lance_kyrgyz.republic

april

2010-04-22T05:57:00.000-07:00

April showers bring new government powers. If you haven't seen Kyrgyzstan in the news in the last couple weeks, look it up. I've been removed to a safe place, and now I'm just waiting for news.

march

2010-03-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

I’ve learned to speak many new languages here, while at the same time sometimes losing the ability to converse in my mother tongue. First of all there’s the Kyrgyz language. I haven’t mastered it by any means (and perhaps my level of Kyrgyz being higher than most of my students’ English level, when they’ve studied for years and myself only officially instructed for about two months, may show I have not mastered my teaching job either), but I get around okay doing normal things: shopping, getting a taxi, ordering in a restaurant, stepping over bound chickens for sale on the ground. But I do this while speaking Kyrgyz.

I have learned more than Kyrgyz and the odd ends of Russian required for anyone looking like a permanent tourist. My previous employment at the fruit company showed me that big businesses speak a language of acronyms, and the government is a big business. I regularly spout off lines such as: “Some PCVs from the K17 PST will go to the ToT for PCVTs.” (Yet just the other day I said, “My hair the back a little longer to cut.” That’s the approximate word order in Kyrgyz, but I was speaking English). While not an entirely new language, those unfamiliar with it may as well be listening to Brad Pitt in the film Snatch.

As if I wouldn’t return to America incoherent enough, a tight knit group will often form new vocabulary or phrases that contain situational signification that, to those external, it conveys little or no meaning (the inside joke, but I prefer to think of our humor as more unique than that).

Small children have an unfortunate trait of often becoming larger children, but while walking in the bazaar recently, we found cell phone baby. Cell phone baby was just a baby talking on a toy phone while intermittently looking back at us. Unintentionally, as we were just following our shortest path out, we tagged behind cell phone baby for about five minutes weaving through many sections of a large bazaar. Since two groups would unlikely be going this exact zig zag path we decided that she was probably using the phone to call the militia to report the tourists trailing her. She eventually went one direction (through means of parent carrying her), and we turned the other and headed home. I don’t remember exactly what we bought at the bazaar that day, but we still talk about cell phone baby.

So be warned. When you next see me in America (or you could visit!) I might only speak slow simple sentences that insult your ability to understand English, it’s also possible I will only be able to form disjointed English, or I could rant about PST and VRFs while expecting knowledge of the incomprehensible meanings behind the mancave, Jordan, and winter pants parties. But at least you’ll understand cell phone baby, a little bit.

22 feb

2010-02-21T21:38:00.003-08:00

The blogger website is back online after not being able to connect here for quite some time. Winter might have broken yesterday. I got rain in my village last weekend (not snow). The city has no snow left. It's still cold, but Spring is at the end of the tunnel. It's a holiday tomorrow so I don't have class today or tomorrow. Not a lot of news right now. Just making sure this was working again.

january

2010-01-31T02:21:00.000-08:00

19 jan

Back to school. After not quite a month off of school, I'm back in the classroom. The freezing cold classroom. December had been pretty cold, but near the end and the beginning of January the weather was actually pretty nice; the snow was nearly gone from my village. Now it has turned cold again. This weekend poured down feet of snow and accompanying cold air.

The last week of December brought Christmas, my birthday, and New Years. Christmas decorations went up in shop windows and everywhere, but despite the English stating "Xmas Merry," people insist they are New Year's decorations. Even the tree is a New Year's tree. Even with my Christmas lesson, I don't think my students believed that Christmas and New Year's are not the same thing. I spent the holiday in Jalalabad then proceeded down to Osh for New Years. The actual event wasn't spectacular, but the entire weekend was full of costume parties, pictures, and inside jokes taking place mostly in the location dubbed the Man Cave.

Last week our K17 group met up on Issyk Kul Lake for our final big group training on projects, grants, etc. It was nice to see everyone again, but it's the last time I'll see many of them until our Close of Service conference over a year from now. Also we southern volunteers get the added bonus of doing double time on the traveling. After all that car/bus/plane time I'm ready to stay down south for as long as possible.

Back to work. Most of my first lessons will probably be repeats of previous lessons. At least most of the students can still say hello. I'd ask for mail, but I've not received anything in months. Either it's backed up or there are some happy postal workers somewhere on the line.

31 january

I have had a hard time getting a solid connection to post updates. Things that were once strange when arriving in this country have become pretty normal to me now, and life is pretty regular and routine. The postal mail is still working, though a bit slow. Send me a postcard or an email if there are any specifics questions about my doings here. February update coming pending internet connectivity.

fairy tale of jalalabad

2009-12-14T03:22:00.000-08:00

I taught my first Christmas lesson today. I think I did it just to remind myself that Christmas is actually coming up soon. It's hard to imagine an American being able to forget that anytime after Thanksgiving (or is it Halloween?). In the local stores of Jalalabad city there are no carols to be heard; the radio is not inundated with jolly melodies; the halls have not been decked. The irony is that growing up in a desert I'm actually surrounded by snow this time for the holidays.

I discovered that I have virtually no Christmas music or films with me. I never appreciated not being able to escape its presence when turning on the TV or buying a Big Gulp, but the complete lack of the holiday is nearly as shocking. I think there must be a happy medium somewhere.

In my lesson I showed a couple scenes from Fred Claus. Kevin Spacey's character shut down the toy factory and told the elves to "go back to Elfastan or wherever" they came from. I think I enjoyed that line better than the writers could have imagined.

Winter break is coming soon as well. This means an entire semester will be complete. I think I'll celebrate by keeping my heater on whenever the power is on.

nov update

2009-11-29T09:12:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month was our inservice training. All our K-17 group went to Bishkek for a week. It was right when the weather turned bitter cold. I didn't even leave the hotel for the first three days. I finally ventured out for some fast-food hamburgers. It started to warm up a little by the end of the week, but I was already sick. I came back south to where it was still cooler than I left it, but a good 20 degrees warmer than Bishkek. It has since snowed in my village though.

After several days of Thanksgiving lessons making me hungry, I had two Thanksgivings this weekend. The first was on Thursday. I joined in with the Jalalabad City crew for our day-of celebration. We had two turkeys, and the whole meal was just like America. After three plates of dinner, I had pie.

Friday night we had a sudden brown out situation with the power. It was still too early for bed, but our main concern was cooking the next day. Friday was a holiday in Kyrgyzstan so it was doubtful that anyone would be coming to fix it anytime soon. After consulting with the neighbor we discovered that the transformer down the street had blown. Three Americans joined the neighborhood down at the transformer with out flashlights. One of the four main connectors was visibly damaged. Only a few strands of wire were reaching out each direction from their bunches. This would be the end in America, but we're in Kyrgyzstan. The neighborhood decided that we all wanted power now, so we'd fix it. We joined in the discussion and added our flashlights. The grid was disconnected, and someone jumped up on top with some pliers. Not a power company employee, just one representative of the neighborhood. After some twisting and bending, the switch was cranked back over to on. Full power had been reestablished. Imagine that in America next time the power goes out.

With the power still running the next day, all of our Jalalabad volunteers joined together for fried chicken, and of course, more pie.

I came back to the snow in my village. It snowed last week here, but the city must be a bit lower elevation because there was none there. I cleaned, played my guitar I just bought a week ago, and watched a movie. Now time to read for little bit before the power goes out. Back to the work routine tomorrow as December approaches.

4 nov 09

2009-11-04T00:09:00.000-08:00

Halloween was an adventure. This week is fall break, and next week I'll be in training with all my k17s in Bishkek. Small random group of photos have finally been uploaded. enjoy

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/luckygarnett/Kyrgyz?feat=directlink

25 oct 09

2009-10-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

Almost two months completed of school and teaching. The school system is expectedly a bit different to those used to the American system. The level of school is called form as opposed to grades in the US. Students go to school from form 1-11 with 11 being senior year. I teach to forms 6-11. The classes of students remains the same day after day, year after year. The same students in form 6 class G will continue to form 7 class G the following year, and each group goes with the same peers from math to English to Russian throughout the day. Scheduling is in more a block form with each class having each subject about three times a week, Monday through Saturday. I teach Monday through Thursday so I see each of my groups about twice a week. My school goes from 8:30-1:30, and I teach clubs several times a week to about 3:00. Then I go home to my house about five to ten minutes away depending on if I stop by the store on the way home.

My club has been focusing on songs lately. I’m trying to differentiate it from regular classroom lessons. So far we’ve rocked out to Weezer, The Clash, and The Hippos. We’ve also seen clips of Futurama, The Simpsons, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly (they recognized which uniform was Union and which was Confederate). I think it’s working because they begged to have club on Thursday after it was going to be cancelled.

At home I read, watch tv and movies, make food, and play Peggle. I just beat all 75 challenges. I got the “find a new hobby” medal for my effort. I usually make some type of rice and bean dish with various vegetables. Currently the must-have ingredient is tomatoes. That will be my dinner tonight, but I foresee an oven in my future so that opens new possibilities.

Halloween is coming up. I’m doing Halloween lessons in school including Simpsons Tree House of Horror. We had a party at the American Corner in Jalalabad with local English students, and on the holiday itself we’ll have a gathering of dressed up volunteers spreading their American holiday traditions once more.

It’s definitely fall here with changing leaves and cooler weather. My heater is already opened up and my nice and toasty sleeping bag is being used. A “Lenin in Fall” photograph with the statue in front of my school is planned and coming soon.

This last week has brought me to the middle of The Grapes of Wrath. Other volunteers are reading twilight. I prefer to avoid that and stick with the classics, or things I have interest in. My counterpart is reading my Hemingway short stories, and I’m told the former volunteer’s counterpart has a Hemingway in Kyrgyz. I’ll have to see if I can read any of that.

25 Sept 09

2009-09-25T01:33:00.000-07:00

School is up and running. I'm teaching classes now. It's official.

I have a few students who have real potential as well as those who have no desire to be in class, which is no different than American public schools. I'm teaching four days a week with clubs on three of the days. We're still doing vocabulary before we move on to simple grammar. If anything, my style is shock to them because it's radically different than what they're used to. I'm trying to promote conversation as my main emphasis.

I also moved. I'm no longer with a host family, and I'm glad to have my American space/independence. I live about 5-10 walk from school in (mostly) my own house. It's really nice with a kitchen, my two connected bedrooms, and water actually coming into the compound -which saves me from a trip down the road to stream. I also have beehives which a neighbor tends for honey.

Pictures coming. So far there's one of me at my new house posted on mobileme.

silent donkey

2009-08-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

31 August 2009

It’s back to school time in Kyrgyzstan. Today is independence day for the Kyrgyz Republic so school starts on the first of September. The timing is right. I’ve finished all the TV shows I currently have on my hard drive. Goodbye summer, hello school. Only this time I'm teaching it.

A couple weeks ago I went to Osh for a journalism conference with students from the university and other interested peoples. They comprise the staff of their own English language newspaper. My session got pushed back to the last, and I missed it for a solar water project in Bishkek, but I helped out by supporting other sessions and being a resident photographer. It was like yearbook day camp all over again.

In Bishkek I built a solar water heater with an NGO on a UN project. They’re somewhat simply designed to more efficiently use the sun to heat water within a tank. We completed the barrels, and mine will be delivered sometime this month for me to test it out.

I haven’t completed any books in the last couple weeks, which is somewhat unusual these days, but I am in the middle of two presently and half-heartedly in a third. Inspired to read up on American history, I’ve been listening to The Teaching Company lectures on the subject, and supplementing it with Don’t Know Much About History by Kenneth Davis. I’m ending the Revolutionary War in both and keeping up on my other project A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I’m halfway through it right now and suggest it to be read by anyone who has lived in New Orleans or been annoyed by a fat guy.

The days of wearing shorts and flips are at an end, as a more respectable dress is expected at work, while the age of ramen may be ushered in shortly in the fact that I have found a new residence down the street from the school. My required time to live with a host family is ending, and though they are nice people, I’m eager to express my American independence in the form of my own living arrangements.

In other news-- internet is now available in the city at a per hour rate as opposed to the standard per megabyte rate. Crowds go wild. Pictures may soon become a reality.

Donkeys make terrible nosies. There’s nothing else really bad about them, but I think the world would be better off with silent donkeys. It’s not like they’re guard donkeys attacking and frightening away intruders during home invasions. They carry things, they eat things, and they pull things, but that sound. It burns.

Also, I can’t believe I have to set an alarm for tomorrow and go to work.

9 August 2009

2009-08-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

Camp Sunflowers

I spent the last week at a summer camp in Issyk-Kul. I was signed up for another camp, but the plans for that one fell through. Three days before I left to go the camp, I found out about its existence. I spent Friday night in the city and left the next morning with two other volunteers from Osh.

The trip from south to north is an interesting one. It’s fairly expensive on a volunteer salary, but the taxi ride is much cheaper than a flight. We got in the taxi after some negotiation, picked up another passenger, and headed north. The scenery on the ride up is amazing and diverse; snow, green hills, bodies of water, desert, it’s all there. Eight hours later, if you’re lucky, the taxi pulls into Bishkek. We stayed at a hotel with a real shower (showers are newsworthy here).

Sunday we stopped by the Peace Corps office and then to bus station. We grabbed a marshrutka right as it was about to leave, but our luck of time ran out then. The ride to Karakol took nearly as long as our taxi to the north, but we made it.

Monday morning began Camp Sunflowers. For the next days we stayed at a complex on the beach outside of Karakol with about 30 kids aged seven to about 15. We played ultimate frisbee, kickball, Uno, duck-duck-goose, hung out on the beach, and even threw in some English lessons. At night we had a couple discoteques complete with the most popular music in Kyrgyzstan.

I left on Friday and headed to Balikchy to see one of my PST village friends. It was like a mini reunion as there were quite a few of us there. I headed off the next morning with one thing on my mind: home. I made it all the way back to Jalalabad in one long day involving sitting, unsuccessfully trying to sleep, fighting for my occupied leg space, and sitting. I was home though as of yesterday evening, and I made it back to my village today. I have one week here, and then I go to Osh for a week to participate in a journalism camp. One week after I come home from that camp, school starts, and the real story begins.

Summer Break

2009-07-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

15 July 09

Being a teacher has given me my first summer break since high school. In the past two weeks, I've read many books and watched a large quantity of tv shows and movies on my computer. The idea is that we're new in the community so we should spend our first months not traveling and just generally being around, but my village is quite small. I've walked around a bit, but I meet more people here when I'm in the taxi coming back from the city. So I read and watch tv (sometimes study too), which is both tiresome and a welcome break after the stress of training.

I spent fourth of July sans fireworks, but we had some nice American sloppy joes and chili. We met up with most of the Jalalabad volunteers and some counterparts and made our own little America in a Kyrgyz backyard.

Summer continues. I start teaching in September, so I should be pretty busy again at that time. Until then, I have 10 or 11 more James Bond movies with me to watch.

29 june 09

2009-06-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

26 June 09

Man vs. Wasp

Over a month ago I first came to my village on site visit. Within the relatively nice outhouse a wasp nest on the ceiling could be found. Sometimes the protective (mother?) wasp was perched right on the nest as well. There is certainly a different cultural attitude toward six/eight legged creatures here. Part of that is my coming from the city, though it be a dry barren city. Though there is a different acceptance of such beings in places such as West Virginia where I spent many summers, I remember making attacks on nests there as well. My first instinct would be to destroy, but there it was, it plain sight, allowed to exist.

Now I live here. It lives here. I face a staring contest with a wasp every time I need to use the outhouse. I respect that it’s there, and it respects the fact that I could destroy its nest at any moment, but the situation at the front has deteriorated. Now some of the wasps have emerged from the nest, and the same understanding between us is not established. Furthermore, there are now some large honeybee type insects that regularly fly into what should be a room of rest. I have to guide them to their exit while being ever mindful of the wasps above. The fact that I enter at all is perhaps different than the me that existed back home. What will be the outcome of this situation? Will I escape without being stung --I’ve already been bitten more than 28 times in the last several days by ants (maybe this is the real story?). Stay tuned for more Man vs. Wasp.

29 June 09

Yesterday was a successful day in the city. I usually go in just to break up city and village time, but I accomplished much on this last visit. I live in the south and it’s pretty warm in the summer time. It’s almost 80 degrees in my room every morning when I wake up. I bought a fan. My thermometer on my clock says it doesn’t make much different, but it feels like a different room. Of course, it stormed last night and the power went out, therefore my fan blades were no longer spinning and I could not ask it yes or no questions to which it normally would always respond in the negative. About 7 am the power was back, and I was once again cooled. Other city accomplishments include a shirt from the bazaar, being confused for a Turkish tourist as opposed to an English speaking one no less than three times, and tape to hang up my map on my wall. I also ran into some volunteers from other oblasts, and I handed off a form I needed to get to Bishkek. I hung up my map, turned on my fan, and continued my Disney movie week when I returned home feeling quite accomplished.

22 June 09

2009-06-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

22 June 09

Greetings from Jalalabad.

I am officially a volunteer after being sworn in on 10 June. After swear-in, we had a party courtesy of the ambassador at which we got to meet several prominent young Kyrgyz. It ended up being a really good time, and it seemed cut short when it was time to go.

Back to the hotel. Again being the morning shift, a night out on the town (which was now kosher due to our volunteer status) didn’t seem that great of an idea, so I returned earlier than most to sleep. Morning came, still too early, and we loaded on the to bus with our counterparts and back to the now familiar Manas Airport. Fly to Osh, taxi to J-bad city, a quick round at the bazaar, and taxi to the village.
Day two in the village and I hiked up the mountains and into the walnut forest with the K-15 I’m replacing, as well as another K-15 who had stopped by to visit. It was quite a struggle for the two of us not adept to hiking, or any sort of physical exercise, but with many stops the top of pride rock was achieved.

I’ve made a few trips into the city to meet with other volunteers, locate resources, and just to become familiar with my surroundings. This last weekend was spent relaxing at a volunteer’s apartment who had gone out of town for the weekend. I have discovered here that my American ideas of privacy and independence are things that I really miss here, and the weekend alone in the apartment was refreshing.

So far I have at least three students who are looking to be tutored over the summer, and I’m likely to find several more. I might get involved with a club in the city as well. These along with my own studies constitute my official schedule this summer. The rest of the time (read: majority of the time) will be spent in books, music, movies, and return trips to the mountain/forest.

Questions, comments, need my address to send a postcard, email me: luckygarnett@gmail.com

Photos

2009-05-31T01:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't figured out a good upload method yet, but I put a couple pictures on my mobile me account:

http://gallery.me.com/lanceplautz#100119

31 May 09

2009-05-31T01:09:00.000-07:00

22 May 09

I knew it had been a long time since I wrote anything, but this seems out of control. So, it’s apparently been over a month. What has happened? Up to about four days ago, nothing. That’s not entirely true, but for someone like me who fears routine, I couldn’t differentiate much between the last few weeks. Kyrgyz language class, TEFL tech days, Hub sessions on medical, safety, and so forth. Last Saturday was culture day with our host families. We got to wear some traditional clothing and present a few Kyrgyz/Russian traditions, but only one thing was on our minds -- permanent site visit. This was our chance to escape our trainee life and see what lies ahead of us, albeit for a few days.

Issik Kul Hotel. Just months ago you seemed like a Soviet antique, now we’re all amazed at your running hot water and flush toilets. We only spent one night in this luxury suite (and maybe only two hours of sleep, my room stayed up watching Finding Nemo and Dr. Horrible). Rise and shine Jalalabad crew. We were the first ones to load up. We were taking a plane to Osh. The flight was an experience with a close view of the mountains that separate north from south. I think I could have waved to mountain climbers had there been any. Afterwards came the cab ride. Our cab was me, Ryan, and our representative host family members from the airport until Jalalabad City where we parted ways.

Getting to permanent site isn’t a whole lot different than your first family. You still can’t really speak the language, and all the awkward things happen again. Going to work for the first time went alright because I’m an English teacher, and the people I work with speak English. It’s a big relief. Then I got sick.

The sickest I have been in-country thus far. I spent somewhere around 33 of 35 hours in bed not daring to eat. I had to leave work after one class on my second day. Many other small frustrations built up on this journey as well. I missed banya day because I was attempting to stay in a coma. Getting to the bank and setting up an account did not go smoothly for me. I lost 100 som on a bad phone cards.

Small victories. I’m no longer feeling like I’m on my death bed. I took a walk without unnecessary detours. I just discovered how to turn my couch into a bed.

25 May 09

I’m back at...home? I’ve become quite used to my Bishkek village. Everything returned to normal.

I met the K-15 I’m replacing at site finally. We hung out, made some dinner, watched Dr. Horrible, and listened to music. The next day I had lunch with some other J-bad volunteers and began the long journey home. We had an added stop to our route home, and the flight got a little rough. A few people got sick, and we were back at Manas Airport. I stopped in Bishkek and got some food yesterday, then headed home. Today I had class and everything has gone back to the way it was, but there are only a couple weeks left.

31 May 09

Laundry day! I finally got my laundry done today. I think it’s been almost four weeks. The water was a dark brown color when I got done, but it’s going to be nice to have clean clothes.

Most of the trainees went together on a trip today, but I took the opportunity to stay home, sleep in for the first time in over a month, do laundry, and just relax. I might head over to Kant today to internet and maybe stop by the store / bazaar, but currently my priority is banya. Like laundry, it’s been a long long time.

Training is over soon, and life is about to change. I’m going to be moving down to Jalalabad in a week or two. My village is pretty small but about a half hour ride from the city. I’m looking forward to the summer of meeting people, exploring, and getting know the area.

site placement

2009-04-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

Time to test your google maps skills. I will soon be living in Jalal-abad oblast in a village outside the main city. That's all the news for today.

25 april

2009-04-25T03:29:00.003-07:00

Finally, I posted everything written thus far. Next week: site announcement ceremony. Stay tuned.

25 april - comprehensive update

2009-04-25T03:28:00.001-07:00

2 april 09

I am in a little village outside of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I live with a very nice family with lots of extended family stopping by for birthdays and whatnot. After I unpacked yesterday, I looked out the window and a cow sauntered by. I pass chickens, sheep, goats, horses, and donkeys on my way to class where I study Kyrgyz. I just looked out the window again now and saw a cow.

Thirteen time zones from home. I left home early in the morning on Thursday March 26, 2009. Packing and putting everything into storage was harder than I thought. I was essentially putting my life into boxes, putting everything on hold, and taking only the contents of a hiking backpack, a duffel bag, and a small backpack to my new life in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Goodbye McCarran. The flight to Philadelphia seemed like any one of the countless flights I’ve taken. I met up with another volunteer in Dallas and ate my final Taco Bell. The flight was late and I got to the airport at about midnight, cursing my heavy belongings throughout. We stayed in Philadelphia a second night after our short training session and had an authentic cheesesteak.

Morning came too early as we stumbled onto the bus. I slept most of the way to JFK. The hardest task yet lie ahead. We were dropped off at the wrong terminal and a long uphill trek left my shoulder in ruins. JFK was highlighted by movies, hacky sack, many games with the ball, and a 21st birthday. Almost 11 hours later (I wish it went by as quickly as that sentence) we landed in Istanbul, not Constantinople if you were about to guess. Most took a bus set up by a flight attendant, but a few of us ventured out on our own by taxi. After some awesome döner kebap, we toured the Blue Mosque with our new friend, the Turkish mathematician. More walking around, hearing a prayer broadcast over speakers, and some more photos were followed by the bus back to the airport. I did manage to find some Turkish Delight in the airport. Squeezed into the middle seat in the airplane, I found myself in Bishkek.

“US Pease Corp” said the bus that took us to Issyk-Kul hotel, an awesome Soviet building complete with 80s era, button-popping when reaching floor, elevator. A couple of us stayed up all night since it was already 4 am and had conversations about our anxieties, excitement, and cake mixers. I managed to squeeze in an hour nap before our training began. We spent several nights at the hotel, already seeming to know each other for years. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner contained stories from current PCVs and conversations about our futures in the outhouses. Just as we became used to the hotel, we went into Bishkek, hopped on the internet for a couple minutes, and bought gifts for our host families. The time had come. We came back, packed, and loaded into the bus.

The host matching ceremony was bigger than we expected. Sitting in an auditorium in Kant, we heard some speeches, but everyone was focused on the strangers in the room. We looked anxiously at the host families, and they gazed right back. Village by village we went on stage and met our hosts. I found my apa and sat down with her. After some snacks, we got into separate vehicles and said farewell to our mother tongue. Armed with “Hello, My name is..., I am from ... and I am ... years old,” we set off. I rode to my new home in an ambulance, which was later explained as my ata works in the ambulance. I carried in my things, took off my shoes, and saw my new home for the next several months.

I wrote the above about three hours ago. Since then I’ve participated in the entire outhouse experience as well as my first banya -- think sauna plus shower. From then until now I’ve been at a birthday party where I had to give a toast in English. My Irish pub toasts didn’t quite fit the situation.

7 April 09

Today was our first TEFL tech day. We got to see a slighter larger number of people for the first time since parting ways at the host family ceremony. We toured a school in another village a few kilometers away where other trainees are stationed. Tomorrow the entire group gets together for training, and it will be good to see everyone together again. Maybe the remaining people with no cell phones will have them by then. Speaking of which, I already use mine too much. Maybe now that some people in the States have my number, I won’t burn through those super expensive minutes.

Routine is somewhat settling in now that the first official week of PST has arrived. I can make some basic sentences but cannot understand much beyond: Hi, How are you. I have to constantly remind myself that I’ve been studying this language for what, a week? I learned the colors along with some shopping items with my brother and sister today. I need to review them again tonight, but at least some of the words are somewhat sticking. After that we had an English lesson (we watched Futurama).

The days are filled with training classes and the evenings are possibly more challenging with communication games between myself and the family, neighbors, anyone on the street. The hours are long, but the days go by quickly, even with the rain and mud-sloshing the last few days. I get to sleep in an extra hour tomorrow, but I’ll probably still be heading to bed soon anyway. I think the adrenaline is wearing off and all the packing, traveling, anxieties, and classes are catching up to me.

10 April 09

Partially out of fear of the unknown, coupled with fear of what I did know, I avoided living with a host family during my study abroad in France. This cannot be avoided in the Peace Corps, and from what I read, I am posted in a country that requires living with a host family for about twice as long as other locations. This, pretty much like the entire experience, is a blessing and a challenge. Living with a host family does not allow for time off. I spent almost all day in class today, the majority of which is language study. With an early curfew for us new trainees, and the lack of anywhere to really hangout (the chillzone at Scott’s will be first used on Sunday), we part ways by five o’clock and retire to our homes wherein we continue with communication difficulties. An attempt to hide in my room for an hour is always interrupted by an invitation to eat/snack (chai eech!).

All conversations consist of smiles, nods, repeating slowly (which is still almost useless) or reverting to the twenty or so words I recognize and they can understand when I speak. I have become less awkward by making statements in English. The kids are usually interested and my little sister often grabs her English notebook, and we practice her vocabulary. I took the liberty today of adding ‘How now brown cow’ as well as‘bling’ into her English book. These nicely compliment ‘the three musketeers’ she’s been repeating since its introduction -- for all those concerned, these phases/words target specific sounds: ow, ng, and th, but mostly they’re for my enjoyment.

Even more so than Europe, the worst of America is transported over to Central Asia. All the twenty-something males I’ve spoken with have told me their favorite music consists of Backstreet Boys, Beyonce, and NSYNC. I think Justin Timberlake would be revered as a deity here. I’ve dubbed it the playlist from hell. They also love American action movies. Steven Segal and Jean-Claude Van Damme are high on the list. I played a variety of my collection for my sister and brother who said they liked it all. I think the introduction is needed.

The source of all this waste is MTV. I can’t watch BBC over here, but there’s always MTV. My brother, dad, and uncle completely took apart my brother’s car today to weld and reinforce the frame. My brother looked at me and said, “XIBIT.” He was watching Pimp My Ride the other day. I have to admit that it was pretty funny. I wish there was another American around to appreciate it.

Tomorrow is a day in Bishkek. We’re going to walk around the city, go to a museum, eat lunch, and get on the the tubes. I have a fight with paypal coming my way.

Also, now I know how Robert feels with his best friend in Japan being 12. My best friend here is my 11 year old sister. We play in the front yard, read vocabulary, and she makes fun of my pronunciation. Maybe when our curfew is later than six p.m. I can make some more friends.

11 April 09

The day in Bishkek was pretty frustrating. Our real purpose for the trip was to get to the internet since we all have piles of “Are you there, is everything ok” emails, but first we went to a museum as well as the Peace Corps office. Being pretty hungry we jumped at the opportunity to eat pizza (plus I got to eat a mean sitting in a chair). Then the internet. Very slow. Very expensive. Accomplished virtually nothing while spending the majority of the time waiting for things to load. I also forgot that I formatted my jump drive, and I would have to reformat it before it would show up on the cafe pcs, which is the reason that all previous writings have yet to make their way to the internets. I did however manage to get the wap settings for my phone. Still it’s very expensive, and I used it far too much already, but I did manage to get my annoying paypal issue out of the way thanks to mobile web. I am now convinced that my iphone was a necessary item as opposed to a luxury. Don’t count on me being available via tubes constantly, but I will at least get to email more often than once every two weeks.

Tomorrow is our day off, and we’re all meeting up to do some homework! My only real desire for tomorrow is that it stops raining. I haven’t done laundry since I was in the States, and tomorrow is supposed to be the day. Beyond that, I will be taking a banya tomorrow. I don’t know how you’d be doing ten days since your last shower, but I’m looking forward to it.

Alive in Kyrgyzstan

2009-04-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

Hello hello,

This marks the third time I've been to the internet cafe without being able to post all the content I've currently typed up (today's excuse is that the house was locked before we went to the city and I couldn't get my flash drive).

But I am alive. I'm doing ok. I live in a village outside of Bishkek. I spend 5 1/2 days a week in class learning Kyrgyz language as well as teaching. A couple days ago we observed and helped teach some English classes in a nearby village. I'm still in training until June, and teaching will officially begin in the Fall.

Real updates coming soon(?)

I saw you at the aeroport, you were good

2009-03-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

An all night packing frenzy, with only a short nap, followed by resumed packing leads me to McCarran Airport for the final time this decade. The remainders of my belongings are still strewn about the cave. The current plan doesn't take me back to Las Vegas until June 2011. So I'm off, or will be in a few hours, to Philadelphia-- where I hear it's always sunny. There will be a short training in the former capitol before taking off Saturday from JFK for lands beyond our shores.

2008-12-04T23:31:00.001-08:00

kyrgyz republic ahoy

Mic check

2008-10-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

one, two, one, two

this is not a test

2007-11-04T22:30:00.000-08:00

This is a test.