Back in January 2010 (good lord, almost an entire year ago!) I was nominated to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Community Development program in Europe starting in June. This nomination came 4 months after completing the PC application, and 2 months after a phone interview with my recruiter at the Chicago Regional Office. I spent the next 3 months in and out of the doctor's office in good ol' St. Paul completing the obnoxiously detailed medical paperwork. In March I had my wisdom teeth pulled especially for PC, as it's a requirement for service. Once all my paperwork was submitted and I was deemed "Medically and Legally Cleared for Service" the waiting game began.
I waited through midterms, an uneventful Spring Break, finals and commencement without hearing anything from PC. I called my recruiter to ask when I would learn if I would get an invitation to serve or not, but she was generally unhelpful and told me to sit tight. So I sat tight through May and June with no word, and began to get rather nervous about the whole affair. I never figured I was a shoe in, but I didn't really believe that my application would be rejected. So I sat at home in West Bend, WI being slightly panicked and mostly bored, half-heartedly looking for jobs and internships, but hoping the PC would pull through.
July came around quietly, still no news from Peace Corps. My family got ready for a Family Reunion/Graduation Bonanza on behalf of 3 recent grads, my younger sister got ready for her first semester at college, and I got ready to expand my job search. Finally, mid-July I got a call from Peace Corps. A placement officer called to say that I had been slotted to leave in September for Eastern Europe as a Youth Development Volunteer, but that the same program in Central Asia had opened up. He told me if I was flexible (a magic word in PC), they could move my departure date up and I would leave a month earlier, in August. I confirmed that I was indeed the most flexible person he was likely to ever meet, and 5 days later I got my invitation to serve in the mail. It was a wonderful large blue binder full of exciting brochures including a description of my job as a "Youth Development Facilitator." The next day I emailed the Placement Office in DC to accept the invitation and arrange a flight to DC for staging on Aug 17.
To make a tale of medium length much shorter, I spent the next month feverishly packing and unpacking and repacking and re-repacking, made a road trip to TN to visit one of my favorite ladies, and made a final trip to the Twin Cities to see my old stomping grounds one last time and bid farewell to my friends. On August 17th at an absurdly early hour I arrived at Mitchell Int'l Airport in Milwaukee to start the next two years of my life.
August: The Kaz-22 group of PCVs arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan at midnight on August 20. The first few days were spent getting over jet lag and attending an endless number of talks about PC policy and expectations similar terribly engaging topics. Next thing I knew I was moving in with my first host family, a widow and her 2 daughter and grandson who were wonderful to me, and terrible concerned about my meatless diet. I spent my Pre-Service Training in a "town" of 40,000 people just outside of Almaty. August was a time of serious adjustment, confusion about the lack of street lights, overwhelming expectations by our school's administration, etc.
September: By this time we were well on our way to figuring out life as Peace Corps Trainees, and all the awkwardness that comes from being in country, but not yet being a Volunteer. September 1st was the first day of school and the National Day of Learning. It was our first chance to see the students we would be working with, and a first glimpse of the pomp and circumstance ubiquitous in Kazakhstan. Mornings were consumed with Russian language class, and afternoons with mildly helpful technical trainings. As only the second group of Youth Development volunteers to ever grace the steppes of Kazakhstan, it was becoming clear that despite their best intentions PC just really wasn't sure what to do with us. Regardless, I bonded with my fellow Trainees at a number of nameless cafes (affectionately dubbed "Blue Tarp" and "White Curtains") and with my host family. I helped my younger host sister with her English, taught my host mom how to make chocolate chip pancakes, and ate some face meat.
The first day of school at School No. 8 in Talgar, Kazakhstan. People take the first day of school here very seriously. All the parents attend and the kids wear matching outfits.
See!! Matching outfits! And sashes! And hair bows!
The ringing of the first bell of the new school year. I'm telling you, they love pomp and circumstance!
October: This month was filled with Kazakh holidays, hints of life after Pre-Service Training, and a field trip to the city of Taldykorgan. PC was wise enough to figure out that about half-way through the 11 weeks of Pre-Service Training trainees become restless and generally unpleasant with the static state of their PC lives. So we were all shipped off to different cities across the country for a few days to stay with current volunteers, visit their places of work, and see exactly what it is that PCVs do everyday. The end of the month culminated in Site Placement Announcements (the moment we'd all been waiting for, in which we finally found out where we would be working for the next 2 years) and Counterpart Conference (in which we met the host country nationals we would be working with). On the 30th my training group put together a much-doubted, but greatly successful Halloween Carnival at our school. It was attending by about 100 students and 6 teachers, included a DJ, games, dancing, and a haunted house so terrifying it had to be closed early.
Part of my training village group at Medeo, an outdoor skating rink that will host the 2011 Asian Winter Games.
My counterpart Nastya and I successfully complete Counterpart Conference! People here love getting certificates and such, so PC gives them out at every possible occasion. On the left is John the PC Country Director, and on the right is Paul the Training Manager.
Excited students at the Halloween Carnival.
Aimira (on of my favorite students!) and I.
Anya (our technical trainer) and Zhenya (our language trainer) as a fortune teller and a robot. Nice job on the costumes, ladies!
November: Last month was a bit of a whirlwind. The last week of Pre-service Training we spent preparing our students for a presentation to PC to demonstrate what they learned during the clubs that we led. We took an oral language proficiency test to see where our language level was at (PC likes trainees to be able intermediate low at the end of training, and advanced low at the end of 2 years of service), and packed up our things. On November 6th we were sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers by the US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, and right after the ceremony were whisked off to the train station to leave for our permanent sites. After a 15 hour train ride, I arrived in Shymkent, my new home. I found a wonderful host family, and spent the month settling in at my organization MISK (the Youth Information Service of Kazakhstan).
Sarah, Collin, and I. We spent four years studying at Macalester together, and somehow we all ended up in PC together in Kazakhstan. Small world. Seriously.
The Talgar Youth Development Trainees have just become VOLUNTEERS! Great succes
The Kaz-22s at the train station in Almaty, en route to Shymkent and the South Kazakhstan Province. Yes, we do have a lot of luggage. Quite a lot of luggage.
The gang at MISK! These ladies are generally very excited, though a little disorganized. My first day at the office they made me a welcome sign, which is generally adorable.
The Alley of Fallen Heroes in Shymkent, my new hometown. Along the sides of the walkway the names of all those from South Kazakhstan Province killed in WWII.
December: At least point I'm still very much settling in. There are a lot of kinks to work out with my organization and coworkers, who are not quite sure what to do with me. They are exciting to have a volunteer, and have been waiting for one for 7 years, but aren't quite sure what they want me to do. I work every day 10am-6pm and try to be as helpful as possible. I organize files and documents, make electronic copies of things, and help with MISK's School for Young Entrepreneurs. This project runs on a grant from the US Embassy, and is poorly managed and generally disorganized. So that's why I'm here, to help this NGO more efficient and more sustainable. It's been a challenge thus far, and it's become clear that to get anything done here you have to start very small. Rome wasn't built in a day, and an NGO can't be completely transformed in that time either. I spend a lot of my time negotiating, suggesting different work methods, explaining the importance of things that seem obvious to an American (e.g. Why it's a good idea to be on time to your meeting with the mayor of the third largest city in Kazakhstan. Why it makes sense to keep all of our org's press contacts in one file, rather than spread around the office. Why it's a bad idea to spend our entire operating budget for the year on one event.). It's been incredibly challenging, and a bit intimidating. I'm trying to start small so that next year I can start implementing real projects, get our volunteer club off the ground and doing real events, and gain some autonomy in my work.
My director Lena dressed as Spongebob to promote International Volunteer Day on December 1. We walked around town handing out brochures about our organization and talking to people about the importance of volunteerism.
Kids at an orphanage take in our holiday puppet show.
The kids and our volunteers gather around the New Year's tree (here the put trees up for New Years, not for Christmas) and sing traditional Russian carols.
The gift I've prepared for the White Elephant gift exchange with my sitemates. I've made cuter gifts in my life, but they'll do.
Overall, it's been a crazy year. I graduated college, moved across the world, had my passport stolen, and baked an apple pie for Thanksgiving. It's already Christmas Eve here, though it certainly doesn't feel like it. No one knows it's Christmas in Kazakhstan, with a population largely composed of Muslims and closely followed by people of the Eastern Orthodox faith who don't celebrate Christmas until January 7th. It's a little strange to be celebrating without snow and only a small celebration with the other Volunteers in the province. You can bet we'll be baking cookies and singing carols, though. Doing the best we can with limited resources, in true Peace Corps fashion.
Happy holidays, dear reader, and may you find the next few days filled with joy and lots of baked goods!
The rather sad Christmas tree outside my office.
What a year! So...I am a vegetarian...and I leave for Kazakhstan in ten weeks. (Yikes.) How vegetarian have you been able to stay? How have you explained your diet to people?
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