7-6-2010

Well this is the last post I will be making from Kyrgyzstan. I might make one in a few days or a week or two, but I doubt many people will still be reading it. But I feel like it needs an official ending/sendoff than just a little note.

7-4-2010

Well, I didn’t do a very good job keeping up with my little mini-journal I was keeping when the unrest began here a few weeks ago. I will be posting two entries I wrote in June below this post, but a lot has happened since. I wanted to leave up my blog post about donating as long as possible. The international community has been doing a lot here recently and lots of money is coming in. Some of my friends who are finishing early are staying to work for some of these aid agencies and I respect them greatly for it.

I spent about 5 or 6 days at an undisclosed location with all of the volunteers before the constitutional referendum that happened here on the 27th. It was a precautionary measure given the massive amount of rumors all the volunteers were hearing all over the country about more problems happening closer to the referendum. Everything passed peacefully and I returned back to my village on the 28th with my fellow south shore volunteers. That same day our volunteer support assistant called me to tell me of my new COS date was now July 2nd, and not July 7th. And that I would be coming to Bishkek on the 1st with my close friend Jonathan.

I spent 3 days in my village, swimming in the lake only once. My time in the village was cut short about 3 days with the new COS date, but they were 3 relaxing days as I had already prepared my bags and said goodbyes before I left for our consolidation, not knowing if I would return. But I did return, as I said above, and I’m glad I was able to share those few days with my host family before I left. I was able to make a final trip to Karakol to get some souvenirs for myself before I left and to say some goodbyes to the K-17s and K-18s I had gotten to know well here.

Saying goodbye to my family was very surreal. I struggled to hold back the tears saying goodbye, in hopes that it would make it easier for them. From my understanding I think it is very hard for Kyrgyz to say real goodbyes. Their word for goodbye basically translates as “go well” and alternatively “stay well.” Everyone always comes back eventually and they don’t go away for too long. I plan to return, in a few years and if I have the money for it, but you never know what the future holds.

In fact, the last few days have been very surreal. I was running around the Peace Corps office on the 2nd like a chicken with my head cut off trying to complete my Close-of-Service Checklist. After check-ups and paperwork and more paperwork I handed in the last few things and officially became a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer on July the 2nd at 5:00pm. This means I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer. I’ve finished my PC service. I was expecting some sort of profound feeling to come over me once I became an RPCV, but nothing did. I’m not sure when it will but perhaps after a few weeks in the states there will be some sort of realization and internalization of the past 2 years. I think I am still in shock and disbelief of the fact that I will be flying out of this country in less than 30 hours, returning back home as a normal American. With the next part of my life once again an unknown.

For the past few days I have been saying goodbye to friends that are more like family. The goodbyes have seemed to be easier than I had thought though. It is rare in life to meet people who you know that when you reunite it will feel as if no time at all has passed. I’ve met a few people in my life like that during my formative years, and I’ve met many people here who have been as important in a unique yet brief time. I think that this understanding makes it easier for me to say goodbye; I know I will see them again and it will be just as I wrote: as if we had been apart for no time at all.

This journey that began almost exactly 2 years ago has changed me in so many ways, many of them I am consciously unaware of at this point. I feel like I went through a new life and became a new person. I’m not sure what this means for my future, but I know it will be impacting my life until the end.

6-15-2010

So it has been five days since the unrest erupted here in Kyrgyzstan. I have been entirely safe for the whole time, watching the World Cup and enjoying the company of my friends in Karakol and my host family in my village. It’s hard to do that when all of this is going on a few hundred miles away. I figured I’d try to write down some things that have been running through my mind the last few days and try to keep an updated mini-journal on this crisis until it ends (hopefully sooner rather than later).

So according to multiple new outlets there’s a possibility that this has been orchestrated and purposely provoked violence. I can’t even fathom how someone gets to the point where they are willing to do such a thing. What does it accomplish? The pointlessness of all of this suffering is heart breaking. I am filled with a rage and an equally powerful sorrow when I read some of the accounts of the things that have been happening here. I feel helpless, stressed, and sad. I can’t imagine how my friends who lived through this are coping.

I’ve had moments of overwhelming emotion wash over me randomly when I start thinking about the suffering going on down there. I’ve never been attached or so close to anything like this going on in the world before. I have really been able to understand and feel the human story to events like this that occur all over the world. These things can be avoided and stopped but it’s a failure of our civilization in general to do so. It’s pathetic really. I have a newfound respect for aid workers and aid organizations and am considering things in the future that I can do to help people suffering throughout the world.

I don’t even know what else to say about it right now. I’ve read some horrible accounts of what has happened to some of these victims of violence. I’m glued to the internet and spending plenty of money on my cell phone. I’m hoping for the best and always worried about the future.

6-18-2010

Well, three more days have passed since my last little mini-journal update. I’ve calmed down a bit since the emotional rollercoaster that was the last few days. The situation is slowly becoming stable. It is still volatile but it seems things are heading in the right direction. Aid is pouring in now and hopefully it will do plenty of good for Kyrgyzstan. I think the country really can progress if this new government brings in the younger, educated and open generation of Kyrgyzstan. They are the future and they need to do things right.

I’ve just been informed today of my new Early COS date of July 5th. I think the idea of actually leaving here sunk in when I got that phone call from PC. I have like 16 or 17 days left in this country. After two years, only 17 days left. I’m terrified to say goodbye but happy to be returning to America, to my family, and to my friends. I’m sure I’ll have more time before I leave to put up one last blog entry, a goodbye of sorts I guess. I doubt I will be able to reflect much until a lot of time has passed after returning home.

Home, that’s a funny word to me now. I have two homes now I guess, two families, two lives. It is a feeling too surreal to explain or describe properly, I think. One of these lives is going to end soon though. What that means for me I have yet to experience, but I think it is going to be difficult. I’m at ease with the idea of leaving soon though, but it still scares me. I am dreading the goodbyes I have to say; now even moreso, as they have been accelerated by 2 months. I want to make the best of the time I have left here and that starts tomorrow. I might have to say some goodbyes to friends – friends that became family – and I don’t think I’m ready for it.

EDIT: pretty good summary of the last 5 days: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/06/2010615144818317294.html

EDIT: You can donate to Tashkent regional (will go to kstan) using this link:

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList2/Help_the_ICRC?OpenDocument

I am posting this from a friend who was evacuated from the south of the country:

Hello, everyone.

Thank you so much for caring about the people of Southern Kyrgyzstan who are affected by recent violence. I have a list of aid items requested by people in Southern Kyrgyzstan. Please contact your local Red Cross or Red Crescent in order to get supplies organized and sent into Southern Kyrgyzstan. Please urge them to be strategic about where they send shipments as not all aid is currently being distributed evenly and may be divided by ethnic/class lines.

Remember that food has been used, houses were lost, and refuge camps are being created, so many different types of items are needed. Obviously only send perishables if you are located close to Kyrgyzstan itself.

Thank you

---NEEDS---

Food Products

Grains, sugar, pastas, bread, oil, canned food, any food suitable for children

Medical Supplies

Dressing for wounds, disinfectants, anesthesia, syringes, intestinal medications, cardiac medications, blood pressure controlling medicines

Clothes

Light men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes, diapers, and cloths.

Also:

It will take time for them to figure out how to get aid to all groups of people, but the Red Cross/Crescent is our best bet at the moment.

Pierre-Emmanuel Ducruet, ICRC Osh, tel: +996 677 20 22 610

For further information, please contact:

Anna Nelson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 79 217 32 64

Yuriy Shafarenko, ICRC Moscow, tel: +7 9 03 545 3534

And if you can, please contact your representatives:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Here is a sample letter:

The Honorable (full name)

(Room #) (Name) Senate Office Building

United States Senate or United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20510 (20515 for Representatives)

Dear (President, your members of Congress):

Over the past few days, many people have been killed or injured during ethnic conflict around Osh, Kyrgyzstan, and it is reported around 100,000 people are attempting to flee the region to neighboring Uzbekistan.

Reliable reports from the region indicate that media reports are understating the extent of this violence.

I would ask you to call for the U.S. Government to do all it can to restore law and order and provide aid to those suffering from this situation

There's more unrest in the south of KG right now. Just posting to let you guys know I'm safe and there's nothing going on in my neck of the woods that I'm aware of.

Pat

Well, since blogger is actually working for me today I figured I'd better write a post up. Things have been pretty relaxed lately. I've been going to school for 3 or 4 days a week to work on the computers we have there and it has been going pretty well. I was supposed to meet with my counterpart to teach her some new stuff with the PCs but the power was out all of yesterday. Instead of doing that I helped my brother throw rocks onto a truck (really). We borrowed our neighbors truck and went down to the lake. The land close to the lake before you get to the beach (and even on some beaches) is pretty much covered in rocks of various sizes. He's planning on basically paving the now dirt ground between our houses with a rock/cement sorta thing. We threw rocks onto this old old old Soviet truck for about 4 hours. It was kind of bizarre and I was just thinking to myself the whole time, "I'm throwing rocks on a truck made in the Soviet Union, in a former Soviet Republic, next to one of the largest Alpine lakes in the world. For four hours." I could have never imagined doing that...ever. Thanks again to Peace Corps for another strange memory.

Anyway, I've just been playing soccer and hanging out for most of my free time lately. The new K18s have arrived at their site, and I guess I'm understandably less excited than I was for the K17s, seeing as I will only be here another 3 months. They are a good group however. A lot of them came to Issyk-Kul this year so it will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes, if it does.

I can't wait for the Lake to warm up so that I can go swimming whenever I want, but it's not quite warm enough yet. I remember last year going in when it was too cold for about 5 or 10 minutes. I got out and my body/blood/brain was so cold that my motor skills were suffering as I walked over the rocks to get to the beach. I was asked by about 3 people if I was drunk. It sure looked like it haha. I don't want to repeat that. Even though I said no, I'm sure some people thought I was.

So T-minus 12 weeks. Hard to believe. I have been day dreaming a lot about American conveniences and cultural things that I actually grew up with. Shoot me an email if you'd like. I get bored with being able to check the internet all the time now and not having letters...

Hope you're all well.

Pat

-------

Finally posting pics from the May 25 last bell ceremony:

My host mom and host brother - he finished high school this year. His banner reads literally "good luck to you 'finisher'" So basically, good luck graduate.

My brother's class and some speeches they had to give.

They all walk in pairs under this thingy.

Rockin' the kalpak before the ceremony started.

** Note: Blogger has been really hard to access for some reason lately. This would have been posted a week ago. I just got back from our school's Last Bell ceremony so I'm officially done teaching now! Wooo Summer!!------------and on to the old post:

Sooo, I guess it has been about a month since I’ve posted. Sorry about that. Weather getting warmer and school wrapping up sorta kept me from sitting down and writing anything. That and I just didn’t really want to write anything; that usually corresponds with times when I just don’t read anything too. I didn’t pick up a book for about a month but now I’m reading again. I read Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris the other night – interesting quick read. Now I’m reading The Stillborn God by Mark Lilla. It’s a very interesting look at political theology and how the west is still affected by it, but I assume it is about a lot more than that the more one reads into it.

As I said before, school is wrapping up. I’ve got until the 25th and then it’s summer time. The school will be open until around June 25th for the 9th and 11th formers exams that they have to take. I plan on fixing up all the computers in our school during that time. They need a lot of work but I never had a solid chunk of time to motivate myself to do something about it. Also, I my counterpart and I need to finish up the project we wrote for the English resources. There’s still some small stuff we haven’t gotten around to. So that’s my June plan. As for the rest of summer I’m not sure what is ahead. I know I’ll be playing plenty of soccer and hanging out with other PCVs. I wanted to visit the south but now that Jalalabad is out of the question and there are travel restrictions to Osh for PCVs it might not happen. I assume there will be a few camps I can go to, but I haven’t heard too much yet. The new K-18s will be coming to site in a few weeks. It will be nice for Jonathan and me to have a few other neighbors for once; if they stay this year and don’t leave a month after getting to site!

We had our Close of Service conference the other week. We got to stay at a sweet resort which is somewhat of a gift/thank you from PC for making it through the two years. It was great to see everyone still here. We had a pretty high percentage for people who made it to COS Conference which is something to be proud of, I think. We stayed up late, drinking, hanging out and talking. We had sessions during the day about a variety of things concerning finishing our service and also what it’s like to go back to America. As I was sitting through some of those sessions the immensity of what we have all been through began to sink in, just a little bit. But it was enough to realize that I’ll be trying to figure out what this experience meant to me for years and right now it’s very hard to internalize any of it. I had to say some teary goodbyes that were very, very hard. The Jalalabad volunteers had to leave right after COS (for safety issues) if they even decided to wait until then to leave. Some left even before that. But really, the friends I’ve made here will always, always be friends. The bond from going through this together is pretty strong; we’re the only ones that understand each other and what it was/is like. On a lighter note, and most importantly, Issyk-Kul PCVs won the Kyrgyz Cup, which is a competition based on Kyrgyz/Russian language and culture with a Jeopardy game at the end with a variety of topics. This is the second year in a row that the Lake volunteers get to bring the cup back to the lake!

As for the country, the new constitution is going to be ready in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see what they come up with. There’s a real chance to really put this country in a good direction. You can almost feel the enthusiasm for it in the air with some people; reminds me of the atmosphere before the April 7th revolution also. It has been peaceful here on the lake and safety really isn’t more of a concern than it normally has been. The south had some problems recently but things are under control it seems. Hopefully nothing else happens in the future. It has been eye-opening, to say the least, living through what is happening to this country in its young political life. Here’s a country that has been independent for not even 20 years and has had two revolutions in the past 5 years! But I guess now all I can do is hope for the best.

It’s kind of doubtful now that I’ll be able to stay here to work after my PC contract ends. One of my options probably won’t work out now and the other one I’m not too excited about. I’ve come to terms with being ok about coming home. I kept telling myself I should stay if I have the opportunity but I can always come back if the desire returns. If something else worthwhile comes up or I find something else I’ll definitely consider it, but as of now it looks like I’ll be home at the end of August. Time will tell I guess.

How is everyone doing back home? I haven’t heard from many people. Hope everything is good. Write me!

Pat

Say goodbyes

Bonfire beer!

A view to the north...

A view to the south...

So I’ve had some time to sit down and reflect on the craziness that has been the last 10 or so days of my life here. I can’t go into too many details about what I’ve been through, but I’ll do my best to at least let you know what was going through my head. This has probably been the most stressful challenge of my life.

First of all, I have to say that I’ve been thoroughly impressed with how PC has handled this situation. I hope stability only continues to improve here, but if it doesn’t I have total faith in PC to handle anything that happens in the future and keep us safe. Thank you staff for everything!

And on to my thoughts…

My fellow PC Volunteer Trainers and I had to keep our training of the new K-18s going while we were waiting at a safe place for the country to return to normal. We had very little information about the situation and the thought crossed our minds hour by hour that this could be our last moments in this country. People were stressed, but we all tried to make the best of an interesting situation. The trainees were great through all of it. I think they’re going to be a successful group.

I’ve learned a lot during this training, a lot about giving trainings in general and a lot about myself. I’m not sure how what I’ve learned will manifest itself in my future but I know my time at PST has affected me more than I thought it ever could. Most importantly, the events here have really taught me a lot. It was interesting to be here and living in a place where this happens. Americans are so disconnected from stuff like this. We see it on the news and don’t think twice about it, and if we do it just goes on and on about politics and other issues. The coverage given to events like this around the world is so topical and shortsighted that we don’t gain any understanding of what’s going on. There’s a human cost to all of these things we see on the news and on April 7th I saw it in the faces of my Kyrgyz friends and fellow volunteers.

It really hit me when I finally made it back to my village. I haven’t been able to watch Kyrgyz TV at all in like 3 weeks. As I was sitting and having tea with my host mom, one of the many clips they have been showing which covers the memorial services and events of the 7th of April started to play on the TV. It was unbearable. It was the first time I saw any of the clips of what happened. I tried to hold back the tears but I think all the stress of everything that has happened combined with fatigue and the images I was viewing made it impossible. I cried for those people who lost their lives and for the people of this country. I sat there and felt what I’ve always known to be true. We’re all people – there’s nothing real that divides us. Everything that separates us is artificial and man made. We all want the same things, peace, happiness, freedom…and there are people in this world who for whatever reason are at odds with this.

The compassion I felt is the same compassion I felt on 9/11. It was very close to my heart and I felt sincere sorrow for what happened. My host Mom shed a few tears as well and when I regained my composure I looked at her and told her that those people we were seeing mustn’t be forgotten and that I have hope for this country to rebuild their government and improve their lives. This place and its people, despite the problems that exist here, have really become a part of me. I think my heart will always be in two places from now on. And I mean that in ways I don’t have the words to articulate.

As for pictures for this post I've got some good ones. I went for a hike with my buddy Jonathan and managed to take a few. I was meaning to post this and the pictures a few days ago but I've been having trouble with the blogger website not loading. I always brag about living in the most beautiful village in Kyrgyzstan and I think these photos will prove it to all you doubters! It's good to be back after being gone almost a month!!

Hope you guys are doing well! And time for the pics!

We flipped our car, so my brother could fix something. Soviet cars are heavy.

Jonathan and some mountains. We want to go to the top of that pine covered one behind him sometime this summer

My neighboring village in the backround.

Mountains...

Beautiful!

I like this pic.

Well, I'm sure many of you have heard the news already. Just wanted to post finally and say that I am very safe and taken care of right now. We're hoping things are back to normal here in a few days. I want to get back to work and back to my village (i was Chui for training when all the stuff started and I'm still here).

I wish I could share more with you but I'm not able to. Hope you guys are well.

Pat

Well, having been recently inspired by a fellow PCV’s much better written blog, I thought I post something since I’ve been pretty lazy about doing that lately. Winter recently decided to give it another go yesterday with this huge storm that went through the country. I heard there were pretty powerful winds in some other oblasts in the country. By the time it made it to us it wasn’t nearly as powerful I guess. Anyway, it snowed most of yesterday but thankfully melted rapidly, before it could settle and make the much hated mud return. The last two weeks were wonderful in terms of weather though, and I’m hoping it returns to that way soon. Although yesterday and today have been extremely clear (albeit much colder though) after that front came through.

I’ve been playing soccer the past few days and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the times when we play until sunset and I get to watch the sun fall behind the mountains across the lake. It’s pretty surreal at times; here I am in Kyrgyzstan playing soccer in another language with the guys in my village, winded after trying to make my way to the goal, and I look back behind my little school towards the lake and see this indescribable beauty of a sunset over Lake Issyk-Kul. The colors are so vibrant and the air so crisp and clean, I think to myself, and then my mind darts right back to the game and I’m off running somewhere on the field. This happens almost every time I play soccer but the impact is always the same. As I look towards the lake, that brief moment of actually feeling the beauty of this place and of the truly unique time I’m having here, I hope is forever embedded into my memory because I know I don’t ever want to forget it and I know I will miss it.

That brings to mind another thought. It’s funny how we can have nostalgia for something that hasn’t yet ended in our lives. I guess as my time runs out here (less than 6 months now I think) those feelings will get stronger. I’ve been in situations where I feel this overwhelming and exhilarating emotion come over me. I guess it is nostalgia; I’m not sure what else to call it. It happens at the strangest times, sitting around watching my coworkers at a celebration, the look on my students faces when they really get something, or the feeling I get when I know they are asking or talking to me about things they probably can’t talk about to anyone else. It even happens sometimes in the little random acts of hospitality as I’m grabbed by an older man to come into his house while I’m rushing to school, so he can give me a glass of bozo (homemade Kyrgyz “wine” I guess you could call it. But it’s not really wine, it’s made from wheat I think). Anyway, it’s a pretty powerful feeling and it makes me fear having to say goodbye to this place whether it is when my contract ends or after I stay on to work for a little longer.

My mood is improving with the weather and the exercise has certainly helped. The dark cloud of winter is leaving and it’s awesome. I gave a training with my counterpart covering students learning styles to some teachers at my school yesterday. Less teachers came than I had wanted but I think it was a time issue. Next training I will make sure to correct for that and try to have as many teachers as possible come. But for those that came, I’m fairly sure they enjoyed it and actually learned something useful. My counterpart is continually impressing me this year with how much she has learned from our work together. It’s nice to finally see some positive outcome from work that 90% of the time is very hard to see concrete results. I mean you can’t measure the impact a person has on another person’s life – and you never know how, or more importantly, when that impact will affect someone. It could be 20 years later or next week.

On that note, it’s a shame that I won’t be replaced this year, but I’m hoping there’s a chance in the future for my site to get another volunteer. My counterpart certainly isn’t to blame for me not getting replaced. She has already worked almost 2 years with a volunteer and she has possibly found a much better paying job elsewhere (the low salary for teachers here is a problem, and hopefully it will be improved sooner rather than later), so she doesn’t want to commit another two years to working with a volunteer. I completely understand that and I don’t blame her for taking that job if she gets it; I would do the same in her position.

So all in all, things are looking up here. I’ll be leaving my site for about 3 weeks soon to be a trainer for the new group of volunteers (god, K-18s already). I’m excited to meet them all and I’m hoping their fresh enthusiasm rubs off a bit. It really is contagious; it’s easy to catch being around 60+ people with the highest hopes, expectations, and positive thoughts for their next two years. I’m thinking it’ll give me a nice morale boost for the last few months of service. Hopefully I’ll have some time to inquire about some jobs that might be available also. I’m becoming more accepting of the idea that if I just can’t find the right job I don’t think I’ll regret leaving if I have to in August/September. There are pros and cons to both scenarios and frankly I’d probably be happy however it turns out. That doesn’t help much with motivation though haha. Contentment can be bad that way I guess.

Hope you’re all doing well. Shoot me an email – haven’t heard from many of you lately. Let me know what’s going on in your life. Believe it or not I like to hear about that, and most people enjoy talking about themselves so it’s a win-win situation yeah?

Pat

Baby sheep and goats!

The view from part of our yard toward the lake...it was so clear today and there's quite a lot of snow on the other sides mountains. Not sure why that cow is standing where it eats its food but he stayed there for like an hour today.

Another view from near the house.

Well, sorry I haven't posted in a bit. Been busy. Things are going well though. I've basically decided that if a teaching job is the only work I can get here I probably won't stay after my contract. There are a few prospects of different work that would pay well and be pretty interesting for another 6 months or a year, so I'm going to try to get them!

But, the point of this post is to tell you all about some of my closest friends here and the project they are starting this summer: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=307-152

Please, please donate to this! I know it will be a successful project and your money will go very far and truly make a difference. Every penny counts. Tell everyone you know. I'd really appreciate it!

Pat

Well, I haven’t been in the mood much to write a blog and I’m sort of just forcing myself to do it right now. It got cold again the past week or so here which is pretty annoying. I’m mentally and physically tired of it and I can’t wait until it starts to warm up here.

Not too much has been going on though. I had a great Bday in the city and also at a party in the village. Although, the lack of sleep and partying did get me sick I think. A minor sinus infection maybe. I’m almost 100% better now though. Last year I had a nasty one and didn’t even know what was going on. I’ve never gotten sinus infections in the states.

The weekend before my bday I went snowboarding for the first time in like 6 years. It was totally awesome and the mountain is beautiful. The view is stunning from up there. I was doing well snowboarding by the end of the day, but then a strap broke on my board and I lost out on like 2 more runs which kinda pissed me off. I guess that can be expected renting equipment for $10/day. Oh and I finally learned to play poker (texas hold’em) and won my second game! Fun game…I always used to think it was really complicated but the rules involved are actually really simple.

School is going along fine. There was this huge “commission” that came to our school on Thursday. Like 25 directors from our entire oblast. They were checking out our school since it won some best in the rayon award or something like that. Four of them observed my and my counterparts lesson. It went really well. It’s funny how much work got done preparing for all of them to come. The school was like a zoo before Thursday.

I’m just waiting now until we hear from PC who the new Trainers will be for the K18s that arrive soon. I’m hoping I get picked again but if I don’t, I’m sure I’ll find something good to do over the march/spring break we have.

No news on the post-PC jobs front. Lately I’ve been sort of leaning towards the idea that if a teaching job is the only thing available I will probably just come home. It’s not necessarily that I don’t like teaching; I just want to try something else. But then again, I could change my mind. I still go back and forth about it. I’m hoping that back and forth-ness stops sometime soon.

I’ll be taking it easy this weekend. Hopefully I’ll get a banya and finally get a good bathing in. It has been like 2 or 3 weeks since a banya – showers just can’t get you clean enough when you haven’t bathed for a week or more.

Anyway, hope you’re all doing well and also that the snow stopped. Miss you all.

Lunch at the mountain

Katie snowboarding...you can see the city down the valley and even the lake...too bad it wasn't clear that day.

Party!

Me and my host brother.

A school art project thingy that we had on display for a while. I love the repainted old glass (vodka) bottles. It's so nice to see someone do something productive with the trash you can find here.

Well, it has been a while since I posted something decent up on the blog, so I'll try to make this one a good one.

Let’s see, where to start…I’ve been back from my vacation for 3 weeks now. I’m pretty much used to being back here. My time back home sort of feels like a strange dream. It was like a brief interruption in my life here. It’s a very hard feeling to explain. It really feels like a parallel existence. I don’t want to get all metaphysical or philosophical about it, but I wish I could put how I feel into better words than the last few sentences I just wrote.

I have been thinking more about staying here for possibly another 6 months or a year, in the capital. There’s work that I think I would enjoy doing here and I would be able to live very comfortably even on a low salary (low in comparison to an American salary). I’m hoping to find something that is around a 6 month deal/contract. I don’t really see the harm in staying a little longer. The more I realize that my time here is getting short (I have like 7 months left now…) the more I understand the uniqueness of this experience of living here. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy my life here in the village with my family, it’s a wonderful experience. But, the American in me is starting to slowly want its privacy back. Even though I’m considered a part of my family here (a fact which I am so very grateful for) I’m still in another family’s house, as a guest. I communicate not in my own language but in a second one, and I am surrounded by a different culture. There are some things, that no matter how integrated I become in this country, I can’t be 100% comfortable. I think that living in Bishkek (whether working at a possible PC position or at a “real job”) will be a good way to have the best of both worlds for a little bit; I’ll have the conveniences of a city and the privacy of living on my own, but still be living in another country, one that most people will never see or at the least come briefly as a tourist, only arriving and leaving here, never truly entering.

I had considered extending in my village to work another year but I feel like I would definitely need my own place, which is pretty much impossible in my village I think. Of course, I still go back and forth about the whole staying or leaving thing. Some days I find myself thinking “what the hell are you thinking, wanting to stay here? 27 months is long enough. Go back to your home and your friends and family etc etc” and at other times I find myself thinking along the lines of the reasoning I had to come here. I’m still young, nothing is holding me back from doing whatever I want or going wherever I can. I just think about the rarity of my whole situation. I’m living in the center of Asia, I’ve learned a language and a culture so very different from my own and part of me thinks there’s no reason view it as a “contract is finished time to leave” sort of thing. I hear a lot of volunteers talk about how they are getting out as soon as they can and are going to be happy to leave. I used to view leaving country the same way I think, but after being back home for vacation, America is no longer this ivory tower that dominates my thoughts of the future. Part of it might be fear of never being able to make it back here and seeing the friends and family I’ve made. I do know it’s not out of a fear of being unable to say goodbye…those things I’ve never had problems with. If things have to be some way then so be it, I’m not going to run from it. It’s like a pendulum that still hasn’t stopped swinging and most of the time I just have no idea what to do or what I want to do.

I’ve been reading a book my aunt gave me about a girl who taught English in Bhutan for 3 years and some of the things she writes about have really connected with me. She talks of being “uprooted” and I find that fascinating. It’s a pretty good one word explanation for how I feel now. I’m free in a sense that I never knew possible. Life here is so stimulating, whether things are good or bad and despite all the other problems. Of course I miss my family and friends greatly, but what can I do? The only other thing about America that I really miss (which pales in comparison to friends and family) is the conveniences of an American life. I’m obviously drawn to living here a little bit longer; otherwise I wouldn’t be having such an internal conversation about it.

So, as for that topic, I think I’m spent.

In other um, news…I went to my buddy Jonathan’s last weekend for Taco lunch on Sunday. It was fun and delicious. We watched Zombieland – which definitely exceeded my expectations – as we devoured our tacos.

I gave a training on Giving and Receiving Feedback to the teachers at my school last Thursday with my awesome Program Manager. It was so great to have her there to help out for the first one because it gave it much more of an “official-ness” to this new work PC wants us doing. We’re supposed to give like 3 or 4 professional development trainings and do observations of our counterparts at our schools for the 3rd and 4th quarters of school. It’s a good idea which I was pretty intimated and feeling sort of lazy about when I first got the information. I needed this push that my Program Manager gave me. A lot of the teachers, especially the younger ones, really enjoyed it and I will probably be giving another one on a different topic with my counterpart in 3 or 4 weeks.

I went to the nearby city on Friday and we went out to our new favorite club. I was a dancing machine and had a great time haha. I had to leave back for my village Saturday since guests were coming to our house for my host mom’s 50th birthday which is going on right now. I needed a break from sitting, drinking tea, talking, and eating (which started the moment I got home from the city Saturday afternoon) for a little bit. I’ve been writing this blog post off and on the whole day and now I’m sitting in my room with the doors shut to get some alone time. My brothers and I got my host mom a nice watch and a cake for her birthday. She was also nice enough to get me a few beers for her bday to drink instead of getting wine, which is usually what I get since I don’t drink vodka here. We’re about to eat Besh Barmak, which is good since I’m nearing the end of this blog post….and before I could finish I was summoned to join everyone for the feast! It’s almost midnight, which means my electricity is going to go out. I don’t think there’s much else in terms of what’s new for me here. How’s everyone doing back home? Write me!

Pat

This is my friend Jonathan's bed aka Heat Tent. His apt doesn't have much heat so he improvises...there's a heater under there somewhere.

This is Jonathan.

Jonathan's cat Collette. I think her name sucks so I call her Bullet since she is insane.

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd write a little update since I've been back for a little over a week now. Things are going well again. I think I'm readjusted to everything here. It has been MUCH colder since I got back then last year was. I hope it doesn't get too much colder in February. I had to go back to Bishkek for another training 3 days or so after I got back to my village. I'm certainly tired of traveling now!

Work is going well. Today I went to a teacher trainer run by a volunteer in the nearby city. It went well and was a nice break in the week. I got to see some friends which was nice as well.

Anyway, I'll try to write up something a little more detailed and maybe put up a few pictures sometime in the near future.

Hope everyone is well.

Pat

Well, it's finally 2010. That means I've completed my full calendar year of service (2009). Only about 8 months to go. These 8 months seem to like it will be a long time but at the same time it seems like the time will go by so fast. Although, I think it still feels like a long time because it is now basically the halfway point of winter. I'm tired of winter...not much left, just gotta stick it out.

I'm working through some issues of thinking about whether I want to stay and try to work in Bishkek after service, or go home, or travel. I'm also pretty upset that my village will most likely not be getting a replacement volunteer for reasons that I shouldn't discuss knowing that I would probably come across to someone as "mean" or "negative." I just feel pretty bad about it. I always felt that one of my primary purposes in a new site was to get my village to want to have another volunteer through integration and just being a good person all of the time. To have things end up like this is really demotivating and at times depressing. So, I just feel like the only thing that is keeping me positive about work and teaching are my students. They are wonderful and always make me feel better about doing what I am doing over there. Yes, over there. I'm writing this during my last day of vacation here in America.

And speaking of that vacation...It has been very helpful, relaxing, and fun. I was fretting about coming home, worrying about this and that and stupid things. Honestly, it was like I never left. I'm grateful that I got to see all my friends and family - it was really nice to see everyone. I ate soooo much good food and showered eveyday. I even got to exercise and go running in winter! Not a usual or possible thing to do in my village. I'm too afraid of the dogs to go running. Plus there's that little issue of ice/packed snow covered roads for 4 months of the winter. Anyway, thanks to everyone for making my vacation awesome. I'll be back before we both know it, I'm sure.

So, come tomorrow I'll be spending many, many hours on two different planes getting back to Bishkek. I'll miss everyone here but it's easier leaving this time than it was a year and a half ago. Now just have to wait out winter and it's smooth sailing after that.

Pat

Uncle Frank rockin the Kalpak.

After about 30 or so hours of travel...arriving in Lancaster.

My Dad and Uncle...they look good in Kyrgyz gear. I pass for a Soviet there, no?

My brother Joomart frying our pirashkis

My mom making the pirashkis - It's a russian food with potatoes and onions on the inside and fried on the outside...they are good!

So I've got two weeks left until I have my vacation and I'll be back home in the states for about 2 weeks. That time sure did go by fast. I'm starting to get excited now instead of just nervous about my trip home. It's going to be a shock for the first few days I think, but I hope I readjust quickly. I can't wait to see everyone too.

In other news, things are still pretty good here. Nothing to complain about really. Winter hasn't been any worse than last year...so far. Maybe a little more snow than last year though. Not sure how January and February will be though. I think last year February was the coldest month.

We had Thanksgiving the other Saturday. I went in to Bishkek to celebrate with everyone there. It was a blast - finally had some Turkey (thanks to our Country Director for that!!). Everything was great and I'm glad I made the trip. I got to see a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while.

Other than that not much else is going on. My school was closed for a little for 'quarantine' since a lot of the students and many of the teachers were sick. It's not swine flu, but just regular flu/cold I guess. I guess countries everywhere are being really careful about the flu season this year and are allowing closures of places. I've been staying healthy which is very good. Last year I got sick and I'm pretty sure I had the first sinus infection of my life. That was awful but this year I can tell my body is used to living here and is much stronger.

Just playing the waiting game now for coming home. Makes me kind of lazy knowing I'll be leaving soon - I just want the day to come and the 25 some hours of travelling I'll be doing to be over with. Good thing is that a fellow volunteer is also taking the exact same dates off for his vacation and flying on the same flight as me. It will be nice to not have to travel alone.

Anyway, hope things are good for everyone. Won't be long until I get to see you all!

Pat

Just found out that FONEX, my cell phone company has SMS's on their website. You can send me SMS's from the internet if you want! Just email me (pathimes@gmail.com) and I can give you my number and the website!

So I thought I'd write another quick update. It's winter now. It came much earlier than last year. We had snow on tuesday and wednesday. It got really cold really fast. It's pretty muddy around the village which makes walking to school a pain. The cold and mud and crappy winter-ness gets to me and then I see the mountains and it reminds me how freaking beautiful it is here even in the worst weather. I forgot what they looked like when they're snow covered and it's quite a sight.

School is still going well which is nice. My counterpart offered to teach me Russian and some Kyrgyz every week which I will probably start doing. I think it will be a really good thing for us to do in terms of bettering our friendship and work relationship.

The days are going pretty fast here. Hard to believe I'll be back home in less than 2 months. I know November will be over before I know it. I'm not sure yet whether this winter will be harder than last winter or even if it will be physically wprse or not, but I'm hoping for the best. Once March and April hit it'll probably be smooth sailing from thereon out.

Anyway, miss you all. Keep in touch - haven't gotten many emails from people lately. I want to hear about what you're doing and how life is going!

Pat

PS - Sorry no pics this time.

Well, it's November now. Pretty hard to believe. I have less than a year left here and only 3 quarters of school left. Time is certainly moving along rather quickly. I'm just writing a little update on life here...figured it has been a bit since I posted.

Last weekend we celebrated Halloween. It was fun. I'm sure some of the pictures will end up on my facebook, I don't have any of my own though.

We're on vacation from school now since the first quarter ended until the 9th. It's a nice break. I'll be going to the capital this weekend to see some friends and relax. Get some of that big city life for a little bit.

In other news, I've been healthy for like 2 weeks. It's totally awesome. I think I forgot what healthy was supposed to feel like. I'm just hoping it lasts.

The weather has been unseasonably warm this first week of November. I'm happy about that though. I've only lit my stove once to keep warm since summer ended. I guess in a week or two I'll be lighting it every night though.

Anyway, things are moving along. Nothing new to report really.

Pat

These pics are from I think the last week of October.

Apples! I pick one off this tree everyday for lunch. Sooo good.

Leaves changing. Lots of Yellow in Kstan, not as vibrant here as I remember in the states though.

Another shot of the garden.

So I guess I’ve been pretty lax with writing on here. Sorry about that. Haven’t had the urge to write much and a lot of what I posted last year was so new to me and I had something every week to talk about if I wanted to. Now I’m pretty used to everything here.

So what has been happening here the past few weeks? Well where to start. I guess work. I’ve been teaching for a little over a month now and I can definitely say it is much easier and much more productive this year than the beginning of last year. My counter part and I are teaching 6th form, 8th form and 11th form. I also teach English clubs for 4 hours a week and do conversation/open/unplanned time for anyone who wants to come in 2 hours a week. I might be starting an English club for some of the younger teachers who have expressed some interest in learning English which would be fun. My Program Manager visited me on Friday. We had a great talk about second year plans and it was really nice to see her. I think it was a very productive visit for my counterpart and director. My counterpart got to express some things (which were news to me) that were bothering her about work and it was a good thing. So basically, we came away from that meeting with tentative plans to start doing a short training once a month for the teachers at the school covering things like giving feedback, learning styles, and other things that could be very useful for the school and most importantly the students. I’m enjoying work more this year now that the hecticness (is that a word?) and confusion of the beginning of the year has ended.

As for the PCPP project, we’re going to start bringing the books to school this week (if everything works out) and beginning work on organizing it and creating rules for the use of the books by students and teachers. I’m excited to do this and hopefully the other English teachers will be receptive to working on it other than just my counterpart. It will be a great way for them to learn more about how to use computers and other skills. Some of the books were unable to be ordered but I think that turns out to be a good thing. The money from those books can be used on other things we forgot about. I can get supplies like paper and markers and anything people need for English learning or teaching. So thanks again everyone who donated. I’ll do my best to keep you updated on the progress.

My health has taken an interesting turn. After a few days of feeling horrible I called the doctors and we tried something new. I took a different medicine (strong stuff) for 3 days and was told not to eat bread/wheat/noodles for 2 weeks. The doctor thinks since I’ve had intestinal problems and diarrhea a lot that my system might have exhausted its capability to digest gluten. So I could have a gluten allergy or my body might just need to rest to rebuild whatever it needs to handle gluten. I didn’t think it was possible to not eat bread/wheat products here. Turns out it is. I think it’s for the better though, since it has forced me to go out and buy new stuff I don’t normally have in my diet and make it myself at home. I now eat a lot more oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, and more nuts than I usually ate. I have been feeling a lot better after the medicine and the past 9 or 10 days I’ve avoided gluten. I still might have some problems with parasites or giardia but the symptoms haven’t been nearly as bad; I’m thinking because there’s no added irritation and problems from the gluten. I’ll find out on Tuesday about that though.

I’ve been trying to play soccer lately but not a lot of people have been coming which is frustrating. I’ve been pretty lazy lately too. No stretching or working out. I go through funks I guess. I’m dreading the winter and need to do a better job keeping in shape this year. I think I weigh around 135-138 now which isn’t too bad seeing as I came here around 145. Most of what I lost was muscle mass and a little bit of fat I think. I know some people who have lost a ton of weight…up to like 50lbs! So I guess for some people that’s a huge and unanticipated benefit to joining Peace Corps haha.

I’ve just been going to work, sometimes playing soccer, talking with family, playing computer, eating super fresh best tasting apples and pears I’ve ever had daily. Life is good right now…minus the cold weather that’s coming on.

What’s new in the states? Any good movies or news that I should know about? Can you guys believe I have 10-11 months left after October…insane!

Hope everyone is well and staying healthy. I’ll be home for 2 weeks or so this winter and I’m really looking forward to it!

Pat

Ok, so that's the Fun with Grammar book that goes with the Betty Azar series...the pic didn't quite get all that. It's a sweet book though!

Here's some of the books we bought with the PCPP grant.

I'll write up a bigger post sometime soon but I've been pretty tired and busy with school, English clubs starting, and lots of Tois (parties) to go to since it's the season for them. Here's some pictures of the party at our relatives for their daughter who married someone from Talas and they came all the way from Talas for the party. It was fun but exhausting.

Here's a pic before everyone left... It's the Kumtor Gold Mining company. That road goes way off to the right deep into the mountains where they mine, you guessed it, gold!

Maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the people at the party before the guests left to go back to Talas.

Relatives and family.

Bet you've never seen a cow like this before!

So power has been starting to go out...I'm not sure what the schedule is or why it started being cut already but I'm conserving my laptop and cell phone charge. I'll get back to peoples emails and probably post on the blog sometime soon when I figure out when power will be going on and off.

Pat

Horses!

Sheep!

Lake!

View from the other side of the village's river looking towards the mountains

View from my side of the village looking towards the lake.

The pictures are from yesterday when I went out to our fields with my brother Joomart. Was a nice day!

So a little over one year has passed since I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I thought it might be useful to try to do some sort of reflection (apologies in advance for the train of thought writing that I’m about to begin) on the past year as a PCV. I’ve been in country for over 15 months now, getting close to the 16th month but the first 3 months we weren’t PCVs yet since it was still training. But anyway, back to the point.

I’ve become pretty comfortable in my village and the country in general by this point. Everyone is more than nice and hospitable to me in my village and my language has gotten to the point where I can understand a lot and explain many more things than I could even 3 or 4 months ago. Summer really helped my language for some reason, probably because I was around more of the K15s in their last few months working at camps etc. It’s really easy to pick stuff up from people who are further along in their language. I really enjoy Kyrgyz, but I’m pretty lazy about studying. However, I have to use it everyday at school with teachers, at home with my family, and with students and peers when we play soccer. Some of my best conversations with people are in the long taxi rides to camps or to nearby cities or even the capital.

I definitely feel like a different person – a better person – after one year here. It’s hard for me to think back to how I lived before at this point since I’ve become used to everything here. It’s hard for me to even put into words. This whole experience is the first thing I’ve done without support close by. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gotten plenty of support from family and friends back home and my friends and PC staff here (which I am wholeheartedly thankful for). But I think what I’m trying to say is that in my village I am alone. Yes, I have a host family here which supports me and which I love but I can only connect with them to a certain extent. There are cultural, personal, and language barriers that make it hard to become as close to people who are coming from the same place I do, like the other PCVs. I’m the only white person, the only American, the only foreigner in a village of about 2000 or more people. While I don’t often think of my life here that way it does sometimes enter my thoughts. Sometimes I’m not even conscious of how unique and meaningful a Peace Corps experience is but when I do find myself thinking about it, I realize that I’m very happy doing this. It’s the first thing I’ve done which challenges me in EVERY aspect of my life and self.

In some ways, Peace Corps (at least from my experience as a village volunteer) is like a new life. We’re born when we arrive in country, completely unaware of our surroundings, the language, social norms, culture, history, etc. We go through a 3 month training which I guess would be like the first 20 or so years of a life. Then we go off to work, to live our “own” lives away from the parents (Peace Corps) in our respective sites. We have to re-learn all of the things that we learned in the states most of the time subconsciously or inertly – culture, language, how to act around elders, how to act around young people, what to talk about with people, how to be entertaining, how to give and receive criticism, where to look when talking to people, who deserves respect and who doesn’t, work behaviors, how to compliment people, how to be a good host or guest, and all sorts of different etiquette. And so far, I’m still in this process and I can’t say how the next year will turn out, but I’m hoping I get some sort of “old age wisdom” near the end of my service.

I’ve learned a lot the last year. I have more confidence than I think I’ve ever had in my life. I’ve realized that there are some things here I will never be able to understand or approve of. At the same time I can respect our differences. I’ve learned a lot of meaningful and human aspects of life from this culture that are unfortunately missing in American life. I’ve learned that negativity is an evil thing and once it gets hold of people it’s just a downward spiral. I’ve learned to see the good things, the useful things in actions or beliefs I am initially and culturally put-off to. I’ve gained a much greater respect for the collective knowledge of the Kyrgyz people and the strength of their culture. Respect for elders and simply even older people than oneself, deserved or not (there goes the American in me), is something I have learned to appreciate and admire. Having always considered myself a patient person back home, I realize here that I’ve gained more patience than I thought possible. I’ve learned to pick my battles and know when expressing my ideas or opinions will be beneficial or simply ignored or met with hostility. I’ve learned that people are essentially the same everywhere. We have a lot of difference but our similarities outweigh those differences. It’s a comforting thought but also depressing in a way because most people fail to see this. We’ve been on this planet for who knows how many years and suffer from the same problems we always have, just in different forms or manifestations. I’m certainly not saying I have the answers but I just don’t understand our ability to divide ourselves from one another. I’m getting a little idealistic and “out there” though, so I’ll move on.

In other news, school started and has been going relatively well. The schedule for classes still isn’t quite finished, which is pretty damn frustrating since I want to start my clubs and other work without having to rearrange everything if the schedule changes again. But like I said earlier, patience! I forgot how much students forget over summer vacations (especially languages) and basically decided the first two months will be review. My counterpart and I are getting along fine. I’m hoping to teach English to some of the teachers at school who are interested in addition to my normal English clubs. I think everyone is finally used to me being here and they have been more talkative and interested in me, America, and English. I’m also hoping to try to teach American football with one of the younger gym teachers that just started working at the school this year.

Weather was terrible the first week or so of September but then it warmed up again. I got a little sick from my flu shot the other week but that’s finally going away. Played soccer yesterday for 2 or 3 hours and it felt really great since I haven’t played in a week or two. I’ll be going to the capital next week to finally pick up the books for my project. I’ll be sure to take pictures when we get everything set up. Thanks to everyone who donated!

Miss you all!

Pat

So I was a little bored this morning and decided to take some pictures of the house and yard. Hope you enjoy!

Here's some "Tashkent" Apricots. They ripen later than normal apricots and I was too stupid earlier to take a picture of all our trees covered in the normal Apricots so this was the best I could do. So just imagine a big tree covered in branches like that!

This is the new pull-up bar that has kept my body from completely atrophying while here. I love this thing.

Natural Fruit Roll-ups! This is apricot mash that's hung up and dried and then we eat it in the winter! Behind it is a bunch of woodworking tools/benches that my host brother uses.

Garlic hanging out to dry from our garden.

My Apa's garden at the front of the house. It has flowers, carrots, cabbage, and some other things in there. I should have taken a picture about a month ago when there were a lot more flowers but oh well. Why can't we do more of this stuff in the states? We just waste land!

Anyway, hope those give you an idea what home looks like right now.

Pat

Since I didn't have any new pictures of mine to share with everyone, I thought I'd add these two cool ones that my brother took during his 5 year High School reunion escapades.

This is at the really far away waterfall near Barskoon - thought it was a good pic.

This is the main road that my village sits on - this one is just cool looking to me. Oh that's our nice Soviet made car. We call it Tanka (Russian for tank!)!

Well, it has been a little since I wrote something up here. Summer is coming to an end pretty quick. School starts again on the first of September and that’s also my second and last year teaching here. I’m hoping to get a lot of things prepared and planned beforehand with my counterpart. I’ll probably do that next week. Her phone hasn’t been working so it has been hard to get in touch with her.

I think my project was funded. It’s not on the PC website anymore but I haven’t gotten any confirmation about it yet. I’m hoping to hear from them soon!

I haven’t been doing too much in the village besides the usual. I’ve watched some movies, read a little, played soccer, (last night was a doozy, lost 5-0 and my team had to pay for juice, yeah we bet on juice when we play) and generally put off doing productive things. I always get that way when vacations or breaks end. I guess it’s some sort of denial that my “vacation” time is ending. I put that in quotations since I didn’t feel right calling this summer time a vacation time. I’ve been working and integrating and using a foreign language everyday of my life here and that’s a job in itself. It’s only a “vacation” because I haven’t had to formally “go to work.”

What else is new? The K-15s are really on their way out now. Four guys leave tomorrow and I’m really sad to see them go. I became pretty good friends with them and one in particular. I’ve actually found myself feeling pretty down lately since they won’t be around anymore. Our little volunteer community’s dynamics are changing/have changed/will change once they all leave. Myself and the other K-16s on the lake have a lot of memories of good times with them. But anyway, best of luck to them…I’m sure I’ll see them again. In fact I plan on seeing them again.

My health has been a tad better. Thanks to my Mom for sending the awesome whole food supplement thingies…I think it’s really helping my body as I fend off parasites haha. I’ve learned so many interesting things about the human body and all those lovely intestines we have while here, but I’d rather not put someone through the pleasure of learning how I learned about those things.

Weather has been warmer lately…guess summer is trying to hold on and make up for the relatively cool and rainy June and July we had here on the lake. Who knows how winter will be this year. I’m hoping it’s no worse than last year…it was a “warmer winter.” Let’s just hope it doesn’t switch right back to a “coldest winter in 40 years” like it did 2 years ago.

On an entirely different note…I had to help the most I’ve helped before in slaughtering and taking apart a sheep. I found myself being totally indifferent this time as the sheep was killed and it really bothered me for a little. I had to do a lot of the holding of body parts while a guy did all the work of quartering and cutting up the parts to get ready for Besh Barmak (each piece has to be right and every piece of the sheep has its rules for who it is given to at a Toi (party)). It’s pretty amazing how all that stuff gets done in like 30 or 40 minutes with just one knife. Every time it’s the same…guess that comes from thousands of years of doing this. They know exactly where to cut and which tendons and bones to slice, how to break the ribs off correctly and all that fun stuff. So for my help I got some bloody hands, a nice anatomy lesson, and more appreciation for what I’ve just described.

Lastly, I just wanted to say I miss you all. I’ve had more time to think about home, family, and friends (and many other things) this summer. It’s really becoming evident to me that those three things are the most important things in my life. Of course everyone “knows” that those things are the most important but I feel it here. I think selflessness as an individual quality needs to become a larger part of how our society forms us as humans and I hope I will follow through with that belief when I return home in a year. I’ll stop myself before I get too metaphysical or philosophical or whatever though. Just thought I’d share a little bit about what goes through my head these days when I’ve got a lot of time to think.

There's a new JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Volunteer who is moving to the lake. I got to meet her the other day and she seems like a really cool girl. I hope we'll be able to see each other - she's pretty isolated from other volunteers, there's no JICAS even close as far as I know. Regardless, it's nice to have some new people here on the south shore!

Let me know what's up in your lives!

Pat

Eating lunch. You can see the trash bags from all the stuff we cleaned up in the background.

Sweet jumping pic.

First beach, weather was bad but we picked up a lot of trash!

Student-trainers in action. They nailed the nutrition lesson!...ok so it's the old food pyramid and I think something is wrong on it but I didn't do it!

PC Trainers for the camp...minus Mike who took the pic.

So it has been a little bit since I posted. Summer has been flying by…already less than a month left. Hard to believe how fast that went! I’m sure before I know it I’ll be back teaching for my second and last year. It’s also hard to believe that 2009 is almost over also! 4 more months. I still remember New Year’s vividly too. I have a feeling this second year as a volunteer will really go by fast.

I helped out at my friend Mike’s camp this past week. The first two days we taught lessons to a group of students who then taught the same information to a larger group of their peers. The next three days were spent cleaning up 3 different beaches around the lake. It went really well and I was very proud of the group of student-trainers.

After that I had a nice time hanging out in Karakol with everyone. I did have to say goodbye to three of the K-15s though. They don’t leave for like two or three weeks but I won’t be able to see them again. It was pretty weird saying goodbye though. It didn’t feel like I was actually saying goodbye. Relationships here grow so fast in such a short period of time that I feel like I’ll always be seeing these people; that they are some sort of constant in my service. But of course they aren’t. In any case, I hope to see them in the states either during vacation or after my service ends.

In other news, my village has been pretty hectic lately. The apricots were finally ready to be picked and sold, after ripening like 20 some days late. It’s big money for families here. There have been big trucks here for about 2 weeks who buy from the families and then transport them wherever they go. I’m assuming they go to the bigger cities here and probably Kazakhstan, China, and Russia. Other than that I’ve been doing the same routine here: exercising, a little work, playing soccer, and going to the lake when it’s hot. I’ll probably be preparing for school with my counterpart in about 2 weeks though.

My host sister is back from Bishkek for the month too. It’s nice to have almost everyone around. She’s a very good cook too! I’ve also managed to convince my host mom to get whole wheat flour to make bread. She bought a bag of white flour and another of whole wheat flour. Whole wheat is healthier and it’s actually a lot cheaper than white flour here! I don’t know why more Kyrgyz families don’t eat it. White bread is such a strong part of their culture or the way they do things here I guess. Maybe that will change with time though. I’m beyond happy that I will have more whole wheat bread though!

My PCPP grant was approved and put up on Peace Corps’ Website. The link is here if you want to donate: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=307-136

It might be funded quickly (I hope) so don’t feel bad if you don’t get a chance to donate. You can always search for Kyrgyz Republic and donate to other projects if they are there – they are all my friends anyway. Or you can donate to KR’s country fund or any other PC Post that suits your fancy. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing another project with PCPP but I’ll be sure to let everyone know. To anyone who donates or wants to – Thanks!

Hope everyone’s summer is finishing up well. Keep in touch!

Pat

This kid kept wanting to fight and wrestle me...he was pretty strong.

Cool pic that Mike took. You can see how clear the lake is. It's like that really far out too.

Walking down to the lake with my brother, Ernes. Our river is on the left.

Nice pic looking west from my village down near the main road.

21 July 2009

Well, I finally got my phone back. It works great now, and luckily getting it fixed was free. I’ve been spoiled having the internet on my phone but it wasn’t bad going without it for 10 days again. This past week or two I’ve just been relaxing basically. Read a lot of books, went to the lake, helped out the family in the fields, worked on a grant, hung out with the peeps in the city, and exercised a lot more.

The weather is finally feeling like summer. It was really cool and rainy for June and July here. The apricots in our village are just now getting ripe – about 2-3 weeks late. It’s a major source of income for the village and people were pretty worried about the weather this year.

After telling myself I wasn’t going to do anymore camps, I was convinced to help my friend Mike next week in his village. After that it will be August already! I don’t even know where the summer went. I’m hoping this winter is just as mild as last years though. But there’s no reason to think about that yet – still have August left!

This Friday some former professional Japanese soccer players are coming to my village with a JICA (kind of like a Japanese Peace Corps) volunteer to put on a soccer seminar. I think it will be very interesting and I’m hoping a lot of people come.

I have to get my grant sent to Peace Corps asap. A whole bunch of things kept preventing me from finishing or sending it this past two weeks and then my phone went and stopped working. It was pretty frustrating but then again things just usually take longer here anyway and I’m basically used to that by now. I’ll let everyone know if it’s accepted since I’ll be asking for donations from the States.

Anyway, sorry this post is a little jumbled but figured I’d post something small up since it has been a while. I’m going to post up some older pictures from June that my friend Mike took when he visited my village. Enjoy!

Pat

Had to send my phone to Bishkek to get it fixed - won't have a phone or internet for about 10 days.  Just letting everyone know in case they were wondering where I disappeared to.

Playing soccer at the Naryn Camp...action shot!

This was a sweet lesson on leadership and communication. The groups had to build the highest free standing tower with markers, tape, scissors, and paper but only the leader could talk and the others could only handle the materials the first time. The second time everyone could talk...and the second time was better. My group won both times though haha!

Daily English class at the camp.

7 July 2009

So I’ve finally finished my whirlwind of camps for June and the first week of July. Naryn camp went really well. I worked as a counselor and was basically with the kids all day for 5 days. My group had some bright kids in it. They had lessons on all sorts of things like smoking, leadership, communication, dance and others in addition to daily English lessons. I rolled the same bad ankle again during a sports session. I was fearing the worst but the next day it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I think it sort of helped in the healing of it but I still haven’t tried to play soccer 100%.

There were a lot of volunteers there helping out. I got to hang out with a lot of the K17s I hadn’t seen since training. The crowded sleeping quarters that made me sleep very little during Habitat continued here. I basically hadn’t slept well for about 2 weeks and it started to wear on me. I felt a little overwhelmed and overly stressed dealing with so many Americans and hearing English all the time. It was a weird feeling that I couldn’t really control. It was kind of the same sort of culture shock/panic I felt one day in my village club during a big concert surrounded by hundreds of Kyrgyz people around what would be Christmas celebrations in the states. It’s a strange uncomfortableness that just sort of happens and lingers in your conscious. Funny that it occurred this time not from adjusting to Kyrgyz culture but from dealing with too much “American culture.”

Luckily I’ve been back in my village for a few days and have been able to rest and relax again. Although that was kind of cut short today since my family is painting the whole inside of the big house where my room is. I can’t sleep or do anything in my own room for like 2 days until the paint dries. I’m writing this the day they started painting (Tuesday) so I might not be able to post it until the end of this week.

I am going to start getting up early in the morning and going for a 20-30 minute run around the school soccer field. My brother reminded me that dogs would eat me if I tried to run in our streets…a fact I stupidly overlooked. I really need to start getting into a healthier routine though and taking advantage of this amazing weather. I did some work in our family’s field today flipping over the grass that was cut so it could dry quicker. Then I went to the lake by myself for the first time! I’m a big boy now. Went swimming for about 10-15 minutes – it’s still colder around the closest beach near our village since the river empties near it and I had gone kind of late in the day.

I got a few messages from friends about my one year anniversary here. Mind you it’s not my halfway point but it’s close. Thanks for remembering me! I’m hoping to finalize my plans for a winter vacation in the states this week or next and I’ll let everyone know the dates when I do.

Not sure I’ll be doing anymore camps this summer. I kind of feel camped out. I need to finish my grant and hopefully start working on a computer manual that local teachers could use to help them as they learn to use computers. Other than that I’ll be relaxing, trying to get in shape again (soccer hasn’t been going on much – too much field work), and taking occasional trips to the city to hang out with my friends. Lastly, I’ll be saying goodbye to the K15s. I’m really, really going to miss them to say the least. Their leaving marks a change in my groups Peace Corps experience. The K16s won’t be the “young” group after this summer. We’re going to have the K17s under us now. I hope I can get as close to the 17s as I did the 15s, despite the different dynamic though.

Anyway, I’ve run out of things to write about. How’s everyone else’s summer going? Let me know.

Pat

Those are two friends, Nate and Mike, near the first waterfall we hiked to.

Hangin out... that's a bottle of kymyz...fermented mare's milk. Mike and I have grown to rather enjoy the drink.

At the end of the week...work finished! We helped plaster/cement the inside walls of the house.

The second waterfall off in the distance.

Pretty, huh?

6-27-2009

Just thought I’d write up a quick post while I have some free time. I’ve been pretty busy lately. I just got back from working with Habitat for Humanity in a friends village. Fifteen of us worked on a house for 5 days. It was a great time. I’m leaving tomorrow for a big camp in Naryn so I doubt I’ll be able to post up much of a blog for a week or so. I’ll put some pictures up for this one since I got quite a few good ones. We went up into the mountains and to the lake one day during the habitat work.

Weather is getting warmer and warmer. Pretty soon the apricots will be ready to be picked/eaten. Can’t wait for that! My health has been pretty good…have some problems but will be getting medicine for it tomorrow. My ankle is almost 100% which is good. My plans for a 2-3 week vacation in winter to the States are coming along. I just need to finalize things and talk with Peace Corps but I think I should be able to do it. I’d like to travel around this area of the world but I just don’t want to be a tourist anywhere. I don’t like the idea of just traveling somewhere. I’d either need a friend who lives somewhere or to just do something like Peace Corps to travel. I have a feeling by winter I’ll need to get out of here for a little bit though…not that it’s bad but some things here wear on you after a while.

Anyway, I’ve got to re-pack for this camp and get going in a little bit. Hope everyone’s summer is goin well!

Pat

This is the picture we took after the camp ended at my friends school.

Down by the Naryn River.

Another shot of the Naryn River.

On the way to the river. Nice mountains, huh?

Naryn City

Hello all,

Sorry that it’s been a while since I wrote anything on here. I was pretty busy and without solid cell phone service to use internet.

I finally took my first trip to Naryn the past week. It’s amazing how different the landscape is in such a small country. In the states you can drive 4 or 5 hours and nothing changes. Going to Naryn was not like that. The ground, the mountains, the rivers, everything seemed a little (or a lot) different. I even felt kind of different…higher and more isolated…which is true, but being there actually felt that way. I helped out at a friend’s health camp doing sports and other things. It was a big success and I’m glad he asked me to help out.

On the way to my buddy’s village and on the way back to mine I got to stay in Naryn City and hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in a while. It was a great time and I needed it I think. I’m back in my village and things are getting greener and warmer by the day. I won’t be going anywhere for a few weeks until the next set of camps and then I’ll probably spend the rest of summer in my village working on some things and relaxing. Weather here is awesome as well…not humid at all! I’m going to be spoiled coming back to PA and all of the wonderful humidity that comes with summer in PA and the east coast.

I’m at a loss for other things to talk about though. Things are going well. The new volunteers are coming to their sites soon. It will be interesting getting to know them better. I think we have a great group coming to the lake.

Anyway, let me know how you guys are doing, haven’t heard from many people in a while! Also…let me know what movies I should keep an eye out for in case they make it over here on dvd!

Pat