two months in and i begin to write

I’m finally starting to feel normal here… like before it was just too overwhelming to write down or even put into words. I want to write down everything that seems strange before it feels like everyday life. I want to make sure I can capture what everything is like in Kyrgyzstan and hope that it gives you a better understanding. Have you looked at a map to see where Kyrgyzstan is? Have you seen the pictures of mountains and rivers? All those pictures online don’t really capture it… when I get my camera to download I’m not sure if anything I take will do it justice.

Everyday I wake up and see the mountains extending up into the sky. There are the layers of rolling hills, bigger mountains behind, and then jutting snowcapped peaks. It’s especially beautiful at night when the sun sets on each layer and creates a mix of pinky, red hills. Right now, I am living with a mom and daughter in a one-bedroom house. Everything is very basic, no machines except for a stove and iron, limited electricity at night, and no running water.

I think the biggest adjustment for me is using an outhouse every day. Even more so is that everyone here uses the squatting toilet. If I had a dollar for the amount of times I have peed on my feet… ah, so that’s been a tough one. I’ve been told the outhouse and excrement is especially rough in the wintertime. Apparently, it’s youngest son’s responsibility to knock down the frozen poop pile when it gets stacked too high in the john. I was reassured they use a stick to get the job done… so that’s the one pro I can find in the situation.

Showering is another thing that is a bit difficult without running water. At this point in the summer I am taking bucket baths and loving it. Who knew you really only need half a bucket of water to get clean? In the winter the family banyas, which is similar to a sauna. It is basically a small room with a stove and slatted floorboards. The stove is stoked with buckets of water on the stove, once the room and water heat up the women or men will come in to enjoy warming up, talking, and bathing. It can be an hour or two hour process and more of a ritual. We actually had something very similar in McCarthy, AK and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the banya in the winter months.

Kyrgyz food is lots of soup and lots of starch, somewhat reminding me of eating in Germany. I’m adjusting to eating left over dinner for breakfast every morning with 3 to 4 cups of tea pushed at me by my host mom. The Kyrgyz culture makes sure that you are well fed and happy with a full stomach. One of the first sayings I learned was “toy dum” which means, “I’m full.” This was purely for survival reasons because without it my host mom may have tried feeding me until my stomach exploded. Noodles, bread and potatoes are the staples with great local fruits and veggies that are in season… I have never tasted such juicy melon or ripe tomatoes. I’ve started to eat tomatoes like an apple and just can’t get enough. Sounds like the winter is going to be limited and I will have to start getting used to cabbage, potatoes, wintergreens and pickles. Tahoe helped me learn the ways of good soups and stews so hopefully I will be all right. Ah Allison… wish I still had my crockpot.

Winter sounds like it’s going to be intense. Before I came I kept reminding myself that the winters in New England are equally as cold. The longer I am here the more I realize that yes, the weather is similar to what I have lived in, but with limited or no electricity it will make for a cold, cold winter. Hope I brought enough long underwear.

As for other pieces of life, I still have one more month of PCT (Peace Corps. Training) before I can more to my permanent site. The days consist of language in the morning and job or culture training in the afternoons. Honestly, I am slow to extremely slow at learning the Kyrgyz language. Language is not my strong suit in anyway so I am not completely shocked that I’m having a hard time. I know it will come… living here two years it has to come eventually, but it’s just difficult and frustrating while I stutter over a word I KNOW I have learn five times already. Patience is a virtue for me and my fabulous Kyrgyz language teacher.

As for my village, there are wonderful people who live in town and ask me how I am every day on the street. They are kind and patient, knowing I am just learning their language and adjusting to their way of life. Little kids will run down the road, screech to a halt at my feet, and say hello until their face is blue. We say hello back and forth a few times, point at things to exchange Kyrgyz, Russian, and English words for a tree or shoelace and then move on with the day. They are helping me to stay motivated and stay excited about 4 hours of language class every morning.

You know, at first life here felt so different and now it’s starting to feel like the norm. It just amazes me how fast we can all adjust to a new way of living and kind of push aside what your way of living used to be. Does that make sense? I guess what I mean is, everything strange will soon be my normal… so what will my past normal be? iiiiiinteresting.