letters from kyrgyzstan (...where?)

2009-10-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

to Turkey and Beyond

2009-08-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the wonderful land of sheep and it’s strange to be “home.” I'm in a new home in Kyrgyzstan. My 3rd home in a year…

Turkey was amazing. Stunningly beautiful. Delicious food (and icecream! mango, pistachio, blackberry, etc). The best friends in the world! Overly enthusiastic venders. Wonderfully friendly locals. Fascinating history. I could have had fun with those friends in a police station (and I have! Hannah!) but being in Turkey was icing on the cake.

A brief (not-so-brief) summary of our trip:

We began in Istanbul, in the Northwestern part of Turkey. Some quick facts about the city: Istanbul is divided between Europe and Asia and has a population of 20 million (larger than New York City). There are 505 mosques in Istanbul and 5 times a day, if you’re in the right place, you can hear the call to prayer ringing out in a breathtaking symphony. Istanbul has been the center of 3 empires. Everything is 100 times more spectacular than in any picture.

Once you leave the most touristy part of town, you find yourself in a world that comes alive in the late evening and continues to swarm with thousands of people late into the morning. Drinking tea and coffee, walking, going into clubs to dance, eating in outdoor cafés, enjoying the cool of the day.

After 3 days in Istanbul we went to Selchuk, a small town located near the ruins of Efes (Ephesus). It was a bizarre experience to be in a place that I knew about through Discovery Channel programs and Biblical references. I was that tourist, the one posing for a picture in front of ancient ruins in a fantastic place I never imagined myself visiting. The camera wasn’t able to capture my bewilderment.

After Selchuk we went to Pamukkale by night bus. Pamukkale is another small town located next to a fascinating place: a mountain turned white by calcium deposited by hot springs. Those same springs naturally form pools in steps down the mountainside.

Next we went to Fethiye: a beach town on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a perfect super-tranquilo spot to just chill and enjoy the sun. We swam in the Mediterrean, lay on the beach, and played tag with the fish. We were there for 3 days. One day we walked along a river gorge that tested our physical strength (we had to climb over boulders and up waterfalls) and revealed our fear of impending death.

Our next night bus brought us to Goreme, a town in central Turkey in the region of Cappadocia, but seemingly located on another planet. The landscape there was incredible. Volcanic events followed by centuries of erosion resulted in large conical rock formations jutting up from the earth. Ancient people carved out these rocks and lived inside them. The hostel we stayed in was a cave-hostel. During our stay in Cappadocia we visited an underground city and were able to visit 8 of the original 12 stories dug into the earth. Inside the city were stables for horses, a winepress, chapel, wells, and sky lights.

We then returned to Istanbul to say goodbye and make last minute tourist purchases at the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian spice bazaar.

This was my first actual vacation (travel just for travel’s sake) outside the U.S. I’m very grateful to have been able to see my friends and explore such a fantastic country.

One Year in Kyrgyzstan

2009-07-02T03:45:00.000-07:00

Today is July 2nd, 2009. In 5 days we will celebrate our 1 year anniversary in Kyrgyzstan. It's amazing. While at times the days, hours, and even minutes seemed to drag on endlessly, somehow my first year with Peace Corps has flown by.

In the last year I've:
had 3 separate host families: 4 brothers, 5 sisters, 3 mothers, 2 fathers
learned to communicate in a completely foreign language
learned to see the world from another culture's perspective
taught English, geography, philosophy, life-skills, and health to Kyrgyz students
learned to live comfortably without running water or consistent electricity
discovered that you can miss home and be home at the same time
cried openly in internet cafes as a read emails from home

Just a few of the things that I've done in the last year.
Everything looks so strange when looking back on it...

TRAVEL PLANS!
On July 9th I'm travelling to Turkey to celebrate my first year of Peace Corps and to meet with 2 very close friends from home. It will be the first time in a year that I will see a familiar face from the States!

P.S. For all of my friends who love ME but don't exactly know where KYRGYZSTAN is, I'm in Central Asia NOT Eastern Europe. :)

Haunted

2009-05-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

The other day I was walking home from school and I smelt something that brought me back home. I couldn’t identify it exactly, and I still can’t. Maybe it really was a whiff of air from America, crossing oceans and continents to reach me. The smell caught me so off guard that I stopped walking in the middle of the street. I cow nearly ran me over, but swerved at the last minute and missed me.

I glanced around wildly for the origin of the smell, like a schizophrenic chasing visions that aren’t real. Since then I’ve been racking my brain for what it might be. They say that smell is more tightly bound to memory than any of the other senses. This wasn’t the first time that I’ve been ‘haunted’ by a smell from home…

Last November I smelt gummy bears. Yeah, gummy bears. I’m not sure I ever realized that gummy bears have a smell, but they do. It’s strongest right when you open the bag.

To whomever reads this,
I sincerely hope you never have to smell something you love when there’s no way that you’ll be able to get that thing for several months. It’s something that could make a grown man cry…

Spring!

2009-03-12T04:14:00.000-07:00

Now that spring is close, I become a poet when I walk around outside. The effects of spring’s approach on my mood are obvious. The soft waves of untouched snow glisten like tiny diamonds, rainbow drops created by the sun’s rays. Ice-sickles hang like elegant curtains on the eves of houses. The air is crisp but not frigid; the sun now brings heat as well as light. These are the thoughts that float into my head as I stroll around my village, rejoicing that spring will be here soon. I recognize that the day has made me positively giddy. Then I step on something that squishes under my foot. In my town piles of cow, sheep, and dog droppings litter the streets. For months they were equivalent to piles of ice. Now they’re thawing, and I’ve just stepped in one.

4 Volunteers, 3 Locals

2009-03-12T04:13:00.000-07:00

Winter Camp...volunteers included

2009-03-12T04:12:00.002-07:00

Group pic (volunteers not included)

2009-03-12T04:12:00.001-07:00

Boys at camp

2009-03-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

2009-01-27T21:34:00.000-08:00

Little sledders

2009-01-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

These are some kids on my street. Sleds: the BEST way to travel.

Leaving Naryn

2009-01-10T00:03:00.001-08:00

Driving through Kyrgyzstan really highlights the essence of Kyrgyzstan. On Dec 14^th three volunteers and I left Naryn city (the central city in our region – 2 hours by bus from my village) for Bishkek, the capital. We travelled by taxi, about a 4 hour trip depending on the driver. When we left Naryn there was about 5 inches of snow on the ground and the sidewalks were mini ice-rinks. The first snow fell in early October and where it remains untouched by the sun, it lingers. The days have not been warm enough since then to melt it. Everything changed when the snow came. Barren hills and mountains without definition suddenly seemed to be carved of stone and ice in jagged rugged lines. While I was once unimpressed by the Kyrgyz landscape, I now find the scenery breathtaking.

Our region is the coldest in all of Kyrgyzstan and driving to Bishkek meant leaving the bitter cold for slightly warmer temperatures. We left the snow after about an hour of driving. The snow covered mountains became backdrop and tan plains became the most defining part of the landscape. There was the occasional tree, stream, frozen pond. If I had been keeping track, I might have counted over a hundred separate herds of sheep. That is stereotypical image of Kyrgyzstan and it is not a misrepresentation. The occasional horse could be seen wandering around in this empty land, not lost but seemingly not watched over by anyone in particular.

Then I spent 4 days in Bishkek trying to re-discover how to navigate a large city. Traffic is more unnerving that I remember it, and I find that my sense of direction is lost in a town with more than 5 main streets. It’s interesting comparing stories with volunteers who live in larger towns and cities. While I’m shocked that they have access to all kinds of different foods, they are amazed that we don’t have grocery stores even in our biggest city. I know volunteers who check their internet daily and others, like myself, who manage to get to an internet café maybe once a month. While we each have distinct experiences within Peace Corps, we all have similar challenges in adjusting to a new culture, language, and way of life.

During the last day of my stay in Bishkek I decided to head out on my own. Until then I had stuck close to city-volunteers or volunteers who have been here over a year, relying on their knowledge to get around. Running short of time, I stood at a bus stop trying to figure out which bus would take me where I needed to go. Normally I would turn to the person next to me and ask for advice, but there was a problem: everyone around me was Russian. While almost all Kyrgyz people speak Kyrgyz and Russian, most Russians only speak Russian. I only speak Kyrgyz (and it’s still very limited). That’s one challenge I don’t have to deal with at my site. Few Russian ever venture into Naryn...

Thanksgiving dinner in Naryn

2008-12-15T22:21:00.001-08:00

Clockwise from the guy standing up: Pete, Jessica, Lorenzo, Angela, Nick, Jeanne, Mike, Caitlin, Christy, Kayoto, Masa, Chung Lin

Covered in snow

2008-12-15T22:19:00.001-08:00

This is from our street, at sunrise.

At the dinner table

2008-12-15T22:16:00.000-08:00

Left to right: Kukuu, Taene, Begimay, Kadan, Bakash

My 11th form students

2008-10-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer

2008-10-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog reflects the ideas of one volunteer only and does not necessarily reflect the ideas, aims, intentions of the United States Peace Corps.

Disclaimer: If this blog seems disjointed, fragmented and slightly multipersonalic, please understand that the contents were written over the course of several weeks and reflect the emotions of many different moments and experiences. I type every blog on my laptop, and then store them on a flashdrive until I can make the 2 hour trip to the nearest internet café where I can post them. Peace Corps living allowance will make that trip possible perhaps once a month. :D

9/24/08

2008-10-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

On September 18^th we swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers. The new U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan invited us to a reception at her residence. You would have thought we were reenacting a movie scene where starving people are clamoring for food from a disaster-relief truck! We formed a crowd around the banquet table and waited with baited breath as the cook brought out each platter. Each tray barely touched the table before all it was emptied of all its contents. It’s surprising no one was injured in the struggle for American food. The food here isn’t bad. But there is little variety and after a few months, the craving for certain foods (peanut butter!) can be pretty strong...

9/30/08

2008-10-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

I realized something the other day: I’m an immigrant. For the first time in my life I can relate to what many people in American have experienced: coming to a new country with little (or no) idea of the culture, language, or customs of that country. Although I’ve travelled before, I’ve always been to Spanish speaking nations where I could at least get by with my language skills. Here, when I arrived I didn’t know how to buy water (it’s still a struggle)! I don’t know the customs here. When I shake water off my hands after washing them, I’m insulting and/or cursing the home (I’m not sure which exactly). Smiling at a man my age is completely inappropriate and is evidence of American woman’s ‘looseness.’

But it’s not just the language and the culture, there’s also a barrier between myself and the people here. I’m alone. Alone, as I’ve never been before. There is no one near me that can relate to my experiences growing up, my world perspective, my habits; no one who longs for an espresso-stand with unparalleled longing.

I have more experience than many with the immigrant struggle. I’ve taken college courses about immigration and refugees. I’ve worked with Hispanic immigrants at Casa Latina. I’ve read many books and memoirs written by immigrants. Currently I’m reading a book titled What is the What, a memoir of a Sudanese ‘Lost Boy’ who compares his life in the Sudan and Ethiopian refugee camps to his new life in Atlanta. , Confusion, disappointment, frustration, loneliness. Before, I couldn’t in any way relate to these experiences. Even now I know that I can’t truly relate. I’m a semi-immigrant. I don’t need to worry about finding work or a place to stay. But in some ways I can relate, I can at least relate to the emotional/physiological challenges, and I think that’s an incredible thing.

Even as I write this, a new scenario presents itself. Two men arrive to drink tea with my family. Where I sit typing at my computer is directly visible from the dinner table. Do I get up and greet the men? Do I wait and see if my family calls me? If I don’t greet them am I being rude? If I greet them am I being forward and presumptuous? My choice? Move out of sight and wait. No one came to bring me to the table, so I assume I made the right choice. As I waited, I listened to their conversation. For a few minutes it centered around me. I couldn’t understand all of it, but mostly it was basic information: who I am, where I came from, information regarding teacher salaries in the U.S. that I shared with my host brother this morning at the breakfast table.

I figuring out how to live....

Title unnecessary

2008-10-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

More mountains

2008-10-16T21:09:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of my village, taken from a nearby hill. The mountains received their first coat of snow in the first days of October. so cold... ;)

My village: mountains and all

2008-10-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

This picture is of my town, taken from a nearby hill. The mountains got their first coat of snow in the first days of October.

Family picnic

2008-09-05T02:43:00.001-07:00

When you get to the 2nd donkey, turn left...

2008-09-05T02:43:00.000-07:00

TO NARYN! (for the next 2 years...)

2008-08-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

NEWS! K-16s received our permanent site placements last Wednesday. I will be going to Naryn! My information packet described the area as 70% high mountain peaks and 30% high mountain valleys. So "mountains" would describe it, short and sweet. I was immediately informed that my site is the most remote PC site in the country. hum...
But I'm still very excited. It'll be rough, especially the -50C winters. I'm not really sure how I'll deal with that. But everything else about my area is exciting. It's fantastically gorgeous, 100% Kyrgyz, I will live in a town of about 10,000 people. I've seen pictures of the school and even of some of my future students. I'm several hours from the closest big city but I have a "site buddy" who is about a 1/2 hour drive from me. I'm glad I have someone close by who can relate to my American sensibilities.

Short blog, sorry. I'll try and write more later.

Chickens make great garbage disposals

2008-08-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

Weird experiences make great stories. Have you ever fallen into the hole in an outhouse? (I haven’t, but I recently heard another PCVT telling his real-life outhouse nightmare.) All that aside, I’m not in Kyrgyzstan to collect stories. There are more comfortable places to collect stories and few people in the U.S. can appreciate the ‘name-that-meat-game.’ While I plan on having lots of great stories at the end of my 2-years of service, what I really want is to discover new strengths in myself, learn to overcome any challenge, and gain another way to view the world. A philosophy I picked up somewhere: if one can look at the world from many different angles, one’s idea of it will be more complete.

It’s been 6 weeks since we arrived in Bishkek. Wow. Really wow. My thoughts are all over the place right now. My sister had her baby (Gibson!) on August 7th. I called mom and got the details of the birth, time, weight, etc about an hour after he was born. It’s amazing. There is a new person in the world, and who he becomes will largely be shaped by the actions/attentions of my sister and Jay. Incredible.

On the other side of the world:

It’s been a busy week at my house. Yesterday our sheep “came home” and today my family harvested our sunflowers from the fields. A quick explanation regarding the sheep: apparently, during the summer, when grass dries up in the low-lands, our 30+ sheep are sent to the mountains to be cared for by a shepherd. During the remainder of the year they live in a pen in the backyard. They’re along-side the house for now because the pen isn’t ready yet. I think the cows are jealous of all the attention that the sheep have been getting.

The sheep are a meat-source during the winter; the sunflowers are a source of vegetable oil for the year. Once the seeds have been separated from the flowers, they will be sent to a factory to be pressed, then the family will get gallons of sunflower-oil for cooking.

I'm definately feeling 'fatigued.' A couple of days ago I fell asleep while riding on a marshrutka (a van-sized public bus). That shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me really well, but this might: I was standing up when I fell sleep. I was standing in the center aisle at the front of the bus, holding on to a handrail that was attached to the ceiling, I closed my eyes for a second and woke up as my knees buckled and I was milliseconds from crumbling to the floor. Good times...

Mosque in Istanbul

2008-08-06T04:54:00.002-07:00

The whole city was filled with the most fantastic ancient architecture along-side the most modern city-scenes.

Sunflower land

2008-08-06T04:54:00.001-07:00

Close to Home

2008-08-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

These are the mountains next to our village.

International Family

2008-08-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

Left to Right: Samat, Mahabot, Iyana(baby), Apa, Ata, Ulicka

An Average Day

2008-07-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

As I was walking around my village today it occurred to me that a lot of people back home might not have any idea what Peace Corps is like. They know that I am here, that it’s beautiful and that I love my host family, but what of my day? What of my life in Pre-Service Training (PST)? To start with, Peace Corps is very obviously part of the U.S. government. For everything there is a rule, process and an acronym. During our first three months in country we intensively study the language and sit through technical sessions regarding our responsibilities as TEFL volunteers. We have a 9pm curfew and are not allowed to leave our village unaccompanied. We are not yet Peace Corps Volunteers(PCV); we are Peace Corps Trainees(PCT). At the end of PST we will attend a swearing in ceremony in Bishkek and our real service will begin.

Currently all 60 Krygyz PCTs are living in 4-6 person clusters in separate villages surrounding around a mid-sized town, Kaht, the Hub center. We have language sessions in our clusters everyday (Monday thru Saturday) from 8am-noon, followed by technical or cultural training sessions. Once a week the entire group meets for medical and safety sessions in Kaht (I’ve had 8 vaccinations since arrival and we have another ‘round’ of shots in August). The schedule and rules are frequently exasperating and I’m beginning to crave more independence.

Most evenings I help my sister cook dinner, which usually takes us a couple of hours, chat with her in English, eat at about 10pm, and then go to bed. I’m always planning to walk around town, but I never find the time to do it during daylight hours. Studying is also neglected as other chores and activities fill up the evenings. Yesterday I helped weed the strawberry patch and then we went to the family’s sunflower fields just outside of town. It's life in the country...city life is more complex and exciting, country life is more tranquil. There's more to it, of course, but that's my experience so far.

Meet the (Host) Family 16/07/08

2008-07-15T23:41:00.001-07:00

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.

....

Busy in Bishkek 07-07-08

2008-07-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

This has been such a strange trip. Time has been flying by and my head is spinning. I’m waiting for the world to catch up. We left Philadelphia 3 days ago, traveled through Istanbul, and are now held captive in a “fancy” Soviet hotel in Bishkek. I took the most frigid shower yesterday morning, I thought by skull would simply turn into ice and shatter. The toilet paper looks like brown crate-paper and is oddly stretchy. It goes into the trash after use. Strange but not particularly troubling…J

Let me back up a bit…

Istanbul was amazing. It’s so full of ancient sites (the walls were built around the city over a thousand years ago and were destroyed by the Turks in the 15^th century), but the streets are full of cars and the men and women walk the streets in modern clothing. Mosques are everywhere and prayers are said on loud-speakers frequently. It is such a fascinating place. We rode the metro light-rail from the airport into town, drank Turkish coffee, went crazy with pictures, and immensely enjoyed everything. Istanbul reminded me of Ecuador. Simply because it was so similar to the US and yet so different. It’s always so fascinating to see new places and have new experiences.

There is little that I can say about Krygyzstan yet. We haven’t had the chance to interact with the people here or see the countryside. The view from our balcony is lovely. There are bare, softly sloped hills next to the city and snow covered peaks in the distance. It’s amazing that there could possibly still be snow there when the days here can be hotter than 110F. The base of the trees that line the road are painted white. There were people gathered in clusters on the sidewalks at 3am when we drove in.

Part of me still doubts that I’ll be able to do it. Apparently the challenges that we’ll face are often overwhelming for the PC volunteers. Kyrgyzstan has one of the highest PCV drop-out rates of any country in the world. Nearly 2/3 of PC Krygyz trainees chose “early termination” and leave before their service term is up. But the fear of failure is slowly being replaced by the excitement the experience. What I will gain will be much more than what I will give up.

Our group is fabulous, very creative and adventurous. Everyone has so many great travel stories, I could happily listen to them talk about them for hours. Many of my first impressions of them have changed a lot. I’m not sure what brought each of us here and I don’t know which of us will succeed in making this place our home, but I hope that I will be able to develop some close friendships while I’m here, both with PCVs and with people in my communities.

Tomorrow marks our first step toward independence; tomorrow we meet our host families. We will live with them for the next 3 months while we’re in training. I know the first few days (weeks) with my family will be awkward with my very limited language skills, but I’m prepared for that. Hopefully the integration into the culture proceeds smoothly and my language skills progress rapidly. First month’s strategy: limit vodka intake.

I’m attaching some of the more interesting photos from the trip. If they stay in order after I upload them, they are: 1) the city walls of Istanbul, 2) more walls, 3) market in Istanbul, 4) mosque in Istanbul- either the Haga Sofia or the Blue Mosque?, 5) Turkish coffee on roof-top café, 6) Istanbul from the plane, 7) Bishkek sunset from hotel, 8) Soviet bus in parking lot