Winter

10 December 2009


So, when this southern girl, who has had snow above her ankles maybe three times in her life, and who is perfectly okay with that fact, starts getting happy when it snows because days that snow are warmer; you know she is in the middle of a Kyrgyz winter. Okay, enough with the third person. Basically, what I am trying to say is that it is cold. Technically, I can use the adjective freezing now, without exaggerating. And it is true, the days that snow are warmer, sometimes it is too cold to snow according to Ata, a fact which completely blows my mind. So, yes, winter has arrived with full force here in lovely issyk kul oblast. Since there has been snow on the ground since the first or second week of November and since I’ve already slipped on ice you may feel that I am a bit late with this announcement. It really feels like winter though now. I’ve busted out my tall furry boots, and have managed to not fall in my village yet. I am not going to bother doing the whole “knock-on-wood” thing because I know falling is inevitable, especially with the roads here. Today the roads consist of snow, or packed snow/ice. My winter footwear is serving me pretty well, although I must admit that I do have a bit of a dilemma. My winter boots have pretty good grips on them, which makes walking in snow a bit easier, but the problem with the grips is that the snow gets packed in them and then as soon as a step into school, the packed snow on the bottom turns them into ice skates, and we all know how well I handle myself on ice. The Peace Corps gave all the volunteers Yak Trax, which are these little grippers we put on our shoes to walk better. I don’t really need them for snow, but on packed snow and ice they are life savers. The same problem arises though. On tile floors, they are quite slippery. So, the question becomes- am I going to bite it hard outside my school or inside my school? I’ll let you know when it happens. I am getting a bit tired of wearing the same pair of shoes, but I’ve given up variety for functionality. At least they are functional and cute! Haha Who’d have thought I could talk this long about shoes. Actually, anyone who knows me would know that I could talk for this long about shoes haha. I’ve covered the weather and shoe aspects of winter; let’s move on to the holidays. I’m holding a Christmas Eve Concert and am super excited about it. I spent this week teaching my students Christmas Carols. Yes, I know. Me? The girl who can’t carry a tune in a bucket- teaching someone else a song? Go figure. But, it has perked my spirits up. Having kids walking through the halls singing or humming “let it snow” and “fa la la la la la la la la” makes me really happy. It really puts me in the Christmas spirit. I’m preparing myself for the first Christmas away from home to be really hard, but the more I do to make it seem like Christmas, the closer I feel to home. I think the volunteers close to me might come out for the concert, and then, if I can finagle it, I’m going to spend Christmas Eve night in the city, so I can be with other Americans on Christmas. It is technically a work day, but it is a holiday for me, and it will be exam week anyway, so I’m not going to miss much. I have promised my community that I will be here for the New Years’ Holiday (which is why I am not coming home) and I think we are all pretty excited for me to take part in all the traditions, but for once I can do both- Christmas with Americans and New Years with my host family. I am also going to try to go with one of my Russian teachers to the Orthodox Church for their Christmas services. I’m not sure yet how to work that out, but I have faith that I can make it happen.

Let’s see. What other news? Oh yeah! I went skiing. And by skiing, I mean attempting to ski and basically spending an entire day falling down a mountain. My muscles were sore for days and I keep finding bruises. It was fun. More graceful people probably would’ve had their pride hurt from falling down so much. Haha it didn’t affect me, though, seeing as how I am used to it. I made it down the easiest slope two and half times. The third time, I managed to hit myself in the head with my own ski pole, and decided that was a sign that I should call it a day. I think I walked down quicker than I would’ve skied down anyway. haha I am not very good at skiing, but I will probably go back. For one thing, the view is absolutely gorgeous! (I might try to post pictures) I won’t be able to go often because it is expensive. (by my standards) We added it up, and for transportation, rentals, the ski lift fee, and lunch, we spent about 30 dollars, which is crazy cheap for your average tourist. It was a great day. I was actually planning on not even going into the city, but met up with my site mate, Mike, and he basically guilted me into going. Between going out dancing on Friday night, skiing on Sunday, and walking the 5km to my village (in the snow) on Monday morning, my legs had their best workout in country. Haha It was a great weekend.

I just came back from my pre-bed outhouse trip, and feel that I must describe the experience. Outhouses can be dangerous in the best of times. Add a layer of packed snow on top of the foot grips, and it is very scary. I try very hard not to lose my balance. I think I’d rather fall in front of all my students every day all winter than fall in the outhouse once.

I’m gonna wrap it up for now.
Miss you
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess