New Phone

I was in Bishkek today with a few of my friends. We went to the Hyatt to use the ATM and change money. We were walking through the lobbies like starry eyed kids because everything was so clean and pretty. Six months ago that wouldn’t have phased me. Now I notice every detail. We were so excited to use the bathrooms too, they’re just like the ones in America. I confess that we stole some toilet paper. I felt so low class, but that didn’t stop me. I was impressed by how nice the people were. They knew we weren’t going to spend money, but they didn’t treat us bad like they would in the U.S. We relaxed for a while and had a cup of American coffee. It was delicious, but expensive. The cost was 90 com or $2.25, but these days that’s a lot of money.

We had our language proficiency interview a few days ago. Peace Corps hired a woman who used to teach Russian to volunteers, but wasn’t invited back due to bad reviews. Anyhow, she came to our village and we each had a 15 minute interview. She was horrible. She didn’t smile at anyone and didn’t respond to our jokes or questions. Lemon Face (the nickname we gave her) gave me a low score, but my Kyrgyz learning has been going very well. My teacher went in after I came out and explained to her that the score does not reflect my ability. Lemon Face changed my score, but it still doesn’t reflect my language skill. I was so upset, that I had to walk out on her to keep my temper in check. It felt like Lemon Face undermined all of the work I’ve put into this language with a 15 minute interview. And I have a lot of pride, which made me angrier when I didn’t score higher than everyone else. I came home and cried in my room for a long time. When my Apa realized how upset I was, she went to my teacher’s house and asked her why her daughter was crying. My Apa says I speak Kyrgyz well and the examiner was wrong, and then she brought my teacher home. Apa even put her teeth in before she went to my teacher’s house. Now that’s love. I didn’t think my family had grown too fond of me, but I guess they just have a different way of showing it.

I hope everyone at home had a great Thanksgiving. It didn’t feel like Thanksgiving here. I went to a café with some other volunteers for our feast. We had a great time. I got some of my friends to do the Turkey Dance to a techno song. The tradition lives on! Then I had everyone singing any song we knew. We sat in that café singing for a few hours, which I absolutely loved. I hope Christmas goes as easily as Thanksgiving did, but I doubt it will. The Kyrgyz people thought that Friday was a holiday as well, and we couldn’t figure out why. They saw footage of people mobbing the stores for the Day After Thanksgiving sales, and thought it was a holiday of some sort. The worst things about American culture are the ones that get exported on a mass scale. I constantly have to negate misperceptions people get from watching movies. And they also think that all black people are bad. They rarely see them in Kyrgyzstan and see bad characters on TV. That’s one of the things that bothers me the most, but I can’t change them. I can only offer a little insight that skin color doesn’t matter, and hope they take it to heart.

My Daily Routine

Last week I received a letter from my Great Aunt Mary with lots of new questions about my life here in Kyrgyzstan. Responses are posted here.

When my Apa picked me up at the PCV luncheon she traveled with all of the Apas that are hosting volunteers in Bolshevik and Ak-Beshim. The family that my teacher lives with has a marshrutka, which fits 14 people plus the driver. Mike & Brenda’s host family has a zeal (a big truck they use for farming) and we brought our luggage in that. About 3-4 men were there to take care of our luggage, because the zeal is very tall and our bags were heavy.

To get into Tokmok there are 3 choices for transportation. There’s a bus which costs about $0.15 to ride. If we get up early enough, Alishear will give us a ride in the marshrutka before he goes to work. If we need to get into town quickly, and neither of the first two works out, we can hitchhike. That’s not my favorite way to travel, but sometimes I just have to. To get back to Bolshevik from Tokmok, we have all of these modes of transportation plus taxis. But they charge more, and everyone in the village knows when we come home in a taxi. I try to avoid it because I don’t like people to know exactly what I spend money on and then start asking how much I get paid. I don’t make much, but I think I make a little more than them. Plus, my stipend is mostly disposable at this point – I don’t have a family to support.

Next is a description of my typical day. On Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday I have language classes. I get up at 7:00am, wash up, dress, and have breakfast. Breakfast has been an ongoing battle with my Apa. I always try to make it to the table before she cooks my food so I can make instant oatmeal, but she usually wins. I think I could come to breakfast at 3am and she would have something on the table already. She makes 1 of 4 things: fried eggs with lots of butter, fried potatoes with lots of butter, oatmeal or Cream of Wheat. I actually detest Cream of Wheat, but I’ve found that if I load it up with raisins its bearable. One raisin in every bite is good. I have to ask for any type of fruit – dried or fresh. Fruit isn't freely offered, but they have a lot of apples in storage. They are saving them for the winter. After breakfast, I go to my teacher’s house. That’s where we have class – in the dining room. Class is from 8:00am-12:30pm with a tea break at 10:00. Whoever’s Apa is making lunch that day sends snacks for chai (tea). We usually have bread, homemade jam, cookies and candy. At 12:30 we go to one of the host family’s houses for lunch. They make an impressive spread with bread, jam, candy, salad, tea, and 1 or 2 main dishes.

My first teacher was Kanykei, and my second teacher is Nurguz. They are both Kyrgyz, though some people have Russian or Uzbek teachers. Our village has 6 trainees including me. (We’re actually trainees – not volunteers – until December 3rd when we have our swearing in ceremony). The other volunteers are:

~Mike & Brenda – 35 & 32, Mike is from Chicago, Brenda is from Colorado where they were living for the past 15ish years

~Trent & Rejoyce – in their 30s, from Virginia, Trent was a jeweler and Rejoyce was a kindergarten teacher, a very eccentric couple

~Andrew – 22, from Kansas City, just graduated college with an Economics degree

On Tuesday we have technical training. We take the marshrutka to Tokmok, where the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteers go to the school and the SOCD (Sustainable Organizational and Community Development – fancy label for Business) Volunteers take another marshrutka for another 30 minutes to a town called Ivanovka. The SOCD volunteers go to a dilapidated old building that used to be a collective during Soviet times. In the states it would be condemnable and even here its sub par. But the SOCD directors have ignored our protests. There’s no heat, lots of critters living on the ceiling, and I won’t even describe the toilet situation. Its absolutely disgusting. There’s also live wires hanging out of the wall. The Peace Corps pays to use the space. Last week, we made our voices heard about the conditions. This week I hear we’re going to a different location.

On Wednesday, we have "Hub Day". All of the volunteers go to the school in Tokmok. We have a Medical session, Safety & Security, and Cross Cultural. This is also where we get vaccinations. The sessions aren’t that great, but it’s the only day that everyone is together and we get mail. Also, sometimes current volunteers come to give us advice and answer questions for us. They’re the best source of information, so I really enjoy when they come.

On Sundays, I usually do laundry. Today is Sunday, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I already spent 2 hours and only got half of it done. But I have 2 weeks worth of clothes (I was traveling last Sunday). I ran out of hot water and my Apa said I can finish the rest in the БАНЯ. Sometimes its so hot in there that I think I’ll pass out before I finish washing. And washing clothes by hand does require some exertion, so I don’t know if that’ll work out. And we use lye soap for our clothes. It gets them clean, but it also eats the clothes up. It always makes me sad after I’ve washed my clothes and see that the soap is taking the color out.

Once I’m finished with school, my days are free. I usually visit a little with the old ladies on this street. When I get home I read, write in my journal and study language. I usually only spend the hour of dinner with my family. Speaking another language is exhausting and by the end of the day, I’m usually frustrated with speaking Kyrgyz. And my Apa won’t slow down and say things so I can understand them, and sadly enough I avoid talking to her too much. My host brother and his wife take the time to help me understand and I usually can figure out everything they say to me.

A Visit to Talas

10/30/05
Today we went to the bazaar to buy supplies for our teacher’s farewell party tomorrow night.
Halfway through training we switch teachers to prepare us for changes that might happen during our training. They don’t want us to get used to regularity. I think it will disrupt our learning process.

Anyhow, our friend Azat took us to a section of the bazaar that I was unaware existed – the chicken bazaar (they sell all livestock there – except for the fine delicacy of pork. Lots of people were pushing and shoving to get to the same place. People were yelling at each other in Kyrgyz, Turkish & Russian. Men were walking their newly bought goats, sheep, cows, etc. through the crowds. The poor creatures had to go through that madness to be taken home to their new family and slaughtered. Women walked past us with live chickens held upside down by their feet to keep them incapacitated. Close to the spot where we bought our chickens was a huge crowd of people. At first we thought they were buying dogs, but we soon realized it was a dog fight. It was too crowded to make my way to the front to see if there was betting, and there’s a lot of pick pockets at that bazaar.

After we bought everything on our list, Mike, Brenda & Andrew went to the internet café and I waited at the bus stop with Azat, the veggies and the chickens. Its perfectly normal for people to bring live animals onto the bus. Some people who live in my village and the neighboring village were asking questions about me for literally an hour. They ask how old I am and if I’m married as soon as they meet me. I was tired, so I pretended not to understand and Azat answered all the Qs. This morning there was a crazy lady on the bus. She kept hitting me hard and getting very close to my face when she would talk to me. I didn’t know if it would be inappropriate for me to tell her not to touch me, but in hindsight I should have. She told me I look Turkish and that she has a handsome son to fix me up with. When she asked if I have a boyfriend, I told her I was dating one of the volunteers on the bus. Yikes!

Another observation I’ve made here is that ALL of the older people either have no teeth or gold teeth. They’ll have their 4 front teeth capped in gold and it’s not unusual. But its no surprise after eating a meal with someone. The adults pour copious amounts of sugar into their tea. One day I brought a bottle of pop home for the little devil and saw my Apa adding more sugar to it for him. No wonder their teeth rot out of their head.

Last Friday I missed the bus going to Tokmok for technical training. I didn't really want to go that day. I just went home and studied language instead. The director, Bulot, called and yelled at my teacher instead of at me. She came over and made me hitchhike to Tokmok. I told her I wasn’t catching a ride with someone I don’t know, but she insisted, saying they do it all the time. I barely know the minimal Kyrgyz we’ve learned and that was a bad idea. But I thought I need to go with the flow – this isn’t a vacation. When I was explaining to Bulot why I was late he didn’t really listen to what I was saying. I also noticed he was cutting the women off in class too, but he listened to the men. Why bother asking me a question if you won’t listen to my f*%cking answer? There’s no room for that in the Peace Corps. But the administration here is lacking. I haven’t felt any support from them since I’ve been here, aside from 2-3 people. And I hear it’s the standard with the Kyrgyzstan staff. What a shame.

11/2/05
I found out my site placement today. I’ll be living in Talas City, working for an NGO called Mediamost. They have internet! I’m living in an apartment with a grandma, mom and daughter. I’m not sure yet what the NGO does, but I’m visiting them next week. They’re new and from what I understand, its supposed to be a fairly cushy job.

Talas is in the northwest of Kyrgyzstan and and is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Here’s an excerpt about Talas Valley from Kyrgyz Republic by Rowan Stewart.

The Talas valley is considered by the Kyrgyz to be the cradle of their spiritual treasures. To the Kyrgyz, every mountain, river and pasture here has a tale to tell of the great national hero Manas, for this where the famous Manas epic is said to have unfolded and where it is said to be buried. The valley’s lesser heo is the 20th century writer, Chinghiz Aitmatov, who wrote compelling fiction showing how Soviet life deprived people of their individuality.

…Appropriately for an area of such mythological and cultural importance, Talas valley feels like a self-contained mini-world of its own; beautiful but isolated. As you descend from the 3,330 metre Otmok pass at the valley’s eastern end, it opens before you, a V-shaped vision of soft rolling hills gradually flattening to a wide serene valley through which the powerful Talas river carves its way. Open plains stretch steppe-like across the silver-green valley floor, while the distant snowy peaks of the Talas range to the south, and the Kyrgyz Ala-Too to the north and east, keep the rest of the world at bay. A major reason for the area’s sense of isolated other-worldness is that it is squeezed between the border restrictions of Kazakhstan on one side and the forbidding Central Tian Shan mountains on the other.

I haven’t been there yet, but I hear wonderful things about the area, the locals and the current volunteers living there. It should be good times.


11/10/05
I'm in Talas City visiting my new home this week. Talas has a population of about 30,000 people so the city is relatively small. I live close to the center in an apartment with my host mom (57), host sister (29) and host neice (7). One of my host brothers lives across the hall with his wife and kids. In the apartment, we have a bathtub with a water heater, a flushable toilet and a washing machine/dryer. At my new office we have a whole bunch of computers with Internet and its really nice in there. I'm at work now :). Which means I'll be able to communicate regularly for the next 2 years, and I'll also have a cell phone by the end of December.

I feel spoiled in Talas, and guilty that I'm not living in rougher conditions. I did not expect to have it so good at all; but I'm sure there will still be plenty of help for me to give. I may be teaching english, or computer skills amongst other projects I can create. The office is a multi-media center, tourism office and handicrafts seller. The tourism part was launched one month ago, and they're hoping to start a radio station soon. I don't think Talas City has one yet. That's what I know so far.