1 September 20099
Okay, I know I wrote a really long blog yesterday, but… seeing as how the power is probably gonna go out soon because of this monstrous storm we’re having, I accidentally clicked “deal” instead of “undo” on my 7348932744th game of solitaire… today and didn’t feel like restarting, the benadryl won’t kick in for another few minutes (not that I’ll sleep the whole night through, anyway…), I figured I’d write another blog.
I just had a cup of….i guess the best American equivalent is gravy… for dinner, I’m embarrassed to think of what I’d do for a bottle of Nyquil, I’m getting a cold sore (It’s not herpes, Jordan, so shuddup), It’s cold and rainy, and I just tried to make my last outhouse run of the evening and couldn’t go in because there is a spider the size of my face in there. Okay, maybe not quite that big, but close. We’re talking so big that it makes noise when it moves. Ew. So, I’ll be holding it all night. What a lovely day. *all sarcasm intended*
Actually, in spite of all of that, it was actually a pretty good day. I went to the first bell ceremony, got flowers to welcome me as a new teacher, was able to opt out of giving a speech (cut me a break, my Kyrgyz still sucks), finished my first quarter plan for all my classes, and managed to avoid getting tipsy with my teaching staff, (though I was coerced into having a few shot glasses of wine.)
My director and some of the older teachers and I were sitting around toward the end of our day (it was about 2:30 I think) and they said something really sweet: In Kyrgyzstan, I first belong to my family, then to my teaching staff, my school, my village, my rayon, and then the oblast. They called me “beezdeen” Which translates as “ours.” Several teachers also called me their “kizim” Which means daughter. Considering most of them are old enough to be my mother, or grandmother in some cases, it was cool.
I might go into more details about the first day of school later, but right now my eyelids are starting to get heavy from the benadryl, and we all know what happens when you fight a lovely medicine induced sleep… bad things.
So, I’m gonna wrap it up for today.
Miss you,
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess
Friday, September 4, 2009
31 August 2009
I can’t believe tomorrow is September. 5 months ago tomorrow, I moved into my PST host family. This summer flew by! If the rest of my service goes this fast; two years will be up before I know it!
I’m kinda sick again, just a little bit of a cold. I think it is a combination of the weather change from the south to the north, or the succession of rainy, chilly days we’ve had this week. (sidenote- momma, remember the little knitted sock/boot thingies we got right before I left?- awesome) Or, it could just be strep again, but I’m using the power or positive thing to make it go away. Its not like antibiotics would work anyway. Haha I did the Kyrgyz treatment of drinking warm milk and milk in my tea to make it feel better, partly just to appease my Apa, and partly because I’m hoping it’ll work. Apa is kinda sick, too, so we sat and drank our warm milk with honey together and chatted. It was nice.
My host family is great. I’ve gotten more used to being a part of a bigger family, and it has only been a few months (and I was gone for half of that time.) My naughty little brother is still a trial at times, but he’s three, so what else would you expect. It is strange that some days I feel so very far from home and so out of my element, and some days, nothing could make this place feel more normal. My family here is such… a family. haha For example, a friend of mine came to visit my village because he’s getting a site transfer to the south and I won’t see him again for a few months. I made sure it was okay with the family for him to come. Ata gave me the third degree- who is he? Why is he coming? Etc, etc. Apa told me to make sure my room was clean. Just what would’ve expected from momma and daddy. I still miss home, but gradually, my village is feeling more like home. Site visit was a rough time, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to come back, but now when I’m gone, I miss it. I’m taking that to be a great sign.
Tomorrow is the start of the school year, but it’s also like a holiday, so classes don’t actually start until the second, but we don’t actually get the school schedule til the 5th or something like that… It’ll work out eventually. I’m not sure how much actual teaching I’ll do the first few weeks, but I’m really not that worried about it, truthfully. Just learning the other 20 teachers’ name is going to be a challenge, not to mention my three hundred students. Eep!
I met with my counterpart on Saturday to start writing our calendar plan for the year. It is different from what I’m used to, needless to say there aren’t really standardized test in school here, at least not from what I’ve seen. So the calendar plan is basically an overview of what the teacher plans on teaching. Every class. All year. I also have to plan every single lesson with my counterpart, but that will come later. My confusion with the calendar plan was that, say, for example, that we will teach articles the first lesson of the second week of October, and then move on. What if the students don’t understand articles? Do we have to move on anyway? Can we spend more time? Will we have to push the entire calendar plan back or redo it if we get off track? So, I talked to my counterpart, who talked to the zauvuch, (like a vice principal) who said that we could plan one quarter at a time instead. I also had a few hang-ups about our books. Okay, so basically, they suck. Maybe that’s a little harsh. Outdated might be a better word. And the typical teaching method here is having the students read a text and answer questions about it. The first entire unit is about Canada. Now, I have nothing against Canada, except… nevermind…. I have nothing against Canada. ;-) Haha I just don’t see the point of reading for a month about Canada when I’m not sure that basic greetings are understood. So, I talked to my counterpart and we established that we can use the book as a resource, but teach other, more conversational topics. We worked for about two hours and got and outline for September and October… for one class.
When I left the school Saturday morning, I was so disheartened and disappointed. I felt like I should have accomplished more than what I did, or at least understood more than what I did. Then, I thought about it and talked to some other volunteers and realized I was thinking about it all wrong. I didn’t just get one quarter planned for one class. I GOT ONE QUARTER PLANNED FOR A CLASS! That is an accomplishment, especially considering the language barrier between my counterpart and me. Also, I wasn’t just able to negotiate planning one quarter at a time. I WAS ABLE TO NEGOTIATE PLANNING ONLY ONE QUARTER AT A TIME! There may not seem like a huge difference between the two to you (except for the all caps, that was for emphasis haha) but it is a matter of mindset and the realization that I was able to overcome decades of teaching styles and make a minor change, hopefully for the better! That’s HUGE!!!!
So, it’s the night before school starts (technically) and for the first time in about.. what… seventeen years, I’m not “going back to school.” It’s funny. I graduated college early because I don’t like school, and where do I go, but halfway around the world to go to school, but this time, I’ll be on the other side of the desk. I’ve been doing clubs all summer, but actually class will be different. We’ll see if the teaching blood running in the family got to me too. Wish me luck!
Miss you
Love from Kyrgyzstan, land of vicious geese, (don’t even get me started)
Jess
I can’t believe tomorrow is September. 5 months ago tomorrow, I moved into my PST host family. This summer flew by! If the rest of my service goes this fast; two years will be up before I know it!
I’m kinda sick again, just a little bit of a cold. I think it is a combination of the weather change from the south to the north, or the succession of rainy, chilly days we’ve had this week. (sidenote- momma, remember the little knitted sock/boot thingies we got right before I left?- awesome) Or, it could just be strep again, but I’m using the power or positive thing to make it go away. Its not like antibiotics would work anyway. Haha I did the Kyrgyz treatment of drinking warm milk and milk in my tea to make it feel better, partly just to appease my Apa, and partly because I’m hoping it’ll work. Apa is kinda sick, too, so we sat and drank our warm milk with honey together and chatted. It was nice.
My host family is great. I’ve gotten more used to being a part of a bigger family, and it has only been a few months (and I was gone for half of that time.) My naughty little brother is still a trial at times, but he’s three, so what else would you expect. It is strange that some days I feel so very far from home and so out of my element, and some days, nothing could make this place feel more normal. My family here is such… a family. haha For example, a friend of mine came to visit my village because he’s getting a site transfer to the south and I won’t see him again for a few months. I made sure it was okay with the family for him to come. Ata gave me the third degree- who is he? Why is he coming? Etc, etc. Apa told me to make sure my room was clean. Just what would’ve expected from momma and daddy. I still miss home, but gradually, my village is feeling more like home. Site visit was a rough time, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to come back, but now when I’m gone, I miss it. I’m taking that to be a great sign.
Tomorrow is the start of the school year, but it’s also like a holiday, so classes don’t actually start until the second, but we don’t actually get the school schedule til the 5th or something like that… It’ll work out eventually. I’m not sure how much actual teaching I’ll do the first few weeks, but I’m really not that worried about it, truthfully. Just learning the other 20 teachers’ name is going to be a challenge, not to mention my three hundred students. Eep!
I met with my counterpart on Saturday to start writing our calendar plan for the year. It is different from what I’m used to, needless to say there aren’t really standardized test in school here, at least not from what I’ve seen. So the calendar plan is basically an overview of what the teacher plans on teaching. Every class. All year. I also have to plan every single lesson with my counterpart, but that will come later. My confusion with the calendar plan was that, say, for example, that we will teach articles the first lesson of the second week of October, and then move on. What if the students don’t understand articles? Do we have to move on anyway? Can we spend more time? Will we have to push the entire calendar plan back or redo it if we get off track? So, I talked to my counterpart, who talked to the zauvuch, (like a vice principal) who said that we could plan one quarter at a time instead. I also had a few hang-ups about our books. Okay, so basically, they suck. Maybe that’s a little harsh. Outdated might be a better word. And the typical teaching method here is having the students read a text and answer questions about it. The first entire unit is about Canada. Now, I have nothing against Canada, except… nevermind…. I have nothing against Canada. ;-) Haha I just don’t see the point of reading for a month about Canada when I’m not sure that basic greetings are understood. So, I talked to my counterpart and we established that we can use the book as a resource, but teach other, more conversational topics. We worked for about two hours and got and outline for September and October… for one class.
When I left the school Saturday morning, I was so disheartened and disappointed. I felt like I should have accomplished more than what I did, or at least understood more than what I did. Then, I thought about it and talked to some other volunteers and realized I was thinking about it all wrong. I didn’t just get one quarter planned for one class. I GOT ONE QUARTER PLANNED FOR A CLASS! That is an accomplishment, especially considering the language barrier between my counterpart and me. Also, I wasn’t just able to negotiate planning one quarter at a time. I WAS ABLE TO NEGOTIATE PLANNING ONLY ONE QUARTER AT A TIME! There may not seem like a huge difference between the two to you (except for the all caps, that was for emphasis haha) but it is a matter of mindset and the realization that I was able to overcome decades of teaching styles and make a minor change, hopefully for the better! That’s HUGE!!!!
So, it’s the night before school starts (technically) and for the first time in about.. what… seventeen years, I’m not “going back to school.” It’s funny. I graduated college early because I don’t like school, and where do I go, but halfway around the world to go to school, but this time, I’ll be on the other side of the desk. I’ve been doing clubs all summer, but actually class will be different. We’ll see if the teaching blood running in the family got to me too. Wish me luck!
Miss you
Love from Kyrgyzstan, land of vicious geese, (don’t even get me started)
Jess
Saturday, August 29, 2009
schools starts soon.. eep.
27 August 2009
My Kyrgyzstan 0-10
0- successful knitting projects
1- oblasts that I have yet to visit. (talas. I’m not counting batken because we’re not allowed to go there)
2- bottles of shampoo (and tubes of toothpaste and bottles of sunscreen and bottles of lotion)
3- jars of peanut butter
4- times I’ve been sunburnt while doing laundry (counting today)
5- days until school starts
6- times I’ve been swimming in Issyk-kul
7- free gigs on my 400 gig hard drive
8- loads of laundry I washed today (and loads here are considerably smaller than at home btw, but that is still A LOT.)
9- books I’ve read in country
10- times I’ve had besh barmak. (and by “had” I mean been somewhere where it has been served. I don’t actually eat it)
While I’m in a list making mood…. I started a new list: “Things Jessika Thought She’d Never Do in Kyrgyzstan… But Did” this list includes, thus far, turning down a shower… I know, right!!! I NEVER thought that would happen, but it did. I took an AWESOME shower at the hotel the night I stayed in Bishkek, and we left to head back to Karakol the next morning, but the taxi took forever and I had to stay in the city that night because it was too late to get a taxi back to my village. Katie let me stay at her place and offered let me take a shower… and… i… turned… it… down… wow. I’m sure this list will grow in the next few years…
In other news: I think I’m going to start a garden. And before you laugh, (yes I know I have a black thumb) I’m hoping to turn over a new leaf and keep a plant alive. Plus I really want the vegetables. Broccoli and collard greens! Fritz and Ginger gave me some seeds before I left Jbad, its a lot warmer down there, so it might be too late for me to start planting them here, I dunno. We’ll see. If they grow the way I want them too, I’ll have broccoli in the fall! Mmmm
I got my package from the family! I got the most adorable bag for my birthday! And adorable handmade cards courtesy of Jordan. Thanks! And I got three letters! I seriously don’t think a week has gone by that I haven’t gotten a letter. You guys seriously don’t know how much I look forward to getting mail! And emails! I’m still a little slow getting back to people, but I don’t think that’ll get better… sorry. Don’t stop writing though!
The summer has completely flown by! I can not believe that school starts so soon. I still don’t have a schedule, and I haven’t lesson planned at all with my counterpart, but aside from being completely unprepared, I am so excited! I’ve gotten a little bit of practice in the clubs, but I know actual classes will be different because I’ll have a wide variety of students, like the ones who don’t really want to be there as opposed to the overachievers I’ve had coming to clubs all summer. It’ll be a challenge, but I think I’m up for it. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed though)
I realized something while I was doing sessions at the camp in Jalalabad. While I’ve never been accused of being shy, I was never really comfortable speaking in public. Until I got to Kyrgyzstan that is… Now, I don’t really have a problem talking in front of people at all. No more shaking hands or voice, I don’t rush through because I’m nervous, no butterflies in the stomach, or feeling like I need to vomit. I’m cured! Haha
It’s taken a few days for my sinuses to readjust to being in the higher altitude, and lower temperature North. Fun stuff.
Well, it is 8:30 and I haven’t been called to dinner yet, so maybe we’re not having dinner tonight. I shall go investigate and possibly cook dinner.
Miss you all!
Love from Kyrgyzstan, (the country where the lines on the road are just a suggestion)
Jess
My Kyrgyzstan 0-10
0- successful knitting projects
1- oblasts that I have yet to visit. (talas. I’m not counting batken because we’re not allowed to go there)
2- bottles of shampoo (and tubes of toothpaste and bottles of sunscreen and bottles of lotion)
3- jars of peanut butter
4- times I’ve been sunburnt while doing laundry (counting today)
5- days until school starts
6- times I’ve been swimming in Issyk-kul
7- free gigs on my 400 gig hard drive
8- loads of laundry I washed today (and loads here are considerably smaller than at home btw, but that is still A LOT.)
9- books I’ve read in country
10- times I’ve had besh barmak. (and by “had” I mean been somewhere where it has been served. I don’t actually eat it)
While I’m in a list making mood…. I started a new list: “Things Jessika Thought She’d Never Do in Kyrgyzstan… But Did” this list includes, thus far, turning down a shower… I know, right!!! I NEVER thought that would happen, but it did. I took an AWESOME shower at the hotel the night I stayed in Bishkek, and we left to head back to Karakol the next morning, but the taxi took forever and I had to stay in the city that night because it was too late to get a taxi back to my village. Katie let me stay at her place and offered let me take a shower… and… i… turned… it… down… wow. I’m sure this list will grow in the next few years…
In other news: I think I’m going to start a garden. And before you laugh, (yes I know I have a black thumb) I’m hoping to turn over a new leaf and keep a plant alive. Plus I really want the vegetables. Broccoli and collard greens! Fritz and Ginger gave me some seeds before I left Jbad, its a lot warmer down there, so it might be too late for me to start planting them here, I dunno. We’ll see. If they grow the way I want them too, I’ll have broccoli in the fall! Mmmm
I got my package from the family! I got the most adorable bag for my birthday! And adorable handmade cards courtesy of Jordan. Thanks! And I got three letters! I seriously don’t think a week has gone by that I haven’t gotten a letter. You guys seriously don’t know how much I look forward to getting mail! And emails! I’m still a little slow getting back to people, but I don’t think that’ll get better… sorry. Don’t stop writing though!
The summer has completely flown by! I can not believe that school starts so soon. I still don’t have a schedule, and I haven’t lesson planned at all with my counterpart, but aside from being completely unprepared, I am so excited! I’ve gotten a little bit of practice in the clubs, but I know actual classes will be different because I’ll have a wide variety of students, like the ones who don’t really want to be there as opposed to the overachievers I’ve had coming to clubs all summer. It’ll be a challenge, but I think I’m up for it. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed though)
I realized something while I was doing sessions at the camp in Jalalabad. While I’ve never been accused of being shy, I was never really comfortable speaking in public. Until I got to Kyrgyzstan that is… Now, I don’t really have a problem talking in front of people at all. No more shaking hands or voice, I don’t rush through because I’m nervous, no butterflies in the stomach, or feeling like I need to vomit. I’m cured! Haha
It’s taken a few days for my sinuses to readjust to being in the higher altitude, and lower temperature North. Fun stuff.
Well, it is 8:30 and I haven’t been called to dinner yet, so maybe we’re not having dinner tonight. I shall go investigate and possibly cook dinner.
Miss you all!
Love from Kyrgyzstan, (the country where the lines on the road are just a suggestion)
Jess
Sunday, August 23, 2009
It's been a while.
So after getting a call from momma because she was worried since she hadn't spoken to me or read any new blogs in a whole two weeks, haha (what a mom. lol) I figured I should probably write a new little not and catch you all up on what i've been up to.
So, here it goes. I left my village on the 12th, planning on visiting the south for a week and heading back on the 18th. I get about halfway from Karakol to Bishkek and I get a call from Martha, the volunteer whose camp I was going to be observing. It turns out that two of the volunteers who were supposed to be working the camp were unable to make it, and she wanted to know if I could help out and cover the sessions. Of course! So, I went to Osh for the weekend, met up with some awesome people, and helped Heidi celebrate her birthday. I was told by everyone that when in the south, I had to try shashlik. A shashlik is basically a kabob with just meat that is grilled. I know what you're thinking. "jessika- you don't eat meat. isn't that a bad idea?" you would be right. I succumbed to the urge to try one, it was pretty good, but my stomach revolted. I guess it just doesnt know what to do with meat anymore, so... Jess got sick. It sucked, but it only lasted a couple of days, and then I was all better!
I headed up from Osh to Jalalabad on sunday, had an amazing spaghetti dinner with the other volunteers, and we headed to the camp on Monday. There were about 30 kids at the camp, and they were pretty awesome. I won't go into a ton of details, but I will post pictures later. I taught sessions on Critical Thinking, Nutrition and Fitness, and life skills.
We had a huge bonfire, a talent show, and the last night, the campers all made presentations about what they learned and how they would share the information with others. It was really great.
We got back into the city on Friday afternoon, and had a fantastic chili dinner courtesy of Fritz and Ginger, they even made a pot of veggie chili for me. it was delicious. And, I sucessfully negotiated buying a plane ticket in Kyrgyz. It cost me 2500 com which is like 60 dollars, uber expensive, but it was a birthday present from mom, nana, and pam. It saved me 11 hours of travel time since the drive up takes about 12.
Saturday, Alex and Allison from my PST village came into the city and they, heidi, and I hung out and just had some general shenanigans.
This morning, we ate the most foodgasmic pumpkin samsas, and then I left for the airport. I'm now in Bishkek at the PC office writing this, and am going to meet up with some other volunteers for dinner later. fun stuff.
It is too late for me to get a car back to my village since my primary means of transportation from the main road to my village ceases to exist after dark. *couch*hitchhiking*cough* So, I'm going to head back to Issykkul tomorrow morning pretty early so I can get into the city to get my package that is waiting for me, and get back to my village.
I have to start lesson planning very soon with my counterpart because school starts really soon!!!! i'm uberexcited! Hope to hear from you all soon!
miss you
Love from Kyrgyzstan,
Jess.
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!
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