Justine In Kyrgyz

2009-02-04T00:56:00.000-08:00

This is the Osh Crew at our training in Bishkek.

Aren't the mountains pretty? These are on the way to Jalalabad from Osh.

Some of the women at out first women seminar series.

2009-02-04T00:46:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Becky and I played basketball with a couple of students from OshTU (Technological University). It may have been the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball. There was only one other girl playing and the rest were 18 year old boys. They kept calling Becky Julia so I had to take a time out to play the name game. We also had to take a time out about 15 minutes in to explain the rules. One girl was in charge of the whistle, which I just think she liked blowing it because a person was about to take a shot, whistle. A person was throwing the ball, whistle. It was one of the most ridiculous games I’ve ever played, but I forgot how fun basketball was. By the way, the basketball we played with was a Minnesota Timberwolves one. No idea how they got that.

Friday is our seminar: Women’s Health. We have someone speaking about sexual health including HIV/AIDS, mental health, nutrition and some more issues pertaining to women and health. This will be our final seminar in the series so we have gotten certificates for the women attending. I think our seminars were a success but we also made surveys to see what the women would like next year.

We finally got snow last night. At first it was rain because it was too warm but eventually we got some snow. It doesn’t even cover the ground, but thank goodness we finally got some again. I didn’t know what I was going to with a snowless winter. I’ve never had one! But that means the bazaar will be gross because everything is melting…I suppose I don’t need to go shopping.

2009-01-31T23:52:00.001-08:00

My host grandma did pass away last week. Everyone had gone to the village and I was left in the dark. I didn't know the traditions around a funeral or if it was just like an American funeral. Well, it wasn’t. There is a forty-day mourning period. Sometimes they stay in the village the whole time, sometimes they don't. My dad is staying with all of his sisters and brothers. He had 11 other siblings’ and they all came back for this occasion. Every week there is a day where they have guests at the house to show appreciation for my host grandma and her life. I thought that this was interesting because my host cousin asks how many days do american mourn a death. I said it depends on the person but we only usually have two days, a wake and a funeral. She was shocked. My host mom came home to check on the house. So did my host sister and dad. They walked in at different times but they all gave me a hug, buried their head in my shoulder and cried. All I could do was hug them back, as my language skills are not that great. Then we walked in to the room where my host grandma last was and we said a prayer, no one really making it through it without sniffles or tears. It was one of the worst moments I have had because I felt their pain but had no way to express to them how sorry I felt. I didn't really know her, but since my host family was in pain, I felt pain, too.   

It's been a pretty somber last couple of days, but I've really gained appreciation for my host family. My host mom, Becky, and I planned a seminar that she wasn't able to make it too but she wanted to know all about it and what she could do to help. During the prayer about my host grandma, which was in Kyrgyz, she took the time to translate everything to Russian for me so I knew what was going on.  

Yesterday, Becky and I went to go make certificates for the Women’s Seminar we have been holding. While the certificates were printing and we were waiting patiently, a guy that works their picks it up (about 8 feet away from us) and starts making fun of it and laughing! Becky whispers to me, 'so funny a women's conference' and I just don’t whisper, but I do one of those 'so funny, but not really' laughs loud enough for him to realize we heard him and understood him. He turns around; face goes white and puts the certificate down mortified. ha! I'm getting sassy in my old age.  

The weather here has been amazing! Yesterday it was probably about 55 degrees. I didn't know what to do with myself! People are still wearing coats and snow boots (there is no snow), and I'll wear a hoodie sweatshirt. People on the street, perfect strangers, will look at me and ask if I’m cold. I raise my hands and say this is great weather! I think they think I should be locked up!

Back to Bishkek

2009-01-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven’t posted much lately I've gotten quite busy

Last week I was in Bishkek with Peace Corps for a Counterpart Training. It was all week from 8 am to 6-ish. I was exhausted! I don't remember working that hard since PST. We did a lot of team (PCV and Counterpart) building, but mostly I was excited to see all of the people that I had left behind when I went to Osh. I hadn't seen anybody really except for the people living in the oblast. We caught up every night, which made the day more exhausting.

After Bishkek, I got home to a full house. My host grandma was staying with us because she isn't doing very well and needs to be in the city to be watched over by a doctor. It was very upsetting coming home to what finally felt like my own and see everyone in dismay. My host mom and dad are very sad and are trying to deal with this and everyone at our house. Today (Saturday) they went to another village, Uzgen, where my grandma is from so she could see her husband, for what my host mom says, the last time.

On Wednesday, I went to Jalalabad. A town about two hours away to see a Women's NGO named Women Leaders of Jalalabad. It was nice to get out of the town. We took a taxi there so it was just like a road trip. On the way there is a Ferris wheel, which is amazing. But also, I couldn't tell you the times we stopped because some type of livestock was crossing the road. I guess it wasn't exactly like an American Road trip. Oh well.

New Year!

2009-01-06T00:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it nothing like I’ve seen before. For most of the day I spent it with my family. We exchanged presents. I got a brooch from my host mom and my host sister gave me some dangly earrings. I also got a card. You aren’t going to believe this, they gave me the very best: Hallmark. You can buy Russian Hallmark cards in Bishkek. I was totally surprised. Around 5 my host mom brought in a turkey. Don’t worry it was de-feathered already. But she didn’t know how to cook it in her new oven so the vegetarian had to cook a turkey. We had champagne and a turkey dinner; I mostly at pickles.

I stayed with my host family until about 11:30 and watched a Russian New Year’s concert on TV. We also are right next to where the celebration was held so we walked down to see it for a little bit. They had dancers and singers. They must have been freezing, but it was just like Independence Day where they had about 100-200 dancers in sync to some American Christmas song like jingle bells. I don’t even know the words, but the crowd knew it. Then, my host sister and I left the family. I met Becky and Matt at Lenin Square to see the Grand finale of fireworks. I had just assumed that at midnight everyone would be there and someone would be controlling the final bits of the firework show. WRONG. Instead, workers had set up booths around the square to sell fireworks. People could buy any firework they wanted and shoot it off themselves. There was no orchestrated show. People would mostly shoot them up in the air, but some were ground fireworks so they would just put ‘em in the middle of a crowd, light it and run. Scary. There were several close calls of my face burning off or losing a limb, but don’t worry I’m alive. The ‘show’ lasted for about an hour. It was people just running around, drinking and shooting off fireworks. We stayed on the edge near a park in case we had to run for cover.

I came home around 2 o’clock and my host parents were still up celebrating! It was the New Year and we needed to celebrate. Fireworks went on for a long time after I had settled in to bed. I felt like an old lady going to bed with all that partying still left to do, but I also wanted to be intact.

I don’t know how many people were at the Square but it was a lot and there were a lot of fireworks to be had. There also wasn’t only celebration there, but as you looked across from the square and up to the sky, you could see fireworks throughout the whole city. It was like a liberation or we had just won a war because everyone was so happy and the whole city was in harmony celebrating the New Year.

2009-01-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

This is Everyone at Christmas.

Christmas Eve Night, Becky and Ian just wanted some Burger King (Check the sign in the right corner).

Work Party!

2008-12-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

Family Time

2008-12-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Today is New Year's Eve. My family was shocked when I got up to work. They said it was a holiday and that Kyrgyzstan rests on New Years. I said New Years wasn't until tomorrow so I needed to work as much as possible in what was left of 2008. They were disappointed. Last night we had over my host dad's family. It was made up of 9 brothers and sisters and their babies. It was a mad house. I didn't really understand anything because it was all in Kyrgyz. My host sister was there so I atleast could talk to someone. My whole host family is here and the house is looking pretty good.

We had a ton of food which was a four course meal and then dessert and champagne, wine, vodka, fanta, etc. it was pretty fancy. I wish I could understand them!

On Monday was our work party. This was amazing. Instead of just a faculty or department getting together, it was the whole university. Well, I guess not. The university has 1500 staff and only 400 were invited. I went with my host mom and it was quite a show. I was just going to wear jeans and a nice shirt. Not acceptable apparently. My host sister saw me before my host mom got home and said it wasn't acceptable. I had to go change into a black dress, brown boots, and long dangly earrings and gold necklace. My host mom came home with a fancy dress and she had her hair professionally done with silver glitter! We took a taxi to the party and it was great! We sat down to bread, pineapple, other fruit, salads, and any drink you wanted. I usually eat salads for my dinner which i'm glad we did because we had four other dishes brought to us consisting of meat. One was just a plain ol' plate of meat. During the breaks between dishes, the lights would shut off and we would have to go dance. Then the mayor came and gave a toast and there were other Kyrgyz dancers doing traditional dance and a play. The play consisted of Santa, his young little helper, a mouse and a cow. PRETTY AMAZING!

new years!

2008-12-30T21:03:00.000-08:00

Only a couple more days left in 2008. I can’t believe it. Every so often I catch myself sitting and just going, “what, what happened and where did 2008 go?” It’s amazing. I’m going to celebrate New Years in Kyrgyzstan. Over the last six months, I’ve experienced a lot. PST seems like 7 years ago and time here has flown by.
Christmas was good. Becky, Matt, and I created some great memories on Christmas eve when we baked 4 dozen cookies, made apple crisp, and eggnog. The eggnog looked pretty horrible (and lumpy) but it taste delicious. I also made kahlua for the first time and it was quite tasty also. Kyrgyzstan has really developed my domestic skills; I don’t know whether that is good or bad. It’s been great learning how to get by without pizza delivery and a microwave. After we made the baked goods, we kind of just sat around and reminisced. I feel like we were a bunch of 70-year-olds talking about the good ol’ days, but it was great! Christmas morning we woke up, made pancakes and listened to some Christmas songs. I have to say I didn’t miss Christmas songs, but its one of those things a person needs to make a Christmas complete, even if you are in Kyrgyzstan. For dinner, all Peace Corps volunteers in Osh went to a friend’s house and we made dinner and had quite the delicious meal. No lefse though!
I wish I could have seen my family and friends for Christmas and of course there were a couple of sad points in the day, but I talked to my mom and I have good friends here. I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I also got a package from the Dregnes on Christmas day! Thanks!
On Friday, it was time to get back to work! Becky and I are planning a women’s leadership seminar series for the months of January and February since most students won’t have school. The first seminar is on Violence Against Women. I was thinking about this today and even though its about women, I would like to invite men to attend, too. It’s extremely low budget (as in no budget) and we are having guest speakers from the local community to come and talk and I think men here would really learn a lot from this session and maybe develop some ideas to help. We had banners made on Friday and then we are currently in the process of making the schedule and inviting local NGOs. The only problem is that most NGOs and other government organizations will be closed for at least a week for new years. This is a pretty big event in Kyrgyzstan and they take it seriously. I think I’ve already wrote, but it’s like Halloween and Christmas combined. They have masks and costumes and a Christmas tree. I’m excited to see how it all goes about.
Saturday I was awoken rudely at 6 in the morning to my host dad saying, “we’re moving back up your stuff now, let’s go.” Apparently, a move is done in one day and it has to be really early, without and coffee to start the journey. So I had to roll out of bed and in my groggy state, pack everything I had brought and all the other stuff I had collected on the way (which is a lot!). I had quite the load and was out by 8 in the morning. I spent Saturday night in the new house. I think half of Brownsville could live in this new house. It’s got eleven rooms in the main house and then several other sleeping quartes in the sub-section of the house. It also has an indoor and outdoor kitchen, bathroom, and banya. I will never live in such a nice house again. I don’t have any plans to move out because my family spoils me and there is heat here and electricity (most of the time—they have a generator). Now, all I need is my internet and 300 channels of nothing and I won’t know if I’m in America or Kyrgyzstan. I found out however that they have so many rooms for a purpose. At first, I thought that just my host mom and host dad were living here lonely. But the plan is for when their son, Manas, gets married he and his wife will move in, and then when they have kids, they will have their own rooms and their own play rooms. Also, we moved tushaks which are heavy sitting pads for guests. I use one to sleep under since its thick, but people also use them to sit on during large events like weddings. They cost 1,000 to 3,000 som (so my host sister says) which is about 40 to 100 dollars. My host family has over 100. Apparently, tushaks are to show how affluent a family is. This is a huge amount when the average salary of a family is less than 500 dollars a year. I don’t have to say it, but my family is set.
Today, Sunday, people are still working around the house getting things set up. We don’t have hot water, but I’m used to that. I’m just happy that its 4 in the afternoon and there is electricity. That usually doesn’t happen.
New years here is a very interesting holiday. I can’t wait to see it happen, but I already know some things. They have people dress up like Santa for new years and he also has a cute young, blonde haired ‘helper’ instead of a wife. For new years, they give presents like Christmas and do many traditional things like play the koomuz and eat traditional meals, but the kids dress up in costumes like spider man, the joker, etc. We will see!

Last week was kind of busy for me...

2008-12-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

Last week was kind of busy for me. On Friday, I had a presentation
about Women in workforce in America. It was interesting, but I get so
excited about these things and it’s hard to be on a roll when you have
to stop every few minutes for translation. So I had to take my time and
be matter of factly instead of passionate about the barriers women
face. Oh well. I think they still got it. They asked my advice, I said
I was fresh out of college and really couldn't offer some advice that
would work in Kyrgyzstan. Their economy and business structure is so
different. I told them that I would find younger women with ambition
and drive and mentor them. It will take generations, but that way
Kyrgyzstan can produce confident women who will run businesses. It
felt good. It was interesting to be in the room with all of these
women. It was mostly in Kyrgyz so I couldn't comprehend it but these
women were just as passionate as I was and they really wanted to get
stuff done. They had a roundtable discussion and there were women from
three oblasts sharing stories, what worked and what didn't, and
brainstorming for the future. The mayor of Osh was there and the media
so it was a pretty big event.

Last week on Thursday I also had an Uzbek Leadership Grant Proposal
thing. International Department in Osh was given a grant for 1,000
dollars to support Uzbek Leadership. So what they did was advertised
to local Uzbeks to come up with their own ideas for improving
leadership in their community. I was on a board with three other
people who decided what grants would be accepted. Most of the
applicants were students, which was great. They came up with their own
ideas of having essay writing contests, team building activities, and
my personal favorite, performance theater. We ended up approving all
of them, but it was kind of fun to listen what they had to say. Which
for the most part was in Russian, but there were some parts in Uzbek
so that had to be translated for me. It was kind of a hassle to have
me sit on this committee, but I enjoyed it.

Currently...

2008-12-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

Currently, I am supposed to be working on a new website for the ngo Foundation for Tolerance International. I don't really know how to make a website so I'm kind of just fumbling around figuring it out. It's going half way decent. Already updated the history and welcome page, woohoo! Other than that it has been pretty busy around here. Yesterday was a holiday so no one went to work, except me. I just needed a little peace and quiet to get some stuff done. That didn't happen though, I was easily distracted by Facebook. I did however manage to break my key off in the door when I was trying to leave. That was fun. I broke the door and my key. Then, already embarrassed, I had to go ask the custodian to remove it for me. Atleast he found it humorous and said I was too strong. I wanted to say something about eating too many wheaties but I had a feeling he just wouldn't understand.

After that, I kind of just took the afternoon off and relaxed. That was nice since the Friday before I did alot. My host mom is having me speak at her Women and Business workshop and she asked me to type up a report about American Women. She asked for three pages so I typed it right up. I focused mostly on the barriers women have to face and etc. I was laying in bed after I had given her the report and I'm thinking she only wanted three paragraphs instead of three pages. Whatever, she'll be well informed.

In my spare time I'm also working on a domestic violence brochure which I'll be placing in the hospitals and local women's NGOs in January. It's just an informational brochure about the cycle of violence, facts and policies of Kyrgyzstan and resources. I'm really excited about this project.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-09T00:09:00.000-08:00

I just want to tell you a little experience I had

2008-12-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

I just want to tell you a little experience I had. It's kind of weird, but not creepy, I just want you to know how weird the ups and downs of being here is.   

After Thanksgiving I decided to catch a bus home. They were still running because it was only 9 o'clock, they just cost a little extra more. Don't worry; I had Matt walk me to my bus stop and wait till i got on. The rickety old 102 arrived and I got on with this older guy. There were two other women and then four men in the back. As I got settled in my seat, the older guy sat right next to me. After a couple blocks he started knocking my knee with his and i thought he just wanted more room so I moved over a little bit. Staring out the window, with my purse on lap, I feel someone squeeze my knee. It was the older guy mumbling something I couldn't understand. I couldn't understand because my Russian isn't that good and he was slurring his words because he was intoxicated. I quickly brushed him off my knee and continued to stare into the other direction. I didn't feel like making eye contact at all. He then moved closer, tilted his head in and rubbed my knee again. I was totally grossed out. I brushed it off again not saying a word for fear that he would pick up on my accent or know that I was American and just be utterly amused by it. He kept talking to me and again he squeezed my knee trying to coax me into going somewhere with him. I totally felt safe because I was in this lit bus but still was creeped out. I had my cell phone ready and was hoping that he wouldn't follow me home. He then brought out his money asking if I needed any, saying he would give it to me for something in return, again rubbing my leg. I threw his arm off me again and while tears were starting to form in my eyes, he gets off. He doesn't say anything to me and just goes into the darkness of the night. I turn around and look at all the people on the bus. Mostly I'm infuriated that no one said anything to this drunk and I can feel my face getting red because I'm somewhat embarrassed, but I have a couple more minutes in the bus ride to realize, this is a common act. I see men harrass women all the time and I am sometimes the victim of unwanted attention. So now, almost home, I'm infuriated at the system. I am so mad because this happens all the time. I could just feel my body get tense because there was so much anger in these last few moments of a bus ride.  

 I get off and I walk home, just feeling defeated, not by that guy, but by the fact that it happens alot. Not all, but some men just feel that it's ok. I don't want to make assumptions, but at this moment, I felt that it was everyone.  

Anyways, I need to stop at a small shop to buy minutes to call matt to say that I made it home safely. I stop in, probably still fuming from the bus ride and this kind elderly woman just smiles at me and asks where I'm from. I say I'm from America, but now my home is Kyrgyzstan. SHe just smiles, asks if I'm a teacher and I say no, I'm a business volunteer. She says, that's excellent, good for you. What do you think of my country? I say i love it and that I am having a good time. She thanks me for being here.  

So I'm writing this story, because it's weird. Three minutes after that incident I have this great interaction with another person that makes me forget about the bad and focus on the good. It felt great that she was interested and was happy i was here. I tell you, it made all the difference.

Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T21:29:00.003-08:00

So I have had quite the Thanksgiving. Just like being at home, except without the family, corn, lefse, grandma's house, and in Kyrgyzstan, but all the same! I actually made something this Thanksgiving, so I guess it was nothing like being at home. We had two turkeys, salads, fish, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, apple pie, bread and salsa, green bean casserole and cookies galore. quite the feast. I did miss the lefse though. Becky was a cooking god put i helped make the mashed potatoes. I had to peel 10 pounds of potatoes, that's nuts, kind of took forever. I'm glad that another Peace Corps volunteer had left a peeler because they don't have those here. We went over to another Americans house who actually had heating and we had quite the lovely meal at 2. I was ready for sleep at about 4:30. We all dished up and then we had to give toasts. Every single person starting from the eldest to the youngest had to. Quite the long process. I was eerie about Thanksgiving in Kyrgyzstan, but it was great and it was a good time to kind of reflect on how great my family is but now I have my family back home and a Osh Peace Corps family.

2008-11-28T11:56:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been on this kick of getting things done. I know,
crazy. But I have just been super motivated. You get one good idea,
and then another comes and all of a sudden I just finally have stuff
to do. Women's Leadership club is starting to take off. Maybe the
participation isn't there, but the girls who do come are really active
and are learning a lot. Next week we are doing women's psychology.
This will cover a broad range, but it will be interesting to compare
their perspective to ours and vice versus. The week after that we are
going to have a mini session on violence against women. I just looked
at one of my research papers that I had done before I left and got
fired up again. Writing a report about violence against women in
Kyrgyzstan and then now seeing it first had is quite something. I did
the research but it's nothing like living it and now seeing first hand
and making the connections between the research and life. So anyway, I
had this brainstorming session (with myself ) and realized that I can
do so much beyond just my primary site at the American Center. I want
to check in at the hospitals because they do not have any health
professionals that have been trained to help or even spot the signs of
sexual assault or domestic violence. At first I would have liked to
raise the funds to have a training of trainers session for nurse
practitioners (obviously I'm not educated to do that but bring in
other people) and have them start practicing that. This would take a
lot and actually be my two year service. I decided to take baby steps
and now I'm developing a Domestic Violence in Kyrgyzstan brochure in
Russian to be placed at the hospitals and other local NGOs. There are
only a few organizations in Kyrgyzstan that do direct work with
domestic violence. There are however more agencies who work with bride
kidnapping and human trafficking. While I was on this little mind trip
I also am starting to plan a large violence against women workshop for
the whole community of Osh. I'd bring in local NGO directors to talk
about Bride Kidnapping, sexual assault, human trafficking, domestic
violence, and international and Kyrgyzstan human rights. AH! I'm so
excited for this.

Other things I'm starting to work on will be working at a different
NGO for a little bit of time. It's an NGO called Podruga, which means
friend in Russian. It works with HIV/AIDS and prostitution. They want
to start a new campaign of anti-trafficking since it is so rampant
here.

I also had my program manager stop down and have a visit. It was great
to see a familiar face from those days in PST (like it was so long
ago). We had a meeting with my counterpart, my counterparts supervisor
and us two. I feel like we accomplished that I wasn't there to be
responsible for the daily tasks of the Center but to help facilitate
clubs, work on life skills transfers and be available for students. I
think it was refreshing to have someone else tell me that I was going
above the expectations of the site placement. So now that I don't need
to focus all of my attention at the Center, I can start focusing on
things that fit my experience more.
I am still planning on helping students with essay writing, resume
writing, and interview skills. In fact, on Tuesday I am going to
another school to do a presentation about that. I'm excited. It's nice
to get out of the city just for a breath of fresh air.
Today I had a primary school come in to the Center and all they wanted
to do was listen to me. That was weird. They were just so bewildered
and they just kind of sat their in amazement. I don't think they
understood a third of what I said but they enjoyed it anyway. I was
asked all sorts of questions from "are you married" to "what Kyrgyz
books are translated into English?" they stayed about an hour, but
were full of questions.

Other than that, it's been beautiful outside. We've had sun and it's
like a September day I feel like. I can't believe it's almost the end
of November. In the morning it is still kind of cold and my host mom
makes sure, every morning, that I put on my snow boots. I laugh each
time because we have the same conversation just to humor ourselves.
She tells me to wear my winter boots because it's cold outside, and I
say, but ma, they are snow boots and it hasn't snowed yet, she
responds, it might. I say it won't, and then I put them on anyway.
This happens everyday. Someday soon it will snow. She also likes to
make sure my scarf is on straight and about every fourth day she fixes
my hat, gives me a hug and sends me on my way. When I came here, I
definitely went back into time when I was twelve. Good times.
I get way too excited about simply joys in my life now. Today, I had a
seat on the way to work today. I couldn't believe it. I felt honored.
Yesterday, I just wore a smile the whole day because …. I don't even
remember why. I just sat here for a couple minutes thinking why I was
so happy yesterday. Doesn't matter. Just was. Also, the people here,
mostly my host mom, are super supportive. Haha. I get a "maladyets" a
lot which means well done. The other day someone working in the
international department asked how I was and I said I was good, she
said 'well done' with enthusiasm. The other day I got a 'well done'
for eating all of the raspberry jam and making myself scrambled eggs
and morning potatoes. That's right.

These days...

2008-11-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

These days...  It's still trying to snow out, but since it has failed doing that, it is just kind of dreary weather. I'm hoping for either sun or for it just to snow and get it over with. I'm wearing my new snow boots. I think I'll fall within the first week of wearing them. Oh well, they gotta laugh at something. 

 I've been being introduced to many people related somehow to my family. Last week we had my host mom's sister’s daughter and her son stay with us. They stayed for about 4 days, but the baby is about 7 months old. I came home to this little wide-eyed child just staring at me. My host cousin, in front of the mother, reminded me that I didn't like children. Of course, I denied everything about it. But later, told her and the mother that I was just kind of scared of children because they always cry. They said this child, Eldar, does not cry. Well, ok I'll give him credit, he didn't cry that night. The second night, I was thinking he was pretty harmless and his mom was doing something so I said I would hold him. Well he just stared at me until I felt something wet on my leg. The kid peed on me. I tell you babies and their fluids! Everyone in the house thought it was hilarious! Not so much me and it kind of proved my point of babies. It's hard to explain that I don't plan on having children in this world. I'll just watch them from afar.   

I also made my family spaghetti the other night. That was difficult. I've been starting to cook more, even if that includes potatoes and eggs. They like to hover, which is fine because I hover when they cook food, but my host mom in her adoring way always tries to add salt sneakily. I don't like adding salt, but my host family really enjoys it. So the spaghetti sauce calls for a table spoon and a half of salt. Well, I don't put any in, thank goodness I didn't because my host mom did. Haha, I've got the system figured out so it was only a normal amount of salt, yah! The spaghetti turned out pretty well and know I know how to make spaghetti, go me! Seriously, I'm impressed with myself.   

My host cousin is trying to learn English, so many nights out of the week; we sit together and translate this text she gets from her professor to Russian to Kyrgyz. The other day she was learning something about America and its diversity. Well, one of the sentences was about "Indians." I was trying to ask her if the professor meant Indians from India or Indians as Native Americans. That was soo difficult. I couldn't read it in the sentence anywhere, but I was trying to explain how we don't say Indians any more when referring to Native Americans, but wow, I

Thanksgiving

2008-11-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been extremely busy with nothing. I am kind of half waiting for the 'exciting' part to come and half knowing, it's here. (If that makes sense at all). Lately, I've been up to nothing really. I've been going to work each day, seeing my tutor, holding my clubs, and just living life here in Kyrgyzstan. Work is still unmotivating even though the students I see are eager and intelligent. Seriously, they are like little knowledge sponges. This week I had a meeting with my counterpart (the only staff member at the NGO) and the 7 student volunteers, none of them showed up. A little failure, but I think once they start getting used to schedules, they will come around. One of the programs for students who want to come and study in the United States was released yesterday so that means this will be a couple exciting weeks’ ahead with proofreading essays. We also have Thanksgiving coming up at the Center. We will be watching a football movie (since we don't have football on the TV here), making turkeys out of our hand outlines (like 4th grade again) and then having a trivia game about the history of Thanksgiving. If you have any ideas, please let me know! Having tutoring twice a week is getting long! I forgot how much I disliked learning a language. I feel on the spot and pressured to do well, but I’m managing. I only use Russian in the bazaar and with my family. But the good news is, I'm picking up on Kyrgyz! AH! I'm so excited. I'm in Kyrgyzstan for gosh sakes, meant as well learn their language, eh? Anyway, this leads into a story I'll be telling in a bit. Clubs are also ok. Nothing spectacular. Yesterday we were talking about what a good leader is (one of the UGRAD program questions) and one older man said that women couldn't be leaders, they were animals. Ouch.

President!

2008-11-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

So, I can't write much about it, but Barack Obama, our new
President, exciting times ahead. We had some of the US Embassy staff
at the American Center to watch the results pour in and help students
understand the mess behind the electoral college. The students were
eager to learn more about the campaigns and the US democratic system.
Well, my political science degree paid off. There were questions about
the donkey and the elephant, to what will happen with
Kyrgyzstan-American relations. I had to stay unopinionated, but it
worked and most of the questions were answered by the US Embassy.
The day before that, the Peace Corps volunteers had a
discussion about the election. Again, many students came to ask
questions and know more about the candidates. It's hard to keep your
mouth shut about your own opinions and biases but I think we did
rather well. Of course, students asked who we were voting for and that
just gave us a chance to discuss the customs about how that was a
personal questions and not really appropriate to ask.
Other clubs have been going well. Except, one disappointing
club, the last women's leadership club, no one showed up! I couldn't
believe it. I think they were all scared off. We were going to discuss
women in Kyrgyz Culture. I thought that would have been great because
it's just really a chance for them to discuss their opinions about
their roles in their own culture. The week before that, we talked
about bride-kidnapping. The conversation club I lead is also going
great. We are just doing basic subjects like sports, family, or
movies.
Personally, it's starting to get cold. We had a sunny day the
last week but that has been about it. I didn't think I'd start to need
long underwear, but they would have been nice to have last night. I
just bury myself under blankets since there is no heat and when I wake
up I have to convince myself to get out of the nice warm bed and go to
work. We had our first frost, but that's about it. Apparently, it
doesn't snow much here, it just gets icy and there is no wind. That
sounds great, but the only problem is that you cannot escape the cold.
I bought snow boots here. They are classic Kyrgyzstan: black,
heeled, and many jewels, sequins, and tassles on them. I love them. So
I think I'm prepared for winter (well except the forementioned long
underwear). The office is nice. Since it's in the University it will
be mostly heated. It's starting to get dark sooner and we didn't have
daylight savings so I am twelve hours ahead of Wisconsin now.

2008-11-01T23:41:00.000-07:00

This is when I went to a neighboring school and talked to these eager students about the educational system of the United States. We also talked about my life, family, and childhood. They asked interesting questions from "Are you going to grow out your hair?" to "If you fall in love, will you stay?" (That second question is one of the most popular questions I get asked.) Later after the discussion, I was invited back as someone’s guest. I ate potatoes, tea, bread, etc and walked away with over 40 pounds of apples, peanuts, and chocolates. People are very generous.

Halloween Party!

2008-10-27T20:09:00.001-07:00

So we had our Halloween party. Americans were really the only people dressed up. Try walking down the street when people already stare at you, the 80's dress didn't help. I also got a lot of compliments. I have a feeling this dress wasn't worn in the 80's but just a couple of Months ago. You can't see my shoes, but I also had gold shoes on, the finishing touches to a perfect outfit! We went to the bar, got free witches' brew and danced to every song, which included "Wake Up Little Susie." It lasted until midnight and then at 12:00 they had fireworks! It was one of the best Halloweens I have had.

2008-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Just wanted you to see the bus (right hand corner) I take into work and go home in everyday. The other day we had 40 people in one of those!

10/18

2008-10-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

The leaves are finally starting to turn! I walked down the street yesterday and I saw a leave twisting in the wind, brown and dying, but that finally means fall is here! It's about time. It seems one day there were no brown trees and everything was hot, now the leaves are falling one by one and I have to wear a jacket. That means winter is coming up, too! I can't wait. They keep predicting a bad winter, but this is just preparing me for the worst and I will be expecting the worse, and then it won't be so awful and that will be a great surprise! I had another discussion club. We talked about family! First, I shared photos of my family and told them all about them and then they all went around and talked about family. Afterwards, we discussed what it meant to be a family and I shared the difference between what a nuclear family and diverse families are. I also asked them what they thought about American families. They mostly thought that they didn't stay married and there wasn't really tradition like in their culture that keeps people together. Next week, we are talking about holidays. Today, I also had the women's leadership club. We discussed migration and the positives and negatives of it. These girls' English is so much better than my Russian will ever be! Speaking of, I found a tutor and now will be tutored for four hours a week. I'm nervous, but I need to do it. Learning language is the scariest thing I could do, but I have to remember I made it through 4 hours every day during pre-service training. I also got my Halloween costume this week! It's a teal poufy 1980's prom dress. It cost me a 150 som, but so worth it! Becky and I are going as prom queens. We have scrunchies, big fake pearls and these dresses. Don't worry we'll take pictures. We are celebrating Halloween next Saturday, the 25th because people in Osh don't celebrate things on Fridays and Halloween in November just isn't right. I forgot the big news! The Center for American Studies did a book sale to raise money for workshops. We raised about 400 dollars and now we are going to more educational programs and with that money we can also pay for internet. The Center has free internet for students to do research. It was exciting and I couldn't how many students were interested in these books. It was a two day book fair and our books were gone the first day. I'm finally starting to get into a routine here. Every morning I get up and get ready. I head out walk down the street to the marshrutka stop and flag one down. As I get in a look for any available seat, sometimes I'm lucky enough and get one. I sit down, just until there is an older person who gets on and then I have to offer my seat to him. I get thrown around and stepped on but hey, it's still routine. After that, I just walk a short distance to my work. It's this huge pink building, but thank goodness I'm on the first floor. I walk enough. Sit down and every other day, check my email. I spend the first part of my morning getting acquainted with the Center's volunteers ask them how their day has been and teach them new slang words or informal greetings. I go to lunch, usually get plov with bread and black tea. In the afternoon, go back to work, and look through books and wait for students to need me. Lock the door behind me at 5:30 and head home. I get home, help with the setting of the table and pouring tea and then eating. I'm so exhausted by just working that day I head to bed right after work, usually around 8:30 or 9. I don't know if it's a good routine or not, but at least I'm not sick or lost. The other day, my host mom asked me to peel the cucumbers. It was quite the show because all I had was a knife and I can't peel that way so she finally brought out a peeler. She had never used it before but my host sister's host mom in America sent it and thought that it would help me. I also can't cut things right in my host mom's mind. I don't know how you can't, but there is a certain way to cut things and I'm just not capable. That's ok, domestic chores was never really my thing. But I do one thing—dishes. Nobody likes to do it and I think that's the simple way I can help out. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong, but my effort is there. It's great, I'm in the kitchen with my host mom and host cousin and I'm usually just sitting there taking up space, but my host mom is making the main dish and the host cousin is cutting vegetables up, we go over some simple English. The kitchen is lit up by a candle or usually bright with electricity, the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables are in the air and my host sways her body as she stirs the food and repeats the word I had just said and my host cousin just nods as she listens.

10/13

2008-10-27T19:47:00.001-07:00

I had my first discussion club. It was just a conversation club for students to work on their English. The level is from intermediate to advanced. I was so extremely nervous. I had another volunteer come and help me. So for the first meeting I just wanted to discuss the future club meetings and basic English greetings. They were more advanced than I had anticipated. We talked about the earthquake that just happened. They were also very interested in earthquakes in America. I had told them that this was my first one. I talked about tornadoes; not that I have been in one of those either. I think now that I got the first one done, the rest will go smoother. I told the students I didn't even really want to talk but just for them to be able to speak English. We had about 15 participants, mostly students from the world languages faculty (learning English as their Major) but we also had some professionals who had taught themselves. On Saturday, we had women's leadership club. Becky and I had chosen the topic of Beauty concepts. Tricky! I didn't really know what to expect but for the first activity we took magazines like Glamour and Cosmo and asked them to pick about someone they thought were beautiful and explain why. They had really good responses like "she's smiling so she's happy" or (my favorite) "in this picture, it looks like she has soul and depth." None of the girls really said straight long hair, face is blemish free, or thin, but they was an invisible wall between ok, but why do you think these women are beautiful, where did our concepts of beauty come from, our mothers and grandmothers or the media. It was especially hard for me because I have always been in the realm of everyone understanding the relation between media and beauty, but this was an all new ball game for me. I think they did well because we talked about beauty in different cultures and how we can think of all people as beautiful. After club, Matt, Andy, Becky, and I decided to have a fry fest. We made falafels, popcorn, jalapeño peppers, etc. We also had no bake cookies (twice: once in the morning for breakfast and then for dessert) and bloody Marys. The only problem was that there were no jalapeño peppers so we used red hot peppers. I would never suggest that, I think my mouth is still burning a little bit. I forgot how gross I ate in America with all the greasy food and was glad to get home to the host family and see tomatoes and cucumbers.

2008-10-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is me and my new host mom on the bottom of the mountain taking a
picture for the Women's Leadership Conference.

This is the view of Osh from the top of the mountain in the middle of
the city. It's huge isn't it?

Marshrutka

2008-10-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

As I am sitting nestled between an old woman and a young girl in a marshrutka, I thought of how these buses are like Kyrgyzstan itself. Even though there are faltering parts of the machine, it's running. It doesn't look that appealing from the outside and you take a deep breath before getting in, thinking this might be your last expedition, but you get in anyway. There are a couple bumps on the road, but you arrive safely at your final destination without harm. I see the people in the bus and it makes me smile. Not only do I have the wisdom of age to my left, but I have the great future sitting to my right. Beyond the two women, I see the generosity of Kyrgyzstan during my ride. Young kids stand up for the respected elders without question. If you do have to stand, pass your belongings on to someone lucky enough to get a seat and you don't have to worry about it being damaged or taken. Another majestic event that occurs in the marshrutka is that people act like family. One woman stood with her child on her hip trying to balance without anything to hold; an older woman took the child to relief the mother and soothed him just as if it was her own. There are wise men with patches of white beards and kalpaks and striking aged women in traditional headscarves and deep magenta wool clothing who sit perched on their seats waiting for their stop and boisterous children piling in with their new cell phones and grubby chocolate hands from ice cream. If you want to see Kyrgyzstan, jump in the oldest marshrutka you can find and take in the culture and enjoy the ride.

Housework

2008-10-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Today I was supposed to help my 16-year-old host cousin with the house chores. She had asked if I wanted to learn. Obviously, I didn't understand the question because I said yes. First, I just watched her clean the bathroom, second, she wetted down a straw broom and cleaned the carpets in the living room. I didn't really know how to clean because I didn't really clean in America and second they have a way of doing things here that are different so I didn't really know what to do. I kind of just sat there perched on the couch and watched over her like the evil stepsister. Half way through us (her) cleaning the apartment she asked if liked housework. Quite frankly, I don't and I told her so. She said she didn't really either but didn't understand that because I didn't like doing it that I didn't have to. It was an interesting conversation because after our housework we went into the kitchen to start dinner and as she was cutting the potatoes she asked if I liked babies. Again, I told her my answer probably rather bluntly. I told her I was scared of babies and they cried all the time. She laughed, but I think she was amazed that she had stumbled upon a woman that did not want babies. What makes it worse is that I'm 22, prime baby making age. I asked her if she liked babies, she said she couldn't wait, but she was still too young.

Christmas List

2008-10-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

So Here is my first draft of my christmas list:

legal note pads
a small white board for teaching english
white board markers
Iron Jawed Angels DVD
History or Classic books
Crash DVD
falafel mix
hot cocoa mix
winter scarf
Velveeta shells and cheese
Mona Lisa Smile DVD
Hotel Rwanda DVD
Finding Nemo DVD
Lion King or any other disney movie
Remember the Titans DVD
Small Russian- English dictionary
cake mixes and frosting
office supplies
smart wool socks
dove deodorant
sauve shampoo
air popped popcorn
snack wells cookies
Oreos
artichoke hearts (for dip)
dip mixes (ranch, onion)
granola bars
Luna bars
magazines
almonds
cashews
coriander
cumin
cinnamon
strawberry pop tarts
small syrup
wheat thins
cappuccino jelly beans
gum
pasta sauce packets (Parma Rosa or Alfredo)

vegetarian cook book (for one)

dream interpretation book

games to play

planners (if your business has free cheap ones)

Don't send money, it will get stolen.

All DVDs could and should be burned

Remember to tape up the box with duct tape very well. Also, put a listof the contents in it.

Thanks!

10/6 Earthquake

2008-10-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

I was in my first earthquake last night! Nothing scary of course and there is no reason to panic so don't worry. It was crazy though, I've never felt anything like that before. I was laying in my bed and it felt like someone had jumped onto my bed and starting jumping around. I was a little creped out at first of who would be on my bed but then I started to hear the dishes clashing together and realized it was an earthquake. It lasted only a minute, but when everything is shaking around you, a minute is a long time. There were also aftershocks. Wedidn't have any damage; it was just interesting to be in an earthquake. Usually people say earthquake and it seems very dramatic, this was not really anything remarkable in our part of the country. Peace Corps did a great job and called the next day to make sure everyone was ok.

10/1

2008-10-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today is a holiday! That means no work for Justine. Today is the end of the fasting so yesterday I only worked half a day and today, none at all. My counterpart came to work yesterday. Apparently, she drank paint thinner and now her stomach is burned a little bit, ouch! I guess it will continue to give her problems from now on. She also came with good news. The American Ambassador stopped by the Center two weeks ago and yesterday we got a phone call for a grant proposal. I had to quick type up a proposal (because it was 11:30 when they called and it was due at noon since that was when everyone was done working) and send it on the way. One of my major duties working there is to find a money source for the internet student's use. Well, that's done for the next year. Sometimes it is easy to find money apparently. Next week I will be having a book sale to raise funds for English-Russian dictionaries. Also next week I will be giving a presentation on how to have a successful interview. Eek! All I know is dress for success. I'll figure it out. 

Today, in celebration of the end of the fasting, people will have seven meals at seven different homes. They usually stay out most of the night feasting. I don't know if my host parents will celebrate since they didn't fast, but why not partake in the festivities. They also left me alone for the first time last night. They had to go to Batken and I can't go so they made sure I was safe and secure in their apartment and headed out. It was weird to be alone since I have spent every night in country with a family. It was also nice because I could relax. 

This morning I slept in and then got a chance to just walk around the community and see the sights. We live in a sort of valley so you can just walk out of the house and see all of the houses on the sides of the hills. It is just a shack on top of a shack. We still have very green leaves on the trees so the houses look nestled up on the hill but if there were a good sized earthquake, they'd be down on the road. I also walked around looking for oatmeal to make cookies. All they had was baby food.

9.28

2008-10-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

So I have had quite the first week of work. First, my counterpart decided not to come to work. Monday, I just sat there like a bump on the log. And so I thought she was ill and would return on Tuesday, but no sign of her. It was an interesting, busy week trying to familiarize myself to the new site. I met with most of the student volunteer’s in the center and they all speak very well English. I already see my Russian slipping away, what's hello in Russian again? On Tuesday it was almost the same blur of students asking about visas, the educational system of America, and our current president. They are so eager to learn and want to know so much about America. Students seem to want to be at college, I know weird concept. Going to this university is really an accomplishment and from what I have heard and am now starting to see my site recruits the best of the best students. All of the volunteers are amazing. They speak so well and are eager. That’s the downfall of being a native English speaker. We are content with not learning any other language because everything we need is in English. Also, I'm intimidated by their English, I don't want to stumble over my Russian in front of them. I have had many good conversations with the volunteers and hope that will continue during my stay. They think they are the ones learning from me, but it is the other way around.

With not knowing what to do at my job without a counterpart or even a direction, I set out to help other volunteers. I have checked in with all the volunteers around me and they seem to be doing very well. No horror stories of bad host parents or going to an ngo that didn't exist. One of the current volunteers just had a women's leadership conference. It was pretty good. I didn't understand any of it because it was either in Russian or Kyrgyz, but 50 young women applied to go to this conference. It was four days of issues pertaining to women and human rights. The topics discussed ranged from bride kidnapping to female business leaders. I think over all it was a good experience for these women. Also, the volunteer did a great job because she made it sustainable because she had local women help in this. She had a lot of cancellations the days before, but managed to pull it off and it was just a great conference. I'm excited to see the evaluations. Today is my host dad's birthday. I'm making pizza again he liked it so much the first time! I thought they just ate it because I had worked hard on it, but no, he wants it again. At least I don't have to get him a gift. But my host mom did and he really likes Mach3 razors but they cost about 12 dollars for three refill blades. So I'm thinking I'd like to get him some for Christmas. If you are feeling generous you could send me some please. I'm still trying to figure out what my host mom likes. I think she's a jewelry person so if you have anything at all laying around you can send that, too. I'd love to buy stuff here for them, but they think it's more special when it comes from America, and plus I'm only like making 30 dollars a month. Scary. Speaking of not being able to afford anything. I bought a fall coat. Haha. I talked myself into needed it because you need a jacket for every season, even if the fall here lasts only a couple of weeks, but still I obviously convinced myself enough to buy it. I'm so tired! I have worked 9 hours each day I have been here, then I try to survive the bazaar and the crazy buses home and it is just exhausting. I hope I can catch up with myself sometime in the next two years. I'm still adjusting to the move to Osh. There is a lot more to do here than in the training villages I was in, both good and bad. On Saturday a bunch of volunteers (down for the conference) went out to a club. It was only us but I never thought I'd be dancing to Enrique Iglesias or a Russian rapper. Enrique is big over here. It doesn't matter what it is but if his face is on it, the ladies are going to buy it. So I have settled on a couple of clubs for the students. I am going to do the women's leadership club with Becky, conversational club, and yoga club. I decided I wasn't going to teach any English, because frankly I do not know how. I convinced the nearby TEFL to teach it once a week for those who haven't had any English at the university. The conversational club will be for advanced speakers. We will pick our topics like holidays, politics, clothing, who knows whatever as long as they hear English in a normal setting. The women's leadership will be very exciting, especially after this conference because I think they are very pumped up about the issues. The yoga club will just be something fun to have. We had a 'fun' session with yoga the first night and the girls really seemed to get into it. I think that will be nice except learning how to say "bring your hips forward" in Russian. We will see…

2008-10-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

If you would like my address you can email me at justinekyrgyz@gmail.com. You know, Christmas is approaching and I have been talking to current PCVs. They say that if packages come close to Dec 25th they are more likely to be searched knowing they are presents. So if you had planned on sending me anything please send it this month. I know christmas before Halloween.

2008-09-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

My New House in Osh!

This is me being sworn in!

My First Day of Work

2008-09-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, today was definitely a first day to remember. Thankfully someone had given me a key to my work this weekend because my counterpart did not show up. Even though she didn't come and I had nothing to do, it was still an interesting day. Hopefully, she will be there tomorrow. Today, I went to work at 9, where a volunteer was already waiting for me. I opened the door and he did the rest. He started up the computers, TV, and even the air conditioning! I kind of just sat around and looked lost. I think I will be getting used to that look. Around 9:30 people started coming in and sitting down. We have three public computers and a large round table for another 12. People who come to the center usually have nowhere else to hang out. I was greeted by many English speakers, and more than I cared for were desperate to learn English. We've been told we don't have to do English clubs, which is great because I don't know the first thing about it, but I'd like to help these kids. I'm going to start a political science club with a friend, Ian, a political science major who came to this site also. That is as about as far as I got planning for the future today. Most of the time I just sat watching the clock wondering when my counter part was going to come. I met a lot of

Interesting people though, one being a Pennsylvania native. He was just traveling through Central Asia. Also, other volunteers stopped in to check on me. My site doesn't need a full time volunteer, but I'm looking forward to see what I can do for the students and what I can fill my remaining time with. Today, I made the pizza (I postponed it because I thought the way you made a pizza was to call Pizza Hut). Well, actually the yeast is rising now and I'm just waiting. I bought everything and decided I was too exhausted to make it, so I waited until no one was at home to attempt such a silly task. I didn't look too much like a fool, just a little bit, trying to get the dough off of me to read the cookbook. I will see how the rest of it goes. It will only be a tomato and onion pizza (yum).

I'm At my Permanent Site!

2008-09-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

My personal bubble has been popped many a time here in Kyrgyzstan. Many of the Kyrgyz people I have met (not all) have been very affectionate. If you know me at all, I have at least a three foott personal bubble. They do not. Many women greet you with a hug, acceptable. But then kiss you two or three times alternating sides. I had to get used to this for a while since I am not affectionate. Men also have a nice greeting of shaking their hands and then touching the tops of their heads together. At a party, usually men have to greet every other man there. Also when you leave someone, you must do the same thing again. I'd be exhausted!

So I'm at my permanent site! I moved yesterday, which let me tell you it was quite the hassle. But first, the swearing-in ceremony. Thursday was such a big day for all of us soon-to-be volunteers. We packed all of our things up and then headed into the hub city to meet our counterparts. After that we had counterpart training, lunch, and then off to swear in. The actual event was only an hour long, with music and dance. The Ambassador came to deliver the oath, which was pretty cool. So over all it was pretty exciting, I was just glad to be a volunteer and not a trainee anymore! Yah!! After that, we had to say goodbye to our families. It was really sad. I had enjoyed the last three months with my host mom! We also exchanged presents. She gave me socks because last week I was sick and she said that I wouldn't get sick if I wore these socks. Cute. I got her address and phone number and whenever I fly back up I have to go guesting at her house and take a banya. I'm going to miss that lady.

Side note. I obviously passed my Language interview; otherwise I think I'd be on my way home. It was just as intense as the first one, but this time I had to make flight reservations from Bishkek to Washington for two people by telephone. That was hard! I kind of just stumbled over words, but I passed!

After our swearing-in ceremony. We got to go to the Ambassador's house. It was amazing. I guess every year the ambassador throws a part in congratulations to the newest Peace Corps volunteers. She had American food there! It was amazing. I had pizza that actually tasted like pizza and Doritos! Also chips and real tortilla chips, yum. The simple joys in life. You also got to introduce yourself to the ambassador, but had to start out by saying "Hello Madame Ambassador, my name is Justine." We were told we had to specifically introduce ourselves that way. After the ambassador's house, we celebrated at the hotel.

Yesterday, we departed from the hotel on to our future sites. It was really hard saying goodbye to some people. I got really close to the people in my village and I was going nowhere near most of them. The south is great, except the only downfall is being so far away from everyone else. I won't see the majority (45) of people until January for our first In-Service Training. I had three pieces of luggage for the airplane ride down to Osh. As you recall, the planes are very tiny and each volunteer had at least three pieces. I wasn't sure we were going to make it over the mountains being weighed down so much. The limit to the luggage was 15 kilos and I had over 40 and I was the lightest traveler. We also had to pay a hefty fee for the overweight luggage. I had to check my carry on with all of my valuables in it so I was terrified. In the end, I carried on my computer, camera, passports, and all of my money because I didn't want those items where I couldn't see them.

I arrived safely however and my new host dad came to pick me up. It was good to see a familiar face, and not have to take a scary taxi ride when I didn't even remember my address. After I got home I threw my stuff in my room and took a nap. It was great. The south was also a lot warmer than the north so I just curled up and fell asleep like a baby.

I was homesick yesterday with all of the traveling I had to do and the frustrations that traveling entails. Also, I was upset that my parents weren't there for the swearing-in ceremony. It's almost like graduating and if nothing else, it's a big milestone in my life. I think I'm over my homesickness today, but I'm sure there will be more times ahead. Right now, I'm excited to start this new adventure and can't wait what the next two years will bring. I start work on Monday!

September 14th

2008-09-27T20:13:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had the thank-you mama party. It went pretty well. It had to be after 8 o'clock because of Ramadan. All the volunteers got together and we made some American dishes. I know everyone was worried, but the cookies came out really good. I doubled the recipe but I didn't buy enough oatmeal so they were just extra gooey. Lynnie made popcorn and apple pie with Katie. Lee and his wife Shawn made macaroni and cheese, Katie made chili, Amber made gumbo and beans and rice. Erin and her husband made pizza! Ian bought pop. Martha made ice cream sundaes. It was like an American fest in Kyrgyzstan. I used what I had left of the jellybeans as appetizers and they were delicious. I was stuffed—my stomach didn't know what to do. Today, I went to this large bazaar named Dordoy. There was too much going on. I would say there were at least 4,000 shipping crates, which had vendors in it and then probably 1,500 more vendors. It went on for miles. The bazaar was mostly clothing but there were also sections of food and livestock, etc. I just tried to take it step by step because there isn't any way to see everything. The bazaar is in three large sections of clothing: European, Turkish, and Kyrgyzstani vendors. There is a main road that you can go through and then it splits off too many other paths. Of course, there are a million other people trying to buy stuff and then the paths aren't that big and you have these men who have carts on their backs running through the aisles. They just yell in Russian "road." Kind of like get out of the way. They will not stop for you. Usually, things are cheaper at this place, like a shirt is 150 som. (4.00 dollars) The European section is much more expensive. One of my friends tried on a nice fur hat and it was 4,000 som (114.00 dollar). Sometimes vendors realize you are foreign and jack up the price, other times people are amused by you stuttering out the Russian numbers you just learn and cut you a break. It's hard to figure out! We also had a volunteer get her bag slashed at the bazaar. It's a creepy feeling to know that people have no problem ripping your bag open and taking what they want. Even creepier is you don't even feel it. She was alright, she just got some money and her id taken. Lesson learned.

September 12th

2008-09-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

So here’s my schedule for the next couple of days: (I feel so busy)

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

FINAL language proficiency interview

(YAH)

‘thank you dinner’ with all volunteers and mamas

Packing to go to new site

Learn Kyrgyz Language

Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Last hub day, final medical and safety discussions	Say goodbye to families	Swearing in ceremony	Leave for permanent site!

I can’t believe I’m going to be a Peace Corps volunteer in a week. Crazy feeling. I’m just happy to have my language over. I’m so glad I learned Russian, but it was hard. Now I can only improve my language in Osh. (Keep fingers crossed).

So by the time this is posted I’ll let you guys know how I did on my language. Other than that I’m just trying to wrap my mind around how I’m going to move my large suitcase, my book bag, water distiller, all the books I’ve collected, and medical kit. I’m sure I’m forgetting something, which will be the heaviest thing ever. At least my new host dad has a car and can just pick me up from the airport. My new host family has been extremely nice. They called just to make sure I got home ok and if I was freezing in the north. They also had to remind me how warm it was in the south!

The gardens in Kyrgyzstan are starting to diminish. We are done with cucumbers, tomatoes, and other fresh food. But good news, she opened a jar of canned cucumbers. The pickles she made were delicious. Almost every family has a separate building or underground room where they house all of their canned vegetables. My host mom probably had 20 to 25 jars of different vegetables. My new host family, at the time being, does not have a garden. She just buys the vegetables from the bazaar, which are still delicious, but I will miss my current host family’s garden.

On Saturday, we are having a thank you party for our host mamas. People are making some pretty great dishes. I was going to buy a watermelon, but my host mama put the stop on that. She said that I had to make an American dish. Some people are making gumbo, chili, and pizza. I decided to make the no-bake cookies. Even though they are no-bake, they are still make and I don’t know if I can handle that. This week we got the Peace Corps cookbook which is really nice because all of the recipes can be made in country. They had recipes of hummus and falafel. Yum! I can’t wait to attempt to make that food.

2008-09-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

The new Osh family complete with the newest volunteers (Matt, Ian, and me). It contains five generations of Peace Corps volunteers, yah!

The local bazaar that I will frequent. Look at all those delicious fruits!

This is one of the largest statutes of Lenin left in Central Asia. The yellow, green, and red colors below it are people celebrating their independence day.

Kyrgyz Culture

2008-09-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

There is a huge difference of how Kyrgyzstan and American people think of families. We've been discussing it in our culture sessions and even though Americans love their families, we just have different opinions. In the Kyrgyz culture, as I'm sure most of you know, families live together. When you get married you move into your husband's family and that is now your family. Some Kyrgyz people live in compound housing with their parents, grandparents, nieces, cousins, etc. I actually found out that in the Kyrgyz language, there are specific words for seven generations up, and seven generations down, so your great, great, great, great, great grandfather has a name and so does your great, great, great, great, great grandson. In Kyrgyz culture you are also supposed to be able to name all of your ancestors.

Also, I found out at another culture session that some Swedish scientists did research to figure out if Santa was real where he would live to have the best location for delivering presents to everyone. They figured out it was somewhere in Kyrgyzstan. Isn't that great! Santa works out of the North Pole, but lives in Kyrgyzstan! From what I was told, Kyrgyzstan has a theme every year, and next year is the year of the Santa. I can't wait

OSH!

2008-09-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

I was in Osh! It was pretty great, but also very intense. When going to Osh you have to fly because it just takes too long to take a taxi or marshrutka (about 15 hours on a good day). But the flight was only about an hour. First, let me describe the plane. It was an old old plane, with propellers' on the sides. There was no flight attendant to tell you what to do and no airbags. Although, I think we were flying close enough to the ground that we would have survived if we had crashed. The cockpit was separated from the passengers by pieces of plywood. Also no modern conveniences of course, except they offered hot tea. It was 4 volunteers and our host moms/dads.

O wait, I haven't said anything about my family. I am SPOILED! I didn't realize that when I signed up for PeaceCorps I would be going back to America. Just Kidding. For meeting our new host family, who we have to live with for three months at our permanent site, we all got divided into rooms by region. All of the Americans are standing on one side and the families on the other. And of course, we as Americans are loud, so when we walked in I'm sure they were thinking which obnoxious one is mine. Anyway, before they even call our names, we see this young Kyrgyzstani lady, and she's speaking perfect English. She asks who is from New Hampshire (weird, right). After they talk about NH for a while, she goes "which one of you is Justine?" Ah, it's me! She was my new host sister. She spent her senior year in America. Amazing. She just turned 18 and can speak five languages. She is actually living in Bishkek with my new host brother, who is 21, studying at the University; she just wanted to meet her new host sister. I was very excited, still am. My new host mom is also the cutest thing ever. Since they are from Osh they are a little more urban and are very stylish (I'll discuss later). She is 46 and can't speak any English. Actually, I found out that my family prefers to speak Kyrgyz, so I've already picked up a lot. My new host papa told me I'd be speaking Kyrgyz in no time. after we met, my new host sister translated for us just to get to know each other a little bit more. My new host mom's jaw almost dropped when I said I have been a vegetarian for 7 years.

My host Mom, Echach, works at the University where I will work. She is the head of the psychology department, but I went to her office and not only did a see psychology books, but also, hold on, women studies books. She had in her possession "Justice and Gender" by Deborah Rhode. I could have cried. Apparently, her issues on campus, as she told me, were Gender Studies. She also wants to learn English so she can go to America, and read books. Also, Matt, the one from North Dakota, will be my neighbor. His father, who speaks English, is the head of the Physics department at the University. After getting off the plane, I met my new host dad. He's a very jolly man and was very excited to meet his new host daughter. I'm introduced as his daughter. I now have three families. My new host dad owns a magazin (store) but it sells furniture and big items. I think my family is very well off. He has a very nice car and currently they have two apartments; one four bedroom and one two bedroom. I found out that the two bedroom apartment is just for housing their things. They are also building a new house! It's amazing; better than anything I'll every live in in America. It's four floors with 8 bedrooms and several family/entertaining rooms. It has indoor plumbing (toilet and shower) and an outdoor toilet, and a banya. They have a huge front yard with flowers like crazy and a fountain. It's insane and at the first chance I get I'll send pictures.

Also, remember how I said that in Kyrgyzstan people tell you to eat like nothing else. Well, it still holds true in Osh. Kyrgyz people are the most hospitable people ever. Just because I had come, meant my family bought 3 kinds of juice (which is actually really expensive) chai, pears, 2 kinds of bread, peaches, dinya (melon), cucumbers, grapes, and REAL honey (also really expensive). Since it was 2 o'clock and we hadn't ate lunch, I had asked if this was lunch. They just stared at me like looking at a 4 headed zebra. Also, the south has better fruit. I know I rave about the dinya, but seriously Osh has great dinya. Later that first night, we went to a birthday party. I've already explained them and they are no different. The mom who hosted it for her daughter's 5 year old birthday, was told that I was a vegetarian when I walked in and she went and made me my own dish. Unnecessary, but delicious.

Again, the first night with a new host family is like an awkward first date, but this time I had much more to say. Some first reactions are that I can see a difference in my first two months and what will follow. Osh is extremely close to Uzbekistan so 40% of Osh people are Uzbek. We got off the plane and women were covered from head to toe. Other differences that I've noticed are that things are cheaper; you have to say Omen after eating, washing your feet before you go to bed, and eating way, way too much.

On that Sunday, the volunteers in Osh and the new volunteers got together. They actually made us tacos which was really nice. For lunch they also took us to the famous California café and we had pizza. It was delicious. It was great to hang out with the old volunteers and hear their experiences. They had an apartment so we just listened to music and talked like we were back at some college friends place in the states.

I also had Kyrgyzstan Independence day in Osh. That was great. Osh has one of the largest standing Lenin statutes remaining in Central Asia and that is where the festival took place. It was about 300 little girls in bright yellow, red, and blue dress dancing around. They even had some dances to English-singing songs. I don't understand that, but that was interesting to see them dance to an N' Sync song on their independence day. I also saw the bazaar while I was there. I loved it. There are different sections to the bazaar like meat section, nuts and dried fruit section, clothing, second hand clothing, kitchen, fabric, etc. in Osh you can actually buy fabric and then go get tailored. Yah! I think I'll be spending a lot of time in there. By the way, the fashion here is great. The new in color is bright yellow. People wear whole outfits of it, so the first mission when I move to Osh will be to buy yellow shoes. Speaking of, my new host mom is totally fashionable and told me that I needed new shoes. It was kind of funny because when I pulled out my purple sling purse, she kind of cringed and said is that your only purse? Leave that at home. J

I met with my NGO on Monday and Tuesday. To be honest, I'm kind of bummed because it looks like I'll mostly be teaching English in clubs. Not real formal but like conversational clubs, discussion clubs, beginners and advanced English clubs. I think I can really do a lot because the NGO that I work with will have many resources so maybe I can just help other volunteers when they need help. The American center is funded by some grants, but mostly the University. Everyone, the director, the volunteers, and most of the patrons, speak English so hopefully my Russian doesn't crumble away. I'm also getting a new director so hopefully I can have the freedom to do what I want and if I have an idea I can really run with it. So since I have to do some clubs, I'd like input…..

My NGO has a ton of English books and DVDs. I think I'll just be there in case students or professors need to talk to someone to practice their English. I want to do stuff about American culture because people are so interested, but like have daily questions, discussions. If you guys know any good documentaries or any resources, please let me know. I'd also like to get a political science book in there. Hint hint anyone who works at UW-La Crosse! I seriously really would appreciate any ideas. So far, I want to work with students on resume building, essay writing, etc. also, tell them how our education and political systems work. Things like that. My new host mom also told me that there was a women's shelter in Osh (one of the four in country) so maybe I can have a secondary project there.

Sorry, there aren't many funny stories from this family. I'm starting to understand more which actually might not be good. If I comprehend more they are going to let me be on my own. I'm still in that herding mode of 60 Americans in a new country. I had a true test the other day though. I got done with work early and my new host mom gave me the key to the house. I had to figure my way back home! If I had failed, I would have been on a plane back home, but I passed and got home safely! Yah! Now I can take on anything.

2008-08-28T10:48:00.001-07:00

Me, my host sister, and her two very blonde children. I wanted them to smile, but I'll take the half smiles they gave, because trust me, that was hard enough!

Poptarts and Chinese Food

2008-08-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

I wish I could write how satisfied I was here. I mean I was happy at home, but when I get home here, I can just sit there and smile of how much of a good day it was. Today, we went to Bishkek, 60 Americans roaming around aimlessly. I bought poptarts and had Chinese food. They don't have broccoli in this country so I got spicy tofu and garlic eggplant and green beans. Delicious. Most food here is pretty bland so it was nice to have some 'pow' in a meal. I was also in a supermarket here and I heard some man say "well I would recommend this" in English. I had to do a double take and stopped his wife and said how weird it was to hear some random person speak English, she sympathized.

We also got bored enough to play a game called "platitudes." I came in second. But we would wait for the conversation to open up to one and we'd say "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" or "when in Rome." I could go all day, I had practice. If you have any other games, please let me know. I need some for the next couple of years. Lynnie and I have also bonded in the fact that we both have a weird sense of humor. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do when she's across the country from me. I'll have to come up with new quirky things and hopefully the Kyrgyz people just go with it.

Same Old Same Old

2008-08-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

I just want you all to know how bored I'm getting. I'm not living an interesting life. I'm back to the same old same old just in Kyrgyzstan. The highlight of today was that I washed my feet. Not like just sprayed some water on it like before, but I scrubbed. My feet are back to looking cute. I also may have stared at them for a couple minutes because I was that bored.
I'm finally rubbing off on my family. A lot of times when they do something weird (putting yogurt in the soup), or some event happens and I'm unprepared for it (geese for example), I say O My Gosh. Well, the little niece I have decided to pick up on that phrase. I say that the most frequently at lunch when they say "Eat!" or "Eat more" and today she just finally started repeating it. Actually, I think they were mocking me because my host mom would say "Eat" to Violeta, and she'd look at her plate, drop her mouth and say Omygosh.

Speaking of English. I didn't think my host mom knew any English. I've been fooled! Usually, she just talks to me in Russian and I nod my head. Sometimes I say something in English that goes along the lines of "Lady, I have no idea what's going on" while smiling and nodding my head. It seems to work well. Until, one day, and remember I'm 7 weeks in, I leave my room on my way to a Peace Corps thing that will be all day. I needed my lunch prepared to take and she points to a bag in another building and says, "there, your lunch." I just stared in amazement. She's tricked me this whole time! I'm on to her game now.

My host parents also think I comprehend Russian so they started teaching me Kyrgyz tonight. I can only take one language at a time. Everyone has actually said Kyrgyz is a lot easier. It doesn't have that many words. One person who learned it said he'd be surprised if there were more than 5,000 words. I don't actually know but the Kyrgyz speakers in our group have an easy time because the letters in the Kyrgyz alphabet sound a lot like English and the words really are similar to English. In Osh, where I'm going they mostly speak Uzbek and Kyrgyz. Great! Kyrgyz has also the "th" type letters to say things like Mathew or Martha which Russian speakers just say Marta, or Matew. It's kind of confusing.

I know I've discussed this before, but we have a guard dog that barks at everyone including me. The animal abuse here is very high because they don't really see animals as a part of their family, but they actually use them. I started the conversation today about ours. He's never been off his leash that is nailed to the ground. So he has only ever seen our front yard and has only ever walked in an 7 foot radius. It was discouraging and when I asked why he hasn't, they just gave me a look of shock. Like why would he ever be let off of his leash?

Bride Kidnapping

2008-08-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Today in our lesson, we asked about the tradition of bride kidnapping. I researched this while I was at UW-La Crosse, but I really wanted to find out the Kyrgyzstani perspective. Yesterday, we had one of our teachers stand up in our large class and say she was bride kidnapped fifteen years ago, she cried and cried and didn't want to marry this man, but in the end she did and they had three children and now she is very happy. She said it worked out, but in the same breath she said she didn't want her daughter to get bride kidnapped.

Today, I wanted to know more so I had asked my teacher. He's a 46 year old Kyrgyzstani and I thought he could offer insight. He said that this was a tradition of Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Turkish people in Kyrgyzstan. In fact, a couple of our mothers were bride kidnapped. Not mine. He also continued to tell us a story of his first had experience. Sitting on the couch, I got into a comfy little ball ready to hear that my Peace Corps teacher had bride kidnapped his wife. He had not. When he was young, his mother told him and his twin brother that they needed to get married soon because she wanted grandchildren. Since they were twins they fought about who was to get married first because neither one had wanted to. His brother decided to and before he knew it his parents and the other girls parents were already planning this. He had known who she was, but his parents told him that she was going to be the one he married. He thought he was too old, and she didn't want to get married yet because she was going to college. The parents arranged the marriage and took her to his home town to be wed. My teacher said that most bride kidnappings are exactly that. Usually the women are walking and they actually get taken from the street into a car with the soon to be husband and his friends. Then she must stay with his family for like 3 days and if she tries to escape she will be shamed. It’s kind of a lose lose for women because you run away and you are shamed by your family and if you stay you are miserable. We were just trying to understand why it was such a tradition. Why people would keep doing it if it was so sad, he said that there is a saying in Kyrgyz, "what starts in tears, will end in happiness." I still don't fully understand because he said a lot of times, the men don't really want to do this but there is so much pressure by the other people in his family. One story I heard was that this boy was in love with a girl, but his sisters and mother did not approve so they actually bride kidnapped a girl for him, who of course didn't want to marry him either.

On a happier note, I had pizza today. Yah!!! The program manager was worried that we wouldn't like our placements so she brought pizza from Bishkek, I think to buy us over. It worked. It was the most delicious thing ever. On a not happier note—I got sick after eating the pizza. I'd do it all over again though. I had the vegetarian pizza, which was just whole slices of tomatoes on top of cheese, but there was this other pizza that had everything on it, including pickles and cabbage.

I got home to dinner and it didn't matter that I had pizza, because my host mom didn't make it so I had to have dinner again. She made another pasta and cabbage dish and pulled out this sour cream like butter (ew) and just poured it on everyone's meal. I refused to have it on mine, but they put it on theirs, and then EW, they put it in their tea. I could have vomited at that point. My host mom said I should try it because it’s so delicious. I couldn't even watch them put butter by the spoonful into their tea.

So today was the day!

2008-08-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

So today was the day! I am going to Osh. Remember when I said I was probably going to the boondocks because that's usually what the Peace Corps is all about. No, I'm going to the largest city (that volunteers are allowed) in the country. Osh is about 400,000 people and super close to the border of Uzbekistan. It is made up of Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, and Russian. So, this figures, but I asked for North and got the farthest South. But they have hot summers (grossly hot I'm told) and cold winters—not too much snow, but they have very long springs and falls. Dad—you'll appreciate this, it has the oldest bazaar in Central Asia. Did someone say shopping? Anyway, my job is to work with students who attend college there. It is mostly skills transfer and teaching English as a second language. Osh has three colleges and many travelers, expatriates, and other professionals who come to the center where I'll be working at providing resources and educational programs. Most of my work will be with group discussions about American culture and English language groups. My friends in my language group also are nowhere near each other. Lynnie is on the other side of Kyrgyzstan and Amber is right in the middle near Bishkek. We'll just have to travel a lot. Oh, and to go to my site from Peace Corps headquarters, I actually have to take an airplane. About an hour flight. But I'm next to matt, who is from North Dakota and very Norwegian, so it works.

It's been a mix of emotions with the sadness of Sarah leaving and the excitement of site placement on top of the normal stress of language class and work with my NGO. I'm starting to get used to it and now have been practicing yoga on a daily basis which seems to help. It's starting to get cool here in the mornings which is great because it has that great scent like when I used to go camping with my dad. Like morning cold air rushing in off the mountains and colliding with the garden scents.

I'm starting to understand more from my host parents, too. We talked about crocodiles today and the other day was precious. Sarah came to my house and became ill. As she was laying down, I decided to go bring her bread to settle her stomach. Usually, we just have slices, but all I could find was a fresh loaf. PS, my host mom makes great bread. I probably stood in the kitchen for 4 minutes walking back and forth deciding if I should cut her fresh bread, or just bring Sarah some cookies instead. I decided to cut the bread and after I walked out I kind of felt guilty. So I came in and told my host mom the situation and showed her the bread and apologized. She took my wrist, took me to the kitchen building and waved her hand. She said that this was mine and if my friends needed it, it was theirs, too. If I ever needed anything, it is mine and I should not even ask. It was really sweet.

Also, I never thought I'd be afraid of geese. Of all the creatures in this country to be intimidated by and it's geese that scare me the most. The other day me and one of my friends were walking on my street and there is this flock of geese that stay right on the road because there is water on one side and food they eat on the other. It's like they protect their young. Anyway, I am walking past these geese and I'm probably 20 yards away and they all turn their heads to us. There were about 8 and once they saw that we were coming near them they all spread out their wings. It was terrifying but it gets worse. As soon as they get in their attack mode (I know, attack mode for geese) they start this horrible squawking at you. They stretch out their neck and open their mouths and I can't even write the sound down. Then, they chase you. I ran from geese. I'm not going to deny it. They probably chased me for a good 45 yards squawking, and flailing their wings. They are some great white birds of fury. I hope you are laughing because every village person found it hysterical that the little American girl was running from geese.

2008-08-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

The girls in my town (minus one) on Culture day. Left to Right: Erin, Lynnie, me, Sarah, Amber, Katie.

Culture Day

2008-08-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

Friday we cleaned up a public building, one of the NGOs in our community uses it, and now I have blisters all over my hands. No one said when you join the PeaceCorps you were going to work. Wish I would have seen that waiver. It was overall productive because we didn't just clean it we showed the importance of not littering and maintenance, hopefully they (NGO director and volunteers) got the message otherwise it will be dirty in a month.

Also, hopefully soon I find out my permanent address so if you were planning on sending me anything please wait a while. I guess my current address will not work in a month because they close the PO box. Yah!! I get to find out where I'm going soon. I can't wait—my guess is Talas Oblast. I'll be interested where they are sending me.

Over the weekend I had fun. Saturday was culture day like I said before. We sang the Kyrgyz Jeri which everyone in Kyrgyzstan knows to start out the day. The some PeaceCorps volunteers played the camous and say Kyrgyz songs. I thought if America had a culture day, what would it consist of? I couldn't really think of anything…

It was hosted in our village and so we had to come at 8 to prepare. It was just in the middle of a field, but it seemed to be appropriate. Each village of volunteers put on a different skit. They were Turkish, Russian, and Kyrgyz wedding, bride kidnapping, baby cradle tradition, and songs. We had the Turkish wedding, but it was really sad because the bride has only one job and that is to thank the people who came to her wedding. She's covered head to toe until the brother of the groom takes her veil, but the brother of the groom also has to perform a knife dance around the bride. It symbolizes if she says anything negatively about her new family, her tongue will be cut. The bride isn't supposed to smile and usually cries. All but my family in the village is Turkish so we had all the host moms telling us what to do. All I had to do was dance in a circle holding pinkies with people. It was an all day event and then our host mothers made lunch and we sat with our villages and ate. I also had melon so over all it was a good day. We also built a yurt, apparently it takes many people and the eldest man stands in the middle holding the middle pole while others try to build the outside of it. I took pictures. There was also a miniature dance party consisting of all the volunteers and even some mothers. We danced to Ace of Base.

Also, on Saturday was my host nephew's first birthday. Of course there was a lot of food. I still haven't seen anyone who is from Kyrgyzstan drink water. Just juice, and milk. Anyway, I was fooled again. I thought we were done with our meals so I started to take the dishes. I was so wrong. We still had the main course to come. Just like my host sister's birthday, we had soup, many appetizers, salads, and bread. There wasn't a lot of vegetarian options but I had grilled eggplant stuffed with cheese, it was delicious. The main course was mashed potatoes and what I believe was chicken. after that and an awkward toast, there was another dance party. No matter what the occasion, no matter how small or big, people here love to dance.

Awh, sad news. The friend I got most close to decided to go home. It was completely the right choice for her and she's leaving tomorrow morning, but I absolutely already miss her. (if you are reading this when you get home, miss you!) oh, and by the way, please eat lots of food for me and flush a toilet one extra time. Don't forget to email!!

Puppies

2008-08-19T02:23:00.001-07:00

Today, we have had quite the news in our village! Well, I haven't so much. But, one of our volunteers dog had four puppies, yah! And that was all the good news. The bad news, one of the volunteers, her host uncle had around 10,000 dollars stolen. I guess he was a victim at a bank robbery and that's a ton of money on Kyrgyzstani standards. Another sad story was that one of the volunteer's host brothers attempted to perform a long-standing Kyrgyzstan tradition. Email me if you want to know more, I don't feel comfortable writing it on the blog. Good news is though, the brother failed.

I do not have any news however. My host sister's son is turning one on Saturday. Saturday will be a busy day because that day is when all 60 volunteers, Peace Corps staff, and our families come to my town to perform Culture Day. Our town is acting out a Turkish wedding. Except for my family and one other volunteer who has a Kyrgyz family; all other families who have volunteers are Turkish. We practiced two days ago, and it will be great. Lots of dancing. I'm not really sure what the other villages will do for culture day, but since it's in our town our moms are responsible for putting the food together. My host mom said that they just make a huge vat of Plov, (pilaf) but she said she will make just rice for me because I'm vegetarian. Yah! Speaking of, I had my first encounter with dairy products here. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my host dad puts yogurt in his soup. Yuck! Well they offered my yogurt. I had unpasteurized yogurt that kind of had curds in it. I just added sugar (because of course since it was straight from the cow, it was unsweetened.) It wasn't that bad except that I could taste the curds in my mouth and that was a little sickening.

Russian doesn't seem to be getting easier. I'm working on memorizing words and then I'll move on to phrases. I just want to make sure I recognize something when someone is talking to me. Yesterday, we had a lesson on what to do in a restaurant. That would be great if I could afford to eat at restaurant—or if there was a restaurant near here. Today we finished up our cases. In the Russian language there are 6 cases: Nominative, Genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional. I have to present to the class prepositional. I'm not really sure what's going on. Since we have finished it, the rest of the classes will be practice and new nouns. I really need to work on work-related nouns and verbs.

Most people here know only about America from TV. They get a misconstrued idea of what Americans are really like and how we talk. I know this from a couple of experiences I have had when I walk outside and my neighbor is listening to some of the most profane rap I've ever heard. They like the beat, but don't know what the words are. Another example is that they watch movies. The little children here really enjoy flicking Americans off. They don't know what it means, but they see it on TV. Also, the other day my friend Sarah and I were walking and 6 boys were walking around us saying hello, and then after we said hello, they told swore at us, that was a shock to my system.

Thanks Dave and Rosey, the shirt was great. I can advertise for Dregne Insurance Agency here in Kyrgyzstan. It was a great surprise and I'm thinking of you two.

I think I'm on the home stretch of PST (pre-service training). This week, we have culture day, next week we find out where our permanent sites are (YAH!!), the week after that we get to go to Bishkek, then visit our permanent sites and before you know it, it'll be 2010 and I'll be home! J

Language Exam

2008-08-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

So they lied! I had my language exam today. The interviewer was actually the PST (pre-service training) director, which is totally scary in itself, but then he is also the perfect picture of all that is Russian. He's very nice and approachable, but not in an interview where you can't say anything. I was trying to say 50,000 because he asked the size of la crosse, but all I could say was 5 and lots of 0, I then I said in English 50,000, he said he didn't understand English. Dratz! We all did mediocre except Lynnie! Lynnie did exceptional and he said that he was even surprised by how well she had done. Good job!!!! He said we are right where we are supposed to be, actually ahead because we've only been here in a month. He told me that I would have no problem communicating with people. That is great because I was told today that I would not have an English counterpart (coworker) at my NGO. I better get beyond my name is Justine and I like apples.

5 days and counting until I will find out where I am for my permanent site. I CANNOT WAIT! Tomorrow we are having clean up day at one of the local NGOs. That may help me take my mind off it, then on Saturday we are having culture day and Sunday, I think I might open my macaroni and cheese, and play Frisbee. That sounds relaxing. Also, just so you know, I was actually hungry today. I know that probably isn't big news, but since in Kyrgyzstan I haven't really had an appetite, well, today folks it came. And then I went home and actually ate what was on my plate (carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and onions wrapped in a cabbage leaf) and my host mom asked me if I wanted seconds instead of just yelling "eat!" at me.

2008-08-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

As we walked up the mountain, wild horses appeared. They are the skinniest horses I have seen, but this picture was beautiful.

This is my class near the top of the mountain with the waterfall behind us. In the back is my LCF then (left to right) Sarah, me, Lynnie, Amber, and at the bottom, Lee.

Kyrgyz Culture

2008-08-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

Today was another strenuous language learning session of more motion verbs. Have I mentioned how difficult of a time I’m having with Russian. That will not be good because, we believe tomorrow will be the LPI, midterm language exam. Eek! Be scared for me. It’s just a ten minute conversation with a Russian speaker, but I’ll be put on the spot and forget everything I know except for Packa (goodbye). I’ll write more after I’ve had it and I’m sitting in the dark crying, rocking back and forth.

I also had an interesting conversation with my host dad today. In Kyrgyz culture, you are not supposed to stand in the doorway, but my host dad opened the first door for me, and then I opened the second door for him. Also something you are not supposed to do in Kyrgyz culture is to have a woman open a door for a man. It was an awkward two minutes of me holding the door open and my host dad refusing. I know about gender roles and stuff, but thought it would be a nice gesture. It was not. I haven’t really talked about many cultural differences, so I think I will do so now. One thing that was weird to me was that you are only supposed to buy an even amount of flowers when giving them in a celebration or gift and odd amount when bringing them to a funeral. I found that out the first night with my host family, who I had brought an odd number of flowers to. Another is you are not supposed to compliment on a child if he is big and healthy. Some other small things are like you should not put your bags or any personal belongings on the floor, do not throw bread, and do not pass by a person with out saying hello. Apparently for men, if you look down and don’t say hello, you are challenging the person’s authority. Here’s something America and Kyrgyzstan have in common: do not ask a woman her age.

Waterfall

2008-08-12T04:15:00.000-07:00

Today, I and twenty other volunteers went to a waterfall. It was nice because it was one of the few times like I had felt that I was getting out to see Kyrgyzstan. It was an hour in a small bus of 23 people. Eek! They can really cram people into these tiny little buses. About half of the trip was on gravel road, so it was a bumpy ride. We left at 9 am and returned around 5 so it was just as exhausting as being in a language session all day. After we got there, we were told that waterfalls and hot springs in Kyrgyzstan are believed to be healing. That was great, until we were told lepers come on Sundays to heal themselves in the Kyrgyzstani water. Thankfully, I didn’t bump into any lepers. It was about an hour hike up to the water fall. We all wore comfortable shoes (except for Sarah, my friend in language class who wore flip flops!) but most of the Kyrgyzstani women were wearing high heals or seemingly uncomfortable wedges. They made the hike just like anyone else. It was exhausting, but the end result was beautiful. Many old people made the journey too. The old grandmothers in their traditional felt garments and the grandfathers in the majestic hats and white long beards, kneeling at the side of the waterfall to pour water on their faces was picturesque. To us, this was almost a tourist hot spot, but to Kyrgyzstan, this was more than a beautiful waterfall. It was tradition and folklore coming alive.

Kyrgyzstani Meals

2008-08-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

I just thought I should write about my experiences today. Of course I had language and technical hours, but after that I went home completely confused on motion verbs and in truth, the whole Russian language. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and pretend I was in America. At 6 pm, like clock work, someone came to collect me for dinner. If you haven’t picked up on it, I’ve been feeling rather ill lately so I just wasn’t in the mood. I sat down to dinner and in front of me was this stuffed noodle with cabbage dish and refused it. I can’t help but when I’m sick and I’m extremely hot, I cannot eat hot food. Although, I look over and see glorious blenni (pancakes), I say I can’t eat that because my mom will think I just don’t like her food. So anyway, I ate one hot thing and one pancake. I thought that would settle my stomach and please my host mom and host dad. Boy, was I wrong (with both assumptions). After dinner, I either quietly slip away or stay for 20 minutes just to pick up on some common Russian words. Today, I decided to stick it out. I really wanted help with the motion verbs. I forgot that they couldn’t explain it to me in English, so the effort was there, but nothing was getting through to me.

After I helped clear the table and put dishes away, I sat down with my host mom and tried to explain that I was having a rough time with Russian and my stomach hurt. I think she got it. The host dad also sat down and we tried to carry on a conversation. I started with what I knew. “I enjoyed the meal.” “Thanks for feeding me.” They said that they were worried because I don’t like to eat. I then explained I cannot eat as much as both of you because you guys work and work and work and need the calories, etc. my host dad said I worked too, and then pointed to his noggin. We also discussed that for one million years people have been eating meat, until there was Justine. They still don’t get it and sometimes still offer me meat. Sounds like my dad! We had also talked about religion in Kyrgyzstan. My host dad is Muslim, while my host mom is Christian. They both have children from other marriages. I asked if it was ok for a Christian and Muslim person to get married in Kyrgyzstan. They said that they weren’t married by a Father, but just had to sign the marriage papers. I would say I probably comprehend most of the conversation. I also asked if there were many Russian traditions. The host mom said not a lot but if we were to ever go to a Turkish or Kyrgyz wedding, there were many traditional parts to the wedding. I’m very excited!

By the end of the conversation, sitting outside of the house in the cool air (finally brought on by night) we had made our way back to the menu. Apparently, I am now learning how to cook. My host mom said we would start off simple by boiling an egg. Don’t be surprised if I can’t even manage that. Next she would teach me how to make breakfast foods, then lunch foods, then maybe by the end of the PST I would learn to make many traditional Kyrgyzstani meals. Part of me is excited. I will need to know how to cook when I move out on my own here. Pringles and snickers will not suffice. Since we were on the topic, I got an in-depth tour of our garden. We looked over every vegetable in that garden. They have massive amounts of potatoes and cabbage. They said that anytime I wanted to eat something I should just go pick it off the vine. Amazing! all I need to do is wash it off and bite right in. To be honest, I’m nervous about the insects though.

2008-08-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

Mock Interview

2008-08-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today we had a mock interview in my language class. It was horrible. I have a feeling the midterm interview will be just as painful. It only lasts about 10 minutes, but it's like pulling teeth. Today, one by one we had to sit down with our teacher and act like we had never met him before. I told him about myself, my family, what I studied and what I like to eat. We also learned motion verbs in Russian, which is completely confusing, but I tried to use those. After everyone was done, we all came back in the room and he went over all of our mistakes, person by person. I wanted to crawl in a small corner and die. He said I didn't do that bad, but then he started correcting my errors. Sometime next week is our real interview.

Also this weekend, my teacher is taking us to the hot springs. It's about an hour away from our village and all 10 volunteers are going. It'll be nice to see something else then school. My other plans for the week, one of the volunteers got the movie Hancock. I'm excited to see it and pretend I'm in America for an hour and a half. I'll let you know how it goes! Miss you all!

Hey Libby, thanks for the call!! It was great to hear from you!

Birthdays

2008-08-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we got our second to last round of shots. I am now sick thanks to the round of shots I got yesterday. Well, more sick than usual. At Hub days which is every Wednesday, all 60 volunteers get together and have medical and safety trainings. Yesterday's was on assault and medical emergencies. It's all rather dreadful. I mean its good information to know, but the fact that we have to sit down for a couple of hours and be told about the assaults in Kyrgyzstan is not what I would want. PeaceCorps does an amazing job on keeping up to date on the news and keeping their volunteers safe. I've never seen a more protective agency. After yesterday's lectures I know understand the 9 o'clock curfew and why we should travel in pairs. DON"T WORRY ABOUT ME, I realize after I wrote this paragraph, it doesn't sound good, but I'm super safe.

This week, my village had two birthdays. It was great because I felt like I was home celebrating a birthday, except for no electricity and all the Russians around me J. For language lesson that day, our host mom's made a ton of food for the celebration and we had to say in Russian all of the ingredients and what it was and introduce our mothers. It really took the fun out of the party. We had to go around and say all of the food and just right before it was my turn, my host mom ran up behind me and let me know everything in the food she had made. It was hilarious. Thanks host mom! She had made this really great dish of (I don't really know how to describe it) of layers of thin bread with a white creamy garlic sauce and eggplant, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It was delicious. It was also the only vegetarian option. She was looking out for me.

After that celebration, we had to have one more at the birthday girl's house. Beyond the 10 volunteers, the teachers came too to help in the celebration. Her mom had made everything under the sun. I think I could actually die from over eating. There of course was bread and tea which are the staples to any good hostess. Many different appetizers of meat, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and nuts for the first course were served. The second was three different salads which was one of noodles, peppers, and spices, another of mushrooms, and a third of fresh vegetables. All three dishes were piled high. If that wasn't enough to fill everyone's bellies, then came the plov, which is the chicken and rice dish. After that, the cake. Usually after every serving there is kind of a time allocated for just talking and letting the previous course settle. I think the celebration could have lasted all night with her mom making more and more food. Thank goodness there is a curfew!

Dinya

2008-08-09T18:30:00.001-07:00

Today I bought my family a dinya which is a melon. I think I could eat dinya everyday of my life. These are the best melons in the world, about 6 times better than a cantaloupe, but they are kind of expensive so when I brought it in, all of their eyes lit up. And since we don't have a refrigerator system we had to eat it all in one sitting. Lesson learned, by the small dinya-don't try to impress anyone.

Today, it rained. I could not believe it. I haven't really seen any other weather but hot. Apparently, august is the worst summer month so I haven't even seen anything yet. Today however, was nice and cool. I enjoyed every minute that I was not in the sun. Speaking of sun, I also got to witness the eclipse. There was an eclipse Saturday and it was amazing. My host family, myself and every neighbor just stood in the street with our sunglasses staring into the sky. I think my entire village was out that night. It was a beautiful sight.

So far I've been fairly lucky with bugs, that was until last night. I will never recommend going to take a sun shower after the sun has gone down. Not that the water is cold, but that there are no lights to see anything. It was about quarter to nine and I had just felt gross from the heat of the day. I decided to take a shower and my host mom said that was fine if the water was warm enough. Well I go in there and start to shower. Guess what starts crawling on me. The biggest spider I have ever seen in my life. This is not a fish tale. The spider was about a silver dollar size. I could have cried. Not only do I dislike spiders, I dislike them when I'm in a different country in an outdoor shower. Not fun. Anyway, after I let out the shrillest squeal, turned off the water and grabbed a towel, my host father didn't understand the big deal. I am now thoroughly checking both the sun shower and outhouse before I step in it again.

I don't know what other food I'm craving. Everything I get these weird cravings sometimes, like for a hotdog. I know it doesn't make any sense. I'm still not eating meat though!! Some people said it would be very difficult to be a vegetarian in Kyrgyzstan, it's been pretty easy because everything is ready from the garden, but come winter it might be a different story. I will update every so often of stuff I miss and maybe stuff I wouldn't mind being sent to me J. I asked my mom to send me spaghettio's.

Yoga

2008-08-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty busy. After language class on Saturday morning, my host father’s sister came with her husband and child. When they have guests they call it “ghosting” which is really creepy because I thought I was going to be haunted this week. Instead, a pleasant surprise, relatives who spoke a little English. They had basic words down and the typical phrases like “vodka: make you sleep well.” also, the aunt said I looked like I did yoga. Thank you 6 am yoga last semester. I got to teach my host mom, sister and aunt yoga poses. Have I mentioned how hot Kyrgyzstan was. Yeah that didn’t change while I was teaching them yoga: it only got hotter.

On Sunday, (which by the way has been one month since I left home) a group of us went to Bishkek. This was the first trip without our Russian teachers. We cheated and brought a current Peace Corps Volunteer, otherwise I’m sure I would have cried at one point trying to lower the price for some bananas with my limited Russian and their limited English. However, it went well. I bought dried kiwi!!!! Also, an orange, a banana, and a Fanta. I feel like an expert bazaar-er. The Osh Bazaar is huge. It is just long rows of women selling their food products which included fresh peppermint to what I believe was the first sign of loose leaf greens (Sweet, I’ll be able to have a normal salad after all!!). as my friend and I were trying to figure out how much it would cost for a half of a kilogram of raisins the guy selling them to us asked if we were married and when we said no, he then preceded to ask if he could have one of us. I didn’t know that’s how you bought raisins. All joking aside, it was a great experience at the biggest bazaar I have been to. The small rows were crowded with people haggling for better prices, then the rows of fresh food (potatoes, cabbage, plums, apricots, oranges, grapes, peppers) which had all of their scents colliding into one fresh aroma, and the women on the other end, having been doing this for years, knowing what to expect from each costumer. This bazaar was crowded. I had too scoot and do all the dance moves I knew to get by people. I felt like I had really seen my first real mini view of Kyrgyzstan.

After that, we went to another bazaar that was mainly clothing. I tried on a shirt, but it was from India so that was about 3 weeks of pay here. I just couldn’t afford it, then I haggled my way down to 2 weeks of pay, I still couldn’t afford it. I’d rather eat than be fashionably I supposed. If I must L.

Work with the NGO

2008-08-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

Work with the NGO is going well. They seem to be very well educated and really have their stuff together. They help many other NGO’s in their oblast so it will be a great learning experience while I have it. Like my English counterpart there, many Russian speakers I met want to speak with me in English. It’s hard to learn any Russian when every one around wants to learn your language. When I get far enough in my learning I hope to help others learn English. Apparently, many volunteers live in an apartment after their PST and do not need to speak much Russian so I want to make sure that I speak Russian as much as possible and I think having an English club with Russian speakers would help, if that makes sense.

Other than that, I was laying in the banya, trying hard to just be able to breath, and realized how good I have it. As I sweated away I thought of the past month I had in Kyrgyzstan. Can you believe it, a month already?! I have seen many great things, made many great friends, and also have learned a little Russian along the way. I can’t imagine a better way to spend July, or the next couple of years. I was talking to both my mom and dad on the phone, and during that the little granddaughter came to ask if I wanted to play. I answered in Russian. It was kind of great to have a comprehensible conversation with someone in Russian (when I say comprehensible I mean at an 8 year old level). I’ll take it.

By the way, I miss everyone! I don’t hear from a lot of people, what’s going on in your lives?!?!

Last Sunday

2008-07-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

On last Sunday, my village and I decided to head for an adventure. I got up around 10, I know. I got to sleep in. Well except for the 6 am phone call from Crystal which was just great. Thanks Crystal. We had heard that there were some Buddhist ruins around the town that we’re in. We heard they were about 5 kilometers out of town so we put on our hiking shoes and set out. I think I forgot that I’m in Kyrgyzstan because by 2 o’clock in the afternoon when we decided to head out, it was blazing hot. That’s also become the joke in our village, it’s not hot out, it’s Kyrgyzstan outside (it’s funny to me).

When we finally reached our destination, it was true, the ruins were there, but very much ruin like. More or less it was a big pile of dirt and no inspiration had reached us. If nothing else it was a great walk. From our town we can see the beautiful mountains of Kyrgyzstan and the rolling hills of Kazakhstan so it was a fantastic view.

This town that I’m in is a great town. It’s a small village where everyone knows everything. I had told my host mom that I was going for a walk because I haven’t perfected the Russian language yet and couldn’t master a conversation on Buddhist ruins, but by the time dinner came around and I came back, she already knew where I had been. I’m guessing she always knows where I am.

By the way, guess who has her first Kyrgyzstani bacterial infection. I just spoke with the doctors, I guess the loss of appetite and frequent upchuck gave it away. It seems that it will pass soon though, they gave me some medicine and if that doesn’t work I’ll go back. I guess I had to get accustom to the food sometime.

Speaking of food, I thought I’d share another funny story. I was really homesick and I decided to treat myself to American music, writing emails, a 7up(type pop), and Pringles. I got home at 5 o’clock and went into my room. Now remember, dinner is right at 6. so I turned on the music and closed my doors because I didn’t want them to know I was eating before dinner. I thought they might think it was disrespectful. Well I come out for dinner and half way through dinner, my host mom goes (in Russian) “Justine loves chips” and the little six year old starts running around the room yelling the word chips. My host dad also chimes in, “I’m American, I can eat Lays chips.” I was totally busted and it was all rather humiliating for me, but hysterical for my host family. The embarrassing part is that I tried to hide eating chips from my family—like it was a top secret mission or something.

This weekend was pretty exciting

2008-07-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty exciting. I spent most of Saturday in Bishkek. All 60 volunteers went to the art museum. The art museum was pretty entertaining. Lots of great art about Kyrgyzstani horses and yurts. I don’t if I’m spelling that correctly, but a yurt is a nomadic Kyrgyzstani home that traditionally is made out of felt. The museum had English translations for most of its art so I could understand it. I saw many portraits of Kyrgyzstan’s beautiful scenery: the rolling mountains, large waterfalls, and beautiful sunsets.

After that, the 60 of us split off and I made a mad dash for the closest restaurant that had pizza. I have gone three weeks without this delicious food. Of course, it was nothing like pizza back home, but it did the job. Me and my fellow friends ordered a large cheese pizza and French fries. Some also had milkshakes which was just flavored milk. The pizza looked delicious, but I knew there was more than meets the eye. The cheese of course was not Wisconsin cheese, and there was no sauce. Oh well. I guess I didn’t need the pizza anyway. I also got French fries. I can live with out potatoes I’ve decided. And thanks to the first package I got real ketchup because the ketchup in Kyrgyzstan is not ketchup at all. I’m not actually sure what it is, but I know ketchup when I see it.

I think Saturday was the most American day I have had in a while. Since before I left the states I had been craving popcorn. I went to this grocery store called Beta which has most everything and I bought it. It costs me three days wage, so trust me when I say, I cherished every kernel of that bag. One of the people in my village also bought the Dark Knight. It wasn’t too bad for being what I assumed was bootlegged. So that was my Saturday night, popcorn, the Dark Knight and good friends. It doesn’t sound like I’ve even left the states.

Craziest thing I’ve ate so far: egg covered cabbage. I would have never put the two together. Sorry, no eyeballs yet! Ooh, but they still kind of tease me about being a vegetarian. My host mom always asks if I want meat because they get different dishes than I do. And she had asked if I wanted some beef, but they said the Russian word for cow (Karova) and then started to Moo. That was not going to make it any more appetizing.

Kyrgyzstani NGO

2008-07-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve been learning a lot about Kyrgyzstani NGO development over the last couple of weeks. I’ve found out that out of all the NGOs there are (5,000) only 6% are active. At first I found this disheartening because I thought that meant NGOs are kind of failing in this country. I’ve thought about this because that’s how a westernized person would think. This is a great opportunity cross culturally speaking. You can’t just look at that number and say success or not. Maybe that isn’t how we are judging success in Kyrgyzstan. There seems to be a lot of discouragement and hard facts we are going to face as SOCD volunteers, but that just means more of a challenge for us to overcome. My first reaction is a depressing one, I don’t see much point to it if sometimes a volunteer doesn’t have a site to go to or the NGO closes down three months into a volunteer’s service, but this just means there is more opportunity out there for volunteers and more of a chance to change how things currently are. I forget sometimes if this was a perfect world, I wouldn’t need to be in Kyrgyzstan.

Week 8 I get to see my permanent work site….only 4 weeks away!

Wisconsin Heritage

2008-07-26T00:57:00.001-07:00

I’m very proud of my Wisconsin heritage. But people (other peace corps trainees) around here think I talk funny and our cars and hats are made out of cheese. Although I know of cheddarheads and I would not be surprised if there was a cheddar car, I can’t help but to be discouraged that this is all people know about Wisconsin. I also get teased severely for my “Sconsi” accent. Apparently, I say bag weird. Like beg or baaaaag or something. I’m not even sure. They even make fun of me for saying Wisconsin. Don’t worry everyone, I stick up for Wisconsin and the Badgers.

Now that I have my appetite back, my host mother is very excited. Of course I still can only eat so much, but I have been overloaded with bread, pasta, and potatoes. Today for lunch I had spaghetti. No, no, there were only the noodles. It brought a little tear to my eye, but I recovered and ate them gladly. Thanks to my mom, I now have macaroni and cheese. I’m not really sure how I’m going to explain that the cheese I’m going to eat comes out of a box, but I’m very excited. Today I also had a conversation with my mother. I was preparing for my mid-training language exam. I had only memorized everything I was going to say so when my host mom asked me a question I was a little thrown off. I could explain who I am (name, age, where from), what I liked and disliked, my family, and what I liked about Kyrgyzstan. I’ll say it now, I’m getting nervous for my language exam in week 6. three weeks away!! My teacher was telling me how people get discounts at the bazaar by being polite and pretty. Do you think that will work for language exams J.

I love waking up in this teeny little town. If you wake up early enough, it is still cool from the night and you can literally smell the mountain air. I just take a big deep breath of it and wish it would linger around all day. But by 8 or so, the sun is beating down and you no longer smell the mountains, you smell farm which of course entails cows, sheep, donkeys, corn, and if it’s possible I can even smell the sand on the dirt road. It feels dry here. All of Kyrgyzstan is dry. They don’t get a ton of snow in the winter, its just a very cold winter. Just like summer, they don’t get a lot of rain, just heat. One great aspect of it being dry is that here isn’t much humidity.

Another thing I love about being in another country. When someone is talking to me, doesn’t matter who, and I don’t have a response. I can just smile, nod my head and tell them “I have no idea what you are saying right now.” It seems to work well.

I got my first packages and letters!!!

2008-07-26T00:50:00.000-07:00

I got my first packages and letters!!! Thanks dad, mom, and aunt Pat and uncle John. It was a real pick-me-up. (and now I look spoiled, but I’ll take it! I am spoiled). Which reminds me, the one that dustin, mom and I sent was searched through. The other girl who got a package was searched through, too. Nothing was missing, but still to know that they look through it is bothersome. You can tell by if the tape is cut or not and then they use clear tape to close it back up. Other volunteers suggest using duct tape, they don’t have duct tape here and having a list of contents, that way you know whats in there. One of the staff said if you draw crosses or the crescent moon and star symbols on it, it is less likely to be gone through.

The great thing about my family is that they have the same humor as I do, or atleast I think they do. Two days after washing my clothes, I had asked my host mom where they were and she said she threw them away. I would have said the same thing.

Today we got our medical kits which is crazy but I think I could save some lives with it. It consisted of everything from bug repellent to fancy doctor scissors. I was impressed, but that means one more thing I will have to carry to my permanent site. I was told yesterday that not only in 8 weeks have to carry all of our belongings we have to do it ourselves. When I arrived here I had my host family help me. Hopefully in 8 weeks I will have the arm muscle strength to carry two 50 lb bags, medical kit, electric heater, all the stuff I got in my packages, and etc by myself. I knew learning how to do laundry was going to pay off.

I should explain the photos. That’s obviously my host mother and father. Russian, eh? The other picture is of the mountains I get to see every day. Woohoo! The third picture is not the master suite, but in fact, my sunshower, and the beloved outhouse (the blue thing in the background). And yes, right in between where I bathe and go to the bathroom, is where the food gets prepared. Take it for all it is. J

sigh of relief

2008-07-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I did my own laundry! Huge accomplishment. Of course I did it by hand. That’s right, I’m full of calluses and it’s never felt better. My host mom came in to my room today and pointed to my clothes and gave me the come here sign. There was just a tub of hot water and the a tub for cold water. She made me put all of my clothes into the hot tub and scrub and turn and wash like crazy. My hands hurt! The after washing them, I had to wring all the water out. Man that takes muscle! My mom mostly snickered at me and after I thought I was done, she took my clothes and twisted them one more time and a ton more water came out. She said I did a good job though. It was a good day in the Kyrgyz Republic. I also had a hot shower today; that too was amazing. It was starting to cool off and the water was hot, it was great.

I also met my NGO group today. Another refreshing moment. It’s a women’s leadership development organization. They had an English staff member which was extremely helpful because all I could say in Russian was that I love the color blue and I do not like cabbage. They seem to be doing pretty well and I’m there kind of just to assess the NGO.

I have also been doing well on the not eating or drinking American (or stuff I’m used to) stuff. I haven’t had a pop for 3 weeks and its been great. They always have tea so that should do it. My host mom also makes every type of pastry and tells me to eat at least 2. I try to explain I would explode, but that’s hard to act out. So I just no thank you. One of the Peace Corps staff told us if they offer to much food to say “no, I cannot survive.” Which I laughed at at the time, but I’m starting to see that its true.

2008-07-20T03:20:00.002-07:00

7.20

2008-07-20T03:20:00.001-07:00

The kids are actually pretty cool here. They always seem to be happy whether it be playing in the road or working out in the field. They are also very happy to see Americans. All the English words they know are goodbye and hello which they tell me about 8 times a day. Every time I walk past a child they say hello, but you already know this. The other day however was a special day. A child came up to me and wanted my autograph. That’ right, I’m famous ;) ok not really, but he just wanted Americans to sign his notebook. That was pretty cool.

I’m still kind of overwhelmed, but so far so good. On Monday we get to go to Bishkek and then on Saturday we get to see a museum and hopefully some of Kyrgyzstan’s beautiful scenery. I guess there are a lot of waterfalls not far away from where I am. I wouldn’t mind jumping in. again, it’s hot here! I was trying to tell my host parents again that I’m from Wisconsin and I can’t wait for the winter. They were saying that they hated the winter. I’ll be moved to my permanent site before winter comes though.

I’m definitely picking up more words from my family but they just talk normal and fast and I just nod most of the time, I hope I haven’t agreed to marry someone or killing a chicken. Eek!

Volunteers were told that this was going to be a harsh winter. A lot f Kyrgyzstan’s energy comes from hydroelectricity and apparently they are running extremely low. They predict that there won’t be electricity this winter. We are already starting to see that this summer. I don’t know why I would have a electric heater or energy powered water distiller. We will see how that comes when it gets here though.

Toilet Melon

2008-07-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

On to my third week in Kyrgyzstan!! Can you believe it? A lot more has happened, but I can’t remember it all. So far a couple of people have gone home, all for different, understandable reasons, but we miss them already! When you’re in a group of 6 people doing everything together in a new experience, you bond really easily.

The roads and traffic here are very different than the US. Of course most roads are gravel, like our village, but some on the more traveled paths are paved but still rocky. There are no passing lanes so people just pass whenever they feel like it. When we’re on buses we get really, really close to other vehicles when we pass them. Someone told me that Kyrgyzstan had one of the highest percentages of traffic collisions and I believe it but I haven’t seen any yet. I also haven’t seen any speed limit signs yet. Actually haven’t seen any traffic signs yet. The traffic police are something else, too. They just sit at some intersections and when you get pulled over you get out of your vehicle and come to them. They just flag you down. When I saw this happen, you don’t get a speeding or violation ticket, you just pay the officer. So I’m going to assume that there is no driving record. I could be wrong but if that’s how it happens, they don’t monitor that.

On Wednesday we had 4 shots. I don’t even remember what they were, one was Rabies. (yah because someone in our village was already attacked by a dog). My arms are super sore, but that means 8 shots down, 6 more to go! And the dogs are nuts here, they are all over and wild. We were told if there was a strange dog coming up to us we had to reach down and pick up a rock and act like we were going to throw it otherwise they’d probably attack you. Our house also has a guard dog that is supposedly for protection or so my host dad says. I think it hates me though!

I just got back from lunch, which I had cucumbers and watermelon. As I was eating my second slice of watermelon, my host mom told me that the arbus (watermelon) was next to the toilet. Not funny and I pray that she was joking. Which I think she was by the grin on her face after I made the most mortified look I could. J

Oh Silly American

2008-07-20T03:17:00.000-07:00

I had my first birthday party I got to go to. It was my host sister’s. it was really fun. Instead of waiting for the weekend to have a party, like we do, they had it that night. They drink a lot and eat a lot. I thought all of the food they had made was out on the table, boy was I wrong. First, they served a soup. It had ham or some pinkish meat in it so I didn’t eat it, but then they had eggplant and zucchini appetizers which weren’t too shabby. After that they had salad, which is not like our salad, its cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots in some kind of mayo-ish dressing. Then, they had the real meal which consisted of pasta, meats, and potatoes. They all ate a ton! I couldn’t believe it. I’ll get back to this point. During the meal, we all had to give a toast to the birthday girl. Of course, I had no idea what people were saying, but every time someone gave a toast they took a shot of vodka. I can’t imagine if there were 30 people at a party. Eek! I also had to give a toast. They let me say it in English. Also, they wanted to hear me sing happy birthday.

After the eating, there was a dance party. Yes, I said it, a dance party. All the women get up and dance. It was surprising to hear how much was actually American music. Anyway, I’m an awkward dancer, and so now I’m an awkward dancer in Kyrgyzstan. We probably danced for 3 hours. I tried to sit down every couple of minutes, but that did not work. They enjoy watching Americans dance.

Overall, it was a great birthday party! I actually said a complete sentence in Russian to one of the guests at the party. I said I had a small family of father, mother, and brother. Then they all wanted to see my photos so I got to show them my whole family with grandma, stepdad, stepsisters, etc. yah!

Back to the food thing, I cannot eat as much as everyone else at the table. They always tell me to eat, Kushay, Kushay. I probably hear that about 38 times a day. They are very hospitable in that way, but I just cannot eat that much. But, the 6 year old granddaughter can completely out eat me. It has become an on going joke that I am malinki (small) and she will grow big. At the birthday party everyone was served soup and since mine had meat in it I didn’t eat it, not only did she eat hers, but she ate mine, too, and then the rest of the meal. I’ve been put to shame by a 6 year old too many times in Kyrgyzstan than I’d like to admit(such as eating and I’m still struggling with the number nine and she totally shut m down and counted to 100 the other day).

I don’t know if I’ve already shared this, but the language is getting difficult when you’re trying to have conversations with native Kyrgyzstanis. An example, I was asking where stuff was at this new house and they responded “you can wash your hands in the toilet.” Hm…J

7.16

2008-07-17T03:08:00.000-07:00

Today, my host mom showed me a packet of taco seasoning and asked some question (of course in Russian). It took me a minute to respond, because the first thing I thought of was making tacos vegetarian style with Boca meat. Second, we don’t have any meat, like to make tacos. And third, why she would even have taco seasoning. It was kind of cute.

Ooh I have my cell phone! Duh! My phone number is 996-550-408-729. I think you have to dial 001 before that. Hopefully mom will post a comment on this blog to say yes or no to that. She knows. I’ve already talked to Dad, Mom, and Dustin. It was amazing!!!!! Of course, it’s extremely expensive for whoever is calling, but its free for me

So this week we started an extra hour of language classes in the evening. So today, I got up, talked to my mom (yah) bypassed breakfast, went straight to language class, came back to my house for a mini email and blog session and then back to class until 5:30, then took a break and practiced more language from 6 to 7. one of the previous volunteers told us that Russian was hard to learn and he didn’t even have it done living here a year. Oh well. I’ll give it a shot J

Things I’ll take away from Russia:

2008-07-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

Things I’ll take away from Russia:

drinking more water
Sun shower
not using electricity (or not counting on it)
more walking
everyone has a garden

I have not seen my host mom or dad have a glass of water since I’ve been here. I don’t think water and water sanitation have been taught. I drink probably 15 glasses a day. My water goes through a distiller, but I sweat so much and need the water or else I’ll be dehydrated. I actually don’t see anyone else but Americans drink anything beyond tea. That’s all they have at their meals. I know I’ve already said this, but…and the tea is so hot! It’s atleast 95 degrees right now and they drinking hot tea.

Dustin asked what are the biggest changes so far. Beyond no electricity or running water, hospitality is huge. They always tell me to eat and whatever I want they will go and buy even if they can’t afford it. Kyrgyzstani hospitality is excellent. They also eat candy (confetti in Russian) anytime of the day. Probably not a big change for some, but I thought candy was like a treat. Another big thing is that, a couple of days ago I saw a 6 or 7 year old buy cigarettes. I’m hoping not for him, but there is no minimum age for buying alcohol or tobacco.

Also, this country is cheap. A 20 minute bus ride is 10 som which is 30 cents. Bottled water is about 50 cents and to use the internet for 20 minutes is about 15 cents. Of course, they aren’t making any money, but to Americans this is very cheap.

I love waking up though in the morning, its still hot but knowing that I’m here is great. I love leaving the house, shutting the gate behind me and stepping on to the dirt road. There’s no air pollution, no huge cars driving by, no city lights in my bedroom at 2 am. I hear natural sounds like dogs barking, roosters crowing, and so on.

i'm lovin' it!

2008-07-14T05:32:00.002-07:00

I’m always hot. There is nothing cold here. This isn’t a bad thing, I’m just not used to it. There is no refrigeration methods, and it never gets cold. Like at night, it’s still probably like 65, 70 degrees. I wake up in the morning, and I’m warm. If you want to take a cold shower you can’t, all of Kyrgyzstan believes that you will get sick. You also can’t take a shower when it’s cloudy because you’ll get sick.

Yesterday, I banya-ed. It was great. It’s like a hot sauna. There are hot rocks you throw cold water on for more steam. Most Kyrgyz families can stay up to an hour in there—I could only for about 20 minutes (with a mini break). Families take banyas together, but PeaceCorps prohibits families taking one with their volunteer. My host mom took me in there after she had banya-ed and tried to explain it to me, within a minute I was sweating. I don’t know how hot it was, but it was hot. You have two large bowls, one with hot water and one with lukewarm water. You’re supposed to mix them for the right temperature, but all I wanted was cold water in that hot, hot sauna. By now, you’ve already sweated off all of the dirt, but you take a sponge and do a sponge bath.

Today, my teacher told me to wash my hands in the toilet. Misunderstandings happen all the time. He also told us to be late to our next class. He kind of forgot the word ‘don’t’ in there. Things like this make me laugh and it feels good to laugh; especially at ourselves.

Another thing that makes me laugh. Russians don’t know how to say Justine. They say Justin. Thanks mom and dad. For the next two years, I’m Justin. I don’t really look like a boy and Russians usually think that if a name ends in a, e, y, it’s a girl name, my name does, they just choose to ignore it I think. That’s how I get introduced and when I correct my host mom or teacher, it doesn’t stick, oh well!

getting settled

2008-07-14T05:32:00.001-07:00

Our electricity went out yesterday. It was the first time that it did being here, but I have a feeling it will become the usual thing. I should be happy I have electricity as much as I do. But when that went out, the water also stopped. Since water and liquids have been my main substance, I wasn’t very happy. It came on this morning. It was also like 80 degrees this morning. I don’t understand how I wake up at 7 or 8 and its just soo hot.

Today, I think is just a relaxing day for the family. I slept in and they’ve been cleaning their whole property which consists of three buildings—one for cooking, one for sleeping, and the other for misc (or so I think). They also have a building for the banya, or sauna, and the a sun shower and an outhouse on their property. The garden is also huge. Overall, it’s a very nice place. Usually, it’s just the father and mother. The daughter lives down the street with her two children. I haven’t meet her husband yet, but her two children are adorable. The girl, Violeta, is 5 and the boy, nickname egary, is 10 months. They have the lightest eyes and blondest hair. They look like ross and I when we were young.

the town i'm in only has one market and no restaurant or café. My group went to go find one to relax last night—there wasn’t one. We asked a couple of people and they just laughed at us. It kind of makes sense because all of the community really makes their own food and don’t need a place to dine since guesting is so big. Guesting is where one house will have many guest so it’s like going out. This happens a lot. Last night we also walked around and all the little children stared at us. Actually, most people stare at us. But the little kids are kind of cute because they just randomly say “hello” and “hola.” About the only two non-Russian words they know. Some know what’s your name.

back to better

2008-07-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

So it’s going pretty well. I’m completely overwhelmed by the language. We do 3.5 hours of language in the morning, only stopping for a tea break. Then go home for lunch, which the host mothers have made, and then come back for culture or technical training. The host moms also pack us snacks and walked us to class on the first day, I know, you’re jealous. My host mom, tatiyana, is amazing. She’s Russian and amazing. She knows how to cook, and the key is she can cook me meals without meat! We also have tea at every meal. It’s 90 degrees out and we’re having hot, hot tea at noon! I haven’t found out what she or my papa does yet. I guess I don’t need to know. All I know is that they love when I have to motion or act out words. At night, I just go over the stuff I learned from that day. My host mom and I sit down and read the words together. All we do is language right now and my head just might explode from all of the stuff being crammed in it J. My host mom offered me vodka for lunch today, haha she said it would make my stomach feel better haha.

I’m still working on catching up with my sleep but I always seem to be exhausted. So after classes, we eat sharply at 6 then I have a break and then I get to take a sun shower. From what I had read in other people’s blogs who were here said they showered once a week or so, I’ve had the opportunity to shower everyday. I feel fresh and clean and the sun shower seems so efficient and eco friendly Well, until I use the outhouse J I apparently got a good outhouse compared to some others, but no scary stories of dropping my i-pod down the hole.

My family has a great garden and chickens. The also have a rooster who must be blind because it crows at all times during the day and night! I also pass donkeys and sheep on the way to school. Yesterday I had to battle a herd of cows on the road to get to class on time. I love it! I also have this amazing view of the mountains from my road. They still are snow capped so its gorgeous.

My town is tiny. Which is nice because I can walk to the other volunteers homes and just stop in. they are all having a great time, too. We have one store. Several churches because there is a diverse population for this town. My family is from Russia, but many are from Turkey and neighboring countries like Kazakhstan and Armenia.

Last night I watched a game show in Russian, but it was kind of difficult to pay attention. It looked like wheel of fortune and someone had to guess a word, but before you could spin you had to bring the show or game host a present. So people brought carrots, eggs, their children’s dolls, a shovel, and jam. I didn’t understand. Also before you could win a prize you had to sing or dance. I don’t know.

Another funny story, I was preparing for not feeling so well so I wanted to buy applesauce in Bishkek. When I asked my language facilitator for apple sauce, he didn’t know what it was, I totally him mashed up apples—he brought me baby food. I guess it would have worked but I wasn’t fond of the idea.

2008-07-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the day I broke down. I thought I was handling it pretty well, but at lunch I just cried in my cabbage and my host mom didn’t know what to do. It was kind of cute, because I had motioned towards me being sick and she just told me to eat more. Thank god it only lasted a minute or two and now I’m back to being excited. I think everyone is having those moments where we think “I could just go home right now.” It’s an emotional rollercoaster of being way too excited to be here and then being scared to death about doing this. We had our second language (when I say we I mean me and four other ‘students’: three other young females about my age and then a guy named Lee who’s 30 who came here with his wife). Today, I was completely overwhelmed. I had a nightmare that I basically woke up to—the dream, in a crowded room and me trying to yell stuff in English and everyone speaking Russian and didn’t help me. Hopefully, with time it will get better, it has only been a week since I left. The lessons today were basic greetings and questions like what’s your job and how’s your family. I’m still working on Hi! J I’m just going to study after school every night if I want to do well. I’m not a language learner. It’s nice to be here with other people going through the same stuff though, other wise it’d be so hard and lonely. The sights are great to see and keep me in high spirits. Walking down a dirt path seeing donkeys on one side and dirty water on the other side, seeing men in felt hats riding bikes about 15 years old, and women herding cattle make this experience unforgettable. The sights here are amazing and the poverty is haunting. Hopefully with the community development starting soon in this community we can help educate people if that only means to help them purify their drinking water.

Sending my love! justine

I don’t know Russian!

2008-07-11T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I’m here! In Kyrgyzstan. I don’t know how to say the town that I’m in exactly, but I’m here! This is where I will spend my 11 week training for the Peacecorps….so initial reactions. Great, overwhelming, nervewrecking, unforgettable. It’s been a week since I’ve left home, and everything has been going on around me so I haven’t even stopped to think about it and let it sink in. I miss everyone though, that’s for sure!!! I’m sure that la crosse, Wi world is still turning without me, but it’s a whole other world here!

I’m learning Russian and so far I’ve got hi down. Also, thank you, (spasiba). I can’t wait to learn it, I think that will be great, that way I can travel Russia and surrounding countries. Russian lessons are every morning except Sundays from 8 to 12 and other trainings are from 2 to 6ish Monday through Friday. I’ll have a very busy next couple of weeks apparently. But that’s ok because I’ve got some good friends already and I know that they’ll be there when I miss family, dustin, friends, hallmark, new horizons, etc! I don’t really remember where everyone lives in the village, but I figured I can just shout out “American” and they’ll know what I’m doing. Of course there’s a chance that they’ll think I’m crazy, I’m willing to take it J

The first night of my host family was amazing. They offered so much fresh food, tea (chai) and hospitality. I toured their home which is absolutely lovely. I have my own room with lock and key. There is another building for eating, cooking, brushing teeth and so on. And of course the infamous outhouse. Which actually shouldn’t be infamous at all. It’s nice and cushy. Also the banya!!! The banya is a like a steam room where the family gets together and bathes. Of course, we as Americans aren’t used to it, but it seems efficient. It’s a steam room and there’s a bucket where you can sponge bath. It gets very hot in there. There is also sun shower where you have a bucket of water in the air above you that has been heated by the sun and it pours over you. It was excellent! So far (the two days I’ve been in this town) I’ve showered everyday! I’m being spoiled! The food here is also amazing! Fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower and so on—all from their garden. They’ve been totally great about me being vegetarian, I partially think that because meat is so expensive here. They probably breathed a sigh of relief to see that We always have chai (tea) at all meals, and so far, what we don’t eat from the meal before, we have it again—again very efficient.

My host family has one mama, Tatiyana, and papa with one older daughter who comes to visit all the time, who has two children (6 and 10 mo). They are Russian and are great hosts. They’ve had many volunteers in the past so they know what to do. Mostly, they try to explain, but I just nod my head and hope that I didn’t agree to marriage ;). They give me the space I need, but am always there when I need them, like a 2 in the morning potty trip.

So far, no gross stories! Sorry folks, great experience so far, except that I miss you all! I’ll keep you updated.

Hi! I’m here

2008-07-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hi! I’m here, Bishkek. There’s so much to write, but I’ll be brief. We got in to the hotel around 3 or 3:30 and were exhausted. But we weren’t quite done. We got to the hotel, buddied up with roommates, and then had to receive more paperwork! Woohoo. After that, we had to try fried bread and greasy butter. It was good. Then, we get up to our room, completely soviet union. A small room, two small beds, and a bathroom. The hotel was slowly falling apart with doors that didn’t work, and freezing freezing water. There was no shower curtain and you cannot, I repeat, cannot drink the water. The next morning, we still woke up and started the workshops welcoming us to Kyrgyz Republic and Peace Corps.

Food has been excellent so far. Fresh fruit (oranges, bananas, watermelon, and apricots) apparently expensive this time of the year and should be considered a treat. In the mornings, we are served unsweetened yogurt in glasses, tea, eggs, and some sort of meat. Speaking of, I’ve learned the Russian word for vegetarian, vegetarianka, pretty simple! Lunch has been great too. I’m glad I am trying new things, we had spicy noodles, spicy vegetable mixes, soup and I had rice and corn. Vegetarians are an oddity, so they just take the meat out of the meal. So like my soup was still very meat-like. Tea at every meal of course! Which is really well. The last two nights I haven’t gotten dinner because when I say vegetarianka, they say ok but then just don’t bring the vegetarian meal. Oops! We’re being stuffed with food so far.

The Peace Corps staff is amazing, too. I didn’t realize there’d be so many to help us through this process. Many program managers and language and culture teachers are here to help us, it’ll be ok ma! I feel very secure in asking for help and needing support. Tomorrow we meet our prospective host families. My language teacher is named Ucer and my host family’s mothers name is Tatiyana.

Ooh, by the way, I can see the snow covered mountains from my bedroom!

turkey

2008-07-06T02:02:00.000-07:00

we're at the turkish airport and it's like 5 am in the us right now something and noon here. the first flight wasn't that bad, you know that it was my first long flight, but i slept for oh i don't know a couple of hours and they had two movies but i had bought a watch in philly because my alarm clock wasn't an alarm clock at all! well i set it for 6 the day before and it went off at 6 today, and then again at 6:05 and again at 6:10, ooh until it was 6:40 when everyone was trying to sleep! embarrasing. now we're just waiting for our flight to bishkek, some went into the city but i didn't because i wanted to play it safe with timing. Istanbul is beautiful and different although a apple juice costs 5.50! and then i found out i have internet! it's weird coming here and knowing that all i knew was left behind and entering this whole new exciting life!

so far, we found that we will be in small villages around the city of Kant with people in our same programs. that's about it! we start our training on thursday and go right to it!

i'm relatively eager to meet my host family. i don't think we'll say anything to each other for the first couple nights so it will be awkward maybe i can just get alot of sleep. also with my alarm clock going crazy i hope i can wake up on time for stuff. tomorrow we start our day at 11. (because we get in to the hotel at 3:30 in the morning).

In PHILLY!

2008-07-04T04:19:00.001-07:00

hi everyone! well, i've made it to my first destination, Philadelphia. i got here thursday morning, after not sleeping at all and then having to be at the airport at 4. thanks for coming dad, mom, ross, dustin, and crystal!!! a bittersweet send off no doubt. after that my trip was ok, in Minneapolis i found two more people headed my way and it was great to meet new people and find out they had the same anxieties as i did. the first day was just ice breakers (fun :)) and some tips on safety. we also did all anxieties and aspirations and what it really means to be a PeaceCorps volunteer. Too bad i was so exhausted from the packing all night and staying up all day that i could barely keep my eyes open! that's ok i went to bed early, and now am getting ready for the second day of training. keep in touch! i leave tomorrow morning at 7 for Istanbul, wish me luck!

the Switzerland of Central Asia

2008-06-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

I thought i better post this just in case people didn't know what Kyrgyzstan was or where. It's pretty small; about the size of South Dakota with a population of 5 million. I'm sure you can just google the country but...

It reached it's independence in 1991 from Russia. People there mostly speak Kyrgyz...surprise, surprise and russian. Biggest religion is Islam. Kyrgyzstan has an adult literacy rate of 97 percent. Walnuts are big there. The temperature ranges from polar in the mountains to subtropical in the valleys.

Well, since i'm a Poli Sci and Women's studies kinda lady....they have a democratic republic with President Kurmanbek Bakiev and Priime Minister Igor Chudinov. The legislative branch is one supreme council of 90 seats (sadly a single digit percentage of women). Women, they have a little bit of an issue in the Kyrgyz Republic. DON'T GET WORRIED...even though it is illegal, bride kidnapping is still prevalent. the average annual salary of a woman is $34. Women, traditionally, are still assumed the home maker and child bearer. The government has really worked on making the lives of women better, but in some areas, it has really regressed. The government has really worked, but without stable leaders and corruption all over, laws are rarely enforced.

11 days!

2008-06-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

So It's eleven days until I leave for Philly! I haven't started packing yet...of course. I've been going through the stuff i need to pack and the stuff i think I'm going to want.

It's hard packing my life up in to two suitcases. Maybe I'll just leave it up to the night before i have to leave--stress reliever and take my mind off of the mountain sheep and measles I'm about to encounter :)

hopefully, everyone can stay in touch....i'm gonna say it now...please write (email or mail)! I'm gonna need the love....

if you're sending me mail

2008-06-19T14:39:00.001-07:00

If you're sending me mail.....

this is my address for the first three months!

KYRGYZSTAN

722140 Kant City

Lenina 97, RUPS

P.O. Box 22

ATTN:Justine Johnson

Кыргызстан

722140 г. Кант

ул. Ленина 97, РУПС

а/я 22

At the post office: The U.S. Postal Service uses the name Kyrgyzstan. The country names “Kyrgyz Republic” and “Kyrgyzstan” are interchangeable and are equally recognized. You may need to clarify to the postal clerk that the package is to be sent to Kyrgyzstan. Airmail delivery of letters and packages generally take between 4-10 days. Your post office will be able to assist in determining a reliable and cost-effective way of shipping items to the Trainee.

A note on sending packages: Please be sure to seal all packages with strong packing tape. Insuring the package may discourage tampering and pilfering. Unfortunately, from time to time Peace Corps Trainees and Volunteers have found that their packages have been tampered with, opened, and/or pilfered of the items inside. PC/Kyrgyz Republic cannot be held responsible for damaged or open packages.

Less than a month!

2008-06-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have less than one month before my departure to the Kyrgyz Republic! I leave July 2nd for pre-service training!!! then off to the Kyrgyz Republic!

I can't believe it! I'm going through all the things I need to pack, the people I want to see, and the things and language I need to learn. It's an intense feeling knowing I'm on the adventure of a lifetime!