Peace Corps Journals / Kyrgyzstan / blog updates

4 months down

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:18:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance)
Today I have been in country for exactly 4 months. Time sure is flying by. I’m sure there is so much that I could talk about but all of this has become normal to me and there are so many things a ...

Lost Castle Path

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:11:22 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Visible Thought)
North Andover MA. July 24 2010. Oil on paper. This scene was inspired by real architecture in the garden of the Rolling Ridge Conference Center. Isn’t it magical?

A light at the end

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:47:45 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / tracythomp)
I am finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. All these classes will soon come to an end. I have two weeks left of course work which includes text book reading papers and projects. ...

New photos posted!

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:37:57 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Zdravstvuite)
Hey everyone I posted some new photos from Katya’s birthday celebration and our trip to the sanatorium on Saturday: http://picasaweb.google.com/RSta kun/JulyPt2?feat=directlink The sanatorium is ...

An Apology and an Adventure

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:22:17 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Stops Past Siberia)
First off I feel I owe all of you an apology. I have tried all these years to provide the most wild and enticing letters the traveling community has to offer. However my last one I believe was thin on the ground. Here I’d like to offer an explaination if not an [...]

My life as a volunteer

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:38:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance)
A fellow volunteer’s parent just came to visit her and it made me start to think about how normal my life has become. Everything they experienced was new and different to them. Being here for almo ...

101 Things.

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:15:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / adventures in kyrgyzstan)
While I was in Issyk-Kul Gina had a wonderful idea. This isn’t unusual Gina has a lot of really amazing ideas. But this one is truly inspired! The idea is to write a list. But not just any ...

4 months in a nutshell.

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:57:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / adventures in kyrgyzstan)
Hello world. I fear I must apologize. Four months into my service and this is the first time I’ve written anything on this blog. I could tell you how busy I’ve been that I’ve simply not ...

Western China and on to the Mainland

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:18:39 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Stops Past Siberia)
I wrote to you last from Urumqi ( I think) the capital of the once and former Uighurstan. Today it is a modern Chinese city appearing almost identical to every other Chinese city I’ve seen since. The marvel of course is how the Chinese are able to build at the speed that they do and [...]

Cherry spit

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:13:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance)
Today my host mom niece and I pitted cherries for cherry jam and I just kept thinking about all the hours we spent over the years picking and pitting the cherries from our tree for cherry pie. Thes ...

reflecting on worth…

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:43:13 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Woori Kyrgyz)
I remember it so clearly but what I thought I knew the meaning to seems to be so lost now. A friend of mine from NYU once said to me something along the lines of ‘economically speaking the value of what we produce lies directly in proportion to our salaries following this if there lies [...]

9 hour hike!!!

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:21:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance)
I went on hike last weekend. The peak I hiked is called “Ala Mushuk” which means Spotted Cat. I guess it looks like a cat from the air. Some people tried to show me the part of the cat from th ...

Guesting: Going

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:45:22 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Sojourning Somewhere)
Hello all! Hope you had a great 4th. It has been a busy month here. Another volunteer and I are halfway through two English clubs. One is TOEFL Prep and the other is a conversation club. We have abo ...

Long awaited short stories

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:12:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Jo Is-on a Journey)
I apologize for it being so long since I have updated my blog but as most of you may know things were a little crazy over here for a while. Although violence never did reach anywhere close to where ...

KyrgyCarl on the Road Again (In the Old Haunts)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:27:41 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Stops Past Siberia)
First of all I must thank all of you for the outpouring of support I received from my last letter. You were all so kind and so gracious it hurt that I could not reply to you all individually. Unfortunately due to the nature of the violence Peace Corps put all of its volunteers on [...]

Kyrgyzstan in Murals

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:17:59 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / DISPATCHES | R.B. MORENO)
Above: Military insignia left by past visitors and a series of newly-painted murals adorn a dining facility at yet another undisclosed location in northern Kyrgyzstan. RBM and other Peace Corps volunt ...

so happy

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:58:48 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / tracythomp)
i am in a very good place right now. Yesterday we went to lake michigan with Laike. I had so much fun. We were honestly only there an hour or so but wow i was so relaxed. I swam in the lake for the fi ...

A Day at the Beach

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:07:29 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Zdravstvuite)
I like Ufa more and more each day. Part of me wishes I could stay here all year rather than go back to school in August. :-/ There’s been a few rough days though. It’s pretty tough when you can’t do something you want to do no matter how small. For example the simple act [...]

What Happened Yesterday in Baghdad

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:59:42 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / DISPATCHES | R.B. MORENO)
"What Happened Yesterday in Baghdad " an essay by RBM about understanding the Iraq War through voice-overs and conversations with Iraqi students will appear in a forthcoming issue of War Literature ...

Shipwreck in the Sand

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:30:05 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Visible Thought)
Eastham Cape Cod. July 5 2010. A little boy named Will who loves to draw watched me the whole time I was working on this painting. It was blistering hot outside and at one point I decided not to paint the broken down boat because I just needed to get out of the sun. But [...]

laike 3 months

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:07:27 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / tracythomp)
My baby is the joy of my life. He is now 3 months old and it seems like he is changing so much everyday probably because he is. He is smiling and talking so much now. When he talks he is so expressiv ...

the end of the end

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:42:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / A two year affair with Stan)
i am in my last week of service and can hardly believe that it's over. it's been an emotional few months from the revolution in april ethnic clashes in the south and the referendum. i'm sure there ...

Coming Going Leaving

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:20:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Pat in the Kyrgyz Republic)
7-6-2010 Well this is the last post I will be making from Kyrgyzstan. I might make one in a few days or a week or two but I doubt many people will still be reading it. But I feel like ...

Relief for Osh

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 02:43:48 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / DISPATCHES | R.B. MORENO)
Slideshow: Relief for OshAbove: U.S. Peace Corps workers tourists journalists security guards and other volunteers at Manas International Airport load a Russian cargo plane with relief supplies bo ...

Happy 4th of July.

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:25:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance)
Happy 4th of July all!! I am sad I don't get to barbecue and watch the fireworks with my friends and family.Life is all about successes. I have figured that out now more than ever before. If I don� ...

Kyrgyzstan Analysis Roundup

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:43:43 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / DISPATCHES | R.B. MORENO)
From Foreign Policy on June 14 "Trouble Down South: Why did Kyrgyzstan suddenly erupt into violence?" An excerpt: The Uzbek minority is largely excluded from Kyrgyzstan's political system though th ...

Kyrgyz drivers are crazy

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:48:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance)
Life as a Peace Corps volunteer is always a bit crazy. They tell you when you begin your journey that you need to work on the “F” word… Flexibility. I feel that has been proven to be true mo ...

Married Women

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:43:06 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Zdravstvuite)
Last week was pretty low key- we had a trip to a local art gallery that had a ton of interesting local contemporary art and then a visit to the Lenin museum. This weekend was super fun though. Katya and I met downtown on Saturday morning and walked to the riverside to sunbathe! We got [...]

Update

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:03:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Letters From A Faraway Land)
June 28 2010I made it back home to Iowa whew.As for what my plan is now: no idea.The posts below were written over the last few weeks. Check the dates before you read the entries everything is kind of in a jumbled-up order.

Waiting

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:51:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Letters From A Faraway Land)
June 13 2010Things are not looking good for southern Kyrgyzstan right now. At the moment my site mate and I are sitting at her house each on our own computers because we've run out of games to play ...

Runaways and Runway Models

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:50:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Letters From A Faraway Land)
May 25 2010Today I had a revelation: being a grown-up is hard. I hope I can start to get the hang of it by the time I''m 80.When you're a kid you have this idea that all your problems can be easily ...

June 4: The drive to Darkhan Village

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:46:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
Met Kengeshbek-baike my new host father and stuffed his aging Nissan sedan full of my shit.Snowboard bag couldn't fit so we tied it down with an old rope and drove it a few miles to Kengeshbek-baik ...

June 2: One day left in Novo Pokrovka

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:33:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
Last night I packed most of my stuff—snowboards clothes and books—and got ready to move to Darkhan Village on the south shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. I went to bed listening to Jack Johnson on my i ...

May 21: "I've had many troubles m ...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:20:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
There are less than two weeks left of Pre-Service Training. They've ramped up our Krygyz lessons and added another two hours per day of class. My group also has a new Language and Culture Facilitat ...

May 18: The Novo Pokrovka Crew

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:18:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
We have a tight language group and feel it is our duty to represent. Kylebek from Kansas City got his nickname the second day we were with our host families when his host dad a fiery Kyrgyz mars ...

May 16: Talant

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:03:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
I spent most of my day off today working outside with Azat's younger brother Talant who's been living in Kazakhstan. Talant is 25 unmarried and always smiling and joking. He speaks no English o ...

May 9: Victory Day

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:53:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
Don't ever tell a former Soviet that Americans won World War II. It was the U.S.S.R. that was the most committed that was dug in the deepest. The former Soviet Union suffered the most casualties du ...

Election Day

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:20:14 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / a Peace Corps adventure...)
Kyrgyzstan is holding a constitutional referendum today. I'm not supposed to say much about it so I won't. But I am safe. No one knows what will happen over the next weeks or months but we're all hop ...

Rock Castle by the Bay

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:10:18 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Visible Thought)
Cape Cod. June 19 2010.

The 'pot hole' and other it-only-happens ...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:32:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Years in Kyrgyzstan: A Peace Corps Journal)
Apparently one’s klutziness is magnified in Kyrgyzstan whether from altitude or otherwise—or so we’ve been told by our trainers and experience has thus proved. Experience has led me to concur: ...

What's that you say? Do I want more shee ...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:28:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Years in Kyrgyzstan: A Peace Corps Journal)
At right: Alina one of my first host sisters braids sheep intestines which look no different from prep to plate.Last night I unwittingly committed myself to a little Kyrgyz cultural induction; at t ...

My first day living in the "Roof of ...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:06:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Years in Kyrgyzstan: A Peace Corps Journal)
Pictured to the right: My village in Ak-Talaa ("White Field") Rayon Naryn Oblast.I arrived in my new village yesterday afternoon after a 7.5 hour taxi ride from Bishkek (in which the only mishaps wa ...

Taking care of business

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:59:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Years in Kyrgyzstan: A Peace Corps Journal)
Pictured to the left: My outhouse—and it’s guardian cow. When one joins Peace Corps one expects certain adjustments in one’s facilities. In fact I’ve been pleasantly surprised by my 24-7 ...

Safe here…

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:39:50 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Woori Kyrgyz)
Just want to let you all know that despite what you see in the news I am very safe here. I am very far from all of the action and am just going through my days normally like all of you. We have an English and Korean program set up at our school and life [...]

the importance of tea…

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:12:03 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Woori Kyrgyz)
The importance of tea… Outside of Kyrgyz people themselves Peace Corps volunteers are probably the only people who know how life is in Kyrgyz villages. The amount of tourists from modern countries ...

Мен сулойм Кыргызча!

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:20:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Two Years in Kyrgyzstan: A Peace Corps Journal)
Pictured on the right: My fellow language class volunteers on a street in our training village. I have Kyrgyz language class 4-5 hours 4 times per week. I love it. Language was never my strong suit ...

May 4: Pre-Service Training

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:45:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
Okay just finished my first month of PST and I wanted to share some thoughts. The countless cross-cultural experiences I've been living through every day have been amazing. If I wrote down every i ...

May 2: "It's good to have someone ...

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:29:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
It took a volcanic eruption to meet my friend Altynai. This is a long story but here it goes.A couple months before moving to Kyrgyzstan I had met John and Nancy Walter two of the first Americans ...

April 26: An English Lesson

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:27:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
A few days later my host-brother Azat came to my room to tell me my students were here. I hadn't been expecting anyone and was in the middle of studying. Caught off-guard but pumping myself up t ...

April 24: "You guys speak English?"

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:24:00 +0800

(Kyrgyzstan / Living in Kyrgyzstan)
I can feel a transition taking place. The other day I said my goodbyes to Ester and Ivy after we had been standing on the corner talking for a while and then crossed the main road on my way home. ...