As some of you may know, I’ve been working with local teachers, really, since November to plan a series of trainings for local university teachers.  We recently wrote and were approved for a small project grant to conduct these trainings. Last week we started meeting with some local teacher trainers to discuss the themes of [...]

Christmas eve: Was a typical day at the university because it isn’t a holiday here. However, there were several volunteers from Naryn oblast (aka Narnia). Naryn is the truly Kyrgyz part of Kyrgyzstan, even the locals admit this.  The volunteers in my city and our Narnian guests (about 11) got together to share cookies and [...]

Last Tuesday was the Muslim holiday Kurman Ait. The holiday is meant to celebrate life. In someways, it’s the opposite of Orozo Ait, which is a memorial day for those who have died.  For locals the day started with men going to the local mosques for reading of the Koran and animal sacrifices. A family [...]

Well, university started here at the beginning of September, but our schedules are still irregular. Case and point, this week is ‘potato week.’ A working-holiday (whatever that means) for staff and teachers to go to the villages and harvest potatoes. It is not scheduled in anyway, but everyone knew this week was coming. My work [...]

School started yesterday. Here were some of my reflections at the tail end of the school year last Spring. We’ll see what it’s like in a month after everything has settled into a routine.  Right now, I’m observing teachers and students. It would have been good to know my role a week ago before I [...]

Hey all, I do exist…and fail at social networking. I don’t really have an excuse, so I won’t give you one! What I will give you is a couple of posts to make up for the weeks I’ve been remiss.  Recently, I had to write a “Community Entry Toolkit” document and send it into PC [...]

Hello all! Hope you had a great 4th.  It has been a busy month here. Another volunteer and I are halfway through two English clubs. One is TOEFL Prep and the other is a conversation club. We have about 14 students coming on average; however, they are a little younger than we anticipated. We have [...]

Anecdote for the week… Today I went to the bazaar to buy house slippers. They are a cultural must-have, and my host mom made several comments encouraging me to get a pair. After a rain storm, I finally hiked to the bazaar to buy a pair. At the second stall that I came to selling [...]

With the events in the South hanging over everyone the past few days, it is difficult to write about the calm weekend we’ve been having on the lake.  Out of respect for gravity of what’s happening in Osh and Jalal-Abad, I will keep this short. If you would like to read more on what has been [...]

Hey all, I have been at my site (Karakol) for a few days now. We swore in as volunteers on Thursday, and were whisked away by our counterparts and host families for our permanent sites. On Friday, I got to go to the university I’ll be working at and meet some of the staff in [...]

Hey Gang, This is going to be a short post: 1) because I already wrote it once and failed to save it 2) I NEED to study Kyrgyz. Today, I got my permanent site announcement. Next week I will move to Karakol in Issyk-kol oblast to work at a university. I will be a teacher [...]

Thanks Mom, Dad and Gramma for packages. I am already enjoying the snacks, books and enertainment from home. Note to anyone wanting to send me mail: 1) I love mail – snail, email…anything. 2) I’m going to be going to permanent site in several weeks, so I wouldn’t send anything else to the PST address. [...]

Howdy everyone. Sorry it’s been a while. I got to spend some time reflecting last night and goal setting. I realized that a month ago I was just arriving here. My time here has gone fast so far. We spend a lot of time studying language and going to Bishkek to micro-teach and co-teach with [...]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to elaborate on my last blog and update you all. I got a few messages asking about Istanbul. Unfortunately I did not go into the city that day. We only had a few hours to travel into the city, grab lunch and get back through security at the airport. I would [...]

Solomatsizbuh, Hi everyone. I am in Bishkek at an internet cafe. We started training two days ago and have been learning about the language, culture, and general PC safety/security.  We are out using internet and buying flowers for our host families. We will meet them today at a ceremony and go home with them.  There [...]

Hey everyone, I’m still in the US for another couple hours. We will fly to Istanbul and then Bishkek. We will be landing really early in the morning (pretty much…it will still be night).  I met the group going over with me yesterday during basic orientation.  We are still meeting each other since there are 70 [...]

Hey all!  It’s been a bit, but I guess it will become a norm in about 3 weeks. Since my last post, I’ve shopped, subbed, shopped, moved home, shopped some more, got a nasty sore throat….and shopped…You get the pattern. I know many of you have been wondering why I’ve decided to volunteer with the Peace [...]

This should be a shorter post, so get out and enjoy this balmy 30 degree day!! As of right now, I’m scheduled to fly to staging somewhere in the US (probably Pennsylvania or DC) on March 26th. I will only be there for a day or two before flying on to Kyrgyzstan. Then our group will [...]

Hey all, Before I get into some basic information on Kyrgyzstan, I want to point you to the side bar where you can investigate the geography, climate, people, and culture a little on your own. That said: Kyrgyzstan is a mostly mountainous country that is 198,500 km2 in area (to give you perspective, that is almost the same [...]

As promised, though a day late, I’m letting you know a little more about what I will be doing in Kyrgyzstan (K’stan). My job title is TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Teacher Trainer.  I will either work with a university or a teaching association to team-teach English methodology courses for about 8hrs per week, [...]

Hey Everyone, I’m kinda taking a step back here, and I apologize for not writing this info. earlier.  After chatting with many of you and getting a lot of basic PC and Kyrgyzstan questions, I realized I didn’t do a great job outlining the who,what, where, when, why’s of my service. So for your ease, information [...]

So after I accepted my invitation to Kyrgyzstan, submitted forms and photos for my visa, and filled out forms for the additional passport, I received a new batch of paperwork via email.  Though I’m wondering  how much more the PC would need to know about me, I’m taking it as a sign of  thoroughness. The email [...]

I’m kind of doing blogging 101 right now! Thanks for checking in on me. Hopefully, this will help me to communicate with everyone while I go through Peace Corps (PC) training and into my next two years in Kyrgyzstan.  Currently I communicate with some of you only through email or Facebook. This should make it [...]