Hello Everyone!
I hope you are all doing well back in the United States. Any interesting news you all want to catch me up on? I’d love to hear it! Things are going great in Kyrgyzstan. We are coming up on our fifth week of training. It will be our last week with our current language facilitator. The facilitator I have now is awesome. He will definitely be missed! We will have our second facilitator until the first week in June. The volunteers will be sworn in and then sent to our permanent sites where we will meet our families. No one knows where they will be placed yet. We are all eagerly awaiting our assignments. Remember, Kyrgyzstan is the size of North Dakota – it’s not very big! However, the diversity of the country is amazing. As I wrote before, each oblast has its benefits. I will be happy wherever I am placed.

Language is coming; slowly but surely. I find that I am able to communicate more every day. My apa is very patient with me. I can tell that she enjoys teaching me. It must be exciting for the host families to see how the volunteers progress throughout their service. Everyone in my group is doing an amazing job learning the language. The five of us have a very pleasant outlook on learning the language. We are taking our lessons days by day and are enjoying what we are learning.

The volunteers in our village (10 of us) have formed strong relationships with one another. We are like a family.*For the teens at Pathfinders reading this: Why do you think this has happened? Ten very different people becoming as close as brother and sister to one another in a month? Has this happened to you with any of your friends? What does this tell you about how people react to different situations?*

I haven’t talked too much about my village. The village I live in, Kengesh, is very tiny. We have several magazines (stores that sell candy, vodka and bread), 3 larger stores (like a first class BP), a mosque, a house of culture/club/library, a healthcare facility (we will find out if it’s working next week…) and an extremely nice school. I do not know the names of any streets – they aren’t labeled! Instead, the name of the street is sometimes listed on the house itself. Some volunteers are living in larger villages that have large stores or even bazaars (a market). I will hopefully be able to visit a town in the near future!

This past Sunday several volunteers, myself and a trainer went hiking to find Buddhist ruins. We hiked for about two hours before we reached our destination. We could see Kazakhstan from where we were. I think we were only a mile or two away. We climbed up huge hills and walked into unfamiliar land. There were many sheep grazing with their herder sitting nearby on their horse. I have amazing pictures. Unfortunately it’s going to be hard for me to upload them for awhile. Our first destination was a Buddhist gravesite (I think). We saw human bones in the dirt. It was ridiculous. I have never seen anything like it. Our second site was Buddhist ruins. It’s hard to describe. However, it was an awesome experience.

Another first for me while being in Kyrgyzstan was using a banya! Imagine sitting in a hot sauna (Amanda I know you are familiar). Now, triple the heat. A banya is where you bathe in an extremely hot sauna. The water is kept boiling by the fire that is constantly lit. It was actually hard to breathe because of how hot it was. I had to crack the door open to let cooler air in. There was also reading material…and it was how to speak in English…yes, I took one. I absolutely loved my banya! It’s normal to have a banya once a week.

After my banya the family had a movie turned on. It was a Kyrgyz movie with English subtitles. This movie was about bride kidnapping. Our last culture day was about bride kidnapping so it was very interesting to watch it on the television. A few days later I had a conversation about bride kidnapping with my mom. Since my Krygyz is very simple I had a hard time with the discussion. I know that my apa was not bride kidnapped and she married her boyfriend. We joke about what were to happen if someone kidnapped me. I told her no one would want me as a wife because I don’t cook, do laundry or clean. I would make a bad wife! It was very funny and we had a good laugh.

I haven’t talked to much about my family yet. My family is wonderful. My apa, Saltanat, sells cosmetics in a neighboring city. She sells the Mary Kay but the Russian version. If only I could afford it! My apa treats me very well. She actually wouldn’t let me out of the house the other day because my skirt was wrinkled. She ironed it for me and then let me go on my way! She also braided my hair the other day. I definitely feel as though she cares for me! She is doing a wonderful job providing fruits and vegetables…this I am so grateful for!

My ata, Sarabek, is a very kind man. He is a taxi driver in Bishkek, the capital. I don’t talk with him as much as I do my apa but when I do he helps me with whatever I need. I have worked on pronouncing my vowels with him and learning many verbs. The other day he came home from the market with a banana for me! It was such a pleasant treat!

I don’t see too much of my brother, Urmat. He works in a neighboring city and has a girlfriend who he sees. He knows a little English which is helpful. It was agreed that we would each help one another with learning English and Kyrgyz. Hopefully I will be able to teach him something! Urmat is also very kind and helps me whenever I need it.

Itoosh is a very active six year old. I have been here a month and have yet to see her cry. She always comes to me with a smile and is anxious to see what I am doing or what foreign objects are in my room. I taught her how to play ‘go fish’ the other day and now it has become a daily activity with her and her friends. I have also watched Shrek with her and she seems to like it. Itoosh is also great with helping me learn vocabulary. My Kyrgyz family is wonderful.

The other day the health volunteers went to visit a local school. We observed how the teachers taught how the students behaved. I witnessed a math class. I have never witnessed children so excited to learn math! Hands were raised at all times. Everyone wanted to participate. There wasn’t any disruption or talking out of turn. Hands were also raised differently than in the U.S. If you lay the left hand horizontally out in front of you, bend the right arm at the elbow and put the right elbow on top of the left hand you have raised it correctly. It was fascinating to watch! They were learning algebra – what we know as the FOIL method.

The last thing I wanted to write about were the sounds of my village. On my way to lessons I usually pass cows or a herd of sheep going out to graze. I hear lambs, goats and cows. I also have to be careful so I don’t step in the product – it is everywhere! I also hear, “Hello!!! Hello!!!!!” all the time. The Kyrgyz children know that it is the English way to say Hi. I always respond with salam. Another sound I hear fairly often is the sound of the crazy traffic. I would not be able to drive here. The rules are very different. That’ll be a discussion for another day. Every morning I wake up to the sound of the rooster in my yard. He is in charge of all the chickens. I constantly hear him yelling/talking to the chickens. I don’t know whether it’s neat or annoying…. Another aspect of Kyrgyzstan that is different from the United States are the dogs. The dogs are here to protect the houses and keep intruders away. They are usually unfriendly and scary. They bark every time I go to the outside as if I’m going to steal the neighbor’s potatoes or something. When they come running after you it is important to stand completely still until they are satisfied that you aren’t going to come onto their property. These dogs bark at all hours of the day and night. This bark is really harsh as well. Lastly, I hear Russian fighter jets on a daily basis. They are flying to a nearby base. It is really neat to hear them. I wonder what they’re up to every time they go by! *For my girl scouts: How do the sounds differ at your house? School? Can you compare what I’m hearing and what you’re hearing? What do you think living here with all these unfamiliar sounds would be like?!*

I hope to hear from you all very soon. Stay well.