i see mountains on my way to my lessons...

Greetings from across the planet! Things are going very well here in the Kyrgyz Republic. Training is intense, as expected but I am learning very fast. We have been speaking the language for five days now. Some of what I have learned is as follows:
Where are you from? How old are you? What time did you get up? What time did you go to sleep? What is your name? I am from America. I am a volunteer. Mixed vocab such as carrots, onions, cucumbers, butter, tomato, sugar, candy, bread, tea, yawn, spoon, fork, knife, numbers, directions and more that I cannot think of.
We are catching on fairly quickly for learning the Cyrillic Alphabet. Our teacher is Chyngyz and he teaches us 98% in Kyrgyz. We learn through watching and repetition. Four hours a day is spent on learning the language. It is quite interesting. Hopefully I will be able to get around and have a meaningful conversation with a local.
The next part of the day we spend eating lunch and doing something cultural. Lunch usually lasts an hour and a half. We eat a variety of foods such as soup, vegetables, dumplings, beet salad, carrot salad and lots of bread. I am trying to monitor my bread intake as I cannot afford new pants.
April 4th was a very special day. My apa’s entire family came over to have lunch and dinner! The dining room was set up really fancy and the whole day was spent cooking. We ate lots of bread, vegetable salad, radish salad, and beef stroganoff. In the beef stroganoff there were cow intestines. Yes, I tried them. Will I eat them again? Probably not – but I tried it! I have pictures of everything and I will upload them as soon as I get internet and more money.
My little brother, who is 21, is a nice help when trying to translate words and he speaks a little English. My little sister just loves EVERYTHING in my room! I have to lock in when I’m inside to get school work done as she always wants to show me how show me how she hula hoops or wears her hat. She is also fascinated with my computer! I have a gadget on here that changes the front to Krygz; she enjoys this. Having her around reminds me so much of Lily! I am so thankful for my family both here in the Kyrgyz Republic and the United States.
In my training group I work with four other people. We are getting along very well and have become very close. I am working with three females, Joanna (22), Kris (25) and Cheryl (37), and one male, Robert (58). I am lucky as Joanna lives right across the street from me. We are very similar and have become great friends. After our language lessons we meet the other group in our village. In this group there are five other people. They all vary in age and gender. Each day for lunch we go to a different volunteer’s home where their apa cooks for us. Then, after lunch, we all head to the soccer field where we run or play with the kids when they get out of school.
Our schedule for this week was going to be very eventful. However, nothing is for sure when you’re in the Peace Corps. Our events got rescheduled for a different time and we were able to spend more time with our families in our village.
This past Wednesday we were able to see everyone else in the K-18 group for the morning. It was really great to see all the other volunteers! Human relationships cease to amaze me. We have all known each other for a week but have made such powerful connections. When placed in such a stressful, difficult and amazing experience such as this one it is only human nature to bond and attach to one another. I took some time just to watch everyone else interact and just sat in awe thinking how spectacular this is. We all might be able to see one another this weekend in Kant. On this occasion we were all blessed with four more shots to keep us healthy. One of the shots had terrible side effects. My arm felt worse than a tetanus shot and many people developed a fever and sickness later that day. Yes I did feel miserable but it only lasted half an afternoon and the evening. The shots were definitely worth seeing everyone else in my group!
I am so grateful for this experience. It seems very surreal. At least twice a day I step away from what I’m doing and look in on myself – I am really doing it! My emotional health is great; I am loving every minute of this. I cannot wait to continue and expand my knowledge. Being a social worker taught me a great deal about self care and I am utilizing that here as much as I can. I have officially been out of the United States for two weeks. I do miss the amenities that the U.S has but coming here is totally worth losing the luxuries for awhile.
For all of you wondering…the outhouse isn’t that bad! It’s actually nice having the stink be outside than having someone stink up the whole house. It really isn’t a big deal. I know some of you are wondering about bathing as well. My apa heats me water several times a week to bath my body. During the week I washed my hair three times. I wash using a cup and warm water. I am very clean!
Joanna and I did our laundry for the first time the other day. We filled two buckets with warm water. We then put our clothes in and scrubbed with a bar of soap (many volunteers had missing items when they arrived in country. Laundry detergent was one of my missing items). We scrubbed and rinsed for about an hour and hung out the clothes out to dry. I will try harder not to spill on my clothes and to try and prolong the washing period. It isn’t bad washing laundry but it does take a lot of time. Well, I suppose I have the time to do it now, don’t I?
Secondly, I have a water distiller in my room so I will not get sick from the water. Gradually, however, I am going to incorporate small amounts of the regular water into my diet to start getting used to the bacteria. I have not gotten sick yet but I probably will within a week or two.
I do not have a cell phone yet. Hopefully I will get one in another week or two. I am excited to talk to all my friends and family!
**Note** my cell phone number will be on my facebook page. If you want to talk to me give me a ring before going to work as I am 11 hours ahead of you. As for my restaurant friends you can call after your shift and I will be getting ready to go to sleep – perfect timing!
**Note** it is NOT free for me to call but it IS FREE for ME to receive calls. It will cost you all international rates. However, the most of you can afford to make a phone call whereas I am on an extremely limited budget. Check out your cell phone rates and hopefully I’ll hear from you!
**Note** I know some of you were going to send me care packages. It takes 4-6 weeks to get a package here. When you do send it you should also get the red, white and blue tape and seal the crap out of the package. I don’t want anything you send get stolen (especially from Karen and Kasey). If you are looking for things to send the powdered stuff is great (crystal light, Gatorade, etc..). Baby wipes, facial wipes and lotion would be appreciated. Also, if you can get your hands on some guitar music that would be swell 
I am looking forward to hearing from you all. I am so pleased that I decided to do this! This morning I woke up to the sound of cows mooing and rooster’s cock-a-doodle-doing.

Love and miss you all, JOJO