Surrealism

The life of a PCV is very surreal at times. There are times when you're riding in a taxi with no shock absorbers, no windows and tape on the door and realizing you're having a good, solid conversation with a local. You then look out that same non-window to realize you're in a different country with different homes, people and food and you suddenly realize that, yeah, life is surreal and strange, and fascinating all at the same time. Sometimes it's the out of body experience that we notice. It's like we're looking at ourselves doing something so completely different that we can't help but wonder if it's truly us.

I've had several of this recently. I was on my way in a marshuka (a mini bus, which have by the way caused me to acquire motion sickness, something I never had before) and we were driving incredibly fast around the mountains. I was watching the entire time and not once did I get scared or worried that we could die. Only last year this sort of thing would have made me jumpy. But no, there I was looking at the speeding ravines, cliff drops and vaguely following a conversation some locals were having in Kyrgyz behind me. I then suddenly realized," Wow, this is surreal." Sadly I don't even do justice to what I'm trying to say because it's like living two lives yet one at the same time and not totally understanding or recognzing what one life is doing.

I've had many moments like this during my time and know several more will come, like going out at 9pm to cut down a "christmas tree" with a fellow volunteer, or starting to speak Kurgusha (a mix of Kyrgyz and Russians, which locals do all the time) or even calling it "the Kyrgyz and "the Russian" which is also done by locals. Finally, realizing that today I only wore two shirts and a sweater, plus my fleece was good... that meant it was a warm day! Those all add up to surreal moments for me.

I hope this has made some sense, if not sorry; I tried. Look out for surrealism in your life and grasp it when you can...

A New Tradition

Over the last two years a new tradition has developed for me regarding Christmas day. Here in Kyrgyzstan Christmas is not celebrated in the same way it is in the states or in Europe. Families do not get together to hand out gifts or celebrate. There is Santa and a tree but it's all for New Years, which is the big party. So last year my Christmas as chaotic, weird and different. Kids were in school, new years school parties were going on and i couldn't find a time to give them presents. No special meal and I actually had to work on it.

This year was different, the second year of a PCV always is. I understood the traditions and cutstoms of the people and understood their language and suddenly I saw a new tradition developing. Last year and this year on the 25th the school help their class wide New Years class party. Each class from 1st- 11th form is responsible with participating and doing a concert. Last year i went but didn't really understand what was happening, especially with the older classes in the evening. This year it was so much better. I understood the skits (mostly), the dances, songs and prizes. I even was part of the jury panel for the older kids (I got to say which class did best in the different categories). After it was all over I went back home any my host mom had made my favorite Kyrgyz dish, lagmann for me. It was then that I gave them their gifts, and they said they were great rememberance ones. So for me, my christmases have definitely been memorable and so I'm a little sad that I won't have this new tradition next year. Oh well... maybe we can recreate another one.

Language

“Your Kyrgyz is very good.” “You understand very well but they won’t understand you.” “You don’t speak with an accent.”

These are all expressions that I’ve received recently regarding my language and they’ve come from different sets of people. So sometimes I wonder why it is that people I don’t interact with on a daily basis understand me really well and those that I do interact with daily don’t. Language is such a vital part to any volunteer’s life and yet it can also be a source of worry and strife. It can be extremely frustrating when you can’t really explain yourself, or there is a lack of words to truly describe what you want to say- such is the case with Kyrgyz. Yet, locals don’t really understand it and so they often get more frustrated when you can’t clearly communicate; it, at times, is a very vicious circle.

Yet, for me, it seems that my Kyrgyz is really good, from what I’ve been told, but yet don’t understand why certain people have such a hard time with me. Maybe it’s the accent, maybe my sentence structure, who knows, but it’s interesting. I can communicate effectively most of the time and even discuss health terms usually. So I feel good about my language and where it’s at. This is why I’ve started the hard task of learning Russian, which is so incredibly hard. But, I’ve set a goal that I want to reach when I COS so hopefully I’ll make it. After my time here I’ve learned really how important language can be and how much it can help with life. We are made to communicate and we all have different forms. So understanding that form only enhances life. Language is life.

Kyrgyz Ait

I recently did another round of Kyrgyz Ait, where I go to various houses around the village and have at least one cup of tea and some food. This is done twice a year after the end of Ramadan (for one month Muslims fast from sun up to sun down). I had only participated one other time in Ait, and that was with my family. So this time I decided to do it on my own so that I could leave when I wanted and decided the number of homes I’d visit. So I decided I’d do my work circuit… visit the 8 VHC homes and call it quits…

12 houses later I’m finally finished with a fully belly, drunken lots of china and eaten lots of bread. It wasn’t as bad as I anticipated because I knew the homes and people that I visited and as I went along I ended doing it with work people so I didn’t have to deal with formalities as much and they were just as anxious to be done as I was.

So all in all, Ait is not the greatest because it quadruples my tea intake for the day but it was nice this year to better understand what was occurring and to feel like I actually had a place. I didn’t plan on the 12 houses but it was still nice to visit.

Frustrations and Impressions

As a PCV I am often faced with many challenges. Sometimes these are issues because of culture, food, language; other times they are personal issues that are heightened because of the situation. Recently I had an experience that was both so completely frustrating in one aspect but yet made me impressed in another aspect.

Recently my organization finally conducted their environmental clean up project. Now what must be realized is they had been trying to do this project since April but were not able to because of funds. Finally, after many other problems and frustrations they received the money in July and I thought they would do the project that same month. No, after changing the date 3 times they decided to conduct it while I was on vacation down south. Needless to say I was really mad at them about this because I had written their grant, gotten their donors, went with them to buy everything and I wasn’t even going to be allowed to participate! I explained this to them and they then decided to change it to the Sunday I got back from vacation, although, they kept trying to hurry me back from vacation (which I hadn’t had since I’d been in country, and as anyone serving as a PCV knows are vitally needed). So I arrive back at site and realize that once again the date had been moved to the following Saturday. I was skeptical but after seeing their preparation work realized they might actually conduct the project.

While I was gone they had printed up the t-shirts, prepared the signs for the trucks, printed off really nice invitations and delivered them to key people and had done all the contacting and talking with them. So I was impressed by that. During this last week they had talked with all the participating students, invited governmental leaders, Peace Corps and various others from the area. They had done it all (I didn’t have to remind them of anything, which was really nice). So the day arrives and of course we have bad weather, but it didn’t deter them. They put on a really great presentation at the community center about why it’s important to protect the environment and invited all the students from the school to attend. They had 1 other neighboring VHC bring students and then we went out and cleaned not just my village but several others as well that they had contacted. Television reporters appeared and interviews were conducted. Then they served food for everyone... and they outdid themselves with the food.

So although I had so many frustrations with them leading up to the project they did an amazing job and they were so happy to be able to do it. Working at a VHC can be very frustrating at times but at other times very rewarding. This project was a combination of both and showed me more about myself and the Kyrgyz culture. I’m glad I was able to help them out and was so impressed by how well they all pulled it off. They are great people and this project let them show that. So despite some of the problems the outcome was good and that is really all the matters. It was definitely a learning process for both sides and has made us all better and this was just one project… their latest project, geared towards anemia, they actually built a new office for it….

Commong Things

After 1 year here’s what I’ve become used to and what I may have problems with back in the USA:

• no microwave: gotten used to semi warm food or cold leftovers
• wearing the same work outfit for an entire week: partly it’s because I’ve gotten lazy, another because it’s just easier and also because I don’t have enough clothes for a different day of the week
• washing my hair once or twice a week
• going weeks without a “bath”
• flies: really they’re everywhere
• starting everything at least 30 minutes after its “scheduled” time
• every child saying “hello” to me
• my cat constantly sitting on my lap trying to grab for bread
• power shortages
• very bad roads
• marshukas: be thankful for the transportation options in the states; they really are good
• distilled water: I think I’ve forgotten what a tap, and tap water, is
• electric shocks: if you’ve seen the “power outlets” here you’d understand
• homemade jam: it’s really really good
• bread and tea for two meals a day
• backyard gardens: it’s really great to be able to go pick one’s own apples, apricots, pears or raspberries
• students standing up when a teacher enters (although it’s always a little weird when this happens)
• hearing, and sometimes speaking, 3 languages: Kyrgyz, English, Russian
• 2 prong plugs, really what’s the need for the 3rd?
• deodorant, toothpaste, lotion, toothbrushes costing over $3 (for a volunteer this is expensive)
• a seasonal diet: really be thankful that in the states this is not a problem
• excellent medical care: it’s actually the best I’ve ever received, and it’s free: how many of you can say that?
• Non-smiling Kyrgyz pictures: they don’t smile in pictures
• Gold teeth: it takes getting used to but definitely grows on you
• Tea all the time, no matter season, time or occasion
• 3 land topography: beach, desert and mountains, it’s actually really unique and cool
• Russian TV and music
• Not flushing toilet paper down a toilet, throwing it into a basket to be burned
• No trash cans
  
  There is a lot more that I currently cannot think of… hope you’ve enjoyed the above!

One and Another

Being a PCV means you constantly deal with another culture, langauge and beliefs on a daily basis. It can mean living in conditions you've never experienced before and coping with situations you've never anticipated. You truly learn about yourself and others. However, one of the most surprising things that many volunteers are often faced with this another sub-culture that exists in any PC country: the Volunteer culture. This culture is entirely consists of the volunteers and is often seen whenever large groups of volunteers interact together. For those of us not living in areas that have large amounts of volunteers these interactions can be hard and diffucult at times. Especially, as more time passes and you become more familiar with your site, work and the general absence of volunteers. Sure I have an amazing site mate an a few other volunteers are close by but I'm constantly surrounded by locals. Therefore, the volunteer sub-culture can at times be overwhelming.

Just imagine seeing maybe, one to three volunteers a week or every two weeks and then suddenly having ten Americans in your village for ten days staying with you. It's overwhelming. Are antics, speech, mannerisms and behaviors are so different from that of locals and at times it can be hard for volunteers to interact with each other. Also, in a small country such as this it can be difficult to distance onself entirely from the volunteer sub-culture. It's not bad having other volunteers around; we all have days when we just need to be to effortlessly speak our native tongue or have our culture understood. What is interesting is how the volunteer sub-culture is so vastly different from the daily culture we are exposed to and how that can at times itself be difficult to understand and deal with. Americans are different for the Kyrgyz people and each volunteer is different from others. We learn to live with a culture that is not our own and yet sometimes have trouble living within our own. Being a volunteer can be a very tricky. Anyone want to try?