Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Normalcy---or something close to it.


I have finally reached a point in this adventure at which I mostly know what to expect. This is quite exciting. That is not to say that I am not still constantly surprised by things, like why Kyrgyz people say the grass is blue (even though it's obviously green), but I have started to have somewhat of a stable schedule. Right now Alex and I teach Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced English clubs 2 days a week at my school and at his. We also teach an adult class on Thursdays and Fridays. Additionally, I've also been tutoring a few advanced students individually. So far it has been good.

At this point most of the kids in our village yell “Hello” or “Good Morning Teacher” whenever they see me which is quite silly. Most people in the village are aware of our presence and know why we are in Bakai-Ata which is a bit of a relief. People don't seem so surprised to see a white guy and an Indian girl walking down the street. We have also started to go guesting. In Kyrgyzstan guesting is when you are invited to someone's house for copious amounts of Chai, dinner, and general merry making. It has been interesting to meet so many new people and it has been really good Kyrgyz language practice. I think my language has improved quite a bit since we have arrived.

At home we have begun to spend more time with our family as they seem slightly less busy (the first round of farm work is complete). Over the weekend we spend half a day working in the fields with our sister and cousins. It was tremendously hard work. I now truely understand why farm machinery was invented. That said, the drive home was gorgeous. Wide fields bordered with wild flowers and mountains reaching for the sky in all directions. We also worked on cleaning up the area in front of our new little home. Yesterday we made a cake entitled “Day and Night” or “Half Moon” and made a salad with American dressing (in Kyrgyzstan their dressing is either a lot of salt or mayonnaise---yuck!). Tomorrow, my school's staff are going to go on an excursion for a day which I am very excited about. After that we will visit our friend Thomas's village on his Birthday. Then upon our return, we will begin painting our new house. Exciting huh?

Well, that's the news for now. I am attempting to attach a picture of our backyard, a picture from a party we went to, and a picture of our future home.

Athena





Sunday, June 5, 2011

The road to Talas


Upon entering the mountain pass between Chui and Talas purple stone walls rise up on either side, patches of blue/green grasses grow where the rock is most friendly. Amongst the grass are a yellow plants that looks sort of like tiny, yellow evergreen trees (Mom, Dad, Adora---think that elf place in WoW). After a while the rockface turns to blue slate, then dark grey and red as the road continues to follow the icy blue river. As the colors change the grass dissapears. After about 30 minutes the road starts snaking up one of the mountains toward the taller snow covered peaks. Once the road is nearing the peak it veers off into a several kilometer long tunnel through the mountain. On the other side is the Jailoo of Talas, a large grassy plain surronded by mountains. In the summer, families from villages all around Talas take their livestock (or send them with a herder) to the Jailoo to feed for the summer. Herders live in yerts and take care of the live stock until fall.

Alright, I'm certainly not a poet so I'll stop there. I think that somewhat descripes the beautiful drive to my new home, Talas. After becoming official Peace Corps volunteers on the 1st (Yay!) we headed to Bakai Ata and moved in at our final site. After a long night of wonderful sleep, we were surprised to find that our family has already began fixing up a small house on their property for us to live in. We peeked in yesterday and found it is PERFECT. There will be a small mud room/enterance, that enters into a kitchen/dining room. Off of the kitchen are two small rooms, a bedroom and a living room. In the center of the house is a cast iron coal stove that is used for cooking and heat in the winter. The front looks out to the apple orchard and is shaded by a huge apple tree. At this point the walls are being plastered and painting will start soon. Amazing, right?

This weekend, we ate some delicious homemade food with most of the Talas volunteers and enjoyed some cocktails and the game Apples to Apples (Nena, I know your laughing right now). This afternoon we spent about 7 hours at a party with our new extended family (like 60 people). The party was to celebrate one of relatives being pregnant for the first time. We had a huge feast and talked a lot to a group of genuinely interested and interesting people. I even somehow explained how tea grows and the difference between the growing of white, green, and black tea. It was tiring and wonderful. Tomorrow Alex and I both have our first days of work. Wish us luck!

Love you all,

Athena