a damned cold bum.

Bathing is interesting. There's a bathhouse called a БАНЯ (pronounced baña). Once a week they light a fire that heats up a tank of water. The water tank is inside the bathhouse, with the fire accessible from outside. The water heater has stones sitting on top of it. When the water is hot the whole БАНЯ is hot, and they splash water on the hot stones to create steam. Then you sit in there for as long as you can take it, and sweat like crazy. Its like a sauna, but reminds me of the temazcal in Mexico. To wash up, we bucket bathe by putting warm water in a bucket and using a small container to scoop it up and pour it over ourselves. No more long, hot showers for a while.

Last night АЗИЗ (Azees), the son, had his cousin АЗИM (Azeem) and a friend over for dinner and drinks. I hung out with them outside while I did my homework and practiced the language. At the end of the night I was explaining to АЗИM that in the U.S. people hug and kiss on the cheek to say goodbye; and in Mexico men kiss women on the cheek. ВеНЕРА freaked out and explained that they don’t do that in Kyrgyzstan and my Ata would get upset if he saw that. Ok, I can dig that. But she explained it to me over and over again. I was very irritated. I was still upset when I woke up this morning and consequently had my first bad day. I realize now that there was a lot of frustration built up behind that.

That’s the shortened version of the lowdown. There’s more, but I’m super tired right now. I’ve made a list of the things I could use. If anyone’s feeling charitable you can make a little care package. And things take a while to get here, so keep that in mind.

• Fleece or sweat pants – wide leg, size L
• Any good books you’ve read – and I recommend Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Long sleeve t-shirts – thick ones that will keep me warm and last a while
• Instant oatmeal – take it out of the box so it takes up less space, and I like the fruit & cream variety pack -> this would be good because the food here is greasy and I’m STARVING
• Febreze
• Cayenne pepper, garlic, Valentina Extra Hot Sauce, cinnamon, oregano, salt, pepper and anything else that you think would make bad food enjoyable
• Tootsie rolls – the flavored ones and fancy suckers from Aunt Tina
• My hiking boots – mom, they’re in the bag I sent with you in Philly and I could really use them for the spring
• A small 3 hole puncher and a binder
• Hacky sack & Frisbee
• Chili Cheese Fritos
• Any other kind of food, especially junk food

I didn’t say it was a small list 

I love everyone and miss you sooooo much. XOXO.

P.S. Everyone was asking me this before I left. We started with 66 volunteers. After our first week in country, we’re down to 62. Its been TEFL volunteers that leave, not SOCD (which is what I am). We business volunteers appear to be much tougher ;)

One of my first days in KG

I finally made it to Kyrgyzstan. It took about a day and a half to travel here from Philadelphia, during which I got about 3-4 hours of sleep. That was a nightmare, because I was running on next to no sleep when we started traveling. We had a 6 hour layover in Istanbul, Turkey but we couldn’t leave the airport. So there was a pile of luggage with arms and legs sticking out in the middle of the airport as everyone tried to catch as many Zs as they could. We weren’t even at our gate; we were lying in front of security. Random people were taking pictures of the group as they walked by. Who knows, we could have been in a Turkish newspaper a few days ago with a headline like “Crazy Americans Invade Airport.” That’s not a very good headline. I hope they came up with something better.

We got to the hotel on Sunday at about 3:30am Kyrgyz time, which is about 4:30p.m. Chicago time. We didn’t get to see anything because it was dark on our drive from the airport (and we still haven’t ventured out of the hotel yet). They let us sleep for about 3 hours and then we had to be up for breakfast and the first day of training.

The food is very different. EVERYTHING has meat in it. I started getting the vegetarian dishes and they gave me breaded, fried cabbage for lunch today. I haven’t eaten very much in the past 4 days. I’m also getting sick from all of the traveling and lack of sleep and food. During language class yesterday (I’m learning Kyrgyz) I was blowing my nose. I was under the impression that it was the logical thing to do. My language instructors looked at me funny, but didn’t say anything. I found out later that blowing your nose in front of people is a faux pas. I would have been getting up every 10 minutes, so I ignored that social norm (just for the time being).

The people here are super nice. Most of the PC staff is Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Ukrainian, etc. That was a surprise to me, since I thought there would be a lot more American expatriates. Later today I’ll be meeting my host family. I’m really nervous, because they probably won’t know English and I’ve been studying Kyrgyz for one day. I’ve heard that they constantly try to feed you and it’s not unusual for a volunteer to gain 10-20lbs during the first few months as a result. Yikes.

Last Night in Chi Town

I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I'm still trying to cram the last of my stuff into 2 suitcases. Living the Bohemian lifestyle is getting off to a rocky start. I'm really getting nervous. I sat and watched Full House and Step by Step for a few hours this morning. I kept thinking "I won't get to see these shows for a few years," but I don't even LIKE those shows. Weird.

The Kyrgyz peeps like to write their addresses backwards. Email me for my address. And here are some tips for sending letters and packages:

• Number letters and packages so I'll know if any turn up missing
• Putting religious symbols all over the letter deters people from opening them
• Wrap boxes in brown paper and tie a string if the post office will let you
• Use tape and always include a detailed inventory list on the inside. Typed address labels help as well. Be especially careful with padded or manilla envelopes--they're easy to get into.
• Insure packages.

But don't let this stop you from sending me some love. I love to get letters no matter where I am, so keep them coming. Now I have to get back to packing. My Ps want me to pack up everything in my old room so they can use it while I'm gone - and I've really been procrastinating.

What the Heck am I Thinking?!?

The countdown is 6 days. Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm actually joining the Peace Corps. Its one of those things that I dreamed of when I was younger. Whenever I accomplish something big on my list of TO DOs, I have to take a step back because I'm amazed that I've got it together (somewhat).

The BIG question everyone asks is "What made you join the Peace Corps?" And my response is: "I'm going to save the world." I know its a hokey response but its so much simpler than delving into all of my reasons. So here's the down & dirty, E! True Hollywood Story (I'm kidding, they haven't done a show about me yet).

At Truman State University, I studied Accounting and Business Management. I guess at first I wanted to make money and live comfortably. But by the time senior year rolled around, I was unhappy with my choice of focus. For three years, I had studied best business practices, with profit being the bottome line. I woke up and realized that profit is NOT the bottom line, and that I care more about people than I do about money.

After this realization, I couldn't figure out what I would do with my degrees without helping some evil empire (ie Walmart) make more money. After researching several unfeasible options, I rediscovered my previous dream of joining the Peace Corps.

Basically, I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have as much education as I do. There are countless people who would love an education, but have to sacrifice it to work for their families at a young age. I took school for granted for too many years. And since I had good opportunities, I think the least I can do is to go somewhere that people need and want my help.

I also want to see every place on Mother Earth. Maybe its unrealistic, but this adventure will give a few more notches in the old tiller.

I know this sounds like a bunch of idealistic propoganda, but there it is. At least some of it.

Peace.


P.S. Tiller = steering wheel of a sailboat