Proximity

Hello all,

Here's my latest entry:
Preservice training is almost over - right now less than 2 weeks are left. It's hard to imagine everything I've
gone through over the past couple months. Right now I'm fairly sad because I really like my current host family
in my training village (and really hope gifts etc. that were sent get here in time for me to give them before
I leave), but I know in my heart I came to Kyrgyzstan for a different reason. It wasn't to find comfort and
coddlement from very nice people; it wasn't to hang around a bunch of Americans with narrow views; it wasn't to
escape from anything, or have a tremendously fun happy time, or have everything readily accessible and easily at
hand. If I wanted all that, I could have stayed home where I have plenty of friends and family, opportunities, etc.

I came to Kyrgyzstan because deep down I hold myself to be one thing above all else: a servant. Holding others
before myself, helping rather than enforcing, seeing the fruits of labor through others' success. Those are what I
love most in life. On the brink of becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer I can finally garner some perspective on my
situation and how it will pan out over the next couple years. Yes it's nice to have comforts, and confidants, and
all the other things that go along with a typical lifestyle. But that's not what I want, or even like. I want
others to have that - I want others to have that success, those friends, this life of theirs bettered, or that
skill honed. The world will always have problems, and although people often go about their lives concerning
themselves over their own problems, I find it's often necessary for greater action or education or involvement
before anything, no matter how big or small, can be solved. If I can do my part in any small way, anything positive
at all, then my time here will have been priceless.

It's amazing thinking of the differences between peoples. For instance, today I was on a marshurtka (van, one of
Kyrgyzstan's main public transportation methods) essentially drowning in a sea of people, sandwiched between a
drunk man and a woman tending to a sick person sitting down as five more people piled into the vehicle. In many
places this would be very strange, illegal, bad, etc. but here it's the norm. One of my most earnest beliefs is
that all people, no matter who they are or where they're born, are in essence the same, or at least very similar.
Smiles, love, family, etc. are all quite universal. It's the marshurtkas of our world that separate us - what we
grew up with was different, and we think it's better, or worse, than what other people have. But these differences
are essentially meaningless - in the end, the people on the marshurtka get home, just the same as the people on the
bus, or the people driving their car. We may eat different food, practice different religions, speak different
languages et al, but how are we truly different? In the end we're all human (and, barring some sort of
extraterrestrial contact with intelligent life), which is what really matters to me. We can be different in our
minute ways, but I believe we're all a lot more similar than we're led to believe throughout the course of our
life.

This is one basis I have built my ideology and thinking style around, and something I hold close to my heart. I
hope that throughout my service in Talas (and overall in Kyrgyzstan) that it will benefit me in my endeavours to
serve others. It's difficult to contemplate what will come, but I'm thankful that some of my perspective has
finally returned to me over these 3 months of training.

Chris

I'm quite sad right now because I'll miss the people I grew close to over these 3 months. However, as I've always believed, if we keep someone in our heart, we never truly lose them. This belief has helped me transition through the difficulties of leaving family behind in the States, and I think it will help me out in this instance as well. Family and friends are forever.

Talas will be a big challenge for many reasons, notwithstanding how some of the current volunteers act, locals perceive people, and how isolated from the rest of the country the oblast seems. I'm looking forward to the challenge, and hope to form many good relationships.

Right now it's difficult to imagine how things will pan out. Most people in the States have things like the election on their mind -- here in Kyrgyzstan our biggest concern is how the winter will play out. There are pretty major power outages throughout the country, particularly Talas and Chuy, and this could lead to an entire quarter of school being out of session. I'm not so much concerned about the power outage and heat -- what concerns me is what there will be to do during this time. In the summer, when school is out of session, many volunteers start clubs and things of that nature, which could be more difficult to accomplish during the winter. Ideas are welcome, as always!

Well, I hope everyone is doing well, and those that aren't to get better soon! All the best, and peace,

Chris