Saturday, February 10, 2007

I Conquered Two Fears in One Day

Last weekend, I went to the mountains with Jason's host family. The uncle and his wife have a sweet set-up, with a house at the base of the mountains. The house is small, but only 2 people live there so its not cramped. The plot of land has a huge barn and animal pen with approximately 20-30 newborn kids and lambs. One of them was born an hour before we arrived. The mother's placenta was still lying on the ground, which was a little unsightly. But it's a natural occurrence in life.

I walked with the uncles to the end of the farm and they showed Jason and me their broken water pump. Jason is helping them write a grant to get a new pump (but the organization we were writing for may turn out to be too problematic). From the end of the farm I rode a horse (first time in my life!) back to the house. It was fantastic and I wasn't too scared once I got on. The horse was walking at the same pace as the guys. I guess I didn't have too much to be scared about.

At the house the women were preparing lunch, and they taught me to make some basic homemade noodles. Gulnara, Jason's host-mom, has been teaching me to cook different dishes. Ainash never really taught me any recipes because she was too busy. I feel like I'm moving in on his family a little bit. Especially since I don't have a host family anymore.

After lunch, we hiked up what I say is a mountain and Jason says was a large hill. Either way, it was tall for this heights-fearing girl. When I reached the top I felt like I had conquered the world…but then I had to climb back down. It wasn't a pretty site.

We headed back to the house and crashed for a little while. I was lying on the ground with the kids, when one of the toddlers through a cow's knee cap bone into the air. The knee cap landed between my eyes and it was painful. I have a history of being hit in the face by strange objects. This one did less damage than the other times, but I was dangerously close to tears. With 6 adults and 4 kids in the room, I had to hold them in. Luckily, I don't have any marks – just a quickly waning bruise. As a consolation, Eliza (the culprit) gave me a kiss to make my booboo feel better. That trick will always work for me.

Now for an update on my work in Karakol. I have several different projects keeping me busy these days – so busy I often feel like my head is spinning out of control.

  • I wrote a grant with Ecotrek for 4 new bicycles and equipment for Ecotrek, which was half-funded. It's a start.
  • I have English club 2 days a week for 2 hours each with high school and university students. Last week we talked about racism, Jim Crow laws, and the Civil Rights Movement. They thoroughly enjoyed the discussion and thanked me after club for teaching them so much. They were surprised that the US has these types of problems since it's a common belief that the US is perfect. Next week, our discussions will be about Martin Luther King, Jr., the history of Jazz and biographies of some artists, and Valentine's Day. I gave them a list of topics to choose from and this is what they've chosen. I am incredibly proud of them.
  • March 1st will be the Career Planning Seminar I've been working on. It will be a one day seminar for 10th & 11th form students to help them decide what to do after high school. It will also address issues such as gender roles in the work place and human trafficking. I hope it goes well.
  • At the new hotel in town, I am giving cooking lessons to the kitchen staff. Our first lesson was supposed to be in the coming week, but the head chef went on holiday. We're rescheduling in order for her to attend. They have requested breakfast foods first. The line-up of recipes will include biscuits & gravy, eggs Benedict, Irish soda bread, coffee cake, and whatever else I can think of.
  • With local English teachers and a youth volunteer organization, I am helping to plan a fairly large summer camp. It is called The Leadership & Development Camp 2007 and will be for 40 high school age students on a whole slew of sensitive topics (we'll have fun activities and delicious foods too). We spent the past few days writing a grant for the camp. Today I found out the organization I was writing the proposal for, might not let us know until late July/early August. My camp is in late June. We're still going to submit the grant, with a note that we would need the money in early June. If anyone knows of another organization that may be interested in funding the camp, please pass the information my way.
  • Take Our Daughters to Work Day will be coming to Karakol!!! I am going to match up successful women in Karakol with high school age girls. The girls will have a list of questions prepared to ask the women, and we will have related activities before and after the day.
  • The website is still waiting for information from Ecotrek. It's been 3 months that I've been asking for the information. Enough said. I'm also working on an Access database to keep track of their records and accounting.
  • Forestry project. I am working with some locals to write a grant for a tree nursery. After 5 years, the trees will be ready for planting throughout the mountains. In the meantime, Environmental Clubs will be established at local schools with gardens and eventually their own trees. It's a huge project and I'm a little nervous about it. Hopefully, I will have a successor that will oversee this project once I leave.

There are other, smaller projects that I work on as well but I can't list forever. I've become the person everyone comes to with a problem. It's good that people depend on me, but its also A LOT of responsibility. I feel too grown up and I want to revert back to my more irresponsible days.



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