Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
15 October 2007 The big news today would have been that in a few short hours my official “I Haven’t Bathed Countdown” will come to an end (Salamat is preparing the banya now) if something else hadn’t happened at my school. Today we had a group of tourists from Australia come and visit our school. [...]
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Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
14 October 2007 I don’t know if it’s pure laziness, but I didn’t feel like going to Karakol today. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything today, except for playing games. All I want to do on Sundays is to treat it like a relaxing day, a day to kick your feet back, enjoy [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Kelly (my ex-fiancee), during the course of her studies, was given a research task about games. Her then-fiance was lucky enough at that time to be living on the other side of the world, so she contacted me and asked me to do some research for her. And, as I explain below, I was able [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
12 October 2007 Aitengar Maarek Bolsum! That’s what I’ve been saying all day today, and I’m not completely sure what it means (it is Kyrgyz, not Arabic). Today is Orozo Ait, the end of Ramadan. The tradition is that everyone visits their neighbors’ homes, and drinks tea and eats borsok. I just got done going [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
For the first 2 1/2 months I was in Kyrgyzstan, I didn’t spend it in Darkhan. I spent it in a small village called Epkin, which is about 20km from Kant in Chuy oblast. Each new Peace Corps trainee (Peace Corps won’t call you a volunteer until you finish Pre-Service Training, or PST) was assigned [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
10 October 2007 I just had a spider (actually, looks like a couple right now) do something for me that I would have done myself – kill a fly. Aizat put my clean clothes in my room, and there was a fly still alive on my clothes. The fly warmed up and started buzzing around [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Last week supporters of former President Bakiev tried to take over government buildings in Kyrgyzstan, but were driven off by supporters of the current provisional government. I don’t want to spend a lot of time commenting on this, other than to say that I’m glad they were driven off. I have said enough about Bakiev [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I haven’t had much of an opportunity to post anything to this blog recently, and for that, I apologize. But… I read news several weeks ago about ethnically motivated violence in Mayevka, a suburb of Bishkek. Ethnic Turks and Russians were targeted by angry Kyrgyz mobs looking to “reclaim” lost land, or so they have [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I have nothing to post today. Nothing amusing or cute about life in Kyrgyzstan.
I stayed up late last night watching the news coming out of the country I called home for two years, and I am an emotional wreck. Kyrgyzstan was, and is, an integral part of me because of the time I spent living [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
On this day, I had one of my famous bouts with stomach problems. In Kyrgyzstan, every Peace Corps volunteer has had some form of nasty stomach virus from contaminated food – giardia (water-borne parasite), bacterial diarrhea, pinworms, etc.
Stomach problems are so endemic in Kyrgyzstan that Peace Corps volunteers will often ask the following question: “Are [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I created this list while I was in Kyrgyzstan. There were things about living there that were too frustrating, and this was a way for me to cope with them. I passed copies of this around to all my Peace Corps friends, who probably laughed as hard as I did about them.
So, without further ado, [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I am currently making a living in Shanghai, China. China is my new home, and it was the place I chose to move to when I finished my Peace Corps service in Kyrgyzstan in August 2009. But, back in October 2007, I had no idea I would be moving to China after Peace Corps service [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
When I first moved to Darkhan, I had a lot of complaints about my host mother. She always had this cold stare and disposition that was incredibly offputting. Honestly, I thought she hated me. Well, I was dead wrong – she really did care about me. She gave the stiff upper lip to everyone she [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
5 October 2007
This is Day 12 in the “I Haven’t Bathed Countdown.” I’m starting to figure out that my host family is finding other ways to wash themselves without a full banya, but they certainly aren’t sharing those ways with me. The wet wipes must be fooling everyone into thinking that I’m finding ways to [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
4 October 2007
Today was a much better day in the classroom – one of the bigger reasons being that Temirlan showed up for class today. The students were much better behaved this time around, and wanted to learn. The first class I had today, one of the girls looked familiar, and when we did our [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Sorry, it’s been another long time since I’ve made a post. Once again, I am finding it difficult to access my blog from China (what a surprise!).
Washing clothes by hand was one of the most difficult things about living in Kyrgyzstan. It’s not particularly hard, but handwashing is incredibly time-consuming (it takes usually two or [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I often wondered about the quality of my teaching during my tenure in Kyrgyzstan. I wouldn’t say that I was the best teacher there – in fact, my lesson plans were absolutely amateur compared to a lot of the PCV’s operating in the rest of the country. I have a horrible habit of denigrating myself [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
There are some days where things go pretty normally, and then there are days where absolute insanity takes over. I have seen plenty of both in Kyrgyzstan, and on this particular day insanity seemed to take the upper hand.
I had a near-miss with a drunk Kyrgyz guy, I got to strip a house down before [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
On this day I attended my first real party in my village. It was in honor of Temirlan’s newborn son. Since this time, he’s had another son, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his wife is pregnant with his third child.
At most Kyrgyz parties the vodka flows freely, but Temirlan and his family don’t drink. [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I apologize for the long delay in posting – it has been a very hectic last several weeks. Oh, I could justify it and say that it was the holidays that were keeping me from posting, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The truth is that I recently lost my job due to my school [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I had a chance to visit Karakol on this day for the first time – it would definitely not be the last time I went to Karakol. Karakol is a small city of about 90,000 people on the eastern edge of Lake Issyk-kul in eastern Kyrgyzstan. The city itself isn’t beautiful, but its position next [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
The homesickness continues, aided by the cold and the location of the toilet…
27 September 2007
I think my host sister is really bored without school – she’s a great kid, and I like her a lot, but I don’t really want to be the person to keep her entertained all the time. I broke out the [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
I complained a lot during my service in Kyrgyzstan, I think, but at the time of this entry the shock of being in a foreign culture really began to sink in. I had to realize that I wouldn’t be able to do the same things I did when I was home in the US, and [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
At this time I was battling a cold, and I was also deeply concerned about my appearance. As an American with a beard in a culture that doesn’t encourage beards (except among older men), I stood out significantly in Darhan.
Of course, I should offer a brief explanation about Kelly.
Kelly (who I mention at the bottom [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Sorry for the length of time it’s been since I last posted a journal entry to this blog. I’ve been very busy lately, especially in the last several months, getting adjusted to my surroundings.
This entry is about my first day of school at K. Saaliev Secondary School in Darhan. I quickly had to learn what [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
By the next day I was still getting adjusted to life in Darhan, and I was beginning to question why I was in Darhan and what I was doing there. Peace Corps volunteers, especially new volunteers, always worry about how effective they will be in their communities – this is a natural part of being [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Below was the first entry I made into my journal when I started it. It was also my first full day “at site” (Peace Corps-speak for a PCV’s village, city or community where he or she is serving).
22 September 2007
Today will mark my first full day as a Peace Corps volunteer in my permanent site. [...]
Kyrgyzstan
Эки Жыл: Two Years in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
So here it is – or here I am.
I have just completed two years of service as a Peace Corps volunteer. In the words of the late JFK, I asked what I could do for my country, and in response, the US government sent me to Kyrgyzstan.
If you don’t know what Kyrgyzstan is, or even [...]
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