Ohmygoodness. I love Talas. The oblast is truly beautiful. The road that leads to it (there are actually two roads- the other goes through Kazakhstan, which we have visas for and can access if our road is blocked) is a two-lane road, mostly constructed of hairpin turns, and passing other cars is hardly a concern for the taxi drivers. (Family, when you come to visit my site, please bring the appropriate sleepy-time drugs in order to fare this pass- you will appreciate this warning later.) However, the views are incredible, and my site is gorgeous. My town is directly across the street from Manas Ordo, which is a tourist and educational center based on the epic Kyrgyz hero named Manas. Rumor has it that he died and is buried at that site. Also, a mountain stands there from which he allegedly used to stand and watch over all of the Talas oblast. My father, counterpart, and I climbed that mountain and looked over the oblast- it was breath taking.
Though my village information packet claimed I have 5000 people, that is not exactly true. Kyzyl Tuu has 5000 people, but Kyzyl Tuu is the name of our government seat. The government reigns over two individual villages; mine is named Kirk Azyl (or something to that effect- translation is “forty branches”). We have 2-3000 people, and as I believe I mentioned earlier, my school has about 600 students- also 47 teachers, 4 of whom teach English. I was so impressed with my school- one of the best parts is that it is only two buildings away from my house! Though we do not have text books (at least in the English classes), the classrooms are large and well-kept. My counterpart decorated her classroom (though the teachers rotate every class period instead of the students, teachers have their own group of students and classroom- I imagine as a sort of “home room” but am not sure quite yet) with plenty of flowers. My counterpart is a lovely person. She is open to my ideas and excited for me to begin helping out with the students, also she truly wants to help me improve my Kyrgyz. More than that, she wants to vacation with me this summer as a sort of bonding experience. Her name, Gulshair, translates into joyful flower, and she is truly nothing less. I am thrilled to have her as a counterpart and cannot wait to start working with her.
My family, also, is lovely. I live with my mom, dad, and 12 year old sister. My mom works at the school with me, though she teaches lower grades (here they're called forms) and I teach upper forms. My father and sister talk quite a bit and are unwaveringly positive and patient with me and my language. I know they will be a great help with language acquisition.
*****
Sorry, I had been planning to update the blog at least a week ago, but life has been unbelievably hectic- fortunately for you guys, I'm still in Bishkek so I have internet access and can publish this all now.
First, my language class made the mistake of being super creative for our culture day presentation (I think I told you guys about it- the puppet show alongside the Kinks' “Have a Cup of Tea” that we translated into Kyrgyz.) Well, a week before our final language exams and swearing-in as volunteers, the staff came to us and asked my class to perform our puppet show for swearing-in. This was quite the ego-boost, so we all jumped at the offer. Unfortunately, we had to make the whole puppet show part double its original size, and, on top of all the other training sessions and preparations for swearing-in that were mandatory for that week, we had little to no time to study for our LPIs (language tests) or plan something as a Good-bye to our amazing LCF (Izat). The week before swearing-in was a whirlwind of activity. Of course, we finished the puppets and set in the nick of time, and we all managed to do a nice job on our LPIs- somehow. We were given one of the most compassionate testers, so I imagine his understanding helped us out some- but, maybe we earned our scores- I really can't speak highly enough of my language class- we are awesome.
One of the trainings (two if you're TEFL, which...I hope you guys know, I am) that we had was counterpart training. These sessions were relationship-building and supposed to debrief our counterparts on what we have been learning during PST (pre-service training)- some teaching methods that may or may not be implemented in classrooms around Kyrgyzstan, and ways to approach these methods in a way conducive to team-teaching. My counterpart was very engaged and active in the trainings- many volunteers came up to tell me I am lucky for such a proactive counterpart, and I very much agree. Unfortunately, I was only able to make the first half of the first day of these trainings.
A few days prior, I had started feeling somewhat under the weather. I had mostly fever symptoms, and- in case you guys haven't noticed- I'm a little bit stubborn, and didn't want to call PCMO (medical office). I thought I could just wait it out. Well, I must have looked awful during the first training- I was also shivering in the allegedly hot room- and Preston was certainly sick of quietly putting up with my complaints, so he made me call PCMO. They came to the training within a half hour and took me directly to the office. (I should take this time to tell you all to please not worry- it's nothing too serious, and the medical staff is taking incredible care of me.) I stayed at the office that night.
This was all happening two days before swearing-in. After swearing-in, all the volunteers were supposed to go to permanent site- to facilitate this process, all the volunteers were supposed to pack their bags and have them ready to be picked up the day before swearing-in. I didn't get released from the office until considerably after when our bags were supposed to be ready. The bags were picked up at 10:30, PCMO sent me home around 6 that evening for one last night with my Luxemberg family. I was finally able to get my stuff together (guess who overpacked?) and leave it with my host family until Friday. My language group came over to see how I was doing and assure me that our awesome puppet show was set up for the next morning. Turns out the world does keep going even when you need to take a quick break- and that's really cool.
Well, the next morning I got ready and met up with all the other K-19s, and we set off for swearing-in. The ceremony was nice (and not overwhelmingly long), and our show went great. They tried projecting a recording at the same time, and it froze a little, but oh well, the live portion was great. I'm not sure if IT ever got this to work, but they were planning to broadcast it to the internet. If it did work, the site is here: www.ustream.tv/channel/K19 The IT guy said that it transmitted to that site via cell phone receptions, and the Philharmonia has rough reception inside, but maybe it worked. Immediately after swearing-in, we all went to the office for an American style picnic. From there, all volunteers left in three shifts to collect their luggage and leave to their home site with their counterparts.
I did not. I am on medical observation until next week (/until tomorrow), so I am staying at a hotel just outside of the city. And, I swear, no marshutkas actually come out here- allegedly, a bunch do, but I sat around for way too long yesterday looking for one until realizing it was futile and hiring a taxi- so if I want to go to the city either I have to pay over 7x as much (as a marshutka) to get a taxi or wait until I actually have to see medical staff, at which time they would send a car. Today, the driver took me back to Luxemberg to pick up my luggage, and that will be my only big adventure of the day. Yesterday I got some groceries, so I'm able to hole up for today.
So this hotel. This is the one we stayed at before meeting our PST host families, so it's somewhat familiar feeling. Please imagine post-Soviet meets the Shining. That's where I live now. Being here alone is quite a different animal than being here with 40+ other trainees. I don't mean for this to come across as complaining, though. My room is actually quite nice- I even have a mini fridge. As soon as Bishkek gets hot water back, I'll have a shower. And I have plenty of time to wait for the warm water. I'm on medical until Tuesday, but then there's a training for some volunteers (I think it's about student clubs) in Bishkek, and guess where we're staying. It's nice that I don't have to haul all my stuff across the city- especially since I'm under direct orders to not lift heavy things, how great is that? I'm hoping to figure out a way to get a taxi to take me directly to Talas from this hotel- again, to save me the trouble of hauling all these bags across town! Guess who's still super lazy.
Anyways, this is becoming rambling. I should have a permanent postal address by the next update, so keep an eye out and get letters ready to send me - please - stay happy and healthy on the home front.
I love you guys.
