Newer Blog!

This posting is a follow-up to the last one. I wrote the previous blog last week, though haven’t been able to use the Internet until now, and upon reviewing it I realize that the tone is a little bit sarcastic and misplaced. Last week was a pretty stressful week, so that’s why the frustration I was feeling came out through that blog. I haven’t edited it at all, but I want to post this one as well in order to express some positives to balance out the overall tone of my page.

My school celebrated “Teacher’s Day” on Saturday (students are in school 6 days a week, though I only work Mon-Fri) and I was informed by my director that I needed to be at the school at noon in order to attend a concert the children were putting on. I arrived promptly at twelve o’clock, waited around (“Azr, James, Azr” the teacher’s kept saying) until 1:30 before finally making my way to a classroom where the kids sang and performed skits for twenty minutes. After this “concert” the teachers all went back to the teacher’s lounge to wait until three o’clock when the café that had been rented would be ready. During this time the 11th form class (highest class—equivalent to ‘seniors of High School in America) came in to wish us a happy Teacher’s Day and presented everyone with a flower and card. Before leaving one of the most out-spoken of the boys also held up a bag and said “To our beloved teacher’s, please entertain yourselves with this…” he then set the bag down and left. One of the teacher’s closest to the bag opened it to reveal three bottles of expensive Kyrgyz vodka, wine and two 1-liter bottles of Sprite and Fanta soda’s. Wow. Imagine the seniors of your local High School presenting that as a gift to their teachers, in front of the Principal nonetheless! But, of course, this is Kyrgyzstan and all of the teacher’s were very thankful and we went through all three bottles (plus five more) throughout our four-course meal at the café we arrived at around promptly at four o’clock.

I love this country. It’s little nuances of culture like that that keep me smiling to myself. Different school dynamics, and being woken up in bed in order to attend an impromptu dinner at ten o’clock at night surrounded by old women whom I can’t speak with because they all have limited dental facilities are just two of countless reasons for me to just sit back and enjoy my time here! Yeah, the impromptu dinner was interesting…

More than just sitting back and enjoying my time here I feel that I am in a unique position to actually accomplish something beyond the ‘norm’ for the first time in my life. I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea (thank you thank you thank you, Mom and Dad for giving me that book—INCREDIBLE!) and throughout reading it I just couldn’t help but be motivated by every single chapter! I’ve begun to think about ways that I can affect my community beyond the English lessons I currently lead on the side and my daily 4 hour commitment to Manas Secondary School that I fill in the same capacity. I’ve got one idea in particular that is very promising and I’m going to try to meet with the Mayor of Kyzyl-Adyr next week to discuss how feasible it actually will be…sorry, I don’t want to mention it just yet because I really don’t know if it’s possible—more to come, I promise:) On top of that, I feel that throughout these next two years that I’ve committed myself to Kyrgyzstan I will only come across even more opportunity to shake things up a bit…just like in Three Cups of Tea, it’s not skill that counts as much as it is the willingness to succeed that matters in affecting change. I can only hope that my willingness doesn’t falter in times of stress and strife, and that I can walk away from this experience with more than just a certificate.

On another note, it’s my birthday on October 12th. I’m going to be twenty-five years old. Rounding that quarter-century mark in a country I couldn’t even pronounce four months ago is a milestone in itself, but more than that I feel like I’m at a new beginning. For the first time in my life I’m free of every commitment that our modern society places upon its youth; I’m free of credit debt, and have absolutely nothing to live for except every single day that I wake up. What that day brings has been completely different from every single day prior for the past four months, and as far as I can tell that’s only going to continue. I worked in a law office for two and a half years before joining the Peace Corps so I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt—living in the moment of every single completely-different-day-from-the-day-before feels great! A lot of my friends that have turned twenty-five before me complained of the feeling of ‘getting old’ or ‘lost in where their life is going’. I’m sure that this same feeling pervades the festivities of every mid-twentysomething to a certain extent, but I’m happy to say that the thought hasn’t even crossed my mind. I don’t feel that I’m on the cusp of any age, as a matter of fact. I just feel that I’m living day-to-day, soaking it in and trying to get my bearings enough to maybe accomplish a little bit more than the norm. Not a bad feeling at all:)

With that said, if you’d like to send me anything to mark this momentous occasion (goodwill, or as thanks for my entertaining diatribes) all I really would like are Mach 3 Turbo razors, Nivea for Men Sensitive After Shave Balm, and shaving cream. The good-quality American shaving supplies that are available here are too expensive for my meager monetary means, and the local stuff will tear my skin apart before burning it worse than lemon juice in a paper-cut. Yeah, I’m shamelessly begging…but if you have the means or the desire please send anything you can to my aforeposted (now I’m creating words for your benefit:)) address. My face will thank you.

I realized after re-reading my last blog that I didn’t mention anything about the guesting I did with my host family at 7 people’s houses that we did to mark the end of Rammadan, nor did I mention how amazing the lungs were that my Apa cooked up, nor did I mention how my English club turned out! I’m tired of typing, so allow me to sum up:
Although we were supposed to all go to seven houses I only managed to make it to five because I was so painfully full of pretty good food. I got into an interesting conversation with an OLD Kyrgyz man about politics from the Soviet era over plentiful plates of Besh-barmahk (Kyrgyz spelling is: беш бармaк, Google it, if you get a chance:))
Lungs are delicious! I can’t speak for every lung out there, but the two my Apa cooked up were buttery, had the texture of boiled chicken and exploded with flavor of garlic, pepper and onion. Had I not witnessed the method of cooking (and the mouth-to-throat breathing entertainment generously provided by my host-mother) I never would have even known what they were! Seriously, if you’re ever offered lung in Central Asia—try it!!
The English club that Annie and I are running had its first successful lesson on Friday. We both had a blast, and I foresee this being one of my weekly highlights for the next two years!

Well, that’s about it. As always, questions and comments are greatly appreciated!