Thursday, February 16, 2006

Happy V-Day!

02/02/06
Life became too much of a soap opera at my first house so I moved in with a new family. My last host sister was being catty and I thought the best way to remedy that would be to move. Now I have a host mom (Ainash, 40) and host brother (Samat, 14). Ainash’s daughter is 18 and married, and recently had a baby.

My new house has 3 rooms, some outdoor storage rooms, and a big fenced in yard. I have a big room with 2 beds and the fireplace is half in my room. The room stays warm most of the time. I don’t have all of the amenities I did at the apartment, but I now have room for a garden. I have an outhouse, and wood/coal burning fireplace. Today I spent 2 hours doing laundry in a bucket in my bedroom. And I only washed 4 shirts, 2 pants and some undergarments. It takes a long time.

Today Samat brought a dying bird to me. Jolborz, the dog, was playing with it. The problem with Jolborz is he’s too rough; I fear for my fingers whenever I give him a piece of food. I knew the bird was going to die, but I had to try to save it. So I put it in a box with one of my shirts. We cleared the mud out of his mouth and gave it some water. But the poor thing died an hour later. Even though I knew it would happen, I was praying the little guys would make it. And I was very sad that he didn’t. All my Kyrgyz friends say I shouldn’t be upset because I can go to the bazaar and buy a new one. They’re missing the point.

I started teaching English at one of the schools. It’s an extra class for the students because their schedules are already filled up. They’re eager to learn when they show up. Sometimes all of them are absent at the same time. The staff is less than thrilled about me, though I don’t know why. All I ask of them is to unlock the classroom for me. They didn’t have to deal with Peace Corps at all or pay me, and I think they should be a little bit grateful. But what do I know?

I’m reading War and Peace, though I have less time to read now. I have a schedule of trainings that I’m giving to my NGO. I’m clueless on how to give trainings, and will be completely winging it. They have this crazy idea that I know everything about business. I don’t even like business, which is why I joined the Peace Corps. But some kook made me a business volunteer. Anyhow, my first training is next week about Motivation & Team Building. Exciting.

02/15/06
I thought I was getting away from the Valentine holiday! The Kyrgyz folk celebrate it as well, though its more about spending time with friends than about romance and buying things. I was shocked at how many people were out in the streets at night. It was like New Year’s or any other holiday. They celebrate all of the holidays in the same fashion: eat and drink with friends.

I also went to Manas Ordo on V-Day. Manas is the epic hero of Kyrgyzstan. Every culture has their legends and fairy tales, but in Kyrgyzstan centuries of stories are all combined into this one man. He was from Talas and his tomb is here. He was not actually buried here though. In 1995 it was the 1,000 year anniversary of Manas, and all over the country monuments were constructed in his honor. Every time you go to a different part of the country, they want to take you to their Manas complex. The one in Talas is nice, with tree-lined brick paths and a man made hill that overlooks the park. I had a translator and here’s what I’ve learned about Manas so far (though I haven’t read the book yet):

Manas is the epic hero of Kyrgyzstan and is from Talas. His parents were unable to bear children until they were 48. His father, the king, had a dream telling him he would have a son. Manas became king of the Kyrgyz people (consisting of 40 warring tribes) in the 10th century. He united the tribes [His leadership brought the ancestors of today’s Kyrgyz people together] and led them in war against the Chinese, who were trying to conquer the Kyrgyz. He was a fearless leader, and the Chinese were having a difficult time trying to kill him. During the last 6 months of his life, he was living in Beijing. He had hired a Chinese cook, who turned out to be treacherous. The cook told the Chinese warriors that there was no way to kill Manas in battle, but they could catch him by surprise. While Manas was praying, a Chinese man stabbed him with a sword from behind. As he was dying he told his wife to bury him in an unknown place to prevent enemies from stealing his body and to build a tomb in another place, which happens to be Talas. When he died, his son (Semetei) was a baby. Semetei grew to be a famous warrior, as well as his son, Seitek.

The Manas Ordo is considered a holy site. After walking down a path for a little while, we reached the tomb that Kanykei, Manas’ wife built (her name actually means King’s Wife). We sat in front of the tomb (a small building) with a man who read the Koran and said a prayer. It’s interesting that they’ve turned this legendary hero into part of their Muslim religion.

It’s an interesting story, and I am anxious to find the books in English. I’m heading to Bishkek in a few weeks, and I’ve gotten the names of some good bookstores. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they have a good selection of Kyrgyz authors in English.