cows in the street

Hello everyone!
I hope this update finds you all in high spirits. The Kyrgyz Republic is treating me very well. Yesterday, was April Fool’s day and I didn’t even realize it was April until looking at my clock at this very moment… This is not surprising as I have been extremely busy the past 4 days.
Yesterday was the busiest day of all – the day we moved out of the Issy-Kul hotel and into our villages! We spent the day packing and preparing for our arrival to our new families. In the morning we had a cultural lesson. I was able to experience what it would be like arriving to my host family. I was being prepared to be offered a large amount of food and chai, or tea. It is polite to continuously give more tea and more food. In fact, if you clear your plate it means you want more food! They scenario I was given was rather intimidating as we had only had two days of language. However, I made it through the lesson and I was confident I’d make it through the night. All the volunteers and trainers also went into Bishkek to buy our families flowers. When picking out flowers we had to be sure that we did not give them an odd number of flowers (we didn’t have to count if it was in a bunch) and to pick flowers other than red roses.
After the city we all ate lunch (potatoes, beef and beets with garlic) and then packed our things to leave. The 100 or so of us headed to Kant (neighboring city) for the matching ceremony. All the volunteers sat in their respective village and then the volunteers and host families from each village went on stage to find one another. While this was happening there was loud Kyrgyz music playing that was really fun to listen to.
My host mother and host sister met me on stage. They were very excited and gave me hugs and kisses. My host sister, Itoos (i-two-s) was very excited to meet her big sister! She is six and she reminded me of Lily. My host brother is 21, Umat (uu-mot) and was excited to meet me as well. We then carpooled to Kenngesh with another volunteer and her family.
When arriving at the home it was important to take your shoes off before entering the home. This is done to keep one’s home clean (even if it’s cluttered or dirty). My host mother and sister then showed me around the house. There is a room for everyone, a big space for kitchen and dinner table (we have a stove!) and a banyo – wash room – with running water. I then was able to see my room- BEAUTIFUL! It is literally twice the size of my bedroom in the United States. My host mother had made an amazing quilt that covered the entire wall. It is gorgeous. I also had a wardrobe, dresser and a full size bed. And yes, for all of you wondering…I do have electricity in my room.
I was then given time to unpack all my things. Side note: the entire house smelled of fresh paint. My host mother told me at dinner that they had painted before my arrival. By this point I had to go to the bathroom. I was anxious to see the outhouse and what everybody uses to go to the bathroom! The outhouse is a wooden house with a wooden seat where there was a hole. I wasn’t quite sure how to use it as the hole and step was raised above the ground. The first couple times I did it incorrectly but by today I got the hang of it. No, I did not pee myself – I just made it more difficult than it needed to be.
After I was finished unpacking and getting settled I went to the dining room/kitchen area to be with my host mother. She helped me learn the names of sugar, yogurt, apple, banana, pomegranate, clock, phone, butter, bread, onion, carrot, potato and candy. I kept repeating the words after her. I think I did a pretty good job! The way Kyrgyz is spoken uses different muscles in a person’s mouth. My mouth is making sounds that I didn’t know could be words. It is very difficult to understand the right tone and how high or low the sound needs to go. Also, in Kyrgyz, the r is rolled. Hopefully I will learn how to do that soon enough.
Since I am writing this blog you all figured out that I survived the first night in my village! It was scary going to the bathroom in the dark. There are wild dogs everywhere that are definitely not friendly. I am hoping that I will not get bit and if I do, I would prefer it if I had my rabies shots completed. I woke up around 6:45 to start getting ready. My host mother, Saltanat, had warm water ready for me to rinse off. This was a much welcomed surprise! We then ate breakfast which was leftovers from the night before (a soup, fruit salad and halva (delicious sunflower seed dessert). It was then time for the rest of the day to start.
The first day at school we studied language from 8-12. We went outside, talked to locals and learned basic words and the alphabet. We then had a rather large lunch at our instructor’s house. The lunch included potatoes, beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, bread, jam, pastries, candies and of course chai. Lunch was served at a table that was on a raised area of the house. We sat with our legs crossed (men) or off to the side (women). When finished eating everybody at the table brings their hands to their face, makes the gesture of washing it and bringing the hands down and briefly together. While doing this the word omen is quickly said one time.
The group then ventured out into the village. We walked around and visited the local store and school. They sell many goods at the store including candies, hair accessories, flashlights, drinks, etc… The school was amazing. It looked fairly new and was kept in very nice condition. We visited the groups and were able to say salom to the kids at school. Every student was dressed in either a suit or a skirt. The appearance showed that the Kyrgyz Republic takes great pride in education. The kids were all eager to get their picture taken with the volunteers and were very giddy when we’d talk to them.
When I got back to my host family I practiced the alphabet and then went outside to play with some of the children. They had such a riot seeing my run around and play. Children are the same everywhere! They are full of such laughter and spirit. It made me feel at home when I was interacting with the younger ones. They were able to teach me a game without having to know the language and they were overjoyed when I was able to figure it out.
We then had dinner which consisted of potatoes, tomatoes and a type of lentil bean. There was a little zing to it but not much. After dinner I-toosh wanted to play the harmonica again and so we did. The whole family watched as she played. I recorded a video of this and ata and apa thought that the camcorder was the neatest thing.
These blogs have been difficult to write as the amount of my exhaustion keeps getting worse and worse. Hopefully I will catch up on my sleep soon enough!
As they said when we left the school: goodbye and stay in good health.
Love always, Jo