Nur Bala Camp

I spent the past week in the northern province of Talas, home of epic Kyrgyz hero Manas, as well as the country’s only McDonald’s. While it was great to eat chicken nuggets and see Manas’s 1100-year-old pants (which were giant. He was a big dude), the real reason I journeyed north was to work at a camp for children with disabilities. The camp was organized by an organization called Nur Bala, where another PCV named Huy works. Nur means  something along the lines of “ray of light;” bala means “child.” Nur Bala works to address the extremely undermet needs of disabled children in Talas City and neighboring villages. The camp allowed kids and their caregivers to get a break from normal life, to receive some education on health and nutrition, but mostly to play games and do crafts and relax.

We had about 15-20 kids (some came a day or two late, some left early) between the ages of 3 and 15, with a range of disabilities. Some were wheelchair-bound, some used crutches to get around, some had developmental delays. It was difficult to find activities that worked for everyone, but crafts were a big hit. We spent a lot of time making bracelets, painting and coloring, and making origami. “Red light, green light” turned out to be a pretty popular. Rest time, on the other hand, was not popular.

Befor this camp, I had very little experience working with kids with disabilites. It was interesting, and certainly relevant for me as I will be doing similar work in Toktogul come autumn. The kids were bright and sweet, and it was encouraging to see most of them with very loving and engaged caretakers. On the hand, there are so few resources for kids with disabilities here. Many of them only go to school for a few years, if at all, and tend not to leave the house much. It makes me wonder what these kids’ lives would be like if they had access to the resources that are available in the States (not to say, however, that all disabled individuals in the States have access to these resources).

In autumn, I’ll work on a project with Ratbu, an English teacher/rockstar in Toktogul. Two PCVs from days past (aka 2010) are coming from the States to help implement the project, which will allow kids with disabilities to create skits about their experiences and perform them at Toktogul’s culture center. I’m sure I’ll learn more about the lives of disabled individuals in Kyrgyzstan, and will have even more to report on the matter.

Otherwise, it was nice to spend a week in Talas. There were several volunteers helping at the camp, and we all stayed at Huy’s apartment in Talas City every night. We spent a lot of time cooking and eating—mac n’ cheese, tamale pie, chocolate chip cookies, and SO MUCH WATERMELON. It was nice to have a week of reduced sheep consumption, and to kick back with other Americans for a few days.

In a few minutes, I’ll hop a taxi back to Toktogul. It’s been a good week and I’ve learned a lot, but I am excited to get back home. While I enjoyed spending time with the kids at camp, there is one particular round-faced three-year-old I’m pretty stoked to see.

P.S. There isn’t really a McDonald’s in Talas. Gotcha.

Super cute, but don't be fooled: these two
were very tintek (aka naughty)

Crafts were a hit.

Aidana taking a whiff in order to tell me that I smell bad.
Thanks a lot. 

The group.

This grandpa was awesome. He told me stories about fighting for the
Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Also, he thought it was hilarious to
make fun the American tradition of smiling in photos. 

Beautiful Akilai and her momma. 

Travels

This morning, I was that person—the foreigner walking through Bishkek with a giant hiking backpack and a few extra bags dangling from my shoulders, the American dropping an embarrassing amount of som on French toast and coffee at Sierra, the uber-Western coffee shop in Bishkek. As a Volunteer living in Kyrgyzstan for two years, it’s sometimes frustrating to be taken for a tourist who is just passing through. Today, though, I was willing to play into the stereotype, to soak up air conditioning and wi-fi, and enjoy every bite of that French toast. Because today, after nearly two weeks of traveling around the country, I’m headed home to Toktogul.

The main reason for my trip was a boys’ camp on Lake Issyk-Kul, on the eastern side of the country. The camp—the theme of which was “Teaching Our Boys Excellence”—was organized by Ashley, another volunteer, and run with the help of six of us volunteers. I taught lessons on HIV/AIDS and human reproduction, helped out with various activities, ate a lot of watermelon, swam in the lake and tried not to worry as the boys scampered over giant, slippery rocks as part of our waterfall hike. While I wouldn’t say that 15-17-year-old boys are my absolute favorite type of human, it was cool to see how camps are run and pilot some health lessons that I imagine I will teach often in my time here.

It takes two days to travel from Toktogul to Issyk-Kul, and I made sure to attach stops for visiting and hiking on either end. Before the camp, I spent a wonderful day in the city of Karakol with other volunteers Maryn, Maddie and Max. Maryn made us pancakes and coffee, showed us all over town, introduced us to ashylan foo (a cold, spicy noodle dish. Yummmmm) and was generally a wonderful host. After the camp, Max and I stayed with Ashley in her village outside Karakol, and did a gorgeous day hike to some hot springs. The hike made me realize why Kyrgyzstan is sometimes called the Switzerland of Central Asia. I felt like I was in the Sound of Music the whole time, and had to work pretty hard to keep from breaking out into “The Hills are Alive.”

From Issyk-Kul, Max and I headed back to Bishkek. We met up with fellow volunteers Larissa, Nicole and John for a two-day hike into Ala-Archa National Park, a roughly 40-minute drive south of the city. It took us about seven hours to make it up a gorge to Ak Sai Glacier, and was perhaps the most breathtaking and challenging hiking of my life. At the top, we stayed at a [very rustic] lodge and met mountaineers from Germany, Korea, Britain, Japan, Russia….many of whom use the lodge area as a base camp for further hiking. We hiked down the next day, with plans to return and hike further into the park as soon as we can.

After the hike, I spent an extra day bumming around Bishkek. Yesterday, I ate sushi AND Mexican food, saw many other volunteers and even did a bit of clothes shopping. Being in Bishkek is a little disconcerting—often I feel more like I’m in Chicago or Ann Arbor than Kyrgyzstan—but it’s been so wonderful to relax, to see new places and spend time with other volunteers.

In just a few minutes, I’ll begin the journey back to Toktogul. I’m excited to see my host family, to sleep in the same bed (and to sleep in a bed) for more than one night, to get back to work with renewed energy. As I make my way down that winding road to Toktogul, crammed into a taxi between sweaty Kyrgyz ladies, stopping along the way for chai and kimiz (fermented horse milk) and smoke breaks and more kimiz and lord knows what else, I imagine that any doubt about where I am will disappear. It’s been a great trip, but it’s also great to feel that Toktogul is my home, and that it’s time to return there.

Max and Maryn eating ashylan foo

Russian Church in Karakol.

Lake Issyk-Kul

Hot springs at Altin Aryshan outside of Karakol

Our hiking group in Ala Archa!

Me and the ever-so-lovely Larissa.

About halfway up.

The lodge we stayed in at Ak Sai Glacier. 

Surveying the land. 

At the top!

Beautiful Ala Archa National Park.

Add caption

A quick update

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve written. Other than a brief medical evacuation to Bishkek (I had a strange hives outbreak. Not to worry—doing fine now), I’ve been in Toktogul. I’m continuing to enjoy this town, my wonderful host family, those mountains that just won’t quit being fantastic. Max and I got a visitor last week—Erik, another volunteer who lives in a village in the northern state of Talas—and we had a great time showing him our town and lovely lake.

In a few days, I’m embarking on a nearly-two-week trip across the country to Issyk-Kul. While I’m pretty attached to my own lake here in Toktogul, Issyk-Kul—which means, literally, “hot lake”—is supposedly the one to see. I’ll be helping another volunteer with a boys’ camp she is running, visiting several other volunteers and doing a few hikes. I’ll be sure to post some updates.

In the meantime, a few photos from the past month here in Toktogul:

The bazaar in Toktogul.

So much wonderful produce right now! I try to eat a lot of food
that looks like THIS. 

My host sister, Jibek, and host mom making apricot jam.

Malika is, of course, helping out. 

So many apricots!

Max (my fellow Toktogul-ian), me and Erik,
another volunteer who visited us from Talas.

En route to the lake.

The boys put together a pretty good picnic.

My lake.

Back in the Midwest.

A few weeks ago, a Kyrgyz friend explained to me that Toktogul is neither in the north of Kyrgyzstan nor the south, east nor west. Its identity, its culture, reflects this position in the middle of the country. I told her that was pretty funny, because both Max (the other volunteer stationed here) and I are from the midwest United States. It seems that, 6460 miles away, we’ve found ourselves in the “midwest” yet again.

I’m coming up on three weeks in the town that will be my home for the next two years. I love it more with each day. According to Wikipedia, Toktogul is a town of about 15,000 people - but I’ve also heard 5,000, so who really knows. I do know that it’s small enough that I can walk from my house on the edge of town to the city center in about 15 minutes. There’s not much traffic, very little trash, and lots of tree-lined streets. We have a bazaar where you can buy anything from a cow’s head to clothes hangers (though not for less than 20 som each, which seems steep to me). There’s a lovely park next to the bazaar, with a “stadium” in which Max and I have been running, and from which you get a great view of the lake.

Toktogul is surrounded by mountains, which means you’re never without a stunning vista, and which also means that weather changes fast. As I write this, the second thunderstorm of the day roars outside my window. In between the two storms, it was sunny and clear. The mountains also mean that the heat and humidity stay relatively low, though it’s been quite warm enough for me recently. I’m excited to see what each new season brings here.

South-ish of town is the lake – or, to be more accurate, the reservoir. It was created by the Soviets in the late 1960s as part of a project to build what is now the largest hydroelectric dam in Central Asia. Apparently, the old city of Toktogul is actually under the water. The lake is giant – at least 40 miles by my guess – and brilliant blue, edged by mountains. I swam in it about a week ago, an experience that cinched my opinion of Toktogul as the best place on earth.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, this blog post is my attempt to convince you to visit me and experience this paradise for yourself. Let’s see – what else? There are apricot and apple trees everywhere, with fresh fruit you can grab as you walk down the street. Toktogul is reputed to have the best meat in Kyrgyzstan (which is saying something), and is famous for its honey. There are fun remnants of Soviet rule, like a hammer-and-sickle statue I came across recently, scattered around town. I live here.

Are you convinced? When are you coming?

There's that lake.

A few blocks from my house.

The walkway next to Lenin Street, the main road in town.

Town square, near the bazaar.

Outside of the city.