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
Saturday, August 29, 2009
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.
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
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!)
(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!)
Friday, July 31, 2009
oh! what a beautiful morning!
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!
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!
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
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