14. November, 2002
I returned today from my week-long site visit. I will be living in the Talas Oblast, Bakai-Ata region, Min-Bulak village, and teaching 20 hours of classes at the Chaldovar secondary school.
To get to the Talas Oblast, you have to go through Kazakstan because of mountains. You can go through the mountains, but only in good weather and by car- apparently it isn't safe. Peace Corps was only able to get us (the 12 of us who will be in Talas) visas less than 24 hours before we left. Apparently, Kazakstan has been changing the rules, and PC had to get Washington and the embassy here involved.
My counterpart opted to drive me to Talas, rather than taking a bus. She and her husband picked me up at 9, but instead of leaving right away, we visited her 3 daughters who live in Bishkek, and went to Durdui bazaar, the most people-packed and exhausting market in the world. Oof. So we actually left in the late afternoon, and the trip took 7 hours. Both border crossings went well. The guards made me go into the guard room, mostly because they wanted to check out the strange site of an American. We stopped at a relatives' house in Kazakstan for dinner. I saw Central Asian hospitality at work- they instantly produced an excellent meal of spicy noodles, completed
with tea (of course) and many sweets.
My new family consists of a father and mother, their youngest daughter Nargeeza (15), and two grandchildren, Chinar (5) and Almas (6). I live across the street from my counterpart, who may be trying to marry me off to one of her 3 available sons.
My counterpart mainly showed me off to many of her relatives. I cause a major stir when I walk on the road. Everyone knew I was coming. I hope the celebrity status wears off soon.
The school is cold. They have about 3 books for each class, which are mostly USSR books that are filled with propaganda about unemployed people living in western capitalist societies, who are rioting for work and bread, the unfriendliness of Americans, and Dmitri's summer in the "camp for labor and rest."
My counterpart was under the impression that I would arrive with suitcases of books. She is still recovering from the disappointment. It will take lots of creativity to teach with nothing. I will learn much in the process.
Everyone wants me to tell "about America." This question still floors me a little, because how can I describe America to kids who worship Brittney Spears and the Backstreet boys? Three girls serenaded me with that awful themesong from Titanic, and I had to find something nice to say about it. People know so much about pop culture- the worst and most manufactured aspects of it. It seems that useful knowledge has not been globalized. Someone told me that Janet Jackson died (is this true, by the way?), but no one talks about what is going on in Iraq...
My family doesn't have a banya, so bathing will be once a week at a neighbors. There is no electricity in the morning, but at least it seems to be predictable. All water is carried in from a pump.
Min-Bulak means "thousand springs." There are mountains on two sides. It is very beautiful.
I attended a 3-months-after-a-wedding party. Apparently, cows and sheep are given by the groom's family to the bride's family to say: "thanks for your well-bred daughter, she's working out great for us!"
Another volunteer also attended a wedding. The bride had been "stolen"- a common form of wife acquisition in rural areas- and she sobbed the whole time. Women definitely get the short end of the stick.
The Talas group came back in one van today. The guards tried to shake us down for some money, which we didn't give them. It's nice to be in a city, freshly showered and on my way to a restaurant. It already feels foreign to me.
All my love,
Erika
P.S.
... I am warm enough, and I can buy things in Bishkek at the bazaars when I come. The only thing I can think of that would be really useful would be any kind of teaching English as a second language book, intermediate level, something that stresses more interactive learning... I don't know if you could talk to any teachers about this? Keep in mind I don't have access to photocopiers. I'll try to think about this more. For me personally, it would be great if you could send me some really meaty books. Anything on the list I gave you, or some of the things I left in a pile at home? If you could find something interesting in French or German, that would be great, too. I would like to not lose my languages. OK, one more thing- do you remember the Russian workbooks I bought this summer? You could send those to me at some point. In the spring would be fine. For now I'll work on Kyrgyz. Eventually I want to learn to understand the awful dubbed-into-Russian Italian soap opera that everyone seems very interested in. haha.
I returned today from my week-long site visit. I will be living in the Talas Oblast, Bakai-Ata region, Min-Bulak village, and teaching 20 hours of classes at the Chaldovar secondary school.
To get to the Talas Oblast, you have to go through Kazakstan because of mountains. You can go through the mountains, but only in good weather and by car- apparently it isn't safe. Peace Corps was only able to get us (the 12 of us who will be in Talas) visas less than 24 hours before we left. Apparently, Kazakstan has been changing the rules, and PC had to get Washington and the embassy here involved.
My counterpart opted to drive me to Talas, rather than taking a bus. She and her husband picked me up at 9, but instead of leaving right away, we visited her 3 daughters who live in Bishkek, and went to Durdui bazaar, the most people-packed and exhausting market in the world. Oof. So we actually left in the late afternoon, and the trip took 7 hours. Both border crossings went well. The guards made me go into the guard room, mostly because they wanted to check out the strange site of an American. We stopped at a relatives' house in Kazakstan for dinner. I saw Central Asian hospitality at work- they instantly produced an excellent meal of spicy noodles, completed
with tea (of course) and many sweets.
My new family consists of a father and mother, their youngest daughter Nargeeza (15), and two grandchildren, Chinar (5) and Almas (6). I live across the street from my counterpart, who may be trying to marry me off to one of her 3 available sons.
My counterpart mainly showed me off to many of her relatives. I cause a major stir when I walk on the road. Everyone knew I was coming. I hope the celebrity status wears off soon.
The school is cold. They have about 3 books for each class, which are mostly USSR books that are filled with propaganda about unemployed people living in western capitalist societies, who are rioting for work and bread, the unfriendliness of Americans, and Dmitri's summer in the "camp for labor and rest."
My counterpart was under the impression that I would arrive with suitcases of books. She is still recovering from the disappointment. It will take lots of creativity to teach with nothing. I will learn much in the process.
Everyone wants me to tell "about America." This question still floors me a little, because how can I describe America to kids who worship Brittney Spears and the Backstreet boys? Three girls serenaded me with that awful themesong from Titanic, and I had to find something nice to say about it. People know so much about pop culture- the worst and most manufactured aspects of it. It seems that useful knowledge has not been globalized. Someone told me that Janet Jackson died (is this true, by the way?), but no one talks about what is going on in Iraq...
My family doesn't have a banya, so bathing will be once a week at a neighbors. There is no electricity in the morning, but at least it seems to be predictable. All water is carried in from a pump.
Min-Bulak means "thousand springs." There are mountains on two sides. It is very beautiful.
I attended a 3-months-after-a-wedding party. Apparently, cows and sheep are given by the groom's family to the bride's family to say: "thanks for your well-bred daughter, she's working out great for us!"
Another volunteer also attended a wedding. The bride had been "stolen"- a common form of wife acquisition in rural areas- and she sobbed the whole time. Women definitely get the short end of the stick.
The Talas group came back in one van today. The guards tried to shake us down for some money, which we didn't give them. It's nice to be in a city, freshly showered and on my way to a restaurant. It already feels foreign to me.
All my love,
Erika
P.S.
... I am warm enough, and I can buy things in Bishkek at the bazaars when I come. The only thing I can think of that would be really useful would be any kind of teaching English as a second language book, intermediate level, something that stresses more interactive learning... I don't know if you could talk to any teachers about this? Keep in mind I don't have access to photocopiers. I'll try to think about this more. For me personally, it would be great if you could send me some really meaty books. Anything on the list I gave you, or some of the things I left in a pile at home? If you could find something interesting in French or German, that would be great, too. I would like to not lose my languages. OK, one more thing- do you remember the Russian workbooks I bought this summer? You could send those to me at some point. In the spring would be fine. For now I'll work on Kyrgyz. Eventually I want to learn to understand the awful dubbed-into-Russian Italian soap opera that everyone seems very interested in. haha.
5. November, 2002
Hello everyone!
Everyone should look at the pictures on this website:
sennestan.com.
The couple whose site it is is in my group. I hiked with them at the Ala Archa park a few weeks ago.
I arrived in Bishkek today for our counterpart conference. My counterpart is the person at my school (usually an English teacher) with whom I will work.
In theory, this is the person to whom I should pass on all my skills, so that when I live whatever work I do here will continue. It was a stressful day, because this person will be my most important professional relationship for the next two years. I will depend on her for help with adjusting to the new school system, and at the beginning I will depend on her for lots of basic help with things like setting up a bank account, finding the school, my house...
My counterpart seems nice, but I have yet to talk to her in peace and quiet. We are warned that the relationship can be difficult in practice, because these people have often been teaching English for many years, and it is difficult for them to have an American kid come tell them about new teaching methods, or that their English is not great...
On Thursday, I will drive with this woman and her husband back to Talas (through Kazakstan!), to my future home in Min-Bulak village. I will stay with my family there for a week, and try to accomplish some tasks like figuring out which classes I will teach and setting up a bank account. I'm a little nervous, because this is the first time that I will be far from Peace Corps staff and fluent English speakers.
The language learning is still going painfully slowly. My counterpart seems to think that it is pointless for me to learn Krygyz, since everyone speaks Russian, too. I can tell that people see Russian as the language of learning and status. It's leftover from the Soviet Union. It's at least partially a political statement to have some of us learn Kyrgyz.
Yesterday, my fellow trainee Johanna, my LCF and I were walking in our village, when we had a bad experience with a drunk man who harassed us, trying to put his arms around us. Fortunately, some other people came along and everything ended up OK, and we would have fought him if it came down to it. But I saw how different it is for women here, something PC has been telling us all along. Women without men are seen as somehow "fair game." It really makes me think about how much I take my independence for granted, but also about how it's not completely dissimilar from some of the gender issues we have in the U.S.
I am still amazed by the mountains every single day.
I'm getting to know and like some of the volunteers more. I finished knitting my scarf, which is extremely ugly but all mine, and my apa is now helping me knit some socks.
2 days ago, some people were butchering some cows in the middle of the street at night, with a car parked to light the area. Apparently they had died suddenly and had to be prepared right away. It was quite a sight. I'm getting used to the bus being stopped due to cattle and sheep herds in the road. Sunday I went to a neighboring village to hike with some volunteers- it was my first solo bus trip- but the river was too high so we couldn't cross into the mountains.
I hope you are all well. love,
Erika
Hello everyone!
Everyone should look at the pictures on this website:
sennestan.com.
The couple whose site it is is in my group. I hiked with them at the Ala Archa park a few weeks ago.
I arrived in Bishkek today for our counterpart conference. My counterpart is the person at my school (usually an English teacher) with whom I will work.
In theory, this is the person to whom I should pass on all my skills, so that when I live whatever work I do here will continue. It was a stressful day, because this person will be my most important professional relationship for the next two years. I will depend on her for help with adjusting to the new school system, and at the beginning I will depend on her for lots of basic help with things like setting up a bank account, finding the school, my house...
My counterpart seems nice, but I have yet to talk to her in peace and quiet. We are warned that the relationship can be difficult in practice, because these people have often been teaching English for many years, and it is difficult for them to have an American kid come tell them about new teaching methods, or that their English is not great...
On Thursday, I will drive with this woman and her husband back to Talas (through Kazakstan!), to my future home in Min-Bulak village. I will stay with my family there for a week, and try to accomplish some tasks like figuring out which classes I will teach and setting up a bank account. I'm a little nervous, because this is the first time that I will be far from Peace Corps staff and fluent English speakers.
The language learning is still going painfully slowly. My counterpart seems to think that it is pointless for me to learn Krygyz, since everyone speaks Russian, too. I can tell that people see Russian as the language of learning and status. It's leftover from the Soviet Union. It's at least partially a political statement to have some of us learn Kyrgyz.
Yesterday, my fellow trainee Johanna, my LCF and I were walking in our village, when we had a bad experience with a drunk man who harassed us, trying to put his arms around us. Fortunately, some other people came along and everything ended up OK, and we would have fought him if it came down to it. But I saw how different it is for women here, something PC has been telling us all along. Women without men are seen as somehow "fair game." It really makes me think about how much I take my independence for granted, but also about how it's not completely dissimilar from some of the gender issues we have in the U.S.
I am still amazed by the mountains every single day.
I'm getting to know and like some of the volunteers more. I finished knitting my scarf, which is extremely ugly but all mine, and my apa is now helping me knit some socks.
2 days ago, some people were butchering some cows in the middle of the street at night, with a car parked to light the area. Apparently they had died suddenly and had to be prepared right away. It was quite a sight. I'm getting used to the bus being stopped due to cattle and sheep herds in the road. Sunday I went to a neighboring village to hike with some volunteers- it was my first solo bus trip- but the river was too high so we couldn't cross into the mountains.
I hope you are all well. love,
Erika
