More to Come

Hello all, I have a few entries here:

So the time has finally come, where I get to visit my permanant site (Peace Corps so far seems to be one bigtransitional step after the other). Things will be a lot different for me, I believe. My host mother (though sheprefers to be called Eje, which is big sister/aunt/teacher[female]/et al) is 36, has five children, and apparentlymakes/sells clothes. The father in the family died. I feel bad because Peace Corps requires all volunteers to have their own room, so my family will be sleeping three to a room. We have a banya, which is the traditional (or common, I should say) Kyrgyz bathing method - it's essentially a very, very hot sauna.
I'm excited to go to Talas. I've considered it the land of mystery - as Americans we know very little about Kyrgyzstan, but talking to people in Kyrgyzstan, they all seem to know very little about this oblast. Volunteersalways say, "I hear it's nice, but I've never been." Locals (from the north -- there's a huge north/south rivalryin country) say it's beautiful, and has mountains and forests, but that essentially describes anyplace in Kyrgyzstan. I find it an intriguing challenge to uncover this oblast.
Right now my speaking capabilities are very limited but I can hold basic conversations. Listening, I can usuallyunderstand at least the gist of things. My new host mother (eje) uses many words I have yet to have heard (perhaps due to regional dialect differences) so that will be a challenge. I do, however, feel confident aboutthis whole prospect and look forward to getting some good work attempts in. Who knows, maybe something I do will prove useful.
Chris
Today (1-9-08) wasn't the first day of class, but it was a rather big holiday. All the primary/secondary schoolstudents were at my village's school, and they all came in their finest costumes (suit is called costume) People who are nervous about speaking in front of large crowds have absolutely nothing over this situation -1100+ eyes all staring at the only American in the village (and, most likely, the first they've ever seen) asI'm shuffled up front to be a spectacle sitting beside the center-stage panel of school director & co. Nevermindthat they had cameras (yes, video/tv cameras) rolling for this event; the pomp and circumstance was enormous, simply with the speeches and dress alone. And, oh yeah, I had to give a speech too -- so here I am, the newcomer,the oddball, the barely-speaks-Kyrgyz American, in front of one of the most elaborate ceremonies I've ever seen(and I've seen some crap, be it a Derby holiday or D.C. procession), with a thousand + native Kyrgyz speakers listening, and I have to give a speech. I've given several speeches before, and I know and can deal with the nervousness that goes along with it -- this situation was a whole new ballgame. Everyone else who spoke was up there for about 5 minutes. I had my one paragraph and lasted roughly 30 seconds to one minute. My hands were drenched and my heart just about ready to burst from my chest. But I made it, sat down, and watched the rest ofthe ceremony (while being watched in return).
Today was overall very good. I met with the two English teachers at my school (who will be my counterparts) -I was impressed, especially since neither of them have been outside of Kyrgyzstan. The school is very large, with1000 students and 70-80 teachers. Both of the English teachers are very young, in their 20s, so introducing newideas will be much easier for me. Everyone at the school was cordial and inviting, perhaps even protective, and I think things will go well.
My new host family seems pretty nice at the moment as well. My host "mother" insists that I call her Eje -- she is36, which is why Apa (mother) seems too old for her. There are 5 children in the family - 3 sisters and 2 brothers. They all seem great and the youngest two are adorable. No host father - he died, I believe. This familywill be different from the one I have in my training village, but I have no real concerns at the moment (other than communication -- things suddenly got harder once I realized my family speaks at normal Kyrgyz [or Russian,that's always a frustrating factor] speed, or have the Kazak dialectual influence. Cultural differences are alsoplaying a part for my new village -- things that were acceptable in my training village aren't acceptable (at least for now), different greetings, people looking at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears. You know,the typical "What is that thing walking down the street?!?" reaction.
It's hard to believe that a new school year has started and I'll be on the other side of the desks. Some would say I'm here to avoid real life. I think this is more real than anyone could get (even in the US, ha!). Here's to actual, honest work, all without getting paid!
Chris
When one comes to the Peace Corps, I'm sure there are plenty of reasons involved. Saving the world is a common mentality. Something to do after college is another. Taking a (supposedly) free international trip? Maybe. Whatever the reason, we're here and we have a job to do. I've been taking a lot of time recently to think about this, especially since I was recently in relatively close proximity to all the Talas volunteers yesterday, boththe old and new.
There are some things Peace Corps likes to overexaggerate - such as explaining the worst case scenario for virtuallyevery possible event. Some things they have are strict policy. Some things they have are not necessarily strict, but they're trying to work something into the image. Take for instance drinking in Kyrgyzstan - by all accounts prior to departure I was informed that it would be impossible to avoid drinking alcohol (particularly vodka). However, once I arrived here, I found out that avoiding the nectar of parties and toilets is not only feasible (ifa bit socially akward, especially in a former Soviet state), but in certain regards it's actually better from a social standpoint due to the Muslim population in-country. However, there is still that Russian influence, and drinks are the primary stock of just about every single store in Kyrgyzstan. It's given me some time to reflect and think on this whole drinking situation.
For those who don't know, prior to leaving to Kyrgyzstan I hadn't touched one drop of alcohol. I'm very proud of the fact that I went throughout my entire college career without touching the stuff. There are many reasons whyI didn't drink -- among them witnessing friends falter and go down dark holes due to consumption, my avid approachto peer pressure (in that it means a whole lot of nothing to me), and just attempting to be a decent role-model.After hearing what I did about Kyrgyzstan I tried some the week before I came, just so I could get an indicationas to what it was like, primarily because of all the horror stories of being unable to avoid drinking. Well, I gethere and see that I can (and, as a volunteer, am strongly encouraged to do so) avoid drinking if I so choose.
Yesterday all the volunteers in my oblast got together and had a pretty raucous party - most everyone drank, I didnot. Now, I'm not against drinking by any stretch of the imagination - I completely understand the need to blow off some steam, have a good time, enjoy something delicious, etc. But, this is a case that I think is detrimentalto our presence here. Here's a rather large group of Americans, in the middle of a public restaurant, loudly living it up in the middle of a culture that seems to admonish such behavior. It's at this point that I realize that, while perhaps in the future I may (may) drink moderately, nothing strong, and never in such a situation asto be the stupid American causing a scene, I will try my hardest not to drink throughout my service. It's something that I feel will go hand-in-hand with other policies such as dress code and code of conduct - many volunteers take those with a grain of salt, I will try to follow them as much as possible.
As a volunteer who has volunteer experience (not just study abroad experience), representative experience, andcultural exchange experience, I feel I have some ground to stand on. I've gotten flak from others for my stances,but in most instances I think they only have experience (time-wise and language-wise) in Kyrgyzstan. It's truethat as a volunteer, being one of the very, very few Americans in this country (and in my case the first in thevillage), we are constantly being monitored and scrutinized. One slip up, one dire or outrageous mistake can ruin months' worth of work and hurt a volunteer's image (which in turn hurts other volunteers and Peace Corps). So many people who are here now don't seem to realize this - complaints are often about how this or that is different, or I can't get/do this, and regard isn't given to the situation. It's impossible to step outside of theKyrgyzstan box - this is a 24 hour job, and the only way to get a real, actual break is to go to a different country or possibly go to the middle of nowhere.
It's aggrivating to have these attitudes around me - I thought that by joining Peace Corps I would be leaving insensitivity and self-centered actions behind. Instead there are people who seem to be living for the weekend, in Peace Corps. That statement just leaves me dumbfounded. I seriously hope I'm wrong, and I know thereare plenty of good people here, but this is something that's been bugging me for the longest time, ever sinceleaving Philadelphia. I came here to work, to attempt to help a community that could use new ideas to great benefit, to try showing people and organizations how to acquire resources that they could use. I came here to be a volunteer. It just doesn't seem that way to me for some people in this group, and I hope I never get called culturally insensitive by another drunk volunteer again. If need be I'll spend all my time with my community andforego visiting others.

Sorry if this last entry was a downer -- I just think people need to take time and realize that this isn't a frat party or fun special time. We're in Peace Corps.

Everything is going well now. One thing I would like to make note of: any mail being sent to me will get here much sooner if it has the Cyrillic address on it as well. Some items I have received have blocks or blanks where the Cyrillic would be; mail will get to me with just the English, but having the Cyrillic will shorten delivery time by about 2 weeks or so (from what I've experienced). Thank you, though, to everyone who has sent me mail -- I absolutely love getting news, and pictures are practically a godsend.

Well, for now I don't have much else in the way of an update. I hope everyone is doing well, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those who are not.

Peace,
Chris