After an amazing 10 days in Thailand, I am somewhat sorry to report that I've made it back to Kyrgyzstan. I am also sorry to report that you're all going to have to wait a few more days for photos due to unexpected difficulties with my flashcard. I am hesitant to get too much into the trip without the visual aids, so the bulk of it will have to wait.. but I can say that it was incredible and I definitely see myself going back to Thailand at some point. It's a large country and I only got to see two parts of it; Bangkok and Ko Samet. I enjoyed both very much.
I have been back for a few days and in those few days I learned that my plans to move out of my host family's house and into an apartment need to be postponed. I can't do it this week because of issues getting bars up on the windows. Peace Corps is very strict about safety and security issues and I can't move until those bars are up. I've also decided that, because it's still frikkin freezing, I could probably stand to wait another month before I move into an apartment with no heating system. I am a bit disappointed, though, because I was really looking forward to having my own space and starting to cook for myself.. but being in this country for almost 8 months now, I've defintiely learned to deal with unexpected set backs. Such is life. And it's only one more month. Hopefully..
Other than that, not too much news over here. School starts again next week, which feels like both a blessing and a curse. I will be happy to feel busy again, as I've mostly sat on my ass for two months watching movies on my computer. But I know that school will be no picnic. I am in the process of mentally re-preparing myself for disappointment. Which means that I will be easily pleased. This technique has worked well for me in the past. Expect the worse, and you tend to be happily surprised.
Sorry about the delay with Thailand info. I will try to get that up soon.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Two days to Thailand
Hey all. Long time no post, I know. There have been a lot of electricity issues lately and internet cafes have been really frustrating. The last three times I've gone into Kant to use the internet the electricity has shut off mid blog/e-mail. The up side: this means I haven't had to pay for the time I used. The down side: I've been behind on blogging and responding to e-mails. The internet even stopped working at the Peace Corps office the last time I was there... bad luck. But I'm at a cafe now and I'm making this blog my priority.. So if you're reading it, then the electricity didn't shut off and all is well!
Let's see.. My birthday was a few weeks ago. Thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes. I didn't do too much celebrating on the day itself, but Laura, another volunteer in my area, came to my village and stayed with me so I had some good company. We were lazy most of the day and laid around watching stuff on my computer, which was nice. No shame in lazy days. Though I will admit.. they seem to be rather common this season. Eventually we picked our asses up and made pizza with my host family. They've been really interested in American food, pizza in particular, so they finally had the opportunity to try it. Judging by how quickly it was eaten, they seemed to like it a lot. I won't pretend that it was the same as a good delivery in the states, but it was damn close. I'll definitely be making more of that in the future. Now I just got to get my hands on some avocados so I can try and make burritos... Mmmm, burritos..
The next day, the 21st, we went into Bishkek to try and catch some inauguration news on the TV at one of the ex-pat restaurants. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. They'll play sports games but apparently a new president isn't big enough to warrant turning on the TVs.. In any case, Bush leaving the white house was one of the best birthday presents I could've asked for. Go Obama!
The big celebrating came that weekend. A bunch of us got together in Kant and went out to this club/restaurant called "Crystal"... accent on the second syllable. Also joining us were a bunch of guys that work with one of the volunteers in Kant, including his boss. I'd never met the boss before but he was nice enough to pay for everything, in honor of my birth. And considering how much we drank, and how much food was on the table, this was no small gift. It was very cool. Then we ate cake, because someone had brought cake mix from America.. it was delicious. Overall, a very fun birthday celebration.. though I still missed home..
Other than that, things have been pretty low key. I've been taking Kyrgyz lessons from my counterpart which has been good language practice. I finally feel like I'm making some progress, though I still feel like a 5 year old trying to put together sentences. Actually, a 5 year old would still probably out-speak me.. maybe not with vocab but at least with grammar and sentence structure. I'm definitely understanding more, though, which is good. Aside from that, I've been keeping myself busy with semi-private English lessons. I agreed to teach the daughter of a host-family friend, which then turned into me teaching her along with all my host siblings and any other children which happen to be at the house at the time. It's difficult at times (what isn't when kids are involved?) but it helps fill the days and it makes me feel productive. There are also a few University students in the village because it's their winter break, and I've been helping them with their English homework.
I was supposed to be helping out with a winter camp this week but it got moved to the 3rd week in February, when I'll be in Thailand. I'm kind of disappointed about that, for various reasons, but what can I do? There's no such thing as a set schedule in this country, and I'm used to it at this point. On the note of Thailand, anyone who wants me to send them a postcard should give me their address within the next few days. Either by comment, or by e-mail. I can't promise a speedy delivery, but it will get to you.
What else.. I think I've mentioned before that I plan on moving out of my host family's house and into an apartment by myself. I was lucky enough to be placed in one of the few villages that actually has apartments available, so I plan on moving at the end of February. My counterpart and I went to see the apartment for the first time this week, along with a representative from Peace Corps (they have to make sure the apartment meets certain safety/living standards). There were a few disappointing things: First of all, apparently I won't have access to the whole apartment. The owner wants to keep one room locked up so that she can store some of her extra furniture there. This wouldn't bug me so much, except that she also said she wants to have that room available for her guests. So if a bunch of people come to stay with her she'll have an extra space for them to stay. This means that every so often random people will be staying in my apartment. I asked her how often this would happen and she said only once or twice every three months.. As long as this proves true, I can handle it. And I'll have a lock on my bedroom door, as well as the front door, so I don't have to worry about her guests going through my stuff or anything like that. Secondly, the running water is apparently very unreliable, and there's no alternative to the flush toilet. I can handle walking a few minutes to stock up on water but what do I do when the toilet's not working? Just poor water in the bowl, I guess.. There's also no refridgerator.. So I'm going to look for the smallest, cheapest one I can find and buy it when it starts getting warmer. Those things aside, the big problem that Peace Corps has with the apartment is that it's on the first floor and the windows are not barred. Apparently this is a big security risk, so before I move in I have to have bars put on all the windows. Those are the negatives. The positives: A toilet! Even if it only works half of the time, it will be nice not to have to trek outside everytime nature calls. I'm also really excited about starting to cook for myself. My host family's cooking isn't bad, but the diet at their house is definitely lacking in variety, as well as fruits and vegetables. It will be nice to have more control over what I'm eating. There's also a gas stove, which means that I don't have to worry about not being able to cook when the electricity shuts off. Bonus! Other than that, I'm really just excited to finally have my own space. My host family is great, and I appreciate everything they've done for me, but I can't lie.. Living in a house with 8 people plus frequent guests has been difficult at times. I mean, I'm an only child raised by a single dad, and I like my alone time. I'll still visit them frequently, though, and I hope we can keep a good relationship. They don't seem to be offended that I'm moving out, which is really good, because some families take it personally when a volunteer wants to move into an apartment.
Anyway, here's some more ideas for stuff to send me: female razors (with moisturizing strip), tuna, mayonnaise, oreos, ziploc bags
And why wouldn't I want peanut butter?
Let's see.. My birthday was a few weeks ago. Thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes. I didn't do too much celebrating on the day itself, but Laura, another volunteer in my area, came to my village and stayed with me so I had some good company. We were lazy most of the day and laid around watching stuff on my computer, which was nice. No shame in lazy days. Though I will admit.. they seem to be rather common this season. Eventually we picked our asses up and made pizza with my host family. They've been really interested in American food, pizza in particular, so they finally had the opportunity to try it. Judging by how quickly it was eaten, they seemed to like it a lot. I won't pretend that it was the same as a good delivery in the states, but it was damn close. I'll definitely be making more of that in the future. Now I just got to get my hands on some avocados so I can try and make burritos... Mmmm, burritos..
The next day, the 21st, we went into Bishkek to try and catch some inauguration news on the TV at one of the ex-pat restaurants. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. They'll play sports games but apparently a new president isn't big enough to warrant turning on the TVs.. In any case, Bush leaving the white house was one of the best birthday presents I could've asked for. Go Obama!
The big celebrating came that weekend. A bunch of us got together in Kant and went out to this club/restaurant called "Crystal"... accent on the second syllable. Also joining us were a bunch of guys that work with one of the volunteers in Kant, including his boss. I'd never met the boss before but he was nice enough to pay for everything, in honor of my birth. And considering how much we drank, and how much food was on the table, this was no small gift. It was very cool. Then we ate cake, because someone had brought cake mix from America.. it was delicious. Overall, a very fun birthday celebration.. though I still missed home..
Other than that, things have been pretty low key. I've been taking Kyrgyz lessons from my counterpart which has been good language practice. I finally feel like I'm making some progress, though I still feel like a 5 year old trying to put together sentences. Actually, a 5 year old would still probably out-speak me.. maybe not with vocab but at least with grammar and sentence structure. I'm definitely understanding more, though, which is good. Aside from that, I've been keeping myself busy with semi-private English lessons. I agreed to teach the daughter of a host-family friend, which then turned into me teaching her along with all my host siblings and any other children which happen to be at the house at the time. It's difficult at times (what isn't when kids are involved?) but it helps fill the days and it makes me feel productive. There are also a few University students in the village because it's their winter break, and I've been helping them with their English homework.
I was supposed to be helping out with a winter camp this week but it got moved to the 3rd week in February, when I'll be in Thailand. I'm kind of disappointed about that, for various reasons, but what can I do? There's no such thing as a set schedule in this country, and I'm used to it at this point. On the note of Thailand, anyone who wants me to send them a postcard should give me their address within the next few days. Either by comment, or by e-mail. I can't promise a speedy delivery, but it will get to you.
What else.. I think I've mentioned before that I plan on moving out of my host family's house and into an apartment by myself. I was lucky enough to be placed in one of the few villages that actually has apartments available, so I plan on moving at the end of February. My counterpart and I went to see the apartment for the first time this week, along with a representative from Peace Corps (they have to make sure the apartment meets certain safety/living standards). There were a few disappointing things: First of all, apparently I won't have access to the whole apartment. The owner wants to keep one room locked up so that she can store some of her extra furniture there. This wouldn't bug me so much, except that she also said she wants to have that room available for her guests. So if a bunch of people come to stay with her she'll have an extra space for them to stay. This means that every so often random people will be staying in my apartment. I asked her how often this would happen and she said only once or twice every three months.. As long as this proves true, I can handle it. And I'll have a lock on my bedroom door, as well as the front door, so I don't have to worry about her guests going through my stuff or anything like that. Secondly, the running water is apparently very unreliable, and there's no alternative to the flush toilet. I can handle walking a few minutes to stock up on water but what do I do when the toilet's not working? Just poor water in the bowl, I guess.. There's also no refridgerator.. So I'm going to look for the smallest, cheapest one I can find and buy it when it starts getting warmer. Those things aside, the big problem that Peace Corps has with the apartment is that it's on the first floor and the windows are not barred. Apparently this is a big security risk, so before I move in I have to have bars put on all the windows. Those are the negatives. The positives: A toilet! Even if it only works half of the time, it will be nice not to have to trek outside everytime nature calls. I'm also really excited about starting to cook for myself. My host family's cooking isn't bad, but the diet at their house is definitely lacking in variety, as well as fruits and vegetables. It will be nice to have more control over what I'm eating. There's also a gas stove, which means that I don't have to worry about not being able to cook when the electricity shuts off. Bonus! Other than that, I'm really just excited to finally have my own space. My host family is great, and I appreciate everything they've done for me, but I can't lie.. Living in a house with 8 people plus frequent guests has been difficult at times. I mean, I'm an only child raised by a single dad, and I like my alone time. I'll still visit them frequently, though, and I hope we can keep a good relationship. They don't seem to be offended that I'm moving out, which is really good, because some families take it personally when a volunteer wants to move into an apartment.
Anyway, here's some more ideas for stuff to send me: female razors (with moisturizing strip), tuna, mayonnaise, oreos, ziploc bags
And why wouldn't I want peanut butter?
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