May 24th

Hello English speakers.  I have been in the Kyrgyz Republic for the past month!  I can’t believe it has been that long.  I am living with a Kyrgyz host family in KEHEW pronounced “kingish.”  For those of you that would like to locate it on a map it is about an hour east of the capital city, Bishkek. It is a village of 3000 people – I would have guess 1000, I still can’t figure out where the other 2000 people live.  In my village I live with my host mother (Asel Apa) father (Marat Ata) sister (Rahat singde) and three brothers (Renat, Talat, and Kairat). 

I highlight that I live with a “Kyrgyz Family” because Kyrgyzstan is a diverse country.  Our neighbors in KEHEW are Turkish, Russian, and Uzbek. After Just a few days of being in country I was placed into the Kyrgyz language group along with most of the other Peace Corps volunteers (only five out of the 56 of us are learning Russian).  I can already tell that my placement into the Kyrgyz language group will pave the way for an interesting service.  There are a significant amount of Russians who live in Kyrgyzstan.  If you look to be Russian, as I do, you will be greeted by everyone in Russian.  Every time I go to the Bazar and ask “kancha som?(How much is this?)” I am answered in Russian.  At first I thought that my Kyrgyz skills were seriously lacking when I could not understand anyone, but eventually I realized that no matter if I talk to people in Kyrgyz they would answer me in Russian because I look Russian.  As if learning another language is not hard enough.

This first month in country has truly been a mix of ups and downs and I notice that the littlest things can swing my mood.  In the mornings the mountains to the south set the tone for my days.  I wake up at 6 and go for a run though the farmland.  Only a few people are awake.  Some farmers who want to get an early start working in their fields before the heart of the day are already out tending to their vegetables.  Any one with a cow is up and has her milked ready to join the heard in the pasture at 6:45. As I run, the mountains help to remind me of my place in the world.  They remind me that I am a part of something bigger, something out of my control, and as I accept that, I am at peace.  They share with me their spirit; I feel their power, strength and resilience flow through me and fill me with hope. I can be strong like them, and like them go forth to work together and change the landscape that we live in.

As I come home from my morning run the rest of the village has begun to ster.  The kids are up and running around the streets.  The school children have smartly dresses and wiped all dirt from their clothes and feet, ready to go to school.  The men and some women are off to jobs and the housewife’s are busy with the day’s chores.   As I enter my room to change into my work clothes I take a deep breath.  I know that I have to go to Kyrgyz language class for the next 8 hours.  I try to hold onto the hope that the landscape has given me.