Just because I'm an American......

This statement can really be interpreted two ways – angry and nonchalant. During my first week in the South I experienced both.

Currently it’s Ramadan, a Muslim holiday that last one month. Observers do not eat while the sun is up. Many will wake up at 4 am for breakfast then go back to sleep. Dinner is usually served around 7:30pm. In honor of Muhammad, the fast is typically broken with a small cup of water and dates. I think these were his vittles during a long stay in the desert.....

Anyhoo - I really am trying to be sensitive to those fasting all day around me. I drink water when no one is looking and take my lunch away from the office. Kyrgyzstan has it's own versions of fast food but No one eats or drinks on the go like we do in America. To go cups don’t exist. Neither do doggie bags or drive-thrus. On Tuesday I actually drank my coffee in a thermos on the way to work! That’s so American, right? [A small shout out to the New Yorkers. My travel mug is from the Strand. 18 miles of books!] Sometimes it’s impossible for me not to eat in public. Take for example, the samsa. Samsas are flakey square hot pockets of deliciousness sold by street vendors. Usually they are filled with meat and onions or potatoes and currently with pumpkin! Being the true American that I am, I eat my samsa on the run between work and home and shopping. I just don't know where to go to eat my lunch right now since everyone is fasting. There are few to zero benches and I'm definitely not sitting on the steps of a building. Its way too dirty here for that.

On the other hand, just because I’m an American don’t assume you can overcharge me. Yesterday morning I went to an IP telephone shop to call Papa OJ (my grandpa) and wish him a happy birthday. He’s 88 years young! We had a great conversation. It was amazing to hear his voice and I know he appreciated hearing mine! My host brother told me the charge was 5 soms per minute. That seemed a fair price since Bishkek and Kant charged a som or two less. I finished with my call and the attendant said it was 12 soms per minute! I couldn’t believe it! I was frustrated because I knew exactly what she doing. I was prepared to pay the exorbitant fee but insisted she give me a receipt spelling out exactly how much she charged me. She changed her tune pretty quickly. The price was immediately cut in half. I was still overcharged by a som per minute. I would have argued it further but I had to go to work. Did I mention I did this all in Russian?? Go me!! This is the second time someone has tried to charge me twice as much for goods. Over the weekend I found the most adorable Italian coat at a second hand shop. The lady tried to charge me 400 soms for it! I looked at her and was like, “It’s not new.” Again, the price was cut in half. I didn’t buy the coat. All trust was lost. Seriously. Shopping in Kyrgyzstan is like shopping for a car all the time. People are nice here but do your homework before you go!

Other than that, life in the south is grand. Aaron will be here in a few days and I already have lots of adventures in mind - Mount Sulieman, a day hike to see petroglyphs and a waterfall, museums, the park, a trip to see my language teacher, hopefully a weekend in Bishkek and of course lots of eating. There are at least three traditional dishes in Kyrgyztan - Plov (rice), Lagman (soup with noodles) and Mahnti (dumplings). And of course, lots of tea. He'll even be coming with me to work! He's agreed to teach a brief tutorial on web design as well as spend some time at the center for children. We'll play some American games and make them an American lunch like Peanut Butter and Jelly.

And that picture totally unrelated to the blog? That was my last day of language class. I also posted more pictures on my flickr page! Hope you have time to check them out!

Where has the month gone

I gotta be honest. I have no idea where the past 4 weeks have gone since my last entry. Its been a blur! 2 language tests, a visit to my permanent site, warden trainings, trips to Bishkek, time with friends. A complete blur. But big changes are afoot!

In a few days I will be swearing in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There will be speeches, singing, hugging, crying, laughing and a whole lotta American food to be had in a few days. The past 3 months have really gone by too quickly. I'm going to miss everyone in my K15 group. Now I will look forward to text message, emails, visits and making friends with the volunteers in my new community to the south.

So once again, here are a few highlights from the past few weeks.

-The water was out for 3 days. This is common in Kyrgyzstan so don't be shocked. One village down the street was sans water for almost a week! I've been told if one person in the community fails to pay their water bill no one gets water. I commented to my teacher, " How very socialist of Kyrgyzstan to handle the water this way. This way everyone suffer together." She laughed so hard! I've never seen her laugh that way. If the water ever goes out we can always buy it from the store or pull it from the stream. The stream is pretty scary but Peace Corps provides a personal water filter that boils and steams all the bad stuff out. The problem for me was dirty hair and laundry. I was resigned to greasy hair. I was resigned to Febreezing my clothes, maybe evening hanging them in the wind to blow the bad smell out (it could happen) and a little of the dust. I noticed though Febreeze smells like corn syrup. It specifically reminds me of Dr. Peppers at 6am in my dad's office in Tampa.

During the summers in middle school and high school I would work at my dad's office. Since I didn't have a car I traveled with him. Before the sun came up we would leave Clearwater and make our way across the Courtney Cambel Bridge to Tampa. Dad would blast AM radio or give fatherly advice on dating, drugs, or career paths I should consider. We'd arrive to work, myself still barely awake, and dad would make the coffee. I don't know what he put in the grinds but it was like tar in my belly! My 8am I as doubled over in pain. I don't know how many mornings I suffered but pretty soon I was resigned to drinking Dr. Pepper with my breakfast. And maybe a donut. I don't even like donuts (but oh! What I would do for Dunkin Donut or Krispy Kreme right now!).

-This week I celebrated Rosh Hashanah with Kyrgyz Jews. It was comforting to be around so much familiarity. I heard the shofar blow and Hebrew prayers chanted. At dinner I ate tons of sweet wonderful challah. I wonder if I can buy any around here? Happy New Year to everyone out there too.

-Ramadan started the same day as the Jewish New Year. And to be honest, I can't tell its a holiday. In the south I'm sure it will be more obvious. I actually need to figure out how and where I'll be eating!

-Had a strange conversation with my host dad yesterday morning too. In Kyrgyzstan people will often ask - are you married? How old are you? and How much money do you make? Miss Manners never made it over the mountain. Anyhoo - about once week my host dad likes to ask me questions related to these topics. The latest round was How much does it cost to live in America and specifically how much did it cost me to live in America. These are both really hard questions to answer because America is so diverse. My language skills aren't adequate enough to be able to ask - well, do you want to live in a city or the country? What kind of skills do you have? Is living near a Muslim community important? What about a Russian or Turkish or Kyrgyz speaking population? Will you need public transportation or a car? do you know what car insurance is? Will you want to grow a garden?

I know. I know I know I know. I'm way over thinking. I don't know how people do it. Surely they head to the nearest expat community with native speakers who then help them relocate, right? I ended up using East Texas as my model and said it would cost upward of $5000 US/month to live in a small town. I have no idea if that is remotely true or not. The conversation ended with my host dad saying I speak bad Russian and don't understand.

I honestly don't care what he thinks. He's a friendly guy but he often asks difficult questions and doesn't do a very good job at helping me understand the question. Plus, I think he's put off by my presence. He might feel Peace Corps isn't necessary in his country. Or why should I leave America and come here, to a place with no jobs. I also think he expects me to know more than I already do. Hey, it's only been 3 months! He's been speaking Russian for over 40 year!

Speaking of language tests though.... I scored Intermediate Medium! What does that mean you ask? There are 3 levels in language learning - Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Each level is then subdivided into Low, Medium and High. Russian is an extremely complex language so we were asked to achieve only Novice-High. I actually jumped a whole level since my test last month. Yeah me!

So that's it for now from the Kyrgyz Republic. Next time you hear from me I'll be living and working in the south. All the best to you and yours.