BrittaAbroad: December 2013

I’m coming up on my eight-month-versary of living in Kyrgyzstan, and I definitely feel like I’ve hit a sweet spot. The biggest change in my life over the past two-ish months has been building really great relationships in Toktogul. Over the summer, I got to know a few lovely English teachers in town and my host family, but to most people I was just the weird blonde person who bought a lot of tomatoes. Working with teenagers through my Youth Health Educator group and my English club has allowed me to get to know many young people and, by extention, their families and friends. Many months ago, a more seasoned volunteer told me that at some point, every volunteer has to find what it is that keeps them here—be it their work, their friendships, their love of sheep meat. As of right now, I think that for me it will be these sweet, smart, eager, impressionable, friendly, funny young people. Spending time with them has taught me so much about this culture, made me laugh, filled me with pride as I watch their accomplishments, and, more than anything, made me feel like I have a community here. They rock.

I also have a stellar host family. My “parents,” Asel and Uchan are in their mid-twenties, and have a pretty scrumptious 7-month-old boy named Bekbolot. Spending time with them has improved my language quite a bit. They’re really interested in sharing their culture with me, and talking about America. We’ve had some interesting conversations about: Nazis, racism, world religions, the ethics of taking two wives, bride kidnapping, food in America vs. Kyrgyzstan, Native Americans, smoking, drinking, how to kill a sheep…the list goes on. Bekbolot and I also like to hang out—it’s so much fun to watch him grow and learn new things on a daily basis. We’re really into reading “Goodnight Moon” and “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” making repetitive bouncing movements and biting hard objects.

I’m in Bishkek now, for back-to-back Peace Corps trainings. I attended an HIV/AIDS training last week with several teachers who came from Toktogul, along with other volunteers and local counterparts. It was excellent. I gained new phrases and vocabulary for teaching about HIV, learned new facts about HIV here, and got some great ideas for projects to do back in Toktogul.

This week, I’ll attend IST (in-service training) and PDM (project-design and management) with my counterparts and host pops. And then, I’m off to GERMANY, to see a few faces that I haven’t seen in far too long. It’s a wonderful life.

Happy holidays to all friends and family, abroad and back in the States! Wishing you peace, friendship, health and happiness in this new year.

Asel, Aika and I after an HIV training they gave at a village school.

My BFF.

My host family being cute and showing off K College swag.

By the way, Max is still alive, if you were wondering. We recently attended this party at a local teacher's home and, because we were only 15 minutes late, we were the first guests by almost an hour. Go figure.

Sometimes I come home to find a sheep slaughter happening in the front yard.

I think this photo really captures Kyrgyzstan - abandoned Soviet factory on the left, mosque on the right, mountains in the background. If only there was also a group of dudes squatting in a circle and taking vodka shots.