"It's a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." - J.R.R. Tolkien
It turns out, dear reader, that I'm pretty awful at updating this thing. Also, Blogger is blocked in Kazakhstan, so I have to update things by email which makes it a bit confusing. Please bear with the K-stan insanity.
Here are a few updates: 1. Tomorrow is the first day of school across K-stan. It turns out we won't be introducing ourselves to the entire school as expected. The director decided there wasn't enough time, or else our Russian skills are too awful to be heard in the halls of such a fine establishment. Instead we will be observing an English class to better understand the educational system here. 2. Throughout training we will be completing 16 hours of "practicum," by leading English clubs, extracurriculur clubs, and other classes to gain experience working with youth. This is slightly terrifying, as I have no real teaching experience. I hope I will not make a fool of myself. Keep your fingers crossed for me, dear reader. 3. There are a number of running jokes my family has started that you should be aware of.
a. Either my host family will turn me into a carnivore in the next 3 months, or I'll turn them all into vegetarians. At the moment I have the upper hand,
but considering last night we had a Ramadan feast involving not one, but two sheep heads, it's still a toss-up as to who will prevail.
b. In the next two months my host family and all their relatives will successfully find me a good Kazakh husband. Never fear, I'm steering clear of this one.
In general, I'm still in the honeymoon period of all this business. Things are still going great, and I love the other Trainees I get to work with. If there were fewer pit toilets and roasted sheep heads, I'd like it better.
I have decided, dear reader, that for the purpose of blogging, internet clubs with USB ports are my friend. I have found such a place, thus, the post you deserved, but didn't receive.
Written on 8/23/2010 - Alright folks, to make up for the lack of internet connection, I'm gonna cram a lot of nonsense into one long post.
After almost 2 days of travel (including, but not limited to, a flight from DC to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Almaty) we arrived in Kazakhstan last Friday at 1 am. We waited for our luggage, got our passports stamped, and were greeted by John Sasser, the PC Country Director for Kazakhstan. We spent the night at a "sanitorium" (sort of Hotel/Conference Center-esque) and began opening sessions the next morning at 8. In short, all 74 of us sat in a conference hall hearing about different aspects of PC Kazakhstan from the Country Director; the Regional Director of PC Europe, Mediterranean, and Asia; and PC Volunteers assisting with the training. There was lots of sleep deprivation, jet laggery, and complete disregard for all suggestions ofnote taking. We stayed up until the late hours of the evening to buy cell phones and sim cards (note: my number is 011-8-705-626-69-37, text me!!) and fell into our awkwardly sized sanitorium beds.
Day 2 followed the same schedule of information sessions, adding a 2 hour language lesson in the afternoon. Let me just say, a but redundant for the Russian Major. But, as Peace Corps demands, I was flexible and pretended to enjoy 2 hours of "Hello-my-name-is-Katie"-instruction. Then we were loaded onto buses and shipped to surrounding towns and villages to meet our host families.
I am currently living in the town of Talgar with a handful of Education Volunteers and half of the Youth Development Volunteers. I live with a Kazakh family consisting of my host mom Karlagosh, host sisters Donna and Dianna, and Donna's 6-month-old son Amir. Their house is quite nice and has a huge tangled garden out back. They have a raspberry and strawberry patch; pear, plum, and apple trees; and trillions of vegetables. The have a toilet in the house, but that's only for winter-use, so we use the outhouse at the far back of the yard. They have only cold water running inside, so to wash we go the banya out back. Think Russian-style-bath-house-ala-"Eastern-Promises"-minus-the-naked-fight-scene-and-a-little-more-rustic and you've got the right picture. There's a wood-burning stove used to heat a big tank of water that we then pour into smaller basins to wash with. It's surprisingly refreshing.
The food so far has been just fine. Lots of veggies and bread and tea, all things I'm a big fan of. At my host mom's oldest daughter's house I was confronted with the national dish of Kazakhstan beshbarmak, which is essentially meat and handmade noodles. Sounds normal enough, right? Not quite, dear reader, as the meat is typically horse. The beshbarmak I encountered, however, was made with mutton. Much better, right? Would've been, except for the whole sheep head resting glorious in the center of the dish.
Our official training started today. I go to class for 9 hours a day at School #8. It is a gymnasium that specializes in language, teaching students in Russian, Kazakh, and English. For the next three months I'll be in class 6 days a week, with 4 hours of language class in the morning and 4 hours of technical training and practical experience in the afternoon. September 1st, the first day of school, we'll be introducing ourselves to the entire school – parents, students, teachers, directors, janitors, possibly neighborhood dogs, etc. - explaining our background, what we're doing in K-stan, andwhat sort of programming we'd like to do. We're also supposed mention a few interesting facts about ourselves to entice the students to come to our programs, so I'll need to think some interesting things up on the double!
Well, that's about it for now. Tomorrow is day to of Pre-Service Training (PST), get ready for 4 hours of redundant language instruction, a tasty lunch of leftover pilaf, and 4 hours of technical preparation.
Greetings, dear reader, from beautiful Kazakhstan!! I wrote a terribly entertaining blog post on my laptop at my host family's house which I put on my flash drive, but the computer at this classy internet club doesn't have a usb port, so I'm writing on the flyyyyy!
Things so far are going amazingly well. We left DC last Wednesday, arrived in K-stan Friday morning at 1am, and began training the same morning at 8. For the first two days the entire group stayed at a " sanitorium" (something like a hotel with an emphasis in relaxation??) in Almaty, spending both days in sessions on PC policy in K-Stan, cultural information, safety and security, and a welcome address of sorts from the Country Director. After two days of sleeping on awkwardly sized mattresses, we were split into five groups of trainees, and sent to our training villages. These five villages are each within an hour of Almaty, and is where we will spend the first 3 months of our service doing Pre-Service Training (PST).
I live in the town/city of Talgar with 8 other Youth Development trainees and a handful of Education trainees. My host family consists of my host mother Karlagosh, her daughter Donna (20 years old), her other daughter Dianna (14 years old), and Donna's 6 month old son Amir. The house is also full of other relatives, neighborhood children, etc. that wander in and out throughout the day. We have running water in the house, which is a huge plus, though it's only cold water. To bathe, we go to the banya, which is a sauna of sorts in a shed in the backyard. It's pretty sweet, I'm a big fan. For bathroom needs, there's a squat toilet in a tiny shed in the far reaches of the backyard. The door doesn't close all the way, but it works. They also purchased toilet paper especially for me, so don't think I'm roughing it too hard.
Monday through Saturday I attend classes 8am-6pm. In the morning I "learn" Russian (or relearn, or relax) with 4 other trainees. Our instructor is named Zhenya. She is 22-years-old, Russian, and completely adorable. In the afternoon, the other 5 Youth Development volunteers come to our school for technical training sessions. At these sessions we learn how to be Youth Development Volunteers. So far we've covered Youth Development policy in K-stan, how to conduct English clubs, and some of the challenges that Volunteers face. I'm not gonna lie, I'm terrified to have to do any sort of teaching. At least I have 2 weeks to figure it out before we take classes on our own. Until then, it'll just be a lot more instruction, group bonding, and general camaraderie, which sounds like a pretty sweet gig.
That's all for now folks, I'll try to post again soon. Right now I gotta book it home before my host mom worry's herself into a tizzy over my absence and calls the police/army/Country Director, etc.
I'm in DC in a Holiday Inn enjoying the last air conditioning I'll be feeling for some time. Reality is beginning to sink in that I'm finally really doing this thing, and that tomorrow I'll be taking up residence in a strange and faraway land.
There are 74 Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) in the Kaz-22 group (Peace Corps lingo for the 22nd group of volunteers to head to Kazakhstan). Most volunteers work in the Education (EDU) program, while the rest work in Youth Development (YD) program. I'm a YD trainee, so after 3 months of rigorous language, business, culture, etc. training I'll be placed with a host organization to do an as of yet undetermined job. Youth Development volunteers in K-stan seem to work across a vast spectrum of youth organizations and non-profits. It's all a bit unclear, but once I get to my site, I hope to have a better sense of the job description.
Tomorrow we leave at 12:30pm for Dulles Airport where I'll lug my 4 unruly bags (2 checked, 2 carry-ons) through security to hop a flight to Frankfurt. After a 6 hour layover there, we'll hop another flight to Almaty, KZ. We'll arrive in Kazakhstan at about 1am, and need to be at training at 7am that morning. It's going to be a few days of exhaustion and stress, but at least there's 74 of us in the same boat. And I think we're all up to the challenge. Or we're really good at faking it.
In packing for the long trek to Kazakhstan, I have compiled a briefly itemized list of some things included in the process:
Pairs of long underwear - 4 Movies downloaded to my hard drive - 61 Gifts for my host families - 12 Copies of my passport hidden amongst my belongings - 3 Books - 5 Books in English - 4 Music in gigabytes - 21.6 Pictures of those I'm most fond of - 63 Amount of flu I'm vaccinated against - H1N1 Hours remaining stateside - 11 Times I unpacked everything and repacked it all - 4.5 (the last time I only repacked one of my bags, hence the 0.5) Rum and cokes we will partake of this evening - many
Whew! I'm finally packed. I think. And hope. I'm allowed to bring 2 large bags that will be checked, each weighing no more than 50 lbs. It's ridiculous to think that a person could pack for 2 entire years in 2 suitcases. But I think I've done it! I'm taking a rolling duffel and a hiker's backpack, which I'm hoping I can successfully navigate through multiple airports and the streets/paths/unpaved roads of Kazakhstan. I'm also taking a sweet backpack as a carry-on that's slash-proof. If James Bond used backpacks, he would use this backpack. It's perfect spy gear. Or Peace Corps gear, as it turns out.
I'm doing my best to round up random trinkets, knickknacks and whirligigs that I want to bring along, and I've been snapping pictures like crazy to show my host family. I'm getting more excited and less nervous with every hour, though I'm sure the second I'm in DC I'll panic a bit. But I hope it will be an exciting sort of panicking.
Good lord, I'm leaving soon! It's been a hectic week of packing and unpacking and repacking. I'm currently at a repacking stage. Hopefully it's the final repacking, fingers crossed! I still have many things to do, including, but not limited to:
1. Getting extra passport pictures, 2. Buying a few last minute things (shoe glue, among other things), 3. Filling out paperwork for staging in DC, 4. Doing laundry(s), 5. Filling out ever-enjoyable student loan paperwork, 6. Catching dinner with the fam, 7. Emailing old professors and supervisors regarding my whereabouts, 8. Checking in online for my flight, 9. Not panicking.
This is a relatively short and likely incomplete list. I'm sure I'll think of more things the second I try to fall asleep.
