Жаны Жылыныздар Менен!

On this last day of the first month of new year, I thought I’d take the time to wish everyone a happy 2014! I’ve been a bad blogger of late, but only because my life has here has been its busiest yet. Thanks to warm socks and lots of hot tea, I am surviving the winter, working a lot and continuing to enjoy my time in Kyrgyzstan.

I went to Munich and Prague over the holidays, and got to see some fantastic people, including my Mom n’ Pop, my sister Anna, K College friends Milo, John and Laurel, and Germany family, the Faesslers. I also got to: eat cheese, drink good beer, visit two gorgeous cities, celebrate a German Christmas, take fantastic showers, do a little shopping, see the Nutcracker ballet and have many long, wonderful conversations with people I love. How lucky am I?

Upon my return to Toktogul, I caught up with many friends here. I spent my first week back visiting various houses for meals and conversations, and returning to my house laden with homemade jams and canned summer vegetables. It was nice to realize that even as I was leaving my U.S. family, I was returning to my Kyrgyz one.

Max and I got a visitor in Toktogul in the form of Max’s good friend Stefan—musician, linguist and traveler. Stefan was great to have around. The boys put on a concert at Max’s school, we took advantage of good weather to hike out to the lake for a picnic, visited friends in Toktogul and took a trip to the southern of city of Osh. I loved meeting Stefan, and was happy to be included in their adventures in Kyrgyzstan.

My women’s health club got off the ground recently. Our attendance hasn’t been super—which is at least partially a result of some nasty weather—but we did have two fathers ask to attend, which I think is fantastic. Though the club is designed for young mothers, it’s so great to see dads expressing interest in learning about health topics. We’ve had three meetings so far, and it’s been really interesting. Topics include fetal/child development, nutrition, breastfeeding, alcohol, family budgeting, reproduction and family planning.

For months, I’ve been told to always carefully wash and sort through beans, rice, lentils, etc, because these bulk foods tend to contain rocks and other particles. I learned this lesson the hard way a few days ago—apparently I didn’t clean my beans quite well enough, because I chomped down on a rock and chipped off part of one of my back teeth. What a great time in life to have excellent Peace Corps health care! I’m now in Bishkek staying at a fancy hotel complete with wi-fi, showers and free breakfast, courtesy of Peace Corps. My dental appointment is this afternoon—I’m sure they’ll be able to fix me right up, and maybe I’ll even get one of those super cool gold teeth that Kyrgyz people are always showing off.

That’s the update! It’s nice to be in Bishkek for a few days, and catch up with some other volunteers. But, of course, as I drive through those mountain passes, I am always happy to head back to Toktogul and the people there who make it feel like home.

The whole fam-damn-ily, back together.

In the Czech Republic, they like meat even more than Kyrgyz people do
....but don't tell anyone in Kyrgyzstan that I said that.

Me, Anna, Charles Bridge and some guy.

My Milo!!!!

Max and Stefan. It was a superb day for a picnic.

Looking good, resevoir.

Host baby is still cute.

After Max and Stefan's concert. The grinning guy up front is Max's proud host papa.

Several of my students.

We got a little concert on the way to Osh. Mostly, I am just proud of this photo.

Osh, from atop "Solomon's Throne." As per Kyrgyz lore, King Solomon once came here. As did the prophet Muhammed. As did Manas, probably.

Me and the boys.

Complete with a kalpak, my pops is now Kyrgyzstan-ready. 

A quite tardy update...

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.

View from our stadium. 

The view along my morning walk to work. Ain't so bad. 

An HIV training at a local school. 

Aidana, Kaliya and Asil giving a stellar presentation on HIV. 

Talking about Christmas to local students. 

My health group kiddos being goofy. 

What a bunch of cuties.

Also, I work.

I am aware that this blog might perhaps create the impression that all I do in Kyrgyzstan is hike around and visit walnut forests. While I do not deny such activities, I also work.  I thought I’d attempt to straighten the record a bit. Things have really picked up for me recently, and I’m juggling several projects right now, all of which I’m very excited about.

One such endeavor is my work with Ratbu Satarova, whose NGO provides opportunities for disabled children in the Toktogul area. Read about it here: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013310200003&nclick_check=1t

I’ve also devoted a lot of energy recently to my “Youth Health Educator” project. I work with a group of students—aka rockstars—who teach health lessons to their peers at school. They taught a successful round of anti-smoking lessons in and around Toktogul this October. In November, we’ll be working on HIV/AIDS awareness.

My English club has been going pretty well. I let my students pick out American names recently, which they thought was fun, and is really helping me keep track of them. My groups started out HUGE—thirty-five 8^th and 9^th graders, and twenty-five 10^th and 11^th graders—but the numbers have dropped off a bit. It’s been a lot easier to teach a smaller group, and they tend to be the more motivated students.

This past weekend, I went to Issyk-Kul with my counterpart, Tursunkan, to attend a training on creating women’s health clubs. The training provided a lot of useful information on topics including nutrition, reproductive health, pre-post natal health, as well as the logistics of running such a club. Tursunkan and I plan to start a club for young mothers in January. We’ll run it for at least six weeks, but longer if interest stays strong. We’ll be focusing a lot pre/post-natal health, and will have a weekly healthy cooking demo by yours truly.

I’m also looking towards spring and summer with some projects in mind. Max (my sitemate) and I would like to run a camp for Toktogul teens next summer. I am also investigating the possibility of having a feminism and gender conference in Toktogul this spring. We’ll see how all this plays out.

Otherwise, I fill my time not showering, inventing new uses for cabbage, watching sheep get slaughtered, eating recently-slaughtered sheep, fueling my newfound addiction to yoga podcasts, wearing woolen things, and going to sleep at 9:30pm. LIVING THE DREAM.

(but actually, life is great! I hope yours is, too!)

Youth Health Educators taking Toktogul by storm.

And I made cookies recently!