July 13, 2006

I have resisted that daily journal so as to be replaced with my weekly ramblings. So here they began, on the evening of everything and nothing. It has officially been one week. One week with Peace Corps and fours days in Kyrgyzstan. In one week, I have taken an uncharted tour through my emotions. A new language, a new country, new friends, and a new love; I expected them all, just not in such heavy doses.
It may be a lack of perspective, but I love this country. There are so many little things that I have fallen in love with already. From the slight games with my host sister to smile of understanding from all of my host family, the “conversations” in Kyrgyz on the corner to “spreading American culture” with the neighborhood kids with the up and down fist knock greeting. This being my first “journal” entry, I do want to avoid the cliché “I love everything” statements. But I can’t help it, there is so much that I am enjoying about my time here right now. A lot of life is overwhelming right now, and I love that. I love the feeling of trying to tame chaos; there is a very rewarding feeling in not controlling the chaos, but rather studying it in order to tame it.
Adding to the chaos has been the new language, Kyrgyz. Kyrgyz is very different, but no where near as difficult from English because of its groups of similar sounding consonants and vowels. I love the language, and yes, I am bias. It feels so good to be formally learning a language in a setting that offers so many informal learning opportunities. I love learning a phrase and then heading home to my host family to practice it.
Speaking of my host family, they are perfect. Again, I am bias and still in the “everything new is everything I love” phase. But I can’t think of nothing else to say. My family oddly fits with the American norm: A lovely couple with three kids (one boy and two girls), two dogs (one puppy!), and a house with a picket fence (ok, maybe not picket, but a fence). The children a incredible, they have been my saviors. The youngest, a little girl in first grade named Makuu (8), is my play buddy. She has already become the little sister I’ve always wanted. The two older children have taken their roles as perfect younger siblings who help in any way possible and have offered up their hearts and their homes to me. Bak (21), is the crude younger brother who in time will be teaching me all of the Kyrgyz slang; Aika (15 going on 30) is incredible, she has been a teacher for me always willing to help me with my Kyrgyz, all the while taking on more “motherly” duties that some mothers do. The whole family has opened their lives to me, and with no resistance at all, they have let me become a part of their everyday lives. There will really never be a way to repay them for what they are doing for me, but I will try.

Love. Everywhere. Peace, 7/13/06

7/16/06

Hello to all, I am sorry it has been some time since my last correspondence; I am only able to write once we get into Kant (which is still not a guarantee that we can get to a internet café). I will start my saying the obvious, I miss you all, a ton.
Life here has been crazy; there is so much to take in. The bombardment of language, the smells, the food, the people; it all can be very overwhelming at times, but I love it. I am having the time of my life right now and I am reminded day in and day out that I made the right decision in doing this.
My basic schedule for the next three months will goes as follows (with the exception of out of site trips like the trip coming up this weekend (***)

Monday: Language Class, 8-12/12-2:30
Tuesday: Hub Day in Kant (TEFL training)
Wednesday: Tech Day (We honestly have not had one of these yet, so I am not sure what it is yet.)
Thursday: Language Class, 8-12/12-2:30
Friday: Language Class, 8-12/12-2:30
Saturday: Language Class, 8-12
Sunday: Weekend

*** This coming Thursday we (Our whole group of 61 Volunteers in Training) will be heading in groups to spend three days with a current Volunteer/s. We do not know where yet, so I will be sure to let you all know how it goes the next time I write.

As for my host family, they are incredible. My family consists of my Apa and Ata (Mother and Father), 2 sisters (Makuu – 8 and Aika – 14), 1 brother (Bakyll – 21), two dogs (Boran – 7 and Rex – 3 months old), and a few random chickens and turkeys. I am slowly but surely becoming part of their family; the more I begin to fit it, the easier it is to stop thinking about how much I miss all of you (I have gone through all of my pictures a few times since I’ve been here, and they really do help me stay connected to everyone. I miss you all, but I know you understand why I am here). I’m taking baby steps and moving away from being the guest to a member of the family. They are gradually letting me help around the house. My Apa (mother) is an incredible cook and my oldest sister (Aika, who is 14 going on 40) is one hell of a cook also. If Aika is cooking and/or cleaning up, I can usually get to her to let me help. I’m still working on my Apa.
As for the village, Nurmanbet (outside of Kant) is a wonderful little village that very noticeably took a hit from the fall of the USSR. There are unfinished buildings everywhere, remnants of a small factory near the main school, and a large empty rock quary near the edge of town. At first glance, this place could seem pretty run down and empty, but as you already know from my tone, this place is far, far from that. On my walk to and from class everyday, I have met some of the greatest people. Being summer, there tends to be an abundance of children around during my walk home for lunch, which is always fun. They all know “Hello” and love to yell it to us; so we love to surprise them and respond in Kyrgyz. Besides the children, the local people love that we are learning Kyrgyz and, with a small exception here and there, are more than happy to let us practice with them on the streets.
There is definitely more animals in Nurmanbet than on any average American farm. The difference with these animals though, (Chickens, Ducks, Turkeys, Donkeys, Dogs, Bull, Cow) many of them are out wandering the streets without cages or leashes. It’s wild to walk into my drive way and see Rex and two turkeys wandering around in the driveway. We definitely stand out in the village (there are two separate groups of six Volunteers in Nurmanbet; each group has a different language teacher—our teacher, Ratbu, is the shit, I love her—so we meet for separate classes but we still are able to meet to hang out after class), but that was a given. The people in Nurmanbet are great people and have been very gracious hosts to us so far.
Our acceptance in the community is growing more and more as we prove to everyone here in the village that we really want to learn their language and respect their culture and village. It has also helped, personally, having an addiction to soccer (an addiction that was truly tested when British Airways apologized for not being to show the World Cup final, and that they could only give periodic updates). John, another Volunteer in Nurmanbet, and I have shown the local soccer players that we can hang, and on Sunday they invited us to the Chong Futbol Game (basically translating as the Big Soccer Game). It was a lot of fun, besides the fact that we were destroyed by the elevation, and I am clearly out of shape.
My language group (six of us total) is a really cool group with some very different and very interesting people. There is an equal guy to girl ratio, and everyone is 22/23 with the exception of two people (Brandon - 25 and Bridget - 28). By a very random act of fate, the girl that I became close with during the staging event, the long flight, and the two days in Bishkek ended up being in my language group and living in my village. Her name is Catherine Elizabeth Marshall and she is incredible. I can honestly say now (with some reserve by not wanting to sound cliché) that I have a girlfriend. She is 23 and from Miami, hates cold weather, and graduated with a double major in English and Psychology from the University of Miami-Florida. She has me smitten, that’s it, plain and simple. We have had some big laughs about the cliché Peace Corps romance, but there is nothing either of us could have done to stop this. It is definitely another set of emotions thrown on the pile, but I welcome it; it’s been a while since I’ve been able to go through the fun of exploring the mind of someone as you get closer and closer to them. We are being very careful with displaying any outward affection to both the village and other Volunteers; we’ve figured we will let time reveal what is wants to the other volunteers and, in order to respect the village, we show nothing more than mutual friendship in public.

Ah man, life here has been nuts, and I love it. I was meant to do this, I know that now. I was given a book the read the other day (as if I don’t have enough already; Peace Corps gives out 6.3 millions books/pamphlets to read and study) called The Alchemist. Here is a quote the introduction that hit home:

“If we have courage to disinter dream, we are the faced with [an obstacle]: love. We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. We do not realize that love is just a further impetus, not something that will prevent us from going forward. We do not realize that those who genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


Thank you all for accompanying me on this journey.

Love. Everywhere. Peace,

Jason