Okay, school isn't really out, but all the schools in my rayon are under quarantine until December 7th!! So, I have a week of no classes. Which means, that for the entire month of Noveber, I will teach a combined total of six classes. And, when I normally teach 18 hours a week, that's quite a drop. The first week was vacation, second week was IST, last week, we only went Monday through Wednesday, and attendance was so low that half the classes were cancelled, and Tuesday starts December. Can I just take a minute to repeat that- Tuesday is December First! December will be my ninth month in country. Nine months is one-third of the way through my Peace Corps Service! If it weren't for the cold and snow, i'd find it hard to believe that it is already December. The second quarter ends the 30th, and the week before that is exam week, which means that I have three weeks, or six classes until tests. For some of my students, these will be the only six English Classes they will have had the entire second quarter. Writing tests is going to be even trickier this quarter. sigh.
oh well. enough school news. how about holiday news? A group of volunteers got together last night to celebrate thanksgiving. We had a great time. We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, carrots, scalloped potatoes, coleslaw, and i'm sure i'm forgetting a ton of other stuff. we all ate ourselves silly, and it made me feel not quite so far from home. good times.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
Miss you tons
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
For the K-18s
So about this time, a bunch of people in America will be getting invitations from the Peace Corps to serve the Kyrgyz Republic for two years. I did not get my invitation until January, but a good portion of my group got theirs in November. This group of people will be the K-18s, or the 18th group of people to come to Kyrgyzstan with the Peace Corps.
I don’t know if the K-18s will be like the K-17s, but if they are, most of them will be pouring over all the information that they can get about Kyrgyzstan, google searching, wikipedia-ing, reading blogs of current and past volunteers, and in general, just maintaining a low grade freak out about getting ready for the trip. At least, that’s what I did.
I found a bunch of really useful information in previous volunteers’ blogs, so I figured I’d pay it forward and give my two cents for the next group, if they want it. If not, oh well, it’ll be fun to write it anyway. Especially since I’m less than a year in right now, and who know how my thoughts will change over the next two years.
I. Packing
The first thing- you will over pack. I almost guarantee it. Heading out to the unknown makes us want to be prepared for every possible thing. It is understandable. So, I’m gonna make a little list of things that I wish I would have done differently.
Things I Didn’t Think I’d Need, But Brought Anyway and Am REALLY Glad I Did:
-headlamp- nighttime trips to the outhouse make it indispensable. You can get a cheap one for less that twenty bucks, and they take up very little space.
-leatherman/pocket knife- so incredibly useful! I never used one in the states, but here, I’ve used it for everything from opening cans to boxes to fixing furniture
-computer and external hard-drive full of movies- I have NO idea what I’d do in my spare time if I didn’t have them. I have more spare time in Kyrgyzstan that I ever had in the states and there is only so much knitting, reading, walking, and talking one can do, plus it is a great way to bond with other volunteers, doing movie swaps. Plus the volunteers that are here will love you for bringing new stuff.
-A lot of shoes haha I’m a shoe fan in the states, so I went a little overboard anyway, but almost everyone in my training village walked through at least one pair of shoes during the first two months, the roads here are just harder on shoes.
Things I Didn’t Bring and Wish I Did:
-Books- I only brought one and that lasted about two and a half days.
-More than one electric converter plug adapter (also, three prong to two prong converter) I also spend about fifty bucks getting the super-duper wattage/voltage converter thingamajiggy, and I have only used it once. I just use the plug adapters, and I haven’t fried anything yet. *knock on wood* You can buy the converters here, but I would recommend getting better quality ones in the US.
-Maps and pictures of US scenes
Things I Brought and Wish I Hadn’t
-An umbrella- it did rain a lot here during PST, but you can buy umbrellas here
-Toiletries: seriously, don’t waste space in your luggage. Bring no more than a travel size of anything, because you can get it here. The PCMO will give the women all the feminine products you need, so don’t fill your bad full of three months’ supply of tampax. Not necessary. You also don’t need a spare tooth brush, you don’t need three months supplies of anything. Shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, mouthwash, soap… they use it here, too. The only exceptions I would list would be saline solution for contacts, baby powder ( it is here, but a little more difficult to find, and you will use it here, even if you don’t in the states), and razor blades. You can find razor blades and shaving cream here, but they’re a little pricey for Peace Corps budgets.
-Too many clothes- pack what you think you need, and then cut it in half, then cut it in half again, then cut it in half again, then you’ve got the right amount. Haha I seriously overpacked. I have clothes here that I haven’t worn yet.
-A few other things: in my personal opinion, if you are thinking about bringing any white clothing items, don’t. One, you’re probably overpacked anyways, and two it is very difficult to keep anything white here. Also, other volunteers will tell you to bring school supplies, but I think it is completely unnecessary. You will hear that the quality of the school supplies here is poor, but really, how much quality do you need when it comes to pens? You can get a decent pen here for about 5 som, which is reasonable, and I’ve been able to find decent notebooks, white board markers, pens, scissors, and a stapler here with no trouble. Personally, I wouldn’t waste the space and weight of heavy school supplies items, but that is just me.
Enough about packing
II Culture
The culture of Kyrgyzstan is really interesting. A few things seem strange, but in general, people here, are just like people in America. They might eat a little bit more meat, and drink a lot more tea, but that is not a big deal. The Peace Corps stresses the drinking aspect of the culture a little bit too much in my opinion. During PST, we had a LOT of sessions about how to deal with the pressure to drink, but most of the volunteers I have talked to haven’t had a big problem dealing with it. The aspect of the culture that gets to me the most is gender inequality. Bride kidnapping, the Kalen system, discrepancies in opportunities for boys and girls, and those sorts of things can be hard to deal with at times. These problems exist everywhere in the world, even in the states, and are much worse in other places than in Kyrgyzstan, but as volunteers we are given a great opportunity to help start small changes in the way that people think about the issues, or even get people to start thinking about them at all. We’re not supposed to be critical of local customs, and I hope I haven’t come off sounding harsh about anything, I am not judging, just letting you know that these issues are here.
III The Job.
I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but when I got my invitation to teach English, I not only thought, but knew that I was immensely under qualified. What makes me capable of teaching English? The fact that I can speak it? Whew. The Peace Corps gave us a lot of training about how to teach during PST, and there are still days when I walk into the classroom feeling like I have no idea what is going on. A lot of my teaching job is trial and error, but thus far, my counterpart and students have been really open and I think they are enjoying all the trials because the teaching style that we are taught is nothing like they have ever experienced before. You learn not to stress too much about the job. At least I have. Maybe I’m just a slacker volunteer. I teach eighteen hours a week and do clubs. Holo, another volunteer is designing an entire curriculum program for his school, and Joy does about ninety gajillion things a week at her university, it seems. You will be able to put forth as much effort as you want. Not everything you want to do will be easy to accomplish, but you can work hard all the time and go ninety miles a minute for two years, or you can take a more relaxed pace, like me. Haha
It is not only the TEFL volunteers who have doubts about their qualifications. We’ve got IR majors teaching health, and I’m sure the SOCD volunteers have moments when they have no idea what they’re doing, but we’re all lost together, haha.
IV The PC life
Granted I’ve only been here for seven months or so, but the PC life has been pretty okay. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be the Peace Corps. I’ve had my ups and downs in country, from breaking down into tears and bawling my eyes out at dinner my first night with my host family during site visit, leaving my bags packed at site visit to make it easier to leave since I thought about E.T.ing, cracking up from slipping on ice and busting my butt, going through the end of the honeymoon phase and hating everything about Kyrgyzstan and the Peace Corps for a solid week, to having a fantastic time guesting with my teaching staff and enjoying beautiful summer days swimming in Issyk kul… the ups and downs are what make the experience. If you can’t handle emotional ups and downs, or aren’t patient, or don’t care, you wouldn’t have made it this far in the application process to get an invitation to come here.
I have no idea if anything I said helps, for all I know I might have just confused you even more than you already were. If you have any questions at all, feel free to email or facebook me.
I can’t wait for you all to get here!
See you soon!
Jess
I don’t know if the K-18s will be like the K-17s, but if they are, most of them will be pouring over all the information that they can get about Kyrgyzstan, google searching, wikipedia-ing, reading blogs of current and past volunteers, and in general, just maintaining a low grade freak out about getting ready for the trip. At least, that’s what I did.
I found a bunch of really useful information in previous volunteers’ blogs, so I figured I’d pay it forward and give my two cents for the next group, if they want it. If not, oh well, it’ll be fun to write it anyway. Especially since I’m less than a year in right now, and who know how my thoughts will change over the next two years.
I. Packing
The first thing- you will over pack. I almost guarantee it. Heading out to the unknown makes us want to be prepared for every possible thing. It is understandable. So, I’m gonna make a little list of things that I wish I would have done differently.
Things I Didn’t Think I’d Need, But Brought Anyway and Am REALLY Glad I Did:
-headlamp- nighttime trips to the outhouse make it indispensable. You can get a cheap one for less that twenty bucks, and they take up very little space.
-leatherman/pocket knife- so incredibly useful! I never used one in the states, but here, I’ve used it for everything from opening cans to boxes to fixing furniture
-computer and external hard-drive full of movies- I have NO idea what I’d do in my spare time if I didn’t have them. I have more spare time in Kyrgyzstan that I ever had in the states and there is only so much knitting, reading, walking, and talking one can do, plus it is a great way to bond with other volunteers, doing movie swaps. Plus the volunteers that are here will love you for bringing new stuff.
-A lot of shoes haha I’m a shoe fan in the states, so I went a little overboard anyway, but almost everyone in my training village walked through at least one pair of shoes during the first two months, the roads here are just harder on shoes.
Things I Didn’t Bring and Wish I Did:
-Books- I only brought one and that lasted about two and a half days.
-More than one electric converter plug adapter (also, three prong to two prong converter) I also spend about fifty bucks getting the super-duper wattage/voltage converter thingamajiggy, and I have only used it once. I just use the plug adapters, and I haven’t fried anything yet. *knock on wood* You can buy the converters here, but I would recommend getting better quality ones in the US.
-Maps and pictures of US scenes
Things I Brought and Wish I Hadn’t
-An umbrella- it did rain a lot here during PST, but you can buy umbrellas here
-Toiletries: seriously, don’t waste space in your luggage. Bring no more than a travel size of anything, because you can get it here. The PCMO will give the women all the feminine products you need, so don’t fill your bad full of three months’ supply of tampax. Not necessary. You also don’t need a spare tooth brush, you don’t need three months supplies of anything. Shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, mouthwash, soap… they use it here, too. The only exceptions I would list would be saline solution for contacts, baby powder ( it is here, but a little more difficult to find, and you will use it here, even if you don’t in the states), and razor blades. You can find razor blades and shaving cream here, but they’re a little pricey for Peace Corps budgets.
-Too many clothes- pack what you think you need, and then cut it in half, then cut it in half again, then cut it in half again, then you’ve got the right amount. Haha I seriously overpacked. I have clothes here that I haven’t worn yet.
-A few other things: in my personal opinion, if you are thinking about bringing any white clothing items, don’t. One, you’re probably overpacked anyways, and two it is very difficult to keep anything white here. Also, other volunteers will tell you to bring school supplies, but I think it is completely unnecessary. You will hear that the quality of the school supplies here is poor, but really, how much quality do you need when it comes to pens? You can get a decent pen here for about 5 som, which is reasonable, and I’ve been able to find decent notebooks, white board markers, pens, scissors, and a stapler here with no trouble. Personally, I wouldn’t waste the space and weight of heavy school supplies items, but that is just me.
Enough about packing
II Culture
The culture of Kyrgyzstan is really interesting. A few things seem strange, but in general, people here, are just like people in America. They might eat a little bit more meat, and drink a lot more tea, but that is not a big deal. The Peace Corps stresses the drinking aspect of the culture a little bit too much in my opinion. During PST, we had a LOT of sessions about how to deal with the pressure to drink, but most of the volunteers I have talked to haven’t had a big problem dealing with it. The aspect of the culture that gets to me the most is gender inequality. Bride kidnapping, the Kalen system, discrepancies in opportunities for boys and girls, and those sorts of things can be hard to deal with at times. These problems exist everywhere in the world, even in the states, and are much worse in other places than in Kyrgyzstan, but as volunteers we are given a great opportunity to help start small changes in the way that people think about the issues, or even get people to start thinking about them at all. We’re not supposed to be critical of local customs, and I hope I haven’t come off sounding harsh about anything, I am not judging, just letting you know that these issues are here.
III The Job.
I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but when I got my invitation to teach English, I not only thought, but knew that I was immensely under qualified. What makes me capable of teaching English? The fact that I can speak it? Whew. The Peace Corps gave us a lot of training about how to teach during PST, and there are still days when I walk into the classroom feeling like I have no idea what is going on. A lot of my teaching job is trial and error, but thus far, my counterpart and students have been really open and I think they are enjoying all the trials because the teaching style that we are taught is nothing like they have ever experienced before. You learn not to stress too much about the job. At least I have. Maybe I’m just a slacker volunteer. I teach eighteen hours a week and do clubs. Holo, another volunteer is designing an entire curriculum program for his school, and Joy does about ninety gajillion things a week at her university, it seems. You will be able to put forth as much effort as you want. Not everything you want to do will be easy to accomplish, but you can work hard all the time and go ninety miles a minute for two years, or you can take a more relaxed pace, like me. Haha
It is not only the TEFL volunteers who have doubts about their qualifications. We’ve got IR majors teaching health, and I’m sure the SOCD volunteers have moments when they have no idea what they’re doing, but we’re all lost together, haha.
IV The PC life
Granted I’ve only been here for seven months or so, but the PC life has been pretty okay. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be the Peace Corps. I’ve had my ups and downs in country, from breaking down into tears and bawling my eyes out at dinner my first night with my host family during site visit, leaving my bags packed at site visit to make it easier to leave since I thought about E.T.ing, cracking up from slipping on ice and busting my butt, going through the end of the honeymoon phase and hating everything about Kyrgyzstan and the Peace Corps for a solid week, to having a fantastic time guesting with my teaching staff and enjoying beautiful summer days swimming in Issyk kul… the ups and downs are what make the experience. If you can’t handle emotional ups and downs, or aren’t patient, or don’t care, you wouldn’t have made it this far in the application process to get an invitation to come here.
I have no idea if anything I said helps, for all I know I might have just confused you even more than you already were. If you have any questions at all, feel free to email or facebook me.
I can’t wait for you all to get here!
See you soon!
Jess
and another...
20 November 2009 Part Two
I know what you’re thinking. “Part Two? But Jess, you wrote four pages this morning! What more could you possibly have to say?”
I just got back from guesting and figured I should write about it because it was quite an event. I went with both of my host parents and most of the teaching staff was there too. I’ve gone guesting with my Apa and my teachers and with my Apa and Ata to family parties, but never my Apa, Ata, and my teachers. My teaching staff knows me pretty well. They don’t pressure me to drink, or sing, or take part in anything that I don’t want to do. My Ata knows that I don’t drink, but he made me sing! He told me it was a Kyrgyz ritual and told me that it’d be ooyat (shameful) if I didn’t sing. So, I sang the first thing that popped into my mind. Unfortunately, I spent the intervening hours between writing my first blog and going guesting watching Rent… and the first thing to pop into my head was the opening number, seasons of love. I butchered it and forgot most of the words, but it did sing. And now, my teaching staff will probably never ask me to sing for the next year and a half. Thank goodness! Now they believe me when I say that I can’t sing. haha We had the traditional besh barmak dish, as always, my Ata wanted me to try a bit of horse meat, and I respectfully declined. It is funny to me; my teaching staff knows me so well! When they pass around the kidneys, chunks of fat, and intestine, they don’t even offer it to me. One teacher will put a piece on my plate with the noodles (or rice) and the huge chunk of meat that I won’t eat, and then pass the bowl to the teacher on the other side of me. I think that they just know that I don’t want to touch it. And then, as everyone is packing up their leftovers, someone will inevitably hand mine to Apa. Again, I think they know that touching the greasy meat is not something that I want to do. Tonight we also had bozo, or rather they had bozo. I respectfully oostied, or tasted it. It tastes like someone poured vodka on bread, and then liquefied it. That is the best description I can give.
It is no wonder to me that illnesses spread so quickly here. All the communal food sharing, and glass sharing has got to be a catalyst for the spread of disease. Although if I stick to my college adage that alcohol is a disinfectant, that could explain why some of my teachers don’t get sick.
As we were eating the besh barmak, the teachers played a singing game. There are two teams. One team will sing a verse and the other team has to sing another verse of a song starting with the letter that the last team finished on. One team finished a song with the letter X which sounds like H and there are few songs that being with that letter, so my counterpart struck up a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. It was cute.
As we all left, one of the male teachers, who I have gotten to be friendly with helped me down the stairs, as it so happens, he is the only male teacher who is not married. One of the other teachers said “I love you” and teased him. It sparked a conversation in which he said that he was going to “take” me, because the Kyrgyz translation of “get married” for men is simple “take a woman.” Well, woman and wife are the same word in Kyrgyz. And all the other teachers remarked on what a good idea this is. Sigh. Something similar has happened at every single toi (party) that I’ve been to in Kyrgyzstan, and I’m not expecting it to stop, which means I guess that I’m getting used to it.
Well I guess that just about sums it up. I’m debating whether I want to go to the city tomorrow, or wait until next Wednesday. I guess we’ll see how I feel in the morning, and when I wake up.
Miss you still
Love from Kyrgyzstan!
Jess
I know what you’re thinking. “Part Two? But Jess, you wrote four pages this morning! What more could you possibly have to say?”
I just got back from guesting and figured I should write about it because it was quite an event. I went with both of my host parents and most of the teaching staff was there too. I’ve gone guesting with my Apa and my teachers and with my Apa and Ata to family parties, but never my Apa, Ata, and my teachers. My teaching staff knows me pretty well. They don’t pressure me to drink, or sing, or take part in anything that I don’t want to do. My Ata knows that I don’t drink, but he made me sing! He told me it was a Kyrgyz ritual and told me that it’d be ooyat (shameful) if I didn’t sing. So, I sang the first thing that popped into my mind. Unfortunately, I spent the intervening hours between writing my first blog and going guesting watching Rent… and the first thing to pop into my head was the opening number, seasons of love. I butchered it and forgot most of the words, but it did sing. And now, my teaching staff will probably never ask me to sing for the next year and a half. Thank goodness! Now they believe me when I say that I can’t sing. haha We had the traditional besh barmak dish, as always, my Ata wanted me to try a bit of horse meat, and I respectfully declined. It is funny to me; my teaching staff knows me so well! When they pass around the kidneys, chunks of fat, and intestine, they don’t even offer it to me. One teacher will put a piece on my plate with the noodles (or rice) and the huge chunk of meat that I won’t eat, and then pass the bowl to the teacher on the other side of me. I think that they just know that I don’t want to touch it. And then, as everyone is packing up their leftovers, someone will inevitably hand mine to Apa. Again, I think they know that touching the greasy meat is not something that I want to do. Tonight we also had bozo, or rather they had bozo. I respectfully oostied, or tasted it. It tastes like someone poured vodka on bread, and then liquefied it. That is the best description I can give.
It is no wonder to me that illnesses spread so quickly here. All the communal food sharing, and glass sharing has got to be a catalyst for the spread of disease. Although if I stick to my college adage that alcohol is a disinfectant, that could explain why some of my teachers don’t get sick.
As we were eating the besh barmak, the teachers played a singing game. There are two teams. One team will sing a verse and the other team has to sing another verse of a song starting with the letter that the last team finished on. One team finished a song with the letter X which sounds like H and there are few songs that being with that letter, so my counterpart struck up a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. It was cute.
As we all left, one of the male teachers, who I have gotten to be friendly with helped me down the stairs, as it so happens, he is the only male teacher who is not married. One of the other teachers said “I love you” and teased him. It sparked a conversation in which he said that he was going to “take” me, because the Kyrgyz translation of “get married” for men is simple “take a woman.” Well, woman and wife are the same word in Kyrgyz. And all the other teachers remarked on what a good idea this is. Sigh. Something similar has happened at every single toi (party) that I’ve been to in Kyrgyzstan, and I’m not expecting it to stop, which means I guess that I’m getting used to it.
Well I guess that just about sums it up. I’m debating whether I want to go to the city tomorrow, or wait until next Wednesday. I guess we’ll see how I feel in the morning, and when I wake up.
Miss you still
Love from Kyrgyzstan!
Jess
Warning, this is a long one.
20 November 2009
It is Friday morning and I am not at school. “But Jess, it is Friday morning, you have class. Why aren’t you at school?” You might ask. The answer would be that I didn’t have to go today. Normal classes are suspended and students are doing what is called control work. I don’t really understand it, but basically all the students have to take 5question tests in a multitude of different subjects. And my counterpart told me that I didn’t have to come if I didn’t want to because I wasn’t needed. So, I elected to stay home and write this blog. Haha I promised that this blog would be more upbeat and I think I will be able to accomplish that because I’m in a bit of a better mood. I made a conscious decision to be happier. Not happy, but “happier” It is almost impossible to just will myself to be happy, because so many of the things that make me unhappy are beyond my control, BUT! happIER, I can manage. It is just making myself focus more on the good than the bad and giving myself what momma told me I need for about five years: an attitude adjustment. Haha So, in an effort to keep my mind on the positive, I used my newly-acquired-and-copied-from-katie-hobby-of-cutting-out-magazine-letters-to-make-pretty-stuff (that is said with one breath. Haha) to make a sign for my room. It is entitled “the good stuff” and since I’ve created the self rule that for every negative thought I have, I have to think two positive thoughts, I am writing the good thoughts and sticking them to the sign. Pretty good, right? So, I’m gonna share a few of the good thoughts. And since I have A LOT of time today, this blog might get a little lengthy. My apologies in advance. Here we go- the good stuff:
1) I have my own English room. Most volunteers do not. The renovations should be finished by Monday and I will be able to start having classes in it. Which also means that: I get to have and use visual aids, I get to use a white board instead of chalk, and have more control over my environment.
2) My students like me and I like them. A few examples: I cracked up in front of my 11th grade class. (Background: My counterpart and I divided up classes on Wednesday because several of the teachers are out sick and if we taught the classes separately everyone would be able to go home sooner. I was teaching them formal introductions- not because it is useful in any way, but because we got new little English pamphlets from the rayon government that we have to use.) I was doing a demo conversation practice with one of my 11th grade boys. He is a good student, but also can be a smart-alek class clown, which is awesome in my opinion. Anyways, we were just doing the basics. You know- what is your name, how are you, etc. Then, he pulls out of his repertoire, “how old are you?’ and “can I have your telephone number.” I have NO idea where he learned that, because most of the other students didn’t know what he said, but needless to say, I was not expecting that, and it cracked me up, partly because of the way he said it and partly because I had a flash back to the “can I have yo number? Can I have it?”. In a couple of seconds, the entire class was laughing. It was a great class. Another example, one of my ninth grade girls, who is friends with one of my host sisters and is at my house a lot, came to me yesterday and asked me for a favor. She brought me a few balls of yarn and asked if I could make a scarf for her. I was more than willing to, but was curious because her mother crochets really well. I asked her why she wasn’t asking her mother to do it. Apparently, she has a crush on a boy and his birthday is next week and she wants to give him a scarf. She couldn’t ask her mother because her mother would want to know who it was for. It was the cutest thing, it still makes me giggle, but she was very concerned with secrecy. She made me promise not to tell her mom or my counterpart or anyone. It made me really happy. Even though it is a small thing, it tells me that there is a growing bond of trust with my students. One final example- I was teaching my ninth grade B class, which if you remember is the one that I had been having a little trouble with. Toward the end of the lesson, when the students were working in pairs creating a dialogue, I caught one of the boys passing a note. I wouldn’t have done anything because he wasn’t really disturbing anyone, but he caught me looking at him and got a “oh no she saw me” look on his face so I asked him for the note, because I was curious. He didn’t want to give it to me, and we ended up having a conversation about why he didn’t want to give it to me, during which time he succeeded in tearing the note into little pieces. It didn’t really bother me, and I’m sure it would’ve bothered a lot of the local teachers, who probably would’ve punished him. Me, on the other hand, just gave him floor cleaning duty for the day. Every day the students have to mop the floor in their classrooms and it rotates every day, but usually the girls do it. I told him that since he made a mess on the floor, he had to clean it. I think the students were surprised, but we all ended up having a good laugh at it and I think they all thought it was a good punishment. So, my students and I are getting along. I also added the sixth grade classes to my schedule and they are a new dynamic, so we’ll see how that goes. I haven’t been able to teach them yet because attendance has been around 3 students in class since everyone is sick.
Let’s see… what else is on my good stuff list…
3) I haven’t peed on my foot in the outhouse in months. Oh! This is kind of unrelated and kind of related. I am trying to figure out how growing up with one sister, we fought over the bathroom in the mornings all the way through school, but now that I have four sisters, I’ve only had to wait for the bathroom twice since June. Granted, the bathroom is the outhouse, so obviously no one is brushing their teeth or doing makeup out there, but we also have our indoor wash room with sink and mirror and I’ve never had to wait to use that either… curious, very curious.
4) My newly dyed hair (did I mention that I dyed my hair?- it is now “chocolate brown”) anyways, my newly dyed hair covers dirtiness better than when it was lighter
5) I talked to Jenn this morning for the first time since coming to country! I interrupted her night at the green leafe, but I think she’ll forgive me. I also found out that she is sending me FOOTED PAJAMAS for Christmas. I am not sure that you’re aware of the gravity of that statement, so I’ll repeat myself. SHE IS SENDING ME FOOTED PAJAMAS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! I’m am SO unbelievably excited!
6) I am integrating into my village pretty well. I’ve begun to meet students’ parents. I am still getting invited to go guesting. I am going tonight as a matter of fact, to the Kyrgyz equivalent of a house warming party.
7) I am making Hummus again today and I am eating it now. I’m eating in my room because apa is frying fish and the smell is permeating the house. Sigh The hummus is delicious, though, if I may say so. That is another thing I have learned- things that you make yourself are so much better than store bought stuff. I am eating aforementioned hummus with tomatoes and cucumbers, whose prices are starting to rise again. They are both sixty som a kilo. Which converts to about $1.50. I know- that doesn’t seem like a lot, but I don’t really think about it dollars anymore, I budget in som and don’t have a ton extra to splurge on veggies, and when you don’t eat meat and need vegetables, and when the prices are only going to steadily increase…. It is cause for a wee bit of concern. Especially considering that less than a month ago tomatoes were 6 som a kilo, which was about 14cents… But, to quote Mrs. Buckett, “nothing goes better with cabbage than cabbage.” And I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be enjoying cabbage as my primary vegetable for the next few months. Luckily, citrus fruits are coming into season and pretty soon I’ll be able to get a kilo of oranges for about 50 som ( a little over a dollar) I am just going to have to switch vitamin sources. Delicious, delicious, vitamin sources.
I might try my hand at pita bread later, too. I’m not sure yet. I also want to make pumpkin bread, but I’m having trouble finding the spices. If anyone is sending a box this way in the next few months, some little containers of nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, cream of tarter, cumin, and brown sugar would be great.
8) OH! Big news! So, if you have been keeping up with reading this blog, you will know that I had a Halloween festival with my students and that a Christmas concert/festival is underway. I have created a monster so it seems and am now expected to have some sort of festival or party every quarter. I have no problem with this because it keeps me busy, but after having a discussion with my counterpart and some of my students about holidays and American school traditions… hold your breath… here it is…. I am going to help my students have ….. a prom. Yes, I know. A PROM? Do I know how much work that will be? Yes, I do. Do I know that the concept of the boys and girls going on a pseudo “date” might shake up my school a bit? Yes, I do. And am I still going to hold a prom? Yes, I am. I think it’ll be good for my students. Only the ninth and eleventh forms will be able to go, since we don’t have a tenth form. It’ll be for the older, and slightly more mature students, just like in America. So, here is where I need your help. Explaining the concept of prom wasn’t that difficult, but I would really appreciate if you all could send me pictures from your respective proms to show my students what prom is like. I’ve already recruited Jordan to send me pictures from my prom and hers, but I would love a bigger variety. If you could just print a few pics and stick them inside a card and mail it to me, that would be fantastic. It only costs like a buck to send a card or letter over here, and my students LOVE seeing pictures of America. When I made my scrapbook, I had no idea how much of a cultural aid it would be. The pics from last year’s Halloween in Norfolk were a big help, as were pics from jordan’s wedding and Christmas. Anways, I digress… pictures are good. Very good. Send me some please?
9) It is the third week of November and I have taught six classes the entire month. My second quarter schedule has me teaching 18 classes a week, but due to a week of vacation, a week of training, and over 50% of my students being out sick, there just haven’t been a lot of English classes. Now, why is this is a list of my good stuff? You would think that me not doing the job that I came to do would be bad, not good. I put this on the list as a representation of how much I have relaxed. We have a teaching plan, right? Which topics we will teach on which day in order to cover all the things we need to cover all year. We are currently four topics behind in about half of my classes and I am not concerned. Being behind schedule, or off schedule, would have really stressed me out a year ago. Now, I know that we’ll make it up, or just change the schedule, or just drop some topics. I’m not fussed about it. Is this personal growth and progress? We shall see.
10) This point does not really belong on here, but I like the prospect of finishing up a list with a round ten things. Nine just seems incomplete. What? Yes, I know, I am still OCD and crazy. You didn’t expect that to change, did you? Well, you might have noticed, maybe not, that my English is diminishing. (word is helping to check my atrocious spelling) Like most languages, lack of use makes it hard to remember. And seeing as how outside of class and lesson planning with my counterpart, I do not use English, it is becoming rusty from lack of use. Also, because my textbooks use British English and I’ve been reading quite a few books by British authors, my language is not only starting to get worse, but it is starting to change and I say things differently. I caught myself saying “you have a brother, have you not?” because I have read tag questions like that in the textbook all week. It is really strange. I have also almost completely quit using contractions because I use my TEFL voice whenever I do speak English. BUT on the flip side, my Kyrgyz has improved. I scored between and advanced Low and Advanced Mid on my language at our last training, which is technically fluent. YAY! I was told that I need to use more idioms, and I am sure that I will pick those up in time. Also, the upside to getting an advanced score in Kyrgyz is that I can now start learning Russian, too. I have picked up a little bit of Russian, simply from living in the most russianified oblast, and living in a half Russian village, but am having trouble with the grammar. All the verb conjugations and gender specific words are pretty rough to learn on my own, but I can now get a Russian tutor and hopefully by the end of two years, I’ll be fluent in both languages.
I know. It must be hard to believe that my language is suffering considering how loquacious I have been in this blog. I’m on the fourth page! Sheesh. If you have stuck with me and read this whole thing in one sitting, thanks. But, alas, as I am sure your eyes are starting to hurt and the words are starting to blur, I shall do you a favor and close for now.
Miss you tons!
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
It is Friday morning and I am not at school. “But Jess, it is Friday morning, you have class. Why aren’t you at school?” You might ask. The answer would be that I didn’t have to go today. Normal classes are suspended and students are doing what is called control work. I don’t really understand it, but basically all the students have to take 5question tests in a multitude of different subjects. And my counterpart told me that I didn’t have to come if I didn’t want to because I wasn’t needed. So, I elected to stay home and write this blog. Haha I promised that this blog would be more upbeat and I think I will be able to accomplish that because I’m in a bit of a better mood. I made a conscious decision to be happier. Not happy, but “happier” It is almost impossible to just will myself to be happy, because so many of the things that make me unhappy are beyond my control, BUT! happIER, I can manage. It is just making myself focus more on the good than the bad and giving myself what momma told me I need for about five years: an attitude adjustment. Haha So, in an effort to keep my mind on the positive, I used my newly-acquired-and-copied-from-katie-hobby-of-cutting-out-magazine-letters-to-make-pretty-stuff (that is said with one breath. Haha) to make a sign for my room. It is entitled “the good stuff” and since I’ve created the self rule that for every negative thought I have, I have to think two positive thoughts, I am writing the good thoughts and sticking them to the sign. Pretty good, right? So, I’m gonna share a few of the good thoughts. And since I have A LOT of time today, this blog might get a little lengthy. My apologies in advance. Here we go- the good stuff:
1) I have my own English room. Most volunteers do not. The renovations should be finished by Monday and I will be able to start having classes in it. Which also means that: I get to have and use visual aids, I get to use a white board instead of chalk, and have more control over my environment.
2) My students like me and I like them. A few examples: I cracked up in front of my 11th grade class. (Background: My counterpart and I divided up classes on Wednesday because several of the teachers are out sick and if we taught the classes separately everyone would be able to go home sooner. I was teaching them formal introductions- not because it is useful in any way, but because we got new little English pamphlets from the rayon government that we have to use.) I was doing a demo conversation practice with one of my 11th grade boys. He is a good student, but also can be a smart-alek class clown, which is awesome in my opinion. Anyways, we were just doing the basics. You know- what is your name, how are you, etc. Then, he pulls out of his repertoire, “how old are you?’ and “can I have your telephone number.” I have NO idea where he learned that, because most of the other students didn’t know what he said, but needless to say, I was not expecting that, and it cracked me up, partly because of the way he said it and partly because I had a flash back to the “can I have yo number? Can I have it?”. In a couple of seconds, the entire class was laughing. It was a great class. Another example, one of my ninth grade girls, who is friends with one of my host sisters and is at my house a lot, came to me yesterday and asked me for a favor. She brought me a few balls of yarn and asked if I could make a scarf for her. I was more than willing to, but was curious because her mother crochets really well. I asked her why she wasn’t asking her mother to do it. Apparently, she has a crush on a boy and his birthday is next week and she wants to give him a scarf. She couldn’t ask her mother because her mother would want to know who it was for. It was the cutest thing, it still makes me giggle, but she was very concerned with secrecy. She made me promise not to tell her mom or my counterpart or anyone. It made me really happy. Even though it is a small thing, it tells me that there is a growing bond of trust with my students. One final example- I was teaching my ninth grade B class, which if you remember is the one that I had been having a little trouble with. Toward the end of the lesson, when the students were working in pairs creating a dialogue, I caught one of the boys passing a note. I wouldn’t have done anything because he wasn’t really disturbing anyone, but he caught me looking at him and got a “oh no she saw me” look on his face so I asked him for the note, because I was curious. He didn’t want to give it to me, and we ended up having a conversation about why he didn’t want to give it to me, during which time he succeeded in tearing the note into little pieces. It didn’t really bother me, and I’m sure it would’ve bothered a lot of the local teachers, who probably would’ve punished him. Me, on the other hand, just gave him floor cleaning duty for the day. Every day the students have to mop the floor in their classrooms and it rotates every day, but usually the girls do it. I told him that since he made a mess on the floor, he had to clean it. I think the students were surprised, but we all ended up having a good laugh at it and I think they all thought it was a good punishment. So, my students and I are getting along. I also added the sixth grade classes to my schedule and they are a new dynamic, so we’ll see how that goes. I haven’t been able to teach them yet because attendance has been around 3 students in class since everyone is sick.
Let’s see… what else is on my good stuff list…
3) I haven’t peed on my foot in the outhouse in months. Oh! This is kind of unrelated and kind of related. I am trying to figure out how growing up with one sister, we fought over the bathroom in the mornings all the way through school, but now that I have four sisters, I’ve only had to wait for the bathroom twice since June. Granted, the bathroom is the outhouse, so obviously no one is brushing their teeth or doing makeup out there, but we also have our indoor wash room with sink and mirror and I’ve never had to wait to use that either… curious, very curious.
4) My newly dyed hair (did I mention that I dyed my hair?- it is now “chocolate brown”) anyways, my newly dyed hair covers dirtiness better than when it was lighter
5) I talked to Jenn this morning for the first time since coming to country! I interrupted her night at the green leafe, but I think she’ll forgive me. I also found out that she is sending me FOOTED PAJAMAS for Christmas. I am not sure that you’re aware of the gravity of that statement, so I’ll repeat myself. SHE IS SENDING ME FOOTED PAJAMAS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! I’m am SO unbelievably excited!
6) I am integrating into my village pretty well. I’ve begun to meet students’ parents. I am still getting invited to go guesting. I am going tonight as a matter of fact, to the Kyrgyz equivalent of a house warming party.
7) I am making Hummus again today and I am eating it now. I’m eating in my room because apa is frying fish and the smell is permeating the house. Sigh The hummus is delicious, though, if I may say so. That is another thing I have learned- things that you make yourself are so much better than store bought stuff. I am eating aforementioned hummus with tomatoes and cucumbers, whose prices are starting to rise again. They are both sixty som a kilo. Which converts to about $1.50. I know- that doesn’t seem like a lot, but I don’t really think about it dollars anymore, I budget in som and don’t have a ton extra to splurge on veggies, and when you don’t eat meat and need vegetables, and when the prices are only going to steadily increase…. It is cause for a wee bit of concern. Especially considering that less than a month ago tomatoes were 6 som a kilo, which was about 14cents… But, to quote Mrs. Buckett, “nothing goes better with cabbage than cabbage.” And I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be enjoying cabbage as my primary vegetable for the next few months. Luckily, citrus fruits are coming into season and pretty soon I’ll be able to get a kilo of oranges for about 50 som ( a little over a dollar) I am just going to have to switch vitamin sources. Delicious, delicious, vitamin sources.
I might try my hand at pita bread later, too. I’m not sure yet. I also want to make pumpkin bread, but I’m having trouble finding the spices. If anyone is sending a box this way in the next few months, some little containers of nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, cream of tarter, cumin, and brown sugar would be great.
8) OH! Big news! So, if you have been keeping up with reading this blog, you will know that I had a Halloween festival with my students and that a Christmas concert/festival is underway. I have created a monster so it seems and am now expected to have some sort of festival or party every quarter. I have no problem with this because it keeps me busy, but after having a discussion with my counterpart and some of my students about holidays and American school traditions… hold your breath… here it is…. I am going to help my students have ….. a prom. Yes, I know. A PROM? Do I know how much work that will be? Yes, I do. Do I know that the concept of the boys and girls going on a pseudo “date” might shake up my school a bit? Yes, I do. And am I still going to hold a prom? Yes, I am. I think it’ll be good for my students. Only the ninth and eleventh forms will be able to go, since we don’t have a tenth form. It’ll be for the older, and slightly more mature students, just like in America. So, here is where I need your help. Explaining the concept of prom wasn’t that difficult, but I would really appreciate if you all could send me pictures from your respective proms to show my students what prom is like. I’ve already recruited Jordan to send me pictures from my prom and hers, but I would love a bigger variety. If you could just print a few pics and stick them inside a card and mail it to me, that would be fantastic. It only costs like a buck to send a card or letter over here, and my students LOVE seeing pictures of America. When I made my scrapbook, I had no idea how much of a cultural aid it would be. The pics from last year’s Halloween in Norfolk were a big help, as were pics from jordan’s wedding and Christmas. Anways, I digress… pictures are good. Very good. Send me some please?
9) It is the third week of November and I have taught six classes the entire month. My second quarter schedule has me teaching 18 classes a week, but due to a week of vacation, a week of training, and over 50% of my students being out sick, there just haven’t been a lot of English classes. Now, why is this is a list of my good stuff? You would think that me not doing the job that I came to do would be bad, not good. I put this on the list as a representation of how much I have relaxed. We have a teaching plan, right? Which topics we will teach on which day in order to cover all the things we need to cover all year. We are currently four topics behind in about half of my classes and I am not concerned. Being behind schedule, or off schedule, would have really stressed me out a year ago. Now, I know that we’ll make it up, or just change the schedule, or just drop some topics. I’m not fussed about it. Is this personal growth and progress? We shall see.
10) This point does not really belong on here, but I like the prospect of finishing up a list with a round ten things. Nine just seems incomplete. What? Yes, I know, I am still OCD and crazy. You didn’t expect that to change, did you? Well, you might have noticed, maybe not, that my English is diminishing. (word is helping to check my atrocious spelling) Like most languages, lack of use makes it hard to remember. And seeing as how outside of class and lesson planning with my counterpart, I do not use English, it is becoming rusty from lack of use. Also, because my textbooks use British English and I’ve been reading quite a few books by British authors, my language is not only starting to get worse, but it is starting to change and I say things differently. I caught myself saying “you have a brother, have you not?” because I have read tag questions like that in the textbook all week. It is really strange. I have also almost completely quit using contractions because I use my TEFL voice whenever I do speak English. BUT on the flip side, my Kyrgyz has improved. I scored between and advanced Low and Advanced Mid on my language at our last training, which is technically fluent. YAY! I was told that I need to use more idioms, and I am sure that I will pick those up in time. Also, the upside to getting an advanced score in Kyrgyz is that I can now start learning Russian, too. I have picked up a little bit of Russian, simply from living in the most russianified oblast, and living in a half Russian village, but am having trouble with the grammar. All the verb conjugations and gender specific words are pretty rough to learn on my own, but I can now get a Russian tutor and hopefully by the end of two years, I’ll be fluent in both languages.
I know. It must be hard to believe that my language is suffering considering how loquacious I have been in this blog. I’m on the fourth page! Sheesh. If you have stuck with me and read this whole thing in one sitting, thanks. But, alas, as I am sure your eyes are starting to hurt and the words are starting to blur, I shall do you a favor and close for now.
Miss you tons!
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
OW
Usually I write blogs at home and then upload them when I come to the city, because it saves me time and money, but I let my director borrow my flash drive yesterday for a day or two so i'm actually writing this in the internet cafe. I don't really have a lot of news, which is why I've been writing a little less frequently, so I'm going to just write a few random thoughts and be on my way because i don't have a lot of time today.
1. clumsiness + ice = a very bad combination. I bit it hard on the way to the internet cafe. It definitely wasn't the first time, and certainly won't be the last, but it hurt all the same. Those of you Norfolkers who remember my last experience on ice should know that i managed to fall with a little bit more decorum, although this fall was kinda like that one, although thankfully without the windmill arms. The teeth jarring head crack was achingly similar though. sigh. my head still hurts
2. I have rediscovered my respect for artists. After spendng three consecutive afternoons locked in a room with windows that don't open writing grammar tables with paint (and quite possibly getting lead posioning haha) I've remembered how difficult artsy stuff is. and i ruined my manicure with paint thinner... sigh
3. i've realized that surviving this winter is going to be one of the most difficult things i've done. emotionally. one. it is cold. and we all know how much i love the cold (i hate that the dripping sarcasm of that statement doesn't come through in type) plus it is dark when i wake up and dark when i come home at least three days of the week. it is a damper on my mood... sigh
In case you haven't picked up on it (all the sighs), i've been kind of in a down mood for a couple of days. One of those stomach-dropping turns on the emotional roller coaster.I have no doubt that it'll go back up, but the downs are just really hard sometimes.
well, in an effort to not infect the rest of the world with my depressing mood, i'm gonna end for now. my next post will be more upbeat, i promise.
miss you
love from kyrgyzstan,
jess
1. clumsiness + ice = a very bad combination. I bit it hard on the way to the internet cafe. It definitely wasn't the first time, and certainly won't be the last, but it hurt all the same. Those of you Norfolkers who remember my last experience on ice should know that i managed to fall with a little bit more decorum, although this fall was kinda like that one, although thankfully without the windmill arms. The teeth jarring head crack was achingly similar though. sigh. my head still hurts
2. I have rediscovered my respect for artists. After spendng three consecutive afternoons locked in a room with windows that don't open writing grammar tables with paint (and quite possibly getting lead posioning haha) I've remembered how difficult artsy stuff is. and i ruined my manicure with paint thinner... sigh
3. i've realized that surviving this winter is going to be one of the most difficult things i've done. emotionally. one. it is cold. and we all know how much i love the cold (i hate that the dripping sarcasm of that statement doesn't come through in type) plus it is dark when i wake up and dark when i come home at least three days of the week. it is a damper on my mood... sigh
In case you haven't picked up on it (all the sighs), i've been kind of in a down mood for a couple of days. One of those stomach-dropping turns on the emotional roller coaster.I have no doubt that it'll go back up, but the downs are just really hard sometimes.
well, in an effort to not infect the rest of the world with my depressing mood, i'm gonna end for now. my next post will be more upbeat, i promise.
miss you
love from kyrgyzstan,
jess
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