Meet the (Host) Family 16/07/08

So I’ve had a chance to “interact with the locals” as I described it in my last blog-post. I’ve been with my host family a week and I couldn’t imagine being with a better one. My parents have 5 children, 4 daughters and a son. Only the youngest two (a daughter and the son) are still at home. The oldest daughters are married and live in Bishkek and the middle daughter is currently in Virginia. Ulkensin (“Ulicka”) is 18 years old and somehow manages a lot of household responsibility while maintaining her humor and energy. Samat, my little brother, is 16 and enjoys scaring the family with his while driving. The men are the only ones who know how to drive.

It IS very beautiful here. The mountains roll away from our village into snow covered peaks. Sunflowers are in bloom and there are strawberries hide in the garden. The less “romantic” aspects involve the outhouse situation... The most difficult thing so far has been the language classes. Kyrgyz is an agglomerative language ( subject, tense, interrogation, negation, etc. are all added to the verb stem in very complex ways). Ugg! I never imagined a language like this! But it is lovely to hear and I’ll feel great when I begin to master it.

Everything reminds me a little of somewhere else (Nicaragua, Ecuador, the U.S.) but belongs to none of those places.

Krygyz customs:

Women greet women with a kiss on each cheek, they greet men with a handshake. Shoes come off before entering a house.

Greet older people with “Salamatsisbi” and younger people with “salamatchilik.”

The streets are shared by all types of man and beast.

There is no limit to the number of people you can fit into a cab.

It’s never too hot for 3-5 cups of chai at every meal.

....