Saturday, August 29, 2009

schools starts soon.. eep.

27 August 2009

My Kyrgyzstan 0-10
0- successful knitting projects
1- oblasts that I have yet to visit. (talas. I’m not counting batken because we’re not allowed to go there)
2- bottles of shampoo (and tubes of toothpaste and bottles of sunscreen and bottles of lotion)
3- jars of peanut butter
4- times I’ve been sunburnt while doing laundry (counting today)
5- days until school starts
6- times I’ve been swimming in Issyk-kul
7- free gigs on my 400 gig hard drive
8- loads of laundry I washed today (and loads here are considerably smaller than at home btw, but that is still A LOT.)
9- books I’ve read in country
10- times I’ve had besh barmak. (and by “had” I mean been somewhere where it has been served. I don’t actually eat it)

While I’m in a list making mood…. I started a new list: “Things Jessika Thought She’d Never Do in Kyrgyzstan… But Did” this list includes, thus far, turning down a shower… I know, right!!! I NEVER thought that would happen, but it did. I took an AWESOME shower at the hotel the night I stayed in Bishkek, and we left to head back to Karakol the next morning, but the taxi took forever and I had to stay in the city that night because it was too late to get a taxi back to my village. Katie let me stay at her place and offered let me take a shower… and… i… turned… it… down… wow. I’m sure this list will grow in the next few years…

In other news: I think I’m going to start a garden. And before you laugh, (yes I know I have a black thumb) I’m hoping to turn over a new leaf and keep a plant alive. Plus I really want the vegetables. Broccoli and collard greens! Fritz and Ginger gave me some seeds before I left Jbad, its a lot warmer down there, so it might be too late for me to start planting them here, I dunno. We’ll see. If they grow the way I want them too, I’ll have broccoli in the fall! Mmmm

I got my package from the family! I got the most adorable bag for my birthday! And adorable handmade cards courtesy of Jordan. Thanks! And I got three letters! I seriously don’t think a week has gone by that I haven’t gotten a letter. You guys seriously don’t know how much I look forward to getting mail! And emails! I’m still a little slow getting back to people, but I don’t think that’ll get better… sorry. Don’t stop writing though!

The summer has completely flown by! I can not believe that school starts so soon. I still don’t have a schedule, and I haven’t lesson planned at all with my counterpart, but aside from being completely unprepared, I am so excited! I’ve gotten a little bit of practice in the clubs, but I know actual classes will be different because I’ll have a wide variety of students, like the ones who don’t really want to be there as opposed to the overachievers I’ve had coming to clubs all summer. It’ll be a challenge, but I think I’m up for it. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed though)

I realized something while I was doing sessions at the camp in Jalalabad. While I’ve never been accused of being shy, I was never really comfortable speaking in public. Until I got to Kyrgyzstan that is… Now, I don’t really have a problem talking in front of people at all. No more shaking hands or voice, I don’t rush through because I’m nervous, no butterflies in the stomach, or feeling like I need to vomit. I’m cured! Haha

It’s taken a few days for my sinuses to readjust to being in the higher altitude, and lower temperature North. Fun stuff.

Well, it is 8:30 and I haven’t been called to dinner yet, so maybe we’re not having dinner tonight. I shall go investigate and possibly cook dinner.

Miss you all!
Love from Kyrgyzstan, (the country where the lines on the road are just a suggestion)
Jess

Sunday, August 23, 2009

It's been a while.

So after getting a call from momma because she was worried since she hadn't spoken to me or read any new blogs in a whole two weeks, haha (what a mom. lol) I figured I should probably write a new little not and catch you all up on what i've been up to.

So, here it goes. I left my village on the 12th, planning on visiting the south for a week and heading back on the 18th. I get about halfway from Karakol to Bishkek and I get a call from Martha, the volunteer whose camp I was going to be observing. It turns out that two of the volunteers who were supposed to be working the camp were unable to make it, and she wanted to know if I could help out and cover the sessions. Of course! So, I went to Osh for the weekend, met up with some awesome people, and helped Heidi celebrate her birthday. I was told by everyone that when in the south, I had to try shashlik. A shashlik is basically a kabob with just meat that is grilled. I know what you're thinking. "jessika- you don't eat meat. isn't that a bad idea?" you would be right. I succumbed to the urge to try one, it was pretty good, but my stomach revolted. I guess it just doesnt know what to do with meat anymore, so... Jess got sick. It sucked, but it only lasted a couple of days, and then I was all better!

I headed up from Osh to Jalalabad on sunday, had an amazing spaghetti dinner with the other volunteers, and we headed to the camp on Monday. There were about 30 kids at the camp, and they were pretty awesome. I won't go into a ton of details, but I will post pictures later. I taught sessions on Critical Thinking, Nutrition and Fitness, and life skills.

We had a huge bonfire, a talent show, and the last night, the campers all made presentations about what they learned and how they would share the information with others. It was really great.

We got back into the city on Friday afternoon, and had a fantastic chili dinner courtesy of Fritz and Ginger, they even made a pot of veggie chili for me. it was delicious. And, I sucessfully negotiated buying a plane ticket in Kyrgyz. It cost me 2500 com which is like 60 dollars, uber expensive, but it was a birthday present from mom, nana, and pam. It saved me 11 hours of travel time since the drive up takes about 12.

Saturday, Alex and Allison from my PST village came into the city and they, heidi, and I hung out and just had some general shenanigans.

This morning, we ate the most foodgasmic pumpkin samsas, and then I left for the airport. I'm now in Bishkek at the PC office writing this, and am going to meet up with some other volunteers for dinner later. fun stuff.

It is too late for me to get a car back to my village since my primary means of transportation from the main road to my village ceases to exist after dark. *couch*hitchhiking*cough* So, I'm going to head back to Issykkul tomorrow morning pretty early so I can get into the city to get my package that is waiting for me, and get back to my village.

I have to start lesson planning very soon with my counterpart because school starts really soon!!!! i'm uberexcited! Hope to hear from you all soon!

miss you
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

A Picture Blog

I'm spending about a gazillion dollars uploading all of these pics, so I hope you enjoy! (and by a gazillion I mean about 5, but that's a lot for me!)

A photo blog:

I went to a summer camp the last week of July. We spent the last three days picking up trash at local beaches. The first day it rained.

This is me picking up trash. Lovely, right?



The kids at the camps and all the trash we picked up in the rain the first day.



Part of the trash from the second day



All the trash and the kids at the second beach yes, those are beautiful mountains in the background. Jealous?



A sweet jumping picture at the beach!




Hollyhocks. I hate them. My least favorite flower and they follow me everywhere. Nana had them in KY. We moved to VA, and Dad had to plant them there. I went to China, they were there, too. And, they’re in Kyrgyzstan, too. Proof that God has a sense of humor. Why couldn’t it be daisies, or roses, or sunflowers, or and other flippin flower? Hahaha



Katie hosted a cookie making get together. She’s awesome. I think I ate more of the cookie dough than the cookies



And they were delicious cookies!



Last time I was in the city, I saw a double rainbow! That’s gotta be good luck, right?



My host sisters made me a sweet card for my b-day.



My host parents gave me this uber warm blanket.



My host aunt and cousin made Azeez and I awesome cakes for our mutual b-day. This was taken about .45 seconds before a bunch of little hands reached in and grabbed the raspberries. Haha



If you read the birthday blog, this is the delish eggplant salad thing I was talking about.



The pillow made by my grandmother.



The bouquet of flowers I got for my b-day.




Azeez and his new birthday bike. Ain’t he cute!



The Birthday Boy and Girl on our birthday.



And on Friday, My fourth graders gave me flowers, too! My room smells fantastic and looks so pretty!



Lynnie, a volunteer close to me and I share the same birthday, so we had a Mexican food themed party last night. Mmm veggie burritos with soy meat!! Haha

Finally 21!

“toolonggonkoonoo menen”
(that's happy birthday in kyrgyz)

What a wonderful, beautiful, bittersweet birthday!
How many people get to say that they celebrated their twenty first birthday while serving a developing country with the Peace Corps? Not very many, I’m sure. I am so blessed. I have two wonderful families who have made this day so great!

My real family called (obnoxiously early- I mean, seriously guys, who calls before 7am on a birthday? haha) this morning and wished me happy birthday. It was great to get to talk to them all, even if my sis was being a dork, as usual ( love ya Jordan)

My host parents gave me a really warm blanket. I think they think I’m a sissy. Haha I now have four blankets on my bed. It is August. This winter is gonna suck. Haha anyways, my new blanket is really soft and pink. It clashes horribly with my red carpet and I love it.

My host sisters made me a really cute birthday card. My host aunt gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, from her garden.(I’m jealous, my black thumb prevents me from growing flowers) My host great aunt gave me a photo album that I intend on filling up.. And my host grandmother made me a pillow. My little brother gave me some roses. I gave him two toy cars, which he has played with most of the day. My host parents got him a bicycle and he’s been trying to learn to ride it.

My host mom made delicious food, and tons of it. We had “dim dum ah” which is potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, and meat, boiled together. My Apa picks the meat out for me. How sweet is that? It is like getting your sandwich crusts cut off when you’re little. We also had this really good salad type thing. It was eggplant and tomatoes with a garlicy mayonnaise sauce. You should make it. It’s really easy. Slice eggplant; coat it in an egg that was beaten with a little bit of salt. Cook it in a pan, slice tomatoes and layer the eggplant and tomato with the sauce that is just mayo, garlic, and pepper. It’s delish! I will definitely be bringing these dishes back to the states with me! Mmm

We also had watermelon, another melon that closely resembles cantaloupe in taste, but not in appearance, and TWO cakes. Add to that the innumerable cups of chai, and you’ve got one incredibly stuffed birthday girl. Whew!

Hindsight sucks by the way, for anyone who cares. My excuse for not drinking has been that 20 years olds can’t drink in the states, and I have to follow American laws while I’m here. Didn’t think about what would happen when I was no longer 20. My host fam made the joke today that now I can drink because I’m 21 now. Oops. Jess needs a better excuse. haha

I’m gonna go try to get my stomach to quit hating me. I’m not sick; I’m just really really really stuffed.

I’ll be attempting to post pictures with this blog. We’ll see how that goes.

Miss you
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess (the twenty one year old! – finally!)