29 April 2009
site placement
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
25 april
Finally, I posted everything written thus far. Next week: site announcement ceremony. Stay tuned.
25 april - comprehensive update
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.
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.
18 April 2009
Alive in Kyrgyzstan
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(?)
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(?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
