calam!
I hope you are all doing fantastically!
The weather today is amazing.
I spent the last week at a my site mate's summer camp. best. camp. ever. I am totally stealing all of his ideas and putting them into my own camp next summer.
We did a training of trainers the first day, and taught only 6 kids, who taught the lessons to the other 20ish the next day. They did such a fantastic job! It really works toward sustainability doing it that way. Then, Wednesday-Friday we did community service projects, by cleaning up the beaches at the lake. We spent an hour or two picking up trash, then the kids cooked lunch and played in the water.
It was cold and rainy on wednesday, but thursday and friday were perfect!
I'm going to post pictures when I get them from Mike.
There are a bunch of pcvs in the city this weekend. A lot of the K15s are leaving in the next few weeks, so they're having a goodbye celebration. It really sucks. Being here, you get to be friends really quickly, and between the way that Issyk-kul Oblast has been bleeding volunteers, what with the K17s ETing, and the K15s COSing (close of service)... people leaving really sucks.
Anyways, I don't have a ton to say today, but i'll try to get back on and post pictures of the camps soon.
Miss you!
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
jess
p.s. my 21st b-day is t-5 days! yay!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
hellllllloooooooo
I don't really have a whole bunch to say, the rare mid week blog post I did threw me off. nothing too terribly exciting has happened since wednesday. haha
I did go to to a festival in jety oguz yesterday. i'll try to post pics of it soon. we went up in to the "jailo" which is like the summer pastures. there were yurts set up and there was a folklore contest and cuisine contest between the different cultural groups. it was awesome. one of the volunteer's organization organized it so almost all of the volunteers in the area went.
last night we were exhausted and some of us, (okay me) were sunburnt (i have a great farmers tan. and my knee pits hate me) so we decided to stay in and have a calm movie night instead of going out. we made grilled cheese and i brought a packet of ranch dip (thanks mom!) so lorenzo, sasha, and I made a ranch crap dip (crab meat packages for the equivalent of 50 cents.... eeep) and cut up cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots and had a delicious feast. we're so easy to please. haha
tomatoes and cucumbers have gotten so cheap! i'm so happy. tomatoes are about 10 som a kilo, which is like 25 cents. i'm gonna start saying it is all the tomatoes turning me red instead of the sun. ha. ha. in the winter they will get up to 100som, which is so expensive!! okay, i know that you're all thinking 100 som, that's like what? $2.50? but i no longer think in terms of dollars. i just do the currency exchange for y'all. but 100 som is quite a bit. that's like the price of two good beers, or two bottles of shampoo, or a pair of flip flops. which is a lot on my budget.
there is a trend that village volunteers tend to have a lot more money than city volunteers (because they have nothing to spend their money on.) I do not fall into that category. i think it is because i come into the city to buy groceries once a week and end up spending it, that plus the fact that i travel. travelling eats into your money quickly, but once school starts i won't be able to travel as much so i'm trying to travel as much as i can over the summer.
i'm learning to knit... thanks to the wonderfully fantastic Jenn, whose package had a teach yourself to knit book. and.... i. suck. at. it. so far, i've managed to unravel and/or knot half a package of yarn. miserably epic fail. BUT my host mom and host sisters knit, so hopefully they can help me to not suck so much and it can be a bonding activity or something with us.
once i get the hang of it, and i have faith that i will... eventually... you're all gonna get beautiful hideous knitted things from me. bahaha. i'm making myself a scarf first though. priorities. haha i didn't bring a scarf (or gloves) with me, and i could buy them, but it'd be cooler to say that i made my own. plus i've got months before it gets cold, so ideally i can make a decent scarf before the -20C temps start. not a big fan of the idea of negative anything when it comes to the weather.
i'm hoping to take at trip to the south in a few weeks, where it is supposed to be really hot. i'm excited. i never in a million years thought i'd miss heat, but hey, this is a learning experiece and i'm learning alot about myself.
oh! i got called spontaneous! haha me, the anal retentive ocd planner- spontaneous. my host mom said that the PC told them that the volunteers like plans and structure and schedule (true) but when i was completely irresponsible (in my opinion) and decided not to do clubs to go to the lake with my host family (i think it was an "integration" activity so i was still working) with about five minutes warning, mind you. i got called spontaneous. yay! progress?
okay, i'm gonna go grab some "jumurkas" (eggs) for breakfast with sasha then chill out for the day until I head to Mike's (my site mate) camp tomorrow. wish me luck!
miss you all!
love from kyrgyzstan,
jess
(and yes, i do realize the irony of the fact that i am an english teacher and have managed to break every rule of the language in this blog.)
I don't really have a whole bunch to say, the rare mid week blog post I did threw me off. nothing too terribly exciting has happened since wednesday. haha
I did go to to a festival in jety oguz yesterday. i'll try to post pics of it soon. we went up in to the "jailo" which is like the summer pastures. there were yurts set up and there was a folklore contest and cuisine contest between the different cultural groups. it was awesome. one of the volunteer's organization organized it so almost all of the volunteers in the area went.
last night we were exhausted and some of us, (okay me) were sunburnt (i have a great farmers tan. and my knee pits hate me) so we decided to stay in and have a calm movie night instead of going out. we made grilled cheese and i brought a packet of ranch dip (thanks mom!) so lorenzo, sasha, and I made a ranch crap dip (crab meat packages for the equivalent of 50 cents.... eeep) and cut up cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots and had a delicious feast. we're so easy to please. haha
tomatoes and cucumbers have gotten so cheap! i'm so happy. tomatoes are about 10 som a kilo, which is like 25 cents. i'm gonna start saying it is all the tomatoes turning me red instead of the sun. ha. ha. in the winter they will get up to 100som, which is so expensive!! okay, i know that you're all thinking 100 som, that's like what? $2.50? but i no longer think in terms of dollars. i just do the currency exchange for y'all. but 100 som is quite a bit. that's like the price of two good beers, or two bottles of shampoo, or a pair of flip flops. which is a lot on my budget.
there is a trend that village volunteers tend to have a lot more money than city volunteers (because they have nothing to spend their money on.) I do not fall into that category. i think it is because i come into the city to buy groceries once a week and end up spending it, that plus the fact that i travel. travelling eats into your money quickly, but once school starts i won't be able to travel as much so i'm trying to travel as much as i can over the summer.
i'm learning to knit... thanks to the wonderfully fantastic Jenn, whose package had a teach yourself to knit book. and.... i. suck. at. it. so far, i've managed to unravel and/or knot half a package of yarn. miserably epic fail. BUT my host mom and host sisters knit, so hopefully they can help me to not suck so much and it can be a bonding activity or something with us.
once i get the hang of it, and i have faith that i will... eventually... you're all gonna get beautiful hideous knitted things from me. bahaha. i'm making myself a scarf first though. priorities. haha i didn't bring a scarf (or gloves) with me, and i could buy them, but it'd be cooler to say that i made my own. plus i've got months before it gets cold, so ideally i can make a decent scarf before the -20C temps start. not a big fan of the idea of negative anything when it comes to the weather.
i'm hoping to take at trip to the south in a few weeks, where it is supposed to be really hot. i'm excited. i never in a million years thought i'd miss heat, but hey, this is a learning experiece and i'm learning alot about myself.
oh! i got called spontaneous! haha me, the anal retentive ocd planner- spontaneous. my host mom said that the PC told them that the volunteers like plans and structure and schedule (true) but when i was completely irresponsible (in my opinion) and decided not to do clubs to go to the lake with my host family (i think it was an "integration" activity so i was still working) with about five minutes warning, mind you. i got called spontaneous. yay! progress?
okay, i'm gonna go grab some "jumurkas" (eggs) for breakfast with sasha then chill out for the day until I head to Mike's (my site mate) camp tomorrow. wish me luck!
miss you all!
love from kyrgyzstan,
jess
(and yes, i do realize the irony of the fact that i am an english teacher and have managed to break every rule of the language in this blog.)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
I went to the lake.
the beach
my favorite picture from yesterday
my host brother
21 July 2009
I am dirty. My hair is nappier than it has ever been in my life. I am exhausted. I am wearing clothes that don’t even come close to matching. I’m covered in mosquito bites. I taught three students today in club instead of the usual forty.
It could not have been a better day! Haha
Today, as I was doing my second club (with three students- low attendance is my fault – I’ll talk about it later) my host mom came and asked me if I wanted to go to the lake. Um… OF COURSE!
I didn’t do my last two clubs, but don’t really feel bad about it, and went to the lake with part of my host family and extended host family.
There were 13 of us in one mini van. But eight were under the age of 14.
The beach was beautiful! Caribbean-blue water and a mountain backdrop. I’m gonna try to post pictures of it when I go into the city next.
We picnicked at the lake, my host aunt made vegetarian gretchka, which is like buckwheat, I guess, (That’s the English translation that we get anyway).because she knows that I don’t eat meat.
I saw enough naked babies today to last me a really really long time. Haha. The birthday suit is the swimsuit of choice for kids under 4.
It was a great day. I got to lay on the beach, and swim in blue water in the middle of a landlocked country. Glorious.
The reason that low attendance in clubs is my fault is because I originally said that we wouldn’t have clubs this week because I was going to help with a camp, but decided not to.
I got a text saying that I got a package from Jenn!!! I’m gonna try to go into the city tomorrow to get it, and hopefully post this then.
I’m gonna say a huge thank you to jenn, even though I haven’t opened the package yet, I know it’ll be awesome!
Oh, and I want to apologize to everyone that I abruptly signed off with last weekend. The internet café lost power. I dunno why.
I’m gonna go see if I can help my host mom with dinner.
Miss you!
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
I am the Pizza Queen. haha
12 July 2009
I have a food baby.
It is after 11pm on Sunday. I have to go to bed soon because I need to get up early to finish prepping for my English Clubs, and because I’m exhausted, but I wanted to jot this down before I forget anything.
I just ate The. Best. Pizza. Ever. And, I made it from scratch. Actually, I made FOUR pizzas and garlic bread from scratch. I’m quite proud of myself, and stuffed, hence the food baby. I ate four slices of the best veggie pizza that I’ve had in a really long time. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Mmmm all that was missing was pineapple, but is really expensive right now. I didn’t have to loosen my belt; I had to take off my belt. Haha I think the pizza was a hit with the family, too. My littlest host sister and my host mom helped me make it, and I think they had fun. My host mom, two of my host sisters, my host brother, host aunt, and three host cousins, and I all ate until we were stuffed, and had pizza left over. My host dad and the two guys that were helping him cut hay today also came and ate some pizza. The veggie pizza wasn’t the biggest hit. (there is an underappreciation of vegetables here) but the sausage pizzas are GONE. Granted, my host brother and host cousin only ate the sausage, but that’s okay. Most of the younger kids picked the veggies off and ate the bread, the same as back home. BUT, there is veggie pizza leftover, and I’m really hoping I can have it for breakfast tomorrow. Just like in college! Haha
My little host brother is so naughty! He had to change clothes about four times today because he likes to play in the water outside of our house and gets soaked. It is kinda funny. Today he was being naughty while my host mom was in the garden and he kept yelling “APA!!” over and over again. My host mom yelled “EMHE?” (“emnye”) which means “what” in Kyrygz, and it sounded JUST. LIKE. Every irritated mom in the states who yells, “what?” to her kids when they scream her name for no reason. It made me smile.
In other news:
- Another volunteer from my oblast E.T.ed. That makes 5 out of 13 to leave. I think my oblast is the only oblast that has had people E.T. since we got sworn in. Before we got sworn in, the running joke was that the “flight risks” got sent to Issyk-kul because it is so pretty. I guess it wasn’t a joke.
- I realized today as I was buying more units for my phone that I’m on track to spend more on my phone than I do on my rent. Le sigh.
- I found paper clips at the bazaar today!!! I heart paperclips. I also got flipchart paper, and these two great posters with clothes and vegetables with the Russian words for them that I replaced with the English words! YAY me! Haha
- I got bit (or stung… I never know which is right) by a yellow jacket yesterday. I followed the Kyrgyz remedy and put vodka on it. IT WORKED!
- I have a hideous, black lung type cough. I’ve had it for two weeks now and have progressed to the wheezing stage. If I don’t feel better soon, I’m gonna call the PCMO and get some meds.
- I am going to try to be like my sister and do my laundry tomorrow before it builds back up because apparently she “does it every time there is one load” or something like that. But unlike my sister, I have to haul my water to wash my clothes, so there is considerably more work involved for me, and I don’t like doing laundry when I don’t have to haul the water, thus, I procrastinate. (a.k.a. you can kiss it, Jordan. Haha :-P)
Oh, and there’s less than a month until I turn 21!!! Not that 21 is a big deal or anything here. I mean 11 year olds can buy alcohol and I don’t drink in my village anyway, but still it’s a birthday! YAY! I’m making a promise to myself since my 20th, 21st, and 22nd birthdays were, or will be abroad, my 23rd birthday I will celebrate at home, with my family and friends… unless someone wants to take me somewhere awesome for my 23rd birthday, haha.
Alrighty,
It’s technically tomorrow here now, which means at home it’s like…. Okay never mind, I’m not even gonna attempt the time difference. Thank goodness I’m not a math teacher, bahaha
Miss you,
Love from the “pizza queen” of Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
The finished product.
Baking.
I have a food baby.
It is after 11pm on Sunday. I have to go to bed soon because I need to get up early to finish prepping for my English Clubs, and because I’m exhausted, but I wanted to jot this down before I forget anything.
I just ate The. Best. Pizza. Ever. And, I made it from scratch. Actually, I made FOUR pizzas and garlic bread from scratch. I’m quite proud of myself, and stuffed, hence the food baby. I ate four slices of the best veggie pizza that I’ve had in a really long time. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Mmmm all that was missing was pineapple, but is really expensive right now. I didn’t have to loosen my belt; I had to take off my belt. Haha I think the pizza was a hit with the family, too. My littlest host sister and my host mom helped me make it, and I think they had fun. My host mom, two of my host sisters, my host brother, host aunt, and three host cousins, and I all ate until we were stuffed, and had pizza left over. My host dad and the two guys that were helping him cut hay today also came and ate some pizza. The veggie pizza wasn’t the biggest hit. (there is an underappreciation of vegetables here) but the sausage pizzas are GONE. Granted, my host brother and host cousin only ate the sausage, but that’s okay. Most of the younger kids picked the veggies off and ate the bread, the same as back home. BUT, there is veggie pizza leftover, and I’m really hoping I can have it for breakfast tomorrow. Just like in college! Haha
My little host brother is so naughty! He had to change clothes about four times today because he likes to play in the water outside of our house and gets soaked. It is kinda funny. Today he was being naughty while my host mom was in the garden and he kept yelling “APA!!” over and over again. My host mom yelled “EMHE?” (“emnye”) which means “what” in Kyrygz, and it sounded JUST. LIKE. Every irritated mom in the states who yells, “what?” to her kids when they scream her name for no reason. It made me smile.
In other news:
- Another volunteer from my oblast E.T.ed. That makes 5 out of 13 to leave. I think my oblast is the only oblast that has had people E.T. since we got sworn in. Before we got sworn in, the running joke was that the “flight risks” got sent to Issyk-kul because it is so pretty. I guess it wasn’t a joke.
- I realized today as I was buying more units for my phone that I’m on track to spend more on my phone than I do on my rent. Le sigh.
- I found paper clips at the bazaar today!!! I heart paperclips. I also got flipchart paper, and these two great posters with clothes and vegetables with the Russian words for them that I replaced with the English words! YAY me! Haha
- I got bit (or stung… I never know which is right) by a yellow jacket yesterday. I followed the Kyrgyz remedy and put vodka on it. IT WORKED!
- I have a hideous, black lung type cough. I’ve had it for two weeks now and have progressed to the wheezing stage. If I don’t feel better soon, I’m gonna call the PCMO and get some meds.
- I am going to try to be like my sister and do my laundry tomorrow before it builds back up because apparently she “does it every time there is one load” or something like that. But unlike my sister, I have to haul my water to wash my clothes, so there is considerably more work involved for me, and I don’t like doing laundry when I don’t have to haul the water, thus, I procrastinate. (a.k.a. you can kiss it, Jordan. Haha :-P)
Oh, and there’s less than a month until I turn 21!!! Not that 21 is a big deal or anything here. I mean 11 year olds can buy alcohol and I don’t drink in my village anyway, but still it’s a birthday! YAY! I’m making a promise to myself since my 20th, 21st, and 22nd birthdays were, or will be abroad, my 23rd birthday I will celebrate at home, with my family and friends… unless someone wants to take me somewhere awesome for my 23rd birthday, haha.
Alrighty,
It’s technically tomorrow here now, which means at home it’s like…. Okay never mind, I’m not even gonna attempt the time difference. Thank goodness I’m not a math teacher, bahaha
Miss you,
Love from the “pizza queen” of Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
The finished product.
Baking.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
3 at one time, is this a record?
I'm gonna blow you all away with the blogging this weekend. pace yourselves. haha
I'm in the city, using internet, meeting a friend for lunch, then going to the bazaar. i love the bazaar, but it is stressful. like shopping on christmas eve.
I'm going to make pizza with my host family tonight! i'll post pictures next weekend or so.
Realisations I've had this week:
-I really, really don't like geese. I think it is because I don't like swans, and geese are similar to swans. Why don't I like swans, you might ask? Because of my dad. I love my Dad, but he's a prankster. When I was around 8 or 9, we lived in Sumter, South Carolina. There was a beautiful park called Iris Gardens that we used to go to feed the swan and look at the flowers and such. Once, Dad put a piece of bread on my head, unbeknownst to me, and an evil, gigantic swan attacked me. And by attack, I mean took the bread from my head. I freaked out, screamed, and ran. like always,haha. And I still don't like swans, to this day. My village has a lot of geese, and I don't like them.
-I am a bread-a-holic. I think I inherited it from my grandmother, but I eat way too much bread here.
-I have developed a new appreciation for showers.
-Things I will never complain about when I get home:
- doing laundry
- the condition of roads
- cooking meals
- going grocery shopping
That's all for now, I guess.
Miss you.
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
I'm in the city, using internet, meeting a friend for lunch, then going to the bazaar. i love the bazaar, but it is stressful. like shopping on christmas eve.
I'm going to make pizza with my host family tonight! i'll post pictures next weekend or so.
Realisations I've had this week:
-I really, really don't like geese. I think it is because I don't like swans, and geese are similar to swans. Why don't I like swans, you might ask? Because of my dad. I love my Dad, but he's a prankster. When I was around 8 or 9, we lived in Sumter, South Carolina. There was a beautiful park called Iris Gardens that we used to go to feed the swan and look at the flowers and such. Once, Dad put a piece of bread on my head, unbeknownst to me, and an evil, gigantic swan attacked me. And by attack, I mean took the bread from my head. I freaked out, screamed, and ran. like always,haha. And I still don't like swans, to this day. My village has a lot of geese, and I don't like them.
-I am a bread-a-holic. I think I inherited it from my grandmother, but I eat way too much bread here.
-I have developed a new appreciation for showers.
-Things I will never complain about when I get home:
- doing laundry
- the condition of roads
- cooking meals
- going grocery shopping
That's all for now, I guess.
Miss you.
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
oh, the pressure to come up with a witty title.
10 July, 2009
Okay, I know I wrote a blog yesterday, but I have time and am gonna write another to post this weekend.
I now understand how difficult it is to be a teacher. I’ve always respected my teachers, but now being on the other side of the equation; I’m in awe of them.
Being a foreign language teacher, without speaking the native language well, is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I know how difficult it is to teach kids to read. I mean, I didn’t learn how to read until the second grade. I really do understand the difficulties with reading.
So think about how hard it can be to learn to read, and now, imagine this: you finally get a student to know their alphabet and letter sounds. You get them to sound out, say, and essentially read C-A-T. The enthusiasm that a native speaker feels when they understand the word and can associate it with the object is missing here because my students don’t know what C-A-T means. They’ve learned “mishik” for cat their entire lives. So the task is not only to teach them to read words, but to understand. And beyond that, the Russian students that don’t know Kyrgyz are sometimes still confused because not only do they not know “cat”, they also don’t know the Kyrgyz word, so my translations are useless. Welcome to life as a TEFL Peace Corps Volunteer. Haha
That is the frustrating side of life. And in the very next club, when teaching past tense, amongst all of the “yesterday, I ate.” “yesterday, I studied.” And “yesterday, I talked.” sentences, a student will pull out a “yesterday, I played hide and seek with my friends outside.” And will make my jaw drop and make me feel like I might actually stand a chance of helping a student improve their English. yay.
And that is why it is called an emotional rollercoaster. The ups and downs happen every day. But in the long run, the ups outnumber the downs and that makes it worth it.
Gotta go chai eech.
Still miss you.
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
Okay, I know I wrote a blog yesterday, but I have time and am gonna write another to post this weekend.
I now understand how difficult it is to be a teacher. I’ve always respected my teachers, but now being on the other side of the equation; I’m in awe of them.
Being a foreign language teacher, without speaking the native language well, is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I know how difficult it is to teach kids to read. I mean, I didn’t learn how to read until the second grade. I really do understand the difficulties with reading.
So think about how hard it can be to learn to read, and now, imagine this: you finally get a student to know their alphabet and letter sounds. You get them to sound out, say, and essentially read C-A-T. The enthusiasm that a native speaker feels when they understand the word and can associate it with the object is missing here because my students don’t know what C-A-T means. They’ve learned “mishik” for cat their entire lives. So the task is not only to teach them to read words, but to understand. And beyond that, the Russian students that don’t know Kyrgyz are sometimes still confused because not only do they not know “cat”, they also don’t know the Kyrgyz word, so my translations are useless. Welcome to life as a TEFL Peace Corps Volunteer. Haha
That is the frustrating side of life. And in the very next club, when teaching past tense, amongst all of the “yesterday, I ate.” “yesterday, I studied.” And “yesterday, I talked.” sentences, a student will pull out a “yesterday, I played hide and seek with my friends outside.” And will make my jaw drop and make me feel like I might actually stand a chance of helping a student improve their English. yay.
And that is why it is called an emotional rollercoaster. The ups and downs happen every day. But in the long run, the ups outnumber the downs and that makes it worth it.
Gotta go chai eech.
Still miss you.
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
summer breeze makes me feel fine
9 July 2009
and yes, jordan, i copied my title from you. deal. haha <3
For those of you who might have been worried about my mental health the past few weeks, you can stop. Haha I have had the greatest at my site and feel the happiest I have been since moving to Issyk-kul. YAY! Haha
My week could’ve been better but all in all, it has been pretty good. My English clubs passed the 45 student mark. I am actually going to have to split one of my clubs into two because the classroom is too small for all the students! What a wonderful problem to have!
A camp I was planning on helping with got cancelled because of a lack of funding, but another camp is happening the next week, so it is all gonna work out. I really want to do a camp in my village next summer and want to observe and help with as many camps as I can before I attempt to do my own.
One of my best buds from my training village decided to E.T. (early terminate) and left for the states. I was really upset. I have made so many great friends here already and it is depressing when someone leaves. But, I know he will be happier in the states, so I can’t be upset with him for going. My host dad saw me crying (I cry more here than I did back home. Haha) and we talked about it. He was great, haha. He told me that I would make a ton of friends here, that everyone in my village likes me (I haven’t even begun to meet “everyone” yet haha), that they miss me when I leave, that I’ll be a strong person when I finish two years. I think he was trying to convince me to not leave. Haha When I told him not to worry, because I wasn’t leaving, my entire host family beamed at me. It was the greatest feeling.
I finally feel the sense of peace about being in my village that has been lacking the past few weeks. I have no doubt that this is where I’m meant to be, but yet also know that I will experience more down days and weeks. I made it through the first series of down days and know that I can make it through the rest.
In other news, I get to wash my hair today! YAY! Haha. We’re going to the public bath house this weekend, but a week is still a bit to long for my hair to go without washing, so I’m doing a mid-week hair washing. I have to go haul the water first, but it is so totally worth it.
I think I’m gonna attempt to make pizza for my host family this weekend. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve never made pizza by myself, so I hope it turns out okay.
In other food news: Watermelon. I think that’s all I need to say about that. Watermelon. delectable.
I just had lunch with my host family- we had noodles made from scratch this morning, with beans, carrots, and onions from the garden in the back yard. Mmmm
We also had this delicious salad- I helped make it.
You should try it- it is delish! Grate two carrots, chop 2 green onion stalks, mix together, add salt and pepper, and a little bit of oil and vinegar and mix. Its uber easy and so good!
I think I’m gonna try to record some video of my town and mail home, so maybe in a few weeks Jordan can upload it on here for me. It’d take for-ever if I did it.
I guess I should go plan for my clubs tomorrow. This four day work week is keeping me busy. Bahaha.
Love from Kyrgyzstan.
Jess
and yes, jordan, i copied my title from you. deal. haha <3
For those of you who might have been worried about my mental health the past few weeks, you can stop. Haha I have had the greatest at my site and feel the happiest I have been since moving to Issyk-kul. YAY! Haha
My week could’ve been better but all in all, it has been pretty good. My English clubs passed the 45 student mark. I am actually going to have to split one of my clubs into two because the classroom is too small for all the students! What a wonderful problem to have!
A camp I was planning on helping with got cancelled because of a lack of funding, but another camp is happening the next week, so it is all gonna work out. I really want to do a camp in my village next summer and want to observe and help with as many camps as I can before I attempt to do my own.
One of my best buds from my training village decided to E.T. (early terminate) and left for the states. I was really upset. I have made so many great friends here already and it is depressing when someone leaves. But, I know he will be happier in the states, so I can’t be upset with him for going. My host dad saw me crying (I cry more here than I did back home. Haha) and we talked about it. He was great, haha. He told me that I would make a ton of friends here, that everyone in my village likes me (I haven’t even begun to meet “everyone” yet haha), that they miss me when I leave, that I’ll be a strong person when I finish two years. I think he was trying to convince me to not leave. Haha When I told him not to worry, because I wasn’t leaving, my entire host family beamed at me. It was the greatest feeling.
I finally feel the sense of peace about being in my village that has been lacking the past few weeks. I have no doubt that this is where I’m meant to be, but yet also know that I will experience more down days and weeks. I made it through the first series of down days and know that I can make it through the rest.
In other news, I get to wash my hair today! YAY! Haha. We’re going to the public bath house this weekend, but a week is still a bit to long for my hair to go without washing, so I’m doing a mid-week hair washing. I have to go haul the water first, but it is so totally worth it.
I think I’m gonna attempt to make pizza for my host family this weekend. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve never made pizza by myself, so I hope it turns out okay.
In other food news: Watermelon. I think that’s all I need to say about that. Watermelon. delectable.
I just had lunch with my host family- we had noodles made from scratch this morning, with beans, carrots, and onions from the garden in the back yard. Mmmm
We also had this delicious salad- I helped make it.
You should try it- it is delish! Grate two carrots, chop 2 green onion stalks, mix together, add salt and pepper, and a little bit of oil and vinegar and mix. Its uber easy and so good!
I think I’m gonna try to record some video of my town and mail home, so maybe in a few weeks Jordan can upload it on here for me. It’d take for-ever if I did it.
I guess I should go plan for my clubs tomorrow. This four day work week is keeping me busy. Bahaha.
Love from Kyrgyzstan.
Jess
Sunday, July 5, 2009
"you look like the fourth of july. it makes me want a hot dog real bad."
5 July 2009
(sorry for the legally blonde quote- i couldn't resist.) haha
Happy Belated Independence Day!
I hope you all had wonderful barbeque, cookout, and fireworks filled weekends!
I spent my July 4th in a taxi riding between Naryn City and Karakol. But I did have dinner and hung out with some volunteers, which was nice. One of the other volunteers made a cake and we sung happy birthday to America. Haha Oh, also some PCVs from Kazakhstan were traveling around Kyrgyzstan and they hung out with us too. It sounds like Kazakhstan would be a pretty different experience from Kyrgyzstan. One of the guys was like 7 hours from the next volunteer and to the capital city it is a 32 hour train ride!!! I don’t think I’ll complain about a 7 hour taxi ride to Bishkek again. Haha Actually, I probably will still complain about it. Let’s get serious. haha
I spent the week in Naryn helping with an English/Leadership Camp. There were about 40 kids. I helped cook, and did an English for Fun session and an Academic Session with another volunteer. Our English for Fun session went really well. We did pictionary and hangman. The boys’ group got really into it and was really competitive. It was fun. For our academic session we did a home-ec type session and taught them how to make brownies. They didn’t all turn out exactly great… One batch was really really greasy, and got burnt on the bottom. So burnt, in fact, that the pan we cooked them in broke. I’m not even kidding. I thought they were gross, but the kids ate them and like them. One of the other volunteers taught a dance session every day and on Friday the kids performed a dance concert. It was sweet! I want to do my own camp sometime during the next two years, so I learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes things and the organization process.
Four of us from the karakol region went down together and stayed with volunteers in Naryn city. There were 12 of us in one apartment and 8 in one room. It was kinda packed, but fun. We cooked dinner almost every night and had delicious foods. Grilled cheese, burritos, mac and cheese, stuffed peppers, etc. amazing food!
We also played a lot of Ultimate Uno, and swapped some movies and music. It was fun.
I’m gonna probably stay over in Karakol another night because the bank is closed today and I need to get paid, but it doesn’t make sense to go back to my village tonight then come back to karakul tomorrow then back to my village. Too much going. I’ll probably spend the day tomorrow getting ready for my English clubs for the rest of the week. I’ll be spending the next two weeks in my village before heading out for another camp, and it’ll be the longest stretch of time in my village. After nearly a month, I’m hoping that I’ll finally settle in and really like my village. I’ve resolved to stick with this and stay for the whole two years, but being in my village is still really hard. So two weeks straight will be pushing it for my mental health. I did miss my village when I was gone for the week, so that’s got to be a good sign, right?
Well, here’s to the next two weeks!
Miss you all so much!
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
p.s.
I’ve gotten so many questions about things that I want/need from the states, so I figured I’d just post a note here with some random stuff: I don’t really NEED anything here, and my family already sent a TON of stuff but some things that would be cool to get would be: pop tarts, funfetti cake and icing, dark chocolate raisinets, jelly belly jelly beans, mascara (black), eyeliner (black), guacamole (the not-great kind that is in a jar in the chip aisle), chips for said guacamole, or salsa, double stuffed oreos, multi grain cheerios, peanut butter, french onion soup mix, raisins, books and magazines, PICTURES!,
If those of you that asked what I wanted could pick like one or two things to send me in a package, that’d be awesome. I know its uber expensive to send stuff to me. Letters and emails are the aweseomest things ever though.
(sorry for the legally blonde quote- i couldn't resist.) haha
Happy Belated Independence Day!
I hope you all had wonderful barbeque, cookout, and fireworks filled weekends!
I spent my July 4th in a taxi riding between Naryn City and Karakol. But I did have dinner and hung out with some volunteers, which was nice. One of the other volunteers made a cake and we sung happy birthday to America. Haha Oh, also some PCVs from Kazakhstan were traveling around Kyrgyzstan and they hung out with us too. It sounds like Kazakhstan would be a pretty different experience from Kyrgyzstan. One of the guys was like 7 hours from the next volunteer and to the capital city it is a 32 hour train ride!!! I don’t think I’ll complain about a 7 hour taxi ride to Bishkek again. Haha Actually, I probably will still complain about it. Let’s get serious. haha
I spent the week in Naryn helping with an English/Leadership Camp. There were about 40 kids. I helped cook, and did an English for Fun session and an Academic Session with another volunteer. Our English for Fun session went really well. We did pictionary and hangman. The boys’ group got really into it and was really competitive. It was fun. For our academic session we did a home-ec type session and taught them how to make brownies. They didn’t all turn out exactly great… One batch was really really greasy, and got burnt on the bottom. So burnt, in fact, that the pan we cooked them in broke. I’m not even kidding. I thought they were gross, but the kids ate them and like them. One of the other volunteers taught a dance session every day and on Friday the kids performed a dance concert. It was sweet! I want to do my own camp sometime during the next two years, so I learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes things and the organization process.
Four of us from the karakol region went down together and stayed with volunteers in Naryn city. There were 12 of us in one apartment and 8 in one room. It was kinda packed, but fun. We cooked dinner almost every night and had delicious foods. Grilled cheese, burritos, mac and cheese, stuffed peppers, etc. amazing food!
We also played a lot of Ultimate Uno, and swapped some movies and music. It was fun.
I’m gonna probably stay over in Karakol another night because the bank is closed today and I need to get paid, but it doesn’t make sense to go back to my village tonight then come back to karakul tomorrow then back to my village. Too much going. I’ll probably spend the day tomorrow getting ready for my English clubs for the rest of the week. I’ll be spending the next two weeks in my village before heading out for another camp, and it’ll be the longest stretch of time in my village. After nearly a month, I’m hoping that I’ll finally settle in and really like my village. I’ve resolved to stick with this and stay for the whole two years, but being in my village is still really hard. So two weeks straight will be pushing it for my mental health. I did miss my village when I was gone for the week, so that’s got to be a good sign, right?
Well, here’s to the next two weeks!
Miss you all so much!
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
p.s.
I’ve gotten so many questions about things that I want/need from the states, so I figured I’d just post a note here with some random stuff: I don’t really NEED anything here, and my family already sent a TON of stuff but some things that would be cool to get would be: pop tarts, funfetti cake and icing, dark chocolate raisinets, jelly belly jelly beans, mascara (black), eyeliner (black), guacamole (the not-great kind that is in a jar in the chip aisle), chips for said guacamole, or salsa, double stuffed oreos, multi grain cheerios, peanut butter, french onion soup mix, raisins, books and magazines, PICTURES!,
If those of you that asked what I wanted could pick like one or two things to send me in a package, that’d be awesome. I know its uber expensive to send stuff to me. Letters and emails are the aweseomest things ever though.
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