Leslie in Kyrgyzstan!

I just got back from my permanent site visit today. I left Saturday to spend three days where I will be spending the next two years. Overall, I am very excited about what I’m about to do. PST has been a lengthy transition period, and I finally got a taste of what reality will soon be for me. My village is small – supposedly there are 5,000 people, but it’s likely that a sizable number of them are in Russia. There is one small store, a school, and a lot of houses. Physically, the village is beautiful. It’s very green – lots of trees bordering all of the streets and all over the yards, and is surrounded by farmland. There are a lot of sunflower fields around, which still cease to amaze me. On the outskirts of the village, there are small hills, which allow for great views and peaceful solitary time (which is hard to find). There are the obligatory (for Kyrgyzstan) views of the farmlands with mountains shooting up in the background, which still amazes me. My family is “untraditional”, but will be really great. The head of the family is a grandmother. There is also her daughter (my aunt) and her 14 year-old daughter Aichurok and her daughter-in-law (my host mother) and her 2 year-old daughter Elnura, 13 year-old son Adel, and 15 year-old son Bakit. My host father is, like many Kyrgyz men, living in Russia to work, because there is much more money to be made there than in Kyrgyzstan. My mother is a nurse in the closest town, and works most nights, so she is often out of the house for dinner. It is nice to be living in such a community of women, though. It’s a nice change from many Kyrgyz families to see the grandmother as the most respected figure in the household. The house itself consists of three buildings around a large yard. I live in one building with my mother, sister, and brothers (though now the boys sleep outside). One building is the kitchen, and the other is where my grandmother, aunt, and cousin live. There is also a large outdoor kitchen area, because there is often no electricity in the afternoons, as in all of Kyrgyzstan now. We have a lot of animals, which is really fun. For all I know now, we have 8 sheep, a lot of turkeys and baby turkeys (who are surprisingly cute), chickens, three dogs, a cat (his name is Tom and he is amazingly friendly and needy, which I obviously love), cows, and possibly a horse. My favorite part of the house (and houses in the South in general, I think) is a large outdoor platform, which they cover with tushuks (cushions). That is where the grandmother spends much of her time and where we eat dinner every night. It’s really nice to sit out with the breeze and all of live going on behind us. The 14-year-old girl in my family will be a really great asset for me. She was Danielle (the K14 I am replacing)’s pet project and most fulfilling project of her service, she said. In Danielle’s first year, Aichurok (at this point, 12 years old) convinced Danielle to teach her English. At this point, her English is really impressive. Her biggest dream right now is to do the FLEX program, where the US government sends Kyrgyz high schoolers to the US for a year. She’s still too young to apply, but I hope to help her in the next year so that next year, when she applies, she’ll be ready. She is the most self-motivated 14 year-old I have ever heard of. On my first night at the house, she came up to me and asked if I had any English grammar books. I showed her one that Peace Corps gave us, and she smiled and sat down to look through it. She asked if she could borrow it later, because she needs to work on her grammar. I’m very excited to see a young girl so invested in her own education and am very excited to work with her. She’s also a really sweet girl, so she’ll be fun to get to know. Monday was the “first bell” ceremony – the first day of school in all of Kyrgyzstan. It isn’t technically a school day, but there is a ceremony where students are welcomed back. It was my first day with the school, which was exciting. Danielle and I were recognized by the directors and were given flowers by students, which was nice. I got to meet all of the English teachers (our school has 6!) and a few other teachers. After the ceremony, we had a brief meeting, and the day was over. On Tuesday, the teachers had organized a party to celebrate Danielle and me as well as the building of a fence (Danielle’s biggest project at the school). We went into the town near our village with a few teachers and a few of the main masters (builders of the fence) to a café. On the way, we picked up Sareah, another new volunteer in the region, who was added into the party. At the café, we got food and vodka and cognac. The builders and a few teachers drank the liquor, while the rest of us sipped Cokes. After a few toasts and shots of vodka, they decided it was time to dance. We all go up and, while other tables of people continued to eat, danced in a circle. This was all, of course, around noon. We danced for two songs, then went back to the table for more food and liquor. After a few hours and right as the men ordered more food and beer, Danielle, Sarah, and I gracefully exited. That was both my first teacher party and my first Kyrgyz party all in one, which is exciting and different than anything I could have expected from a teacher party. During the visit, I also went into Jalalabad city with the people in our area and the two people who live near here from last year. We got to walk around the city, see the important sites (the grocery store, the best internet café, etc) and hang out with the people who are closest to us, which is exciting. I really like the two k15s we met and am excited to get to know them and the other 16s better. This morning, on the way to the airport in Osh, we all stopped in at a café that is famous for serving American style food. I got a cup of real coffee (my first since July 2nd!) and amazing vegetable fajitas. It’s amazing how happy those little things can make me after just two months. Now I have less than three weeks left here before I swear in as a full volunteer and start my real adventure! Love to all!
Leslie