Well, I am definitely settled in to my PST site! Three days ago I was recovering from the worst bowl malfunction that I’ve ever experienced. The after-effects alone dictated the necessity of a roll of toilet paper and hand sanitizer as constant companions wherever I decided to go; school, training, the kitchen, etc. As such I decided the best idea was to have a roll and bottle in my backpack at all times, as well as some in my room. But I digress. On Wednesday I was coming back via ‘marshuka’ from our ‘HUB’ day (it’s a day when every PCT gets together for long lectures on obvious things [safety, health, how Peace Corps still hasn’t gotten our ID’s ready yet, etc.] that waste a majority of the day…but it’s a great chance to socialize with people other than the folks at my training site whom I see every damn day, so it’s pretty cool:) when one of my friends recognized my Apa (host-mother) in the back. Evidently she was coming back from a shopping excursion in Kant, the same place where we have HUB day, and offered to pay the taxi fare for me and two other people that live near me to get back home.
--note: I live in Station Ivanovka, Ivanovka is the main town that has the marshuka connection to ‘the big city’ Kant. It costs 10 com (about 33 cents) to get from Station Ivanovka (it’s a town around a train station) to Ivanovka via taxi, then another 20 com (about 70 cents) to get from Ivanovka to Kant via marshuka. Then the same back, but in reverse.
Once we got back to Station Ivanovka my Apa insisted that all three of us accompany her to a local ‘magazine’ (shop). There she made it clear that we were all to drink vodka to my health. Keep in mind this local magazine is like 1/8th the size of a small 7-11 back home, and individually owned/operated. She then proceeded to buy a 1/5 of vodka, a giant can of mackerel, and four giant pieces of pita bread, then she asked the ladies behind the counter for a knife to open the can with and cups for our vodka. She was also so kind as to get my friends and me some juice-boxes because we’re weak Americans and have a hard time drinking our vodka straight. Meanwhile old lady’s are coming in and buying their vodka and pita bread while trying to work their way around us…we were honestly taking up over half the available customer space, but no one seemed to care! Over the next twenty minutes (she was pouring double shots for everyone…it’s the only way they drink their vodka here!) we finished the bottle of vodka, ate mackerel and pita bread sandwiches, chased our drinks with juice boxes and gave many toasts in broken Kyrgyz. We were in this tiny shop the entire time, with the shop ladies smiling kindly from the other side of the drink cooler my Apa was using as a cutting board/bar!
The weather here has been a little crazy over the past week and has alternated between raining at 55 degrees and sunny with no clouds at around 100 degrees. In the time we were in the shop it went from being slightly cloudy (you know, Seattle year-round) to a torrential downpour! Well, my Apa wasn’t about to let our heads get wet on our walk home, so she asked the shop ladies for some plastic bags, which she cut open with the knife she used on the mackerel to make little hats for us to wear on our walk back in the rain. Unbelievable. Here I am, trying my damn hardest not to shit my pants, I’m full of mackerel and vodka (roughly 6+ shots worth in 20 minutes…so I’m definitely drunk) and I’m walking home with my Apa and two of my friends wearing plastic bags on our heads. These plastic bags are so thin, however, that the only purpose they really serve is as water soakers that condense the rain into pools that then drop in full force straight down my shirt collar. What a sight!
Luckily after a night of gut-wrenching lack of sleep, I actually did recover and am doing just fine as of the writing of this blog. This is just one of countless stories that seem to happen out of nowhere here!
I’ve had a great time at Ivanovka Station thus far and between swimming in the river, collecting water on my host brother’s motorcycle, and playing pick-up games of soccer with the neighborhood kids I’m really going to miss it when it does come time for me to leave for my permanent site. Luckily I can take solace in the fact that I’ve got two more months of what will surely be more random local happenings to keep things interesting and you, my loyal reader, ever the more intrigued.
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2 comments:
Hahaha that sounds awesome. You must re-tell the story of your near-mugging in your next post as well.
Sounds like you're having a great time: double shots of vodka, motorcycle rides, soccer, mackerel, meeting new people. Minus the stomach thing, I'm excited that you are experiencing all of this. Have you been able to meet up with Durin? Take care Swift.
B-Nutz
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