What I learned in the Peace Corps (so far….): A belated one-year post

What I learned in the Peace Corps (so far….): A belated one-year post 

Well, folks, as I write this I am coming up on 13 months in Kyrgyzstan! I’ve made several attempts at a one-year blog post, but I’m having a lot of trouble putting all my thoughts and feelings at this point into words. It’s been an incredible year. I have another year here, and I’m sure it will bring new challenges, surprises, stresses and joys. For now, though, I’d like to reflect on a few of the things I’ve learned in this past year.

1.    I can do without most things; coffee is not one of them. Showers, a working refridgerator, consistent electricity and running water, vegetables in winter, warmth, cheese, good beer—eh, who needs ‘em? The morning I ran out of coffee: closest I’ve come to quitting Peace Corps.

2.    Make friends with everyone. It really pays off to take the time to greet people, to chat a little bit about their kids and my marriage status, etc. Once they’ve gotten to know me, even in a very surface-level way, people look out for me. They scare off mean dogs, give me extra cucumbers at the bazaar, tell off errant drunk men and make me feel much more comfortable in this community.

3.    Immersion is the best way to learn a language—yet, you can’t learn by immersion alone. After eight-hour days of language lessons during my training, I felt exhausted and took a break from the books over the summer. After all, wasn’t I speaking Kyrgyz all day every day? But the truth is, even though I am immersed, I still need to study. By the end of summer, I could say all the simple things more quickly. Once I started seriously studying again in the fall and winter, my language actually started to improve.

4.    Often, the best thing I can give is my time. This one’s hard for me, because my nature is to move at a million miles an hour and be efficient with my time. But here, things move slowly and the key to building relationships, learning about this place and, even, getting work done is often to sit, drink tea and shoot the shit. I’m learning to slow myself down and exist in the moment. How yogic.

5.    We Americans are not taking full advantage of meat. Liver, intestines, face, eyeball, fat, brain—all fair game to end up on a plate. Plus, you can do fun things with meat, like create tiny sculptures of ducks and snakes out of intestines and other various animal parts. We in the United States are missing out on hours of entertainment and significant protein consumption.

6.    Eating with the seasons is difficult but rewarding. Winter fruit-and-vegetable deficiency is a hot topic for Volunteer complaining sessions. By March, I was ready to never eat cabbage again for the rest of my life. But now, fresh things are coming, and it feels like the greatest gift. Radishes appeared at the bazaar last week, and I ate my first radish salad with more excitement than I’ve ever felt for a vegetable (and I love vegatables). Sure, it’s great to have lettuce and watermelon available year-round in the States, but they’ll never taste as sweet.

7.    Change is hard and slow. As an outsider, it’s easy to pick out problems and imagine beautiful solutions. Everyone stop eating sheep fat and eat more vegetables! Increase penalties for bride kidnapping! Give every woman a brochure so she’ll be aware of her contraceptive options and have agency in her reproductive health! But it’s nowhere near as simple as I would like to think. Forces like corruption, poverty, tradition, religion, sexism and homophobia limit opportunities and stagnate change here in ways I can only partially see and understand.

8.    Relationships count. I know that my relationships—with my host family, my colleagues and friends and students in Toktogul, and with other PCVs—are what will make my experience. I have great friendships here. I have learned a lot from the people who have welcomed me into their homes and lives. And, I think, my greatest impact here will be at the one-on-one level, through those relationships.

9.    I am very lucky. I am very, very, very lucky. I am lucky to have been born in the United States, to have been given abundant love and encouragement throughout my life, to have had good health. I’m lucky to have received such an excellent education, to have traveled many places and to have friends around the world. I am lucky in that I am able to come here, to learn a language and meet new people and do challenging work and take long pensive walks—all with the support of Peace Corps. I am lucky, and I shouldn’t ever take it for granted.

And now, some photos. It was supposed to be a "Top Ten" sorta thing, but I got carried away.

First view of mountains, Bishkek, April 2013.

My host brother during pre-service training, April 2013.

My training group of PCVs with our language teacher
Temirlan and a host family, near Bishkek, May 2013.

Toktogul, June 2013.

Discovering the lake, Toktogul, July 2013.

Eating ashlan-foo with Max and Maryn (and Maddie) in Karakol, July 2013.

Hiking in Ala Archa with Larisa and Nicole, August 2013.