Hiking in Issyk Ata

Right before training ended, we took a day trip into the mountains just South of Bishkek to a resort town called Issyk Ata. We didn't partake in any of the resort's ammenities, but instead chose to hike up though hills.


Traditional Kyrgyz yurts used a temporary residence for bringing livestock to the mountains during the summer.


Sasha and I hiking in Issyk Ata.


Beautiful grazing horses in the mountains. I know we speculated before I left for Kyrgyzstan, what would Kyrgyz horses look like?

Osh Site Visit

I visited my site back in May to meet with my organization and my new host family. It was such a pleasant trip that I did not want to return to training. Osh is an awesome city.

My new host mother Gavhar, sister Nigora, and I in front of our house.


My new host parents, Gavhar and Kadir.


My new host brother Aibek was visiting from the army and we all wanted to take pictures together. The younger brother is named Atabek.


We went rollerblading at the square, where little Asel had the hardest time!


Nigora and my new friends Umut and Asel.

Celebrating Easter with the Family

Back in my training village, we celebrated Russian Orthodox Easter as a family. I cannot remember whether or not I explained this tradition already, but I want to show the pictures.

An important part of the day was visiting the grave sites of those family members who cannot be present physically to celebrate with us. Many families brough picnics and set up tables next to the grave stones. Everyone brings flowers, candies, and gifts to lay on the graves. It was a festive environment, yet still quite sad.

Then we had guests over and ate a delicious lunch at the outside table. All of the guests came bearing gifts and colored eggs. It's as if the eggs are colored only to present to other families. So, by the end of the day, we had many colored eggs, but none of which we dyed ourselves.

Mama Luba and Veka as they prepare to dye the eggs using old panty hose. The dye is made from the skins of red onions and the designs are made using weeds/leaves from the garden.


Sasha and I - displaying the beautiful eggs that we helped dye.

Keepin busy in spite of the heat...

My first week at work went really well. I still anticipate a long adjustment period before I really get my hands dirty. Yesterday I did get to tag along on some outreach work, which was really interesting. The whole office participated in a training on Friday on Outreach Work and Consultation on HIV. It was challenging for me linguistically, but I enjoyed connecting with my coworkers. Now I'm pouring most of my time into a grant that has a quickly approaching deadline. I don't want to jinx it, so I'll tell more about it if I get it.

But don't worry! There's fun to be had. Our city has several cool beer gardens, excellent ice cream, and a gigantic public pool. Long story short, this summer is starting off nicely.

Orphanages

Several orphanages hosted us during the first few months for various trainings. We are greatly indebted to them for their hospitality. Luckily, we had lots of time to play!


Teaching and playing with the children from the Dmitrievka orphanage.


More Dmitievka orphanage fun.


Carnival games and such at Kirgshelk orphanage.


Letting the orphans get hold of the facepaint was one of the funniest mistakes of training.

Way Off Topic

I know this is off topic, but I feel out of the loop as to what is cool right now in America. Let me know what you're enjoying right now, here's the dish on my current tastes:

When it was still gloomy this Spring I was diggin Bon Iver's latest EP, specifically the title track Blood Bank. Check it out. But now that it's sunny and hot, hot, hot in Osh, I'm liking the poppy stuff that you can hear in every bar/restaurant in town. Most of all they love Akon (crazy, I know). I will admit he has some catchy tunes.

Also, speaking summer, please tell me that you've checked out Summer Heights High. It's a hilarious mockumentary orignally aired on Australian TV. It makes me laugh after I've had a long day in Kyrgyzstan.

First Host Family

I had to say goodbye to my great host family in my northern Kyrgyzstani village. I'm excited to call the South my home now, but I wanted to share some pics from the family that I will miss.


My adorable host neices, Nastia and Veka, playing with our newest baby kitten. Spring in the village means lots of babies (chickens, lambs, bunnies, and puppies too).


Mama Luba and I in her garden. PC made us pose for this one, she's not fond of being photographed so I have to thank them for making her.


Nastia and Veka again, this time at our Going Away party.


Mama Maria gracefully hosted us for all of our language lessons, while Albina (the younger woman) taught us from the very beginning. We were certainly difficult to communicate with at the time, but they did their best! This photo is from Sasha's birthday party.

More from Culture Day

Luxembourg volunteers performing the ceremony of a Kyrgyz baby's first crib.



Young Kyrgyz kids tired after a long day of performances.



Bride and groom celebrating their "Russian Wedding."


All of the host families and participants of our village's cultural presentation. We were very proud.

Kyrgyz Kindness

So far the Kyrgyz people have treated me with such kindness. My training host mother is a prime example and it's hard to say how much I've been able to give back. I know that I've definitely listened to her more than most of her family. Unfortunately, many of those one-sided conversations involved me feigning understanding (I am way too good at this!). But the night before I would be leaving her house to move to the south, we really had a nice heart-to-heart. We talked about life and love and how difficult it is to make decisions that affect other people.

My language skills are slowly improving to the point that I can address more complex topics, but I think this conversation was more special than that. After living with her everyday for the past 11 weeks, she and I have developed our own communication methods. She knows when to gesture to bring the point across and what vocabulary I am most familiar with. Vice versely, she can understand my misnomers and poorly constructed sentences more than anyone. The heart-to-heart conversation made it more difficult to say goodbye. She shed some tears as we parted ways on Wednesday, and for me, reflecting back on it right now evokes a similar emotion.

I just can't get over how human beings overcome so many obstacles to communicate with one another. It's fascinating and inspiring. I'm also at that point where I wonder: Did I really need another person to miss? I have plenty on the other side of the planet!

Kind marshrutka drivers, kind local children, and many more kind hearted community members have given me a warm impression of this country. Everything about this country is so different than I expected, but I somehow feel exactly like I expected I would.

The big 2. 1.

I want to wish my very special brother a very happy birthday! I wish I could be there to celebrate his 21st birthday!

Know that somewhere on the other side of the globe, a table full of Russians, Kyrgyz, and Americans are saying a toast to congratulate you. No joke.

Now I can breath easily

Bam! 10 weeks into language training, I reached Intermediate-Mid on my Language Proficiency Interview. I feel so relieved to have reached the goal that I set for myself. I hit some sort of Russian plateau a few weeks ago, but I powered through.

Now we have but a few more days in our training villages, to say goodbye and to celebrate our accomplishments. We're throwing a party on Sunday for all the host families in my village. We're supposed to cook American dishes for them, but I skeptical as to how they'll taste. It's bittersweet to leave this village that has been so welcoming. I have promised to visit. The 'swearing-in' ceremony on this upcoming Wednesday is a big day. We will officially become Peace Corps Volunteers.