Fall appears to have very quickly come and gone. My walk to the marshrutka (bus/minivan) this morning revealed frost on the ground and ice on the puddles. It was bound to happen sooner or later... Think good thoughts for another warm winter like last year, because my apartment doesn't have any heat and concrete is far from an appropriate building material for this climate...

As of this week, Kyrgyzstan appears to be especially terrified of swine flu. I had one 8th grade student wear a surgical face mask to class. I think people have the sniffles because of the cold weather, they think swine flu. I hope I'm right.

I recently celebrated Halloween in two very different ways. First, I threw parties in my classes. We played games (bobbing for apples, pin the tail on the black cat, making mummies out of classmates and toilet paper), watched The Simpsons, and ate candy, of course. My students all officially love Halloween.

6th grade boys and their mummy.

6th grade girls and their mummy.

6th graders and Aliya make a mummy.

6a!

Pin the tail on the cat

10b makes a mummy.

10b hanging out during the party

Then, for real Halloween, I went to Osh for the official party (aka the social event of the year for Southern Kyrgyzstan). I went as Wonder Woman (in a fully handmade costume, of course -- my red knee-high boots were made from child's tights cut at the knees and worn over black shoes, with duct tape to keep from sliding everywhere. Creative thought really does matter). My friends included several cross-dressing men, Aloo Tien (Kyrgyz 50 Cent), a pirate, a gangster, a cop, and Aiperi ("Moon Fairy", a popular girls' name, who was actually a boy with a paper dress taped around himself), and others. The party was at a restaurant that is also a "German style" brewery. We danced, socialized, and enjoyed a free red beer and pumpkin pizza.

After Halloween was fall break, which was a much-needed rest from school and all. Now we're in the home stretch until Christmas and winter break, where everyone's main concern is simply staying warm...

Fritz, me, and Ginger.

Svet jok and svet bar (there is not electricity and there is not electricity. And Wonder Woman, of course.

Ariel, me, and Tristan

Police, Wonder Woman, and Aloo Tien

Ryan, Lance, and Sarah

Vampire victim, cosmonaut, and 80's girl

Ryan, Martha, Ariel, and Sarah

The dance floor at the party

In the past few weeks I somehow went from teaching two days a week to being surprisingly busy (for a Peace Corps Volunteer, that is). In addition to the four classes (6a, 6b, 10a, and 10b) I teach with Aliya, my counterpart, I have begun to teach two classes (8g and 11g) with a different teacher at my school and hold girls’ club at my school, and a teacher conversation club and English conversation club at the Uzbek private school in town.
Aliya continues to be an amazing resource for me. I am especially enjoying my 10th form this year. 10th grade, according to the textbooks is “America” year. Before school started, I made it clear that I refuse to use the textbooks at all this year, because they are poorly written and include a lot of incorrect information. Instead, I have been writing a lot of my own texts to use in class and designing presentations and activities that I think properly reflect America. My students really seem to be enjoying it, because using my pictures and my own experience is bound to be more interesting than a textbook written by Russians.
My 6th graders are still super cute. It’s hard to not love classes that will giggle that much when we play Hokey Pokey and Simon Says.
The other teacher I am working with is, to put it nicely, extremely frustrating. She’s an extremely nice person, but she isn’t the most dedicated teacher. After several weeks of her skipping classes, showing up an hour late, and leaving the classroom constantly, I finally decided to confront her. I yelled at her when she arrived an hour late to class and threatened to stop working with her. It seems to have worked. After that class, we sat down together and planned a lesson for our next class, and she was even on time to our class the next day! If I learn anything in this country, it’s how to be assertive. It really works. Who knew?
My girls club started this week. I’m really excited about it. I’m planning to just sit around and hang out with the older girls at my school. Today I showed them pictures of my friends, family, Charleston, and India. Then we spent a while just chatting about my future plans (they’re shocked that I don’t want to have a baby until I’m over 30 or that I only want 2), my family, and celebrities. Next time, I promised we could watch a movie. The girls are all really sweet, so I’m excited to spend more time with them. They’re also really patient with each other. We talked in English the whole time, and a few girls didn’t understand, so their friends would translate for them into Kyrgyz. I was very impressed with their ability and willingness to do that.
I’m also really happy to be working at the Uzbek school again. I did clubs there with Fritz and Martha last year, but I’m on my own this year, which I’m ok with. The teachers are really nice and really eager to improve their teaching and their English, so they’re really encouraging to work with. The kids are also amazing. The group this year is much smaller (there were 10 last week), more selective (the teachers chose their best students) and younger (the older boys were inappropriate at times to Martha and me last year, so the teachers wouldn’t let them in this year). It’s nice to be able to work with only the best students because we can get much more advanced without leaving anyone out.
Other than work, life here is going very well. There have been a few new low points recently, however. Firstly, a few weeks ago the gas for my stove and oven was cut off. I found out later that all of Jalalabad and Osh was cut off because Kyrgyzstan owes Uzbekistan $19 million in unpaid bills. Since there’s probably very little chance of Kyrgyzstan ever paying that back, I’ve resigned myself to working on my sketchy homemade ceramic hotplate. Since there’s no way to adjust the heat, to make rice, I have to stand in front of it and plug it in until it starts to boil, then unplug it until it stops, then plug it in again, and so on until it’s finally cooked. Let’s just say it’s a bit frustrating…
Also, yesterday I was walking home from school in the morning (yeah, I’m done by 9:00 two days a week), and I was walking past the bazaar towards the main street (named Lenin Street, of course) when I smelled something that smelled very … poopy. As I neared the corner of Lenin street, I saw that the sidewalk was literally littered with human feces. Turns out the sewage system backed up. Onto the main street in town. Gross.
Volunteer life continues to be amazing. Last month, Fritz threw a kick-ass 60th birthday party for Ginger. It was possibly the best birthday party I’ve ever been to. There was free food, free beer, and plenty of dancing for 20 volunteers and 15 Kyrgyz guests. Plus it all went off without a single problem, which is impressive for a volunteer party of that size. Otherwise, I’ve had smaller get-togethers. Last week, I attended a dinner party at Martha’s (she made sweet and sour chicken! Amazing!) and hosted a scrabble/dinner party (pesto pasta!) at my place. It felt very … grownup.
Next week, I’m going to Issyk-kul (the lake) for a “life skills, HIV/AIDS” training held by Peace Corps. Martha was planning to attend with a woman she works with outside of her NGO. She accidentally left information about it at her office, and her NGO got mad that she didn’t invite them, so they called Peace Corps to complain. To make a long story short, Peace Corps suggested that Martha find someone else to go with someone from her NGO, and I jumped at the opportunity. I’m excited both about the training and about the opportunity to get out of the daily routine and see other volunteers for a few days.
My health has been surprisingly good (knock on wood…), my cat is still amazing, and the exciting thing coming up is the annual Osh Halloween party.
I hope everyone’s having a great fall so far!

I’ve reached the part of my service where things are becoming “the last…”. While my return to America is far from a light at the end of a tunnel (and I don’t want it to be quite yet), but my time here is feeling more finite now. This week marked my last Kyrgyz Independence Day (August 31) and my last first day of school (September 1).
It’s strange to watch such a young country celebrate its independence. There were signs all around town saying “Kyrgyzstan 18 years”. I’m older than the country I live in! Coming from America, that just feels strange for me… It’s also odd to watch the celebrations coming from the only country that voted to stay in the Soviet Union 18 (19?) years ago. Does that mean that Kyrgyzstan is now the Soviet Union? Sounds impressive. The celebrations are very Kyrgyz… The main street was blocked off near the park in town, and different organizations set up yurts around the park and the square near it. There were families eating and wandering around the whole area, enjoying the festivities and the last day of summer for the children.
The next day was the annual “first bell” ceremony. Students, teachers, and administrators gathered, as we did in the spring for the “last bell”, in a big circle. The 2nd -10th grades were already lined up around the edges of the circle. Then the 11th grade processed in, celebrating the beginning of their last year. They were followed by the 1st grade, celebrating their first first day of school. There were speeches and processing; the 11th grade classes gave the 1st graders presents (notebooks mostly), then an 11th grade boy carried a 1st grade girl on his shoulder while she rang a bell. They were followed by the Kyrgyz flag, and then the 11th form walked the 1st grade to their classrooms. This was followed by a brief period of chaos, and then homeroom meetings. After the ceremony, I was swarmed by some of my favorite girls from last year (now in 10th grade), which reminded me of how much I like them and got me very excited for the new year. They were very excited to hear that I had pushed for the club I promised them last year. One day a week, I will have “girls’ club” for the older girls just to hang out, answer their questions, talk, watch movies. It will be pretty much whatever they want, with no lesson planning or official work from any of us. They’re also very excited to work for the ACCELS (a US program that sends high schoolers to America for a year of high school) test that is in a few weeks. It’s a really selective program, but I hope some of my students at least make it past the first few rounds of elimination.
The next few weeks will be confusing and frustrating, since the schedule isn’t even written yet and no one knows what’s going on. By October, we should be settled better into a routine that we may even stick to for a month or so. Like much of working in Kyrgyzstan, this month will benefit from the mantra we’ve developed: “embrace the chaos”.
Otherwise, things have been going as usual. I finished three seasons of Alf, made myself a dress (completely sewn by hand!), read three books, and did god knows what else to make it through the doldrums of summer with my sanity intact. I’m definitely excited to have school starting and order in my life again.








So Mom may be the only one to understand just how glorious this is, but I can now take a (brief) hot shower and refrigerate my food at the same time! Double outlets are pretty impressive.

Happy Independence Day, Kyrgyzstan!

Yeah, that's a McDonald's umbrella. It appears to be Chinese or something. The people under it will take your picture, but have no McDonald's to offer.

The best way to show your Kyrgyz pride? Tie an American flag bandana around your kid's head.

Yurts set up along the street to celebrate...

Boys playing a favorite game involving the throwing of sheep's knees. Fights usually break out pretty fast. The police were there to watch.

Another celebratory yurt

The fountain in the middle of the city. If you look closely, you'll see naked or nude colored underwear-clad boys swimming and sunning themselves.

The top of the flag pole at my school's first bell ceremony is the soviet hammer, sickle, and star. It's obviously more than 18 years old. I don't think anyone else notices how funny these things are.

So, summer has finally hit, leaving me with an empty calendar and hot weather. I've been keeping myself somewhat busy reading, watching tv shows, and wandering the city. I spent one week up in the mountains at a summer camp for 9th and 10th grade girls, which was really fun. I taught a session on self-esteem and self-reflection, and two hours of dance class every day, which was great. The girls were really into the dance especially. These camps make me realize how fun my classes used to be... I'll try to get some pictures from people and put them up eventually.
The real big news I have is that I've officially decided not to go home this winter, as I was previously planning to do (sorry, Finnans). Instead, I'm going to Almaty, Kazakhstan to take the GRE (woo hoo?) and celebrate New Years in what is supposedly a real "city" city in Central Asia. I'm a little skeptical, but I'm excited to see Almaty. So, if you want to see me, your two options are A: come to Kyrgyzstan, or B: wait until next August.

So I just passed the first big anniversary this week. July 7 marked my "one year in Kyrgyzstan" point. It´s crazy to think that it was only a year ago that I got off the plane in Bishkek and started this whole adventure. It´s also strange to think that it´s been a whole year -- time has been so strange that I can´t believe it either way. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am in Spain. I´ve been here for about a week and a half, visiting with Aubrey, relaxing, and basking in the comfort of the first-world. This will be a nice break for me, getting me ready to start this second year. Everyone says that the second year flies by, so I´m sure before I know it, I´ll be back in America, with the lovely task of starting the next stage...
Spain has been amazing so far -- I´ve spent most of my time in Logroño, the capitol of the La Rioja region near the France border. It´s also the capitol of wine country, so I have been taking full advantage of that, the food, and the coffee. We´ve been hanging out with Aubrey´s friends, both Spanish and American, and having a great time. Aubrey works every morning, so I´ve spent a lot of time wandering on my own, which is fun. We had a party for the 4th at her friend Ben´s apartment, where we made sloppy joes and drank Budweiser. It doesn´t get much more American than that... She also took me to the town she lived in last year and a small town that is all about wine production. There are caves under the entire city to hold wine and we went on a tour of one of them.
We´re heading to Bilbao on Saturday, and I´m leaving for Kyrgyzstan on Sunday...
Otherwise the summer has been going great. The big visit from Mom and Dad went really well. They were troopers through my whole whirlwind tour of the country and even claim to have enjoyed themselves! It was great being able to see them and help them get closer to understanding what I´m doing now.
The rest of the summer will be more relaxing. Right after I get back from Spain, I´m working at a summer camp for 9th and 10th grade girls, then it´s back home for the month of August, which I plan on spending sweating and working on a grant with my counterpart.
I hope everyone is doing well!
Wish me luck on the next year...

Yesterday was the last bell ceremony, the official end of school/graduation for the 11th form. For the schools that had several months off this winter, it wasn’t really the real end of the year. They all had the ceremony yesterday, but they have up to a month of school left. As for my school., they have exams through the first week of June, but I’m done, since I have nothing to do with the national exams. The ceremony itself was really fun. I had a seat with the honored guests at the front, so that I could take pictures and see everything that was going on. The whole thing happened in a lot right next to my school, with the students standing in their classes all around the edge and the teachers/adults at the front.

In Kyrgyz schools, each class (11th form has 11 A, 11 B, 11 V, and 11 G at my school – they’ve been in the same class since 5th form and have every class every year together) has a “class jetekji” – a homeroom teacher/advisor. They clean their class jetekji’s room every day, and the teacher advises them, yells at them, talks to parents, and serves as their parent/teacher/friend. After years together, the students and the teacher are very close. My counterpart was the class jetekji for 11 B this year. Since they spent so much time in our classroom, I’d gotten to know the girls pretty well.

The girls in 11 A all wore the same dress. The girl looking at me was my host sister when I got to the city.

This is what kids usually wear to school. The uniform throughout Kyrgyzstan is black pants/skirt and white shirt. Different classes have different colors of neckerchief. They don’t usually wear those. I haven’t quite figured out what they mean.

This is the first grade. They recently started wearing that plaid uniform. I don’t know if this is an elementary thing or a new thing. It’s pretty cute, though.

Some of my 9th form students marching with the Kyrgyz flag. The girls marching behind the flag are two of my favorites.

Each 1st grade and 11th grade class put on a little performance. These 1st graders sang a little song. It was adorable and Russian.

These two did a really Kyrgyz dance. They were actually impressively good.

11 G did a Kyrgyz dance too. The dresses were impressive.

At one point, all of the 11th form came into the center and played with bubbles, balloons, balls, and jump ropes. Rediscovering their childhood?

All of the class jetekjis for the 11th form gave speeches about their class. This is my counterpart telling her class that they’re great, and wishing them health, wealth, and happiness.

The students hugged their teachers and gave ridiculous amounts of flowers. I was given three bouquets.

As in the first bell ceremony, the official beginning of school on September 1, an older boy carries a first form girl around the circle as she rings a bell. It’s pretty cute.

So, now that that’s over, it’s officially officially summer for me now! I’m still going to work with my counterpart on a grant we’re trying to write and I’m helping her with planning for a teacher training summer camp that she and Ginger have been working on. Otherwise, I don’t have much of a chance to get bored anytime soon, since Mom’s going to be in Bishkek two weeks from today (!) and then I’m busy between Mom, Dad, and Spain (!!) until mid-July. I’m excited, to say the least.
Also, last week, the new volunteers came to visit. We’re getting two in the city and eight others in the oblast. We got a really awesome group of people, so I’m very excited about the next year we all get to spend together. With so many new volunteers and the overlap of the new ones and the K15s who won’t leave until August/September, it’s going to be a really full house here all summer. Also, my kitten keeps proving herself as the best $2.50 ever.

Big news, everyone! Yesterday I bought a kitten! She is the best 100 som ($2.50) I've ever spent! She's three weeks old and beyond adorable. I'm still working on names, but right now I'm thinking "Peri", which means fairy in Kyrgyz (it comes from Persian folktales -- "Peris are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent. They are exquisite, winged, fairy-like creatures ranking between angels and evil spirits. They sometimes visit the realm of mortals" -- thanks wikipedia).

In other, non-cat-related news, we have the new set of volunteers coming for a visit this week! They get here tomorrow. We're all very excited to meet our new best friends. Also, it's the last week of school here, so summer is upon us! I'm excited for school to be out and my summer adventures to begin.