22 June 09

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