Good news! Good news!
I have completed my first project! So I am going to write this blog about it. Here is the outline of the following blog: 1) I will tell you about it; all the juicy details and such. 2) I will give you a link where you can find this project online. 3) I will unabashedly ask you to open your wallet and contribute.
Part 1
My work is somewhat complicated. I work for an NGO that works with Day Care Centers (DCCs) for disabled children. Here is their story: These state-wide DCCs were created by the parents of disabled children. As of now, the current paradigm is to seclude these children from daily village life. The objective of our NGO, in concert with these DCCs, is to create a society where these children can receive quality rehabilitative care and still participate in normal village life. We want them to find the help they need and allow them to become an active member in their community. One of the problems these DCCs encounter, however, is a lack of funding. They are completely volunteer driven and are solely reliant on outside funding sources. This is where my project comes in.
The project my counterpart, the leader of this particular DCC and I created is to build a subsidiary farm attached to the DCC. The local government confirmed one half hectare to be given to the DCC for crops. Behind the DCC is a small plot of land used currently for storage. By spring (when the snows stop), that place will be cleared and the field will be prepared. Our plan is to provide the seeds, seedlings, building materials and animals to begin a small farm. Community volunteers have offered to help the DCC plant the crops and maintain them throughout the year as well as build the animal shelters out back for chickens and rabbits.
Beyond this, the DCC will be creating a Farm Finance Committee to watch over the finances of the farm. My counterpart and I will be conducting a seminar to teach about the financing and preparing a ledger outlining the costs of the farm. Throughout the year, this committee will oversee the money earned from the animals as well as any money earned from the fields. The plan is to earn enough money to pay for next years costs to continue the farm. With good returns, the farm might even begin to grow or help the DCC build. On top of this, the farm can provide food to the children as well as provide an opportunity for them to learn vocational skills relevant to village life.
Part 2
http://www.peacecorps.gov/contribute
*The link function is not working. It is giving me an error message in Russian (of which I cannot read) so you will be forced to copy and paste. Do not give up! Please don't let this set you back!
If you go to this website, there are several ways to find my project. You can type in Kyrgyz and all the projects currently active from this country will come up. (If you do this, you can read the other projects and give to my compatriots efforts also!) You can also type in my last name, Greene. If you need a third option, you can search by the state I am from, FL. If you are unable to find it, that means the small amount of money needed to turn these people inside out with happiness has already been collected. Hooray!
Part 3
I apologize. I threw a statement in the last part that could be interpreted as an “unabashed” attempt to convince you to give some money. Truly though, give something. One dollar, five dollars, five hundred dollars, however much you can spare. Tell your rich friends! Tell your rich enemies whom you want to see lose money! And don't worry, if you miss the opportunity to contribute this time, Rachel and I will be coming to you again with a complete lack of shame begging for your money. I know your TV might still be talking about an economic crisis but that was never a good reason to stop giving money away.
Truthfully, there are many funding sources open to Peace Corps Volunteers and I chose this one for a reason. Through this avenue, I am able to connect these people with you people. I will post pictures and tell about how the project goes. This is a chance not only to just write a check to some good cause. This is a chance to have someone you know (or maybe only vaguely know) oversee it and watch it blossom. Just because you aren't here doesn't mean you don't have the ability to make a difference here. This is a request from strong, hard-working, determined people to help them build a farm so they can create a better life for disabled children. How many more heart strings can be tugged at in one sentence?
Ok. I am finished with that.
Life here is good. We saw the thermometer hit -20*C for about two weeks then a beautiful warm front cleared all that out in two days. It is now a muggy 2-6*C and all the snow has melted on our dirt roads to create a nice humid bog. Also, all the livestock traffic only helps make the mud more squishy.
And with that...
Seacrest out.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Updates
Long time no type. Emergencies and such... blah blah... sad... will I leave? … and here.
So, with all that out of the way, I will bullet point the past few (non-dramatic) areas of our life. Prepare yourself for happiness.
• I acquired a thermometer. I watched it drop to -15 degrees Celsius outside one night. This is only about 5 degrees Fahrenheit but in a country with no insulation and no central heating in homes, that is quite an intense number. We wrapped ourselves like burritos in blankets.
• It snowed a lot one day! It started midday and by the next morning, we had over a foot on the ground. Again, not a ton by American standards but for me, that was a lot of snow. It is also quite formidable considering there is no salt for the ground and no snow plows for the streets. Even the snow shovels are hand made from wood. It was fun. *See picture
• We had this sitting in our kitchen for a few days. It just sat there, staring at us hoping the rest of its body would return so it could trot away. Tasty. *See picture
• Our sheep had babies! We have six of the cutest little sheep ever. One day, those cute little things will grow up to be the stinky nasty annoying creatures that I will find inside my dumplings next winter. Hooray! *See picture
• We had a cow come back from the fields a week ago. This know gives us a total of 3 cows, 20 or 21 sheep, and 20ish chickens (original recipe). To top that off, she is prego and will have her calf in February. Middle America, ripping the fields, a-oo a-oo! (5 pts if you can name the origin of that quote.)
• Rach is back to school and starting her clubs back up. She is also helping a lot with the summer camp coming up. I am writing my first two grants (you will soon be able to find those on the Peace Corps website). I am also working hard to help the local women's shelter re-open. Good fun.
• New volunteers will be arriving soon. Rach and I are very excited. We are hoping to be Trainers for them but if we aren't, we can't wait to help them adjust to their new life here.
• We are having lots of trouble getting to our blog website many times. This means that the updates will be even more sporadic than normal. Sorry.
This now concludes your Monday edition of this blog. I hope you enjoyed.
So, with all that out of the way, I will bullet point the past few (non-dramatic) areas of our life. Prepare yourself for happiness.
• I acquired a thermometer. I watched it drop to -15 degrees Celsius outside one night. This is only about 5 degrees Fahrenheit but in a country with no insulation and no central heating in homes, that is quite an intense number. We wrapped ourselves like burritos in blankets.
• It snowed a lot one day! It started midday and by the next morning, we had over a foot on the ground. Again, not a ton by American standards but for me, that was a lot of snow. It is also quite formidable considering there is no salt for the ground and no snow plows for the streets. Even the snow shovels are hand made from wood. It was fun. *See picture
• We had this sitting in our kitchen for a few days. It just sat there, staring at us hoping the rest of its body would return so it could trot away. Tasty. *See picture
• Our sheep had babies! We have six of the cutest little sheep ever. One day, those cute little things will grow up to be the stinky nasty annoying creatures that I will find inside my dumplings next winter. Hooray! *See picture
• We had a cow come back from the fields a week ago. This know gives us a total of 3 cows, 20 or 21 sheep, and 20ish chickens (original recipe). To top that off, she is prego and will have her calf in February. Middle America, ripping the fields, a-oo a-oo! (5 pts if you can name the origin of that quote.)
• Rach is back to school and starting her clubs back up. She is also helping a lot with the summer camp coming up. I am writing my first two grants (you will soon be able to find those on the Peace Corps website). I am also working hard to help the local women's shelter re-open. Good fun.
• New volunteers will be arriving soon. Rach and I are very excited. We are hoping to be Trainers for them but if we aren't, we can't wait to help them adjust to their new life here.
• We are having lots of trouble getting to our blog website many times. This means that the updates will be even more sporadic than normal. Sorry.
This now concludes your Monday edition of this blog. I hope you enjoyed.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Turkish desert makes everything ok
I'm sitting in a hotel in Istanbul trying to find some way to pass the time until this side of the world wakes up. It's 1:45 am here and since we expected to be in Bishkek by now where we would have things to do, we slept for 8 hours on the last flight. Apparently our plane took off late in Chicago due to icy conditions, which caused us to land here 1 1/2 hours late and ten minutes before the departure time for our last flight. When we got off the plane we ran, and I mean RAN, through the Turkish airport only to find that our gate was closed. The plane was at the gate and the gate was still connected but they wouldn't let us on. So..... here we are at the hotel.
This entire trip has been really difficult and draining for both of us. We had so many people who helped make it easier but still.... It was really surprising for me to realize on Thursday how difficult it was to go back. I was all prepared for going back and thought I was fine. But on Thursday I realized my stomach was in knots and I was on the verge of tears for hours. It wasn't that I didn't want to go back. I really love my host family and my students.... but I had forgotten how wonderful it was to just be with friends and family and how easy and less stressful it was to be in the states.
Tomorrow we should arrive in Bishkek at 3 am local time and then will hang out at the Peace Corps office until we hop on a bus to PDM. We will try to update when we get back.
This entire trip has been really difficult and draining for both of us. We had so many people who helped make it easier but still.... It was really surprising for me to realize on Thursday how difficult it was to go back. I was all prepared for going back and thought I was fine. But on Thursday I realized my stomach was in knots and I was on the verge of tears for hours. It wasn't that I didn't want to go back. I really love my host family and my students.... but I had forgotten how wonderful it was to just be with friends and family and how easy and less stressful it was to be in the states.
Tomorrow we should arrive in Bishkek at 3 am local time and then will hang out at the Peace Corps office until we hop on a bus to PDM. We will try to update when we get back.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Taxi Cab Knee Wrestling
I have lived in small towns my whole life. The largest city I have lived in was only a few hundred thousand people large, which seems huge to me and huge to people in Kyrgyzstan but small by American standards. This means several things. It means that I have never had to experience cramped public transportation like subway systems or cramped city buses. Even on very busy days, the buses always seemed to have room enough to maintain our cultural idea of personal space. So, perhaps this part of my experience here has more to do with my small town history than my perception of a ingrained masculinity competition. With that said, here is, what I like to call, Taxi Cab Knee Wrestling.
I was once called the epitome of masculinity. Ok. That is a lie. I like to call myself rustic but people usually laugh when I say this. Truth is, I find myself much more at home in a library or a coffee shop where the scariest encounter one will have is with the napkin dispenser than a gym or recreation park or lumber mill. Over the course of many years, the middle school taunts of “Stick to your books, Thomas!!” from George, my nemesis, have eased me into a very comfortable place of acceptance. I am not macho. I am more likely to be asked to recall some archaic fact or define a word than pick up a large bag of bricks or push a log off the road. And I am ok with this.
So it strikes me odd that it took so long for me to recognize what was happening in these taxis.
I remember the moment I realized that this egghead was being dragged into a street fight. It was nearing the end of summer. The bean harvest was near and school was soon to start. I found a taxi returning to my village so I went and sat down waiting for the forth person to arrive. (*Unlike cabs in the U.S., we wait for the entire cab to fill up. No one buys out an entire cab here, including the American without a salary.) In the front seat was a young man eating ice cream. In the back with me was his friend also eating ice cream. It was a hot day so he had taken his shirt off. I immediately was put off thinking, “We are about to cram up in this car together and he thinks I or anyone else wants to squish up next to his sweaty dirty body?” But I off course didn't say anything and hoped for an older woman to come and tell him to put his shirt on. Unfortunately, within the next few moments, our fourth passenger would present himself and the subconscious battles would begin.
All these boys were, at most, 19 years old but more likely 15-16. In this culture, that puts me in an advantageous position being 5-10 years their elder. But when those little doors noisily closed and we began our bumpy ten minute journey home, all that could represent Kyrgyzstani culture becomes second hat to this battle.
The driver makes a joke, and turns up the music. The boys idly stare out the window and occasionally make small talk with one another over the music. But as I was sitting holding my backpack in my lap, I realized my right leg was getting tired. Shifting my backpack, I realized my mistake only after it was too late. Lifting the bag just enough to allow the space it was occupying between my two knees to vacate, my right knee was immediately pushed into my left knee. Looking over at the other two boys thinking this was certainly going to be a mean joke they were playing on the “tourist” they didn't know spoke Kyrgyz, I was stunned to find that neither of them were paying any attention to me and had no idea what they had done. Sitting in the most natural way possible, both were seated with their legs spread as wide as possible. My leg had been getting tired not because my backpack was sitting on it, but because since the moment I had sat down, I had been engaged in a battle for testicle room with this other boy's knee!
Now I can assure you, there was more than enough room in this taxi for us all to have a reasonable amount of room to spread out and be comfortable. But instead, the two boys were sitting completely open legged and I was sitting with knees together with my bag on my lap like some woman concerned with propriety while sitting in Sunday School in the 1950's.
I rode the entire way home like this without anyone making any notice. I exited the taxi and walked down the road to my house. Now maybe there is some evolutionary reason concerning males and claiming territory or pronouncing their genital dominance while in the presence of other competing men. Whatever. It matters nothing to me the reasons why it occurs, but from that moment on, I have come to realize that every time I sit down in a taxi cab and sit beside a man, my unsuspecting knee is propelled into a battle of strength and fortitude. The force of the push is not enough to be overtly noticeable. It is just enough that if an adequate amount of resistance is not applied, every ounce of masculinity that once made you a member of the male gender will be usurped and you will be looking for the nearest opportunity for the car to stop and regain your dignity as you stand, stretch, and remind yourself, “I am a man.”
I was once called the epitome of masculinity. Ok. That is a lie. I like to call myself rustic but people usually laugh when I say this. Truth is, I find myself much more at home in a library or a coffee shop where the scariest encounter one will have is with the napkin dispenser than a gym or recreation park or lumber mill. Over the course of many years, the middle school taunts of “Stick to your books, Thomas!!” from George, my nemesis, have eased me into a very comfortable place of acceptance. I am not macho. I am more likely to be asked to recall some archaic fact or define a word than pick up a large bag of bricks or push a log off the road. And I am ok with this.
So it strikes me odd that it took so long for me to recognize what was happening in these taxis.
I remember the moment I realized that this egghead was being dragged into a street fight. It was nearing the end of summer. The bean harvest was near and school was soon to start. I found a taxi returning to my village so I went and sat down waiting for the forth person to arrive. (*Unlike cabs in the U.S., we wait for the entire cab to fill up. No one buys out an entire cab here, including the American without a salary.) In the front seat was a young man eating ice cream. In the back with me was his friend also eating ice cream. It was a hot day so he had taken his shirt off. I immediately was put off thinking, “We are about to cram up in this car together and he thinks I or anyone else wants to squish up next to his sweaty dirty body?” But I off course didn't say anything and hoped for an older woman to come and tell him to put his shirt on. Unfortunately, within the next few moments, our fourth passenger would present himself and the subconscious battles would begin.
All these boys were, at most, 19 years old but more likely 15-16. In this culture, that puts me in an advantageous position being 5-10 years their elder. But when those little doors noisily closed and we began our bumpy ten minute journey home, all that could represent Kyrgyzstani culture becomes second hat to this battle.
The driver makes a joke, and turns up the music. The boys idly stare out the window and occasionally make small talk with one another over the music. But as I was sitting holding my backpack in my lap, I realized my right leg was getting tired. Shifting my backpack, I realized my mistake only after it was too late. Lifting the bag just enough to allow the space it was occupying between my two knees to vacate, my right knee was immediately pushed into my left knee. Looking over at the other two boys thinking this was certainly going to be a mean joke they were playing on the “tourist” they didn't know spoke Kyrgyz, I was stunned to find that neither of them were paying any attention to me and had no idea what they had done. Sitting in the most natural way possible, both were seated with their legs spread as wide as possible. My leg had been getting tired not because my backpack was sitting on it, but because since the moment I had sat down, I had been engaged in a battle for testicle room with this other boy's knee!
Now I can assure you, there was more than enough room in this taxi for us all to have a reasonable amount of room to spread out and be comfortable. But instead, the two boys were sitting completely open legged and I was sitting with knees together with my bag on my lap like some woman concerned with propriety while sitting in Sunday School in the 1950's.
I rode the entire way home like this without anyone making any notice. I exited the taxi and walked down the road to my house. Now maybe there is some evolutionary reason concerning males and claiming territory or pronouncing their genital dominance while in the presence of other competing men. Whatever. It matters nothing to me the reasons why it occurs, but from that moment on, I have come to realize that every time I sit down in a taxi cab and sit beside a man, my unsuspecting knee is propelled into a battle of strength and fortitude. The force of the push is not enough to be overtly noticeable. It is just enough that if an adequate amount of resistance is not applied, every ounce of masculinity that once made you a member of the male gender will be usurped and you will be looking for the nearest opportunity for the car to stop and regain your dignity as you stand, stretch, and remind yourself, “I am a man.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
nothing new
So nothing new or exciting has happenened recently. I am talking to Mary An on Facebook chat right now. That is pretty darn exciting for me! Thomas and I are about to go on a lunch date to our favorite cafe for fried chicken and french fries! I was talking to Mary An about our favorite mexican places in tally! And now all I want more than anything is a plate of empanadas and a big margarita!
My mom has 3 packages in the mail and on their way to me!! Woohoo! I am excited about getting some warm sweaters and some christmas presents for my host family... even though they are Muslim and don't celebrate Christmas, I think everyone likes getting presents. New Years is a big holiday in Kyrgyzstan (maybe in every country). My sister said there will be tons of food and fireworks. Oh and Santa Clause comes on new years! I was thinking about going to Osh for Christmas, once school is out. But I think I really want to spend New Years with my host family. I know they will be sad if we aren't here.
Let's see... what else? My puppy is about 8 months old now and HUGE!!! I will have to post new pics soon! She is looking more and more wolfish everyday which is pretty cool! She is obsessed with this one rope toy I got her and will bring it to me over and over again for hours to play tug of war and fetch. I wish she was allowed inside! She is so cuddly!
My sister has decided she is going to get serious about learning English. I think a lot of her relatives and people in our village have been giving her crap for not learning it faster. She has picked up a lot since we have been here and they have no idea how difficult of a language English really is. But anyways she has decided she wants me to tutor her every night this week and then next week, she will try only speaking English to Thomas and I. I think if she works really hard this year, maybe she could pass the flex next year and study for a year in America. I really want her to be able to do what she wants to do with her life. She is so smart and motivated. I get so worried about her because so many of the girls here don't get to decide their own futures. Which is why I'm really hoping to start a girls empowerment club next semester.
Well it's lunch date time! Get skype and call me for super cheap!
My mom has 3 packages in the mail and on their way to me!! Woohoo! I am excited about getting some warm sweaters and some christmas presents for my host family... even though they are Muslim and don't celebrate Christmas, I think everyone likes getting presents. New Years is a big holiday in Kyrgyzstan (maybe in every country). My sister said there will be tons of food and fireworks. Oh and Santa Clause comes on new years! I was thinking about going to Osh for Christmas, once school is out. But I think I really want to spend New Years with my host family. I know they will be sad if we aren't here.
Let's see... what else? My puppy is about 8 months old now and HUGE!!! I will have to post new pics soon! She is looking more and more wolfish everyday which is pretty cool! She is obsessed with this one rope toy I got her and will bring it to me over and over again for hours to play tug of war and fetch. I wish she was allowed inside! She is so cuddly!
My sister has decided she is going to get serious about learning English. I think a lot of her relatives and people in our village have been giving her crap for not learning it faster. She has picked up a lot since we have been here and they have no idea how difficult of a language English really is. But anyways she has decided she wants me to tutor her every night this week and then next week, she will try only speaking English to Thomas and I. I think if she works really hard this year, maybe she could pass the flex next year and study for a year in America. I really want her to be able to do what she wants to do with her life. She is so smart and motivated. I get so worried about her because so many of the girls here don't get to decide their own futures. Which is why I'm really hoping to start a girls empowerment club next semester.
Well it's lunch date time! Get skype and call me for super cheap!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
no school!
My school has been quarrantined! It is closed until December 7th because sooo many teachers and students have the flu! Thanks to medical, I have my handy, dandy flu shot. So hopefully that will keep me safe. I also started taking vitamins and buying oranges (which are FREAKING expensive). Now I need to come up with ways to occupy my time for the next ten days. I am thinking that since I am fresh from IST that I will start creating materials for my future lessons. Like maybe go through all of the resources I got at IST and start making some of the games and activities. That way, I will save time in the future, just being able to grab the pre-made activity, rather than having to sit down and create it. I also want to start writing a calendar plan for next quarter. The one my counterpart wrote for this quarter just isn't working. There is way too much reading and translating texts. Not enough grammar and speaking.
Tomorrow is ait. A muslim holiday. I will go around from neighboor to neighboor with my host mother eating food and fruit and candy and bread until I absolutely, positively cannot eat anymore (actually takes longer than you think!). Having lost 15 pounds since being here, I think I can afford it!
Thanks to all the fantastic friends and family who have send us packages recently! We have enjoyed lots of tasty American food! And we have gotten really good at making things last. It took us 2 weeks to eat a package of Oreos. Actually it really isn't me at all. If I had my way I would have eaten them in two days. It is religiously sensible Thomas who helps me have oreos for an entire 2 weeks!!!
I am thinking about starting a girls club at my school. Just an all encompassing information club where girls can get together in a safe environment and chat and ask questions. It's really hard for them to get information, especially about female health or reproduction. The tricky part is I need to find a local woman, who speaks English, who would be interested in helping me. The language barrier is really difficult. I could understand and answer questions in Kyrgyz but I don't think I could expand on any scientific or medical reasons. Also it might be a little risky for me to lead the club alone. Especially if the girls want to talk about sex or any other "taboo" topic.
I want to do so much and be so proactive... but it's so slow going. There's so much involved in cross cultural exchange, gaining trust, language aquisition, etc. This is when I feel like my social work education comes in so handy. A lot of volunteers can't see that all of that stuff goes hand in hand with sustainable development work so they rush gung-ho into a project and when it doesn't work they get frustrated and bitter and they blame everything on the local people. It's actually a big problem in PC. So many volunteers leave bitter and hating their time here. I DO NOT want to be that person. Just spending time with those kinds of volunteers is draining and frustrating.... and unfortunately there are a lot of them!
It started snowing here. Just a little, but it is beautiful! I am a tiny bit excited for winter... and a lot a bit scared!!!
If you are interested in sending a Christmas package, I could really use some sweaters, a cute skirt or 2 (atleast knee length), and brown or black tights. Thanks!
Tomorrow is ait. A muslim holiday. I will go around from neighboor to neighboor with my host mother eating food and fruit and candy and bread until I absolutely, positively cannot eat anymore (actually takes longer than you think!). Having lost 15 pounds since being here, I think I can afford it!
Thanks to all the fantastic friends and family who have send us packages recently! We have enjoyed lots of tasty American food! And we have gotten really good at making things last. It took us 2 weeks to eat a package of Oreos. Actually it really isn't me at all. If I had my way I would have eaten them in two days. It is religiously sensible Thomas who helps me have oreos for an entire 2 weeks!!!
I am thinking about starting a girls club at my school. Just an all encompassing information club where girls can get together in a safe environment and chat and ask questions. It's really hard for them to get information, especially about female health or reproduction. The tricky part is I need to find a local woman, who speaks English, who would be interested in helping me. The language barrier is really difficult. I could understand and answer questions in Kyrgyz but I don't think I could expand on any scientific or medical reasons. Also it might be a little risky for me to lead the club alone. Especially if the girls want to talk about sex or any other "taboo" topic.
I want to do so much and be so proactive... but it's so slow going. There's so much involved in cross cultural exchange, gaining trust, language aquisition, etc. This is when I feel like my social work education comes in so handy. A lot of volunteers can't see that all of that stuff goes hand in hand with sustainable development work so they rush gung-ho into a project and when it doesn't work they get frustrated and bitter and they blame everything on the local people. It's actually a big problem in PC. So many volunteers leave bitter and hating their time here. I DO NOT want to be that person. Just spending time with those kinds of volunteers is draining and frustrating.... and unfortunately there are a lot of them!
It started snowing here. Just a little, but it is beautiful! I am a tiny bit excited for winter... and a lot a bit scared!!!
If you are interested in sending a Christmas package, I could really use some sweaters, a cute skirt or 2 (atleast knee length), and brown or black tights. Thanks!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
If i had a million dollars....
So for everyone concerned, I am over the cake incident! It was just a clash of individualism versus collectivism. Things are patched up with my family... they felt so bad, they bought us a replacement cake... not nearly as tasty but a very sweet gesture.
Thomas and I just got back from an 11 day trip to the capital. The first 6 days were spent in training sessions with all of the other volunteers from our k-17 group. The sessions were fantastic! It was a really good time to get together and discuss our frustrations and sucesses. We also had a few language sessions and a chance to take the Kyrgyz fluency test again. Thomas and I are both now officially fluent in Kyrgyz. I think that's a pretty big accomplishment for only living here and studying Kyrgyz for 8 months. We also had a chance to meet the 2 new PC staff members, Greg and Seth. They seem pretty down to earth!
On Saturday, our sessions were over and PC wasn't putting us in our hotel until Sunday night, so we stayed with Kathleen. She is a K-13 who lives in the capital and has the nicest, most cozy apartment EVER! Fritz was stayed there too.... I had never met him before but we hit it off great! It was nice to hang out with older (not old, just older) volunteers! On sunday we checked into our hotel and found that a lot of other volunteers were staying there as well... so we had plently of company. It was like a mini-vacation. I did have to go to the dentist though. But it was quite possibly the best dentist visit I have ever had. I had a cavity filled and it was completely painless. I didn't even feel the novacaine needle. For those of you who know how terrified of the dentist I am, you know this was a big deal!!! It was a great week! Now I am back at my site and pumped to get back to teaching and really try to implement some of the new strategies and lesson plans we learned. We'll see if my counterpart is as pumped as I am!
I miss you all!!! Call or email when you have time! It really means a lot to us!
Thomas and I just got back from an 11 day trip to the capital. The first 6 days were spent in training sessions with all of the other volunteers from our k-17 group. The sessions were fantastic! It was a really good time to get together and discuss our frustrations and sucesses. We also had a few language sessions and a chance to take the Kyrgyz fluency test again. Thomas and I are both now officially fluent in Kyrgyz. I think that's a pretty big accomplishment for only living here and studying Kyrgyz for 8 months. We also had a chance to meet the 2 new PC staff members, Greg and Seth. They seem pretty down to earth!
On Saturday, our sessions were over and PC wasn't putting us in our hotel until Sunday night, so we stayed with Kathleen. She is a K-13 who lives in the capital and has the nicest, most cozy apartment EVER! Fritz was stayed there too.... I had never met him before but we hit it off great! It was nice to hang out with older (not old, just older) volunteers! On sunday we checked into our hotel and found that a lot of other volunteers were staying there as well... so we had plently of company. It was like a mini-vacation. I did have to go to the dentist though. But it was quite possibly the best dentist visit I have ever had. I had a cavity filled and it was completely painless. I didn't even feel the novacaine needle. For those of you who know how terrified of the dentist I am, you know this was a big deal!!! It was a great week! Now I am back at my site and pumped to get back to teaching and really try to implement some of the new strategies and lesson plans we learned. We'll see if my counterpart is as pumped as I am!
I miss you all!!! Call or email when you have time! It really means a lot to us!
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