Joined the Peace Corps. BRB.

Nov 26: High and Tight

After a crash course on Russian, we went into town today to run errands. Some people wanted to make phone calls, others wanted to go to the bazaar. I headed straight for the salon.

I say “salon” because the barber shops here are pretty sketchy in a rusted-scissors-dull-razors type of way. I tried out my beginner’s Russian with the hairdresser and then got stuck in the conversation, but it was ok because it turns out she is Kyrgyz and I actually know more than 10 words of Kyrgyz. Did I just say I know how to speak Kyrgyz? My new hair would disagree. “High and tight” does not begin to describe it, but everything grows back. Hair, skin, fingers...

We topped the day with a mini-party at Tasiana’s. It was tons of fun, I felt like I was in college still. One of the nicest things about Kyrgyzstan is that the families will feed you whenever you come over. 7 of us went over to this house and immediately the host mother prepared dinner for us. Isn’t that cool?

I love free food.

Nov 29: Wild times

It would be hard to convey in words my experiences the past few days, but I’ll condense it by saying this is the first time I’ve been in my own house since the 26th. Saturday, I went into Bishkek to celebrate Xouhoa’s birthday by eating sushi (in a landlocked country, yeah yeah I know), not realizing that I wouldn’t be changing clothes or returning home for three days. But I did eat sushi.

Bishkek was fun, but the wild times were just starting because on the marshutka ride home, we were accosted by three drunk men who repeatedly grabbed my arms, asked how much money I had on me, and told the girls that they loved them. I wasn’t nervous, I just laughed and tried to talk to them, but the girls feared for my safety (they were getting off in a village before mine) so I ended up getting out of the marshutka and spending the night in their village. It was cleared through the LCFs and I was off to Tokmok again the next morning for warden training.

By some random process, I’ve been chosen to be the assistant warden for the Uzgen rayon. This means I get to be the warden next year along with the weird responsibilities that go along with it. Basically being the warden boils down to being the point man for all info from PC headquarters in Bishkek and acting as the consolidation point in case of emergency. Ok. For those of us chosen to be the new wardens, we had to attend a special session on Monday with our SSC Marat to talk about policies/procedures. I’ve spoken of Marat before, but for a quick recap on the day’s events, here are some of the more memorable quotes from the man himself:

-“I like that better than music!” (after a good suggestion)

-“When I opened the first window, it was like a placebo effect.” (after opening a window that was double-paned)

-“A man fell into an abyss. And I peered into this abyss and said ‘Are you dead?’ And he replied ‘No, I haven’t reached the bottom yet.’” (said stone-faced to the group; someone had to ask if it was a joke. It was.)

-“You should do something curious because curiosity killed the cat.” (telling a volunteer his solution to her cat allergies)

-“She’s kind of like a liver: you never know you have one until something goes wrong.” (talking about the US Embassy’s guest speaker)

-“You should not have pets. Especially cockroaches which are not domesticated in this country.” (Oh.)

What else can I say? The guy is hilarious.
There’s always more to say, but I’m running on fumes today and there will always be time again for those stories.

Nov 21: Grumps

We met a bunch of K13s in Ivanovka yesterday for a birthday/pre-Thanksgiving party. I had a good time, but it really showed me how our group is becoming divided into separate cliques. It’s a shame, but there are some people that I have not talked to at all yet, and even worse, I really don’t have a high interest level in meeting them right now. Isn’t that bad? PST ends in 9 days so I could use the time excuse, but the truth is that I’m just comfortable with the people that I am around and am unwilling to put in the effort to branch out right now. Just awful. K12s and K11s that I’ve met say that when the entire group meets again in a few months for IST (In-Service Training), the group is even more divided, but this time by oblasts. So weird.

Continuing with the apathy theme, we supposedly have a Thanksgiving party planned for Thursday, but everyone in my village is being lame and not planning it at all. I can’t decide whether everyone here is just disinterested, unwilling to make a decision, or just too lazy to do anything. I’ll vote for “lazy.” Other villages are buying live turkeys, making a variety of pies, and planning out a whole big shebang for Thanksgiving, but we’re kind of twiddling our thumbs and waiting for someone else to take charge. So frustrating.

On my way to class or the BBC every morning, I try to imagine what types of situations or conversations I might have. Is that normal? Basically I just try to prep myself and make sure I’m in the best mood so I’ll have a good time. Some days, like today, I just can’t get myself up for it and I can’t engage myself into class, conversation, or simple activities. I’m an optimistic guy, but I just can’t stand some people. There were times today when I was close, so close, to letting a few people have it, but I just closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. So close.

I’m not a nice guy.

Nov 22: Man Camp

Today was our last TEFL training day. Ding dong, the witch is dead. Finally! TEFL training sessions these past two months have ranged from wildly insightful to coma-inducing, most times leaning towards the more catatonic state causing option. Today wasn’t a total waste though, we got a schedule of events for the next two weeks. The most un-Peace Corps thing ever, a tangible schedule!

Ok, I’m being sarcastic, but what’s new? I actually did have a lot of fun today. Seeing other volunteers makes me smile and laugh more than I could have ever imagined. I can’t decide whether things are just really funny or if I just like to make and laugh at dumb jokes cause I can’t grow up. Case in point: we talk a lot about girls’ rights, girls’ safety, and girls’ clubs/camps. A lot. And it’s a great topic in a country where the male population totally subdues the nation’s females, many times regulating them to bearers of children/tea/food. But it comes up everyday. Anyway, the estrogen and “girl power” vibe was at an extremely high level today in the group, culminating with a group of K12s presenting a slide-show on their Girls Camp from last summer. Like I said, girl power + + +. But it got me thinking. I leaned over to my buddy Phil:

“We need to do a camp this summer.”
“Girls Camp?”
“No, no.”
“Guys Camp?”
“Man Camp.”
“Man Camp!”

It’ll be the best thing ever. Or the worst. But it definitely won’t be just ok. Oh man.

Nov 23: Two years

Xouhoa asked me today if I was going to go back home any time during the next 2 years. I told her “no,” but I really hadn’t thought much about it until the past few weeks. The past 2 months have been so busy and such a rush that I haven’t had time to think much about anything aside from Peace Corps. I read emails and letters from friends and family, not even thinking that I won’t see them for 2 years (2 years!). Now that I think about it, the idea of 2 years still hasn’t completely sunk in yet. And I guess I’m just starting to miss friends and family back home. But I still won’t come back until I’m finished here. My buddy Kyle joked around in an email that I was too arrogant, too cocky to come back before then. He’s right.

What’s going to be different when I come back? I’m nervous, but excited to see how my perceptions and mental images of friends and family back home will be changed in 2 years. By then my friends should be graduated (finally!), working solid jobs, going to grad school, or even married (what!). Some people here bemoan the fact that they’ll be so “far behind” by the time they get back, but I can’t think of it like that. Even when I return to Seattle, it won’t be forever. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this isn’t a 2 year vacation from my normal life. It’s the beginning of my current path, my “first step” if you will. December 2007 seems so far away right now, but there’s so much to do until then.

But I do miss all of you.


Nov 24: Thanksgiving

The planning involved for Thanksgiving was awful. Just awful. Even so, our Thanksgiving meal ended up great and everyone had a good time. It’s weird how things work out like that. I made deviled eggs for the celebration to go along with other volunteers’ apple pie, turkey, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and rice pudding. Just to make the experience even more Kyrgyz, our electricity went out before the meal and we ate by candlelight.

In exactly one week, we will all be piled into the Issyk-Kul Hotel one more time before our departure to our permanent sites. Can you believe it? I can still remember stressing out over permanent site placement just about a month ago now. Each day here has been completely different from the next so far; I can only hope the next two years provide a similar rush. It’s going to be an awesome two years, I’m so freaking psyched.

My host-brother-in-law is the host-father for another K13 in town and he drove us home today from the Thanksgiving party. The guy is pretty hilarious because he always says, in Kyrgyz, “I’m Kyrgyz, I’m sorry!” because we can’t communicate very well. On the drive home he told me he was a basketball coach and wanted to play with me tomorrow at 5PM. Oh man, do I. I wonder what “You just got balled up” is in Kyrgyz haha.

I also have my final LPI test tomorrow. Whoop-dee-do.

Nov 25: LPI

I was the first one out the shoot in our LPI test this morning. It was just a basic conversation with the tester and it went pretty well. I scored Intermediate-Mid, so I guess that’s ok for now. People always say our language jumps once we get to site, but still it was nice to get that out of the way and see our progress so far. I’m kind of curious to see how everyone else did on the test, but most people here are ridiculously private about test scores so I haven’t heard many scores yet. Meh. I don’t care enough to pry though.

We got about a foot of snow last night too. It’s snowing right now too, so by the time I wake up tomorrow, there should be a few more inches on the ground. Our group was talking about making snowmen today, but then we forgot that the snow here is already dirty from all the cow poo. Yeah, it’s kind of gross.

And that punk never showed up for basketball! I even postponed my trip to town just so I could play. Kyrgyz people have absolutely no sense of timeliness or keeping appointments so I’m not that surprised. I’m going to get my haircut tomorrow in town. Time to get rid of the shag and bring back the buzz for swearing in. Someday I’ll break out the curls again, but all the girls here keep telling me to get a haircut so I’ll take the hint.

Snip snip snip.

Nov 16: Electric

The last few days have been interesting simply due to our random splotches of darkness here in Kyrgyzstan. And by ‘splotches of darkness’ I mean loss of electricity. And by ‘random’ I mean from 3AM to 6AM and 3PM to 6PM every day for the next several months. And by ‘Kyrgyzstan’ I mean Kyrgyzstan.

We had sex ed. today. Wow. General tips and tricks like using condoms and not hiring prostitutes. The PCMOs (Peace Corps Medical Officer) then showed us images of microscopic STDs to watch out for. Yeah. So now if I see one slithering around in a dark alley one night, I can identify and avoid it. With my microscope.

Jeff, our awesome PST director, also gave us a talking-to concerning blogs today. Basically it boiled down to the basic “use common sense” mantra that should be common among everyone with a college education. Shouldn’t it? If you are doing something that the PC office would frown upon, why would you brag about it on your blog? If you think Kyrgyzstan sucks, why write about it where everyone in the freaking world can read it? If you think the Country Director is lame, why post about it when he reads these blogs? (Hi Alex. Love, Sean) Ed. note: Just kidding with the last bit, Alex is pretty freaking awesome and is definitely a huge PLUS in my book. Oh and my favorite part, the people who post political opinions on their blogs. First of all, nobody gives a crap what some nerd in Kyrgyzstan thinks about Bush’s Supreme Court nominations, Hurricane Katrina’s botched relief efforts, or Kofi’s latest failure. And second, if you have time to keep up to date on these topics, formulate a well-backed argument, and write about it online, you’ve got way too much time on your hands and probably aren’t doing your job.
That’s not to say I sidestep political questions when locals ask me if “Bush Iraq good who?” I let them have it. Some kid asked me the other day if our 53rd state was Kuwait. Of course, I had to ask what numbers 51 and 52 were before answering though. I don’t even know if USC is still undefeated, shoot I might have missed something these past 2 months, did we buy something? His reply: “Canada. Mike Tyson.”

What.

WHAT.

Ok it was a slip of his tongue, but still, he lost all credibility with me. Snip. Conversation terminated. Man. Mike Tyson?

I told him that we recently purchased Canada.

Nov 17: Bright white

There’s no such thing as adjusting the clocks here. That means that the sun doesn’t rise until 8AM and sets around 5PM lately. It kind of sucks, but every morning as I brush my teeth (which has become my thinking time these days), I step out into the darkness and I can see the moon and stars blazing in the sky. I use “blazing” not in a poetic sense because the sky really is lit up by the celestial bodies here. The moon is such a brilliant white that it makes the night sky a navy blue as opposed to the shrouding black that it becomes when a new moon comes. I’ve tried taking pictures, but they don’t come out well and it’s a shame because it’s pretty amazing. When I see how bright it shines, it becomes easier to imagine how primitive civilizations would be captivated by the moon and its quirks.

Usually when I get to that point, I have to spit out my toothpaste.

PS - Today we have been here for officially 2 months. I hope the next 25 are just as wild. And I’m also on pace for 378 pages in MS Word. What.

Nov 18: Consolidation

Our LCF burst into the room and shouted “We have to go to Tokmok now!” Everyone in class kind of stared at each other then slowly filed outside to catch taxis to town. The gravity of a call to consolidation is tremendous. Was there another revolution? We were at war with a different country? Were we going to be evacuated to Kazahkstan and then back to the States? These were some of the questions running through our heads, but one prevailed more strongly in my mind: what about lunch? It was 1100AM and, shoot, I wasn’t going to miss lunch just cause the country was falling apart.

Kyrgyzstan is still intact and we’re not going anywhere. I text messaged other K13s that a volcano had erupted in Bishkek and we were being evacuated though. Nobody seemed to believe me. After we arrived at our Hub site, we were informed that it was just a drill for a worst-case-scenario event. Wonderful. I did get to pick up some letters from my folks though, freaking awesome as usual. I love getting mail more than email these days because it has weight behind it. It’s tangible and I know that someone physically took it to the post office and fired it off to me. Thanks guys. My mom, best person ever, even wrote me a 3 page letter in Korean in hopes that I would not completely lose all my Korean language skills. It will take me months to translate! Haha just kidding, thanks so much.

Oh and we got back in time for lunch.

Nov 04: Hi ho Silver

There’s an albino donkey in Kegeti. I wonder if he gets shunned by the other donkeys in town. Just thought you would want to know.

Nov 06: Calling home

Originally I had planned on heading into town today to call friends and family back home. That plan was squashed when my LCF called to tell me that the Peace Corps would be coming by our village today to take photos of us with our host families. Probably for some collage, brochure, or various other propaganda pieces, etc. They were supposed to be here at 100PM. It’s 230PM.

I’m not upset, irritated, or even curious as to why they are so late. Yesterday I voiced my displeasure with the group that we were too wishy-washy in our planning. Too many people hem-and-haw on decision making while waiting for others to make the call for what we’re going to do. I guess they are just waiting for the right bandwagon to jump on, but I told them it would be best if everyone just said what they wanted. We can work with conflicting interests, but we can’t work with zero opinions at all.

Anyway, today’s plans kind of bombed out and now I’m being a hypocrite by sitting here and wondering what to do. Do I sit and wait for a Peace Corps’ photographer who might not materialize or do I take off and see the other trainees even if they were a little irked by what I said yesterday? Quick decision!

I’m leaving.

Nov 10: That lovely drive to Osh

I’m back in Osh, but there were times yesterday when I swore we wouldn’t make it. We were supposed to leave at 9AM, but in the great tradition of Kyrgyz tardiness, we didn’t leave until 1AM. Awesome. This meant that we didn’t finally arrive in Osh until about 2AM. I’m neglecting to mention how many times our driver almost ran us off of cliffs, into oncoming traffic, or through herds of cows. Like I said: awesome.

Of course, I’m exaggerating to a certain extent. I made the 13 hour trek with a trainee named Rachel. Between the two of us, we drained each other of every bit of Peace Corps gossip we knew haha. Aside from the gossip chatter, it was great to talk to someone I didn’t know too well. It’s funny how quickly previously held misconceptions were shattered through the course of the day. Thanks for the ride, nerdasaurus.

My new host family lives on a compound with three buildings. I’ve commandeered one building to myself, but so far it’s kind of lonely here. I guess when I think about moving to our permanent site and not having the luxury of seeing everyone all the time, I realize that Peace Corps is an organization, but the job itself is a solo endeavor. That’s not to say I can’t handle it; I look forward to making Bektemirov into the best school in the province.

Oh and I got a cell phone. Email me for the numero.

Addendum: My new host mom made ahsh (basically fried rice with carrots and meat) tonight and it was fan-freaking-tastic. I’m happy.

Nov 11: Clocks

My new host family is awesome so far, but one thing that bothers me about their house is their clocks. All the clocks in the house show a different time and they are all broken. It’s like in one of those Twilight Zone episodes where each room is a different time of day. I guess I’ll never be late.

We have two dogs and two cats. I hate cats so I’ll skip them. One dog is named Rex and he’s a nice little mutt thing, but the one I really want to talk about is Rambo. Yes, a dog named Rambo. Caged into the front area of the yard, Rambo is a hugemangous German Shepard probably weighing in around 150lbs. He seems nice in a your-hand-looks-mighty-tasty kind of way, but I think he serves more as a doorbell/security system type dog instead of the come-sit-on-my-lap dog. And Rambo just might be the best name ever for such a ginormous German Shepard.

Now-you-know.

Nov 13: Skewed math

Today begins my so-called goodbye tour of the north. We just finished off the absurdly long and treacherous drive back from Osh up to Bishkek and I can’t wait to leave again. Once you visit the south side of Kyrgyzstan enough, you realize that the northern part just doesn’t have the cultural charm that the south possesses. It’s also really freaking cold up here too.

My in-drive entertainment was left up to the trio of Rachel, Natalie, and Tasiana. Fun times, but I’ll give them a 4 out of 5 because the conversation turned to Sean jokes near the end. Our driver was supposed to take us all the way to our villages for 1000 som, but the guy chickened out and said he didn’t know how to get to our villages, so he dropped us off at the Tokmok bus stop and left with our 4000 som in tow. Getting back to these tiny villages is a pain in the ass at night time because the drivers charge exorbitantly high prices: a 25 som ride during the day becomes a 200 som ride. Natalie, Tasiana, and I live together in Kegeti, so our ride wouldn’t be too high, but Rachel lives in Alchalu, so her ride’s fare would be ridiculous. Since Kyrgyzstan is not the safest place for a girl to be by herself, we all drove to Alchalu first, then finally off to Kegeti. The fare was 400 som, but I told the girls that it was 100 som total so they wouldn’t freak out (everyone was dead tired), then I picked up the rest.

Don’t tell them.

Nov 14: First snow

This morning was cold, but after months of having been told that it would snow, I blew off my host mother’s weather report as old Kyrgyz lady drivel. It was a freaking blizzard by around 10AM. Exaggerations aside, we now have a few inches of snow coating our tiny village and winter is definitely in the wings if not upon us now.

I celebrated the occasion by listening to some Christmas music.

Sometimes people say I apologize too much. Others say I say "thank you" too much. Sorry I haven't been able to update for awhile, but thank you for all your support. The comments you make always make me smile and laugh; they are the most important things I can ever receive from you all.

Just one picture today, I didn't expect to get internet access, so my stash is limited. Speaking of "stache," I'm sorry to say that mine has gone the way of the dodo, dinosaur, and mullet. I am growing my hair out though. Fear the fro.

At least he's wearing a helmet.

Oct 26: And then we watched Shazam

My host family got a DVD player today as a gift. It’s my favorite question for everything: Why? Goodness, why? There’s so many other things they need besides a DVD player, but there it is, sitting in our living room. A neighbor came by to help them set it up and after several minutes, I was summoned from my room to help. After all, I’m American so I have vast amounts of technological knowledge to go along with my wads of cash, beautiful women hanging off of me, and my semi-automatic weapon right? Side note: I told them my dad used to command tanks, now they think we own one. The audio wasn’t working on their pirated DVD (4 movies on one disc! I’ve seen 25 on one, I think they’re getting ripped off.) so we played with the options for a little, but to no avail. Several Kyrgyz men stared at me while I stared at the DVD player, apparently waiting for me to become suddenly enlightened by a bolt of lightning, an epiphany concerning the DVD player’s audio malfunction. I just smiled.

The audio jack wasn’t plugged in.

Oct 27: Into the darkness

The power is out right now. To be honest, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often here. We ate by light of kerosene lamps, food that had been prepared seconds before the power outage. With nothing to entertain us, we were forced into conversation, entertaining me more than a DVD, song, or TV show could ever hope to. It’s amazing how little information my host family, and probably most Kyrgyz people, have about the world. They had a cow when I told them that America had around 270 million people. I thought they were going to choke on their food when I told them China had several BILLION. I left dinner once again thinking about how little they knew, or perhaps the amount of trivial facts I have stored over the years. They now know that the last time the Redskins won the Super Bowl was 1991. I think they understood me.

My LCF told me that a package for me has arrived in Tokmok, but it was too heavy for her to carry back to the village. Too heavy? I know that the local post office is notorious for opening packages, stealing items, and replacing them with useless local items so I wonder what they took and what new items they added that could cause such a weight gain: an encyclopedia, a bag of sand, horseshoes, barbells, block of concrete? Who knows? Supposedly I’ll get it soon, whenever the local tractor can go pick it up.

Oct 29: Prelude of sorts

Once again I’ve been knocked out by sickness here in Kyrgyzstan. It’s really weird because in the States I never get sick, but in less than two months I’ve been bedridden here twice. I had to run outside and puke my guts out a few times two nights ago and today a sharp pain on my right abdomen started. I tried to tough it out, but the other trainees in Kegeti basically forced me to call the doctor. He told me that he was sending a car to take me to Bishkek (nearly 2 hours away), but this was around 7PM so I quickly told him that I needed to be in Tokmok tomorrow. You see, tomorrow’s the much-aforementioned Halloween/Stachetoberfest party. The doctor came to me.

Of course, the first thing running through my hypochondriactic mind was “appendicitis” as usual. Surprisingly enough, most of the symptoms listed in our medical book pointed to this and I was pretty nervous, but the doctor assured me that all I had was an inflamed colon. Doesn’t that sound sexy? He asked me how many cups of tea I drank per day and I told him around 25, give or take a few. The doctor then reminded me that the water sucks here and I should only drink tea made of distilled water. Supposedly the water here is infested with all sorts of bugs, bacterium, parasites, extinct dinosaurs, etc. Anyway, a handful of different colored pills later, the doctor was on his way back to Bishkek and I was told to call again if the problem persisted.

But I made a really cool jack-o-lantern and costume for tomorrow, so it was all good.

Oct 30: Back to the Bakai Ata

Calling my family and friends has become more fun for me than using the internet. It’s weird because I kind of took my cell phone for granted in the States because of the ease with which it connected me to others. It was good to talk to all of you today.

The Halloween/Stachetoberfest party was held at the same place we met our host families: the café Bakai Ata. Actually things were set up from the beginning to fail miserably beginning with news from some trainees that some villages didn’t want to come. Their reasons ranged from understandable: entry fee (60 som is like $1.25, we couldn’t exactly rent the place for free), to ridiculous: our safety and security coordinator showing up while we were drinking. Ok kids, hide the beer! I laughed when I heard that reason because the SSC hadn’t even been invited and, surprise!, he didn’t come. Either way, I wish the others had come, but it was a freaking blast anyway. Lots of hilarious costumes, games, food, I had way too much fun. I punched a really cute trainee in the face by accident too. Oh man, I still have the smooth moves. How could I top such a day?

I went home and shaved my moustache.

Oct 31: The Kyrgyz party

Today was our first LPI test and it went as well as I expected, but more importantly, I came home to about 30 people hanging out in my house (remember, we live on a compound so there’s a “their house” and a “my house”). Did I have much of a choice? I went in and ate and drank with them for a few hours.

Through the course of the evening, I found out that the party was for an end of Ramadan kind of thing. I think. Either way, lots of old people, lots of little kids, lots of mutton, lots of bread, lots of Kyrgyz words I didn’t understand. Most of the conversation was obviously directed at the single American as given by the constant “volunteer” and “America” words tossed around. Near the end, we played a game where the oldest guy held up a sheep’s leg bone and gave prophecies of sorts to certain people in the room. He kept repeating one word to me over and over while pointing the bone at me. I finally grabbed a dictionary and the oldie pointed to his word of choice: ruler. That thing you see on the western horizon is my head, expanding by the second. Thanks old balls.

One thing I’ve learned here is that the party is never over. The old folks and our fortune teller left and half an hour later, my host mom banged on my door, telling me to come eat again. Now it was her extended family here for a post-celebration-celebration. This party was less eating, more drinking, but just as fun. I tossed a Dora the Explorer DVD on the laptop for the kids and had a few drinks with the dudes. Fun times, fun times. Dora and industrial-strength vodka with peppers in it. Only in Kyrgyzstan.

Huge bonus: a box from my parents came today and everything was intact and accounted for. They insured the package so I think it definitely went a long way in securing its safety here. That’s a protip for you parents of K13 kids out there. Or it could be that the box was basically bulletproof from the awesome packing job my folks did. I needed to use the huge blade on my Swiss Army knife to dent the thing.

I love you guys.

Nov 02: Back to the Big O

The packet reads:

“Dear Sean,
Congratulations on being assigned to the Bektemirov School in Kurshab village, Ozgon Rayon...”

And so I’m heading back to Osh. After weeks of waiting and uncertainty over where I’d eventually be placed, it’s certainly a relief to get my first choice, but I’m also exhausted now. As they handed out the packets with our assignments, people tittered about and nervously waited their turn to hear the name of their home for the next two years. Today was definitely the biggest day for the K13 group so far and the drain was incredible, many people didn’t know what to say when they tore open the envelopes. Some burst into chatter, some yelped, some cried. I just zoned out.

Like I said before, I’ve been thinking a lot about site placement so finally having that hurdle passed is a weird feeling. When we all had received our packets, we were told to stand on a large map of Kyrgyzstan where we were to be placed. It was weird seeing who was nearby and who was far off, people you might not see except for a handful of times a year. Moreso than going to the south, I was elated by the other K13s who were going to the south with me. Betsy H., Rachel, Joanie, along with a couple other good folks are headed down south so we should have an awesome time the next two years. It’s that post-excitement rush deadzone here right now though. I thought so much about wherewherewhere and now that I know, I’m happy, but just kind of dazed I guess. In part it might be because I found out that Greg and Jen Ishmael are headed to Naryn and won’t be nearby me anymore. It’s a shame because I’ve had so much fun with them lately and was looking forward to more good times. I guess I can go visit them in the mountains and make a snowman or something.

Aside from the wild site placement announcements, I got another package from my awesome parents. Thanks guys. Once again I proved myself to have a little luck running in my blood as nobody from the post office tore into my package to pillage my magazines, snacks, and toiletries though numerous other trainees suffered such fates. Must be my Irish name. We even got our official Peace Corps volunteer ID cards today. They are encased in leather billfolds that you can flip out and scream “FBI! Hands in the air!”

...or “Peace Corps! Boomshakalaka!”

Nov 03: Watching Lost

Today was our first day with our new LCF: Aichuruk. It’s kind of hard to Romanize some of the Kyrgyz names, so hopefully my spelling doesn’t butcher the pronunciation too much. Yesterday when we received our site placements, she shrieked and shook my hand when I received Kurshab because it’s her hometown. Of course, yesterday I had no idea who she was so I just kind of wagged my arm, pursed my lips, raised an eyebrow, and shuffled away.

I plan on getting a cell phone next week before heading down to Osh for my permanent site visit. Having a cell phone will be essential for keeping in touch with other volunteers around the country, but it will be best used by having my folks call me from the States. It doesn’t cost any money to receive calls, so as long as people foot the bill for phone cards back home, they can call as often as they want. There were some scheduling conflicts in Kegeti over trips to the internet café, bank, bazaar, and cell phone store, but our new LCF immediately distinguished herself as different from my previous LCF by taking charge and laying out the plans. I liked her right away for that. As our LCF, she should be our leader and I’m glad that she is quick to come up with gameplans instead of dropping the ball and umm-ing and uhh-ing the entire time.

We started watching Lost today (thanks Mom, Dad!). The show was highly recommended by one of my old roommates, Mr. Kyle Richard Fowler, and it’s pretty awesome so far. Today was a holiday, end of Ramadan, so we visited everyone’s homes for tea and snacks before settling in at my house for a quick couple episodes. It’s got the big explosions, quirky characters, and weird storyline to keep everyone entertained, but it also has man-eating monsters too. Monsters, mutated animals, aliens, or dinosaurs?

I hope they are dinosaurs.