Kyrgyzstan is not for 'cry-babies'

I am now a month into 'Pre-Service Training' and it feels as though a year has gone by. The group of volunteers (there are 61 total) have settled into villages outside of Kant City and are living with local families. Some of us are learning Russian, which is spoken by almost everyone and is the language of commerce and administration, and others (myself included) are learning Kyrgyz which is the national language and spoken almost exclusively the home.

(Above: This is a typical outdoor dining setup, this was a birthday celebration .... )

I live with a family of five, two parents and three children. They have hosted PC volunteers before and are very warm and welcoming. My host mother is a Russian teacher at a local school, and my host father is a farmer. One of their children, the oldest son, speaks English fluently - so I am both blessed and cursed by the ability to express myself. I find that I will quickly take advantage of the in-house English speaker, instead of attempting to speak Kyrgyz. It's amazing how easy it is to take for granted the ability to be understood ... I hope that one day, instead of staring at my host mother over tea, I will be able to say something .... :) For now, more staring..

I am a TEFL volunteer, so I am training to teach English in secondary schools here. As a part of our training, myself and other TEFL volunteers have started to teach English to local children twice a week. We work outside, in small roofed platforms with little to no materials, but so far it seems the children really enjoy it. I'm always surprised at how much interest there is to learn English here. Sometimes, the childrens' mothers will come to our "English Club" ... and I catch them taking notes :)

Life in the village has proved to be challenging for all of us. All but one out of the nine volunteers in my village have been ill. I have developed some interesting medical conditions, to say the least (I'll let your imagination fill in the information gap here) :) And, I can't seem to quell the constant state of unrest in my stomach. I'm told this is normal, and so .... I'm trying to stay positive.

I have much to say about Kyrgyzstan and its people... Look for more soon!

Deanna :)

My address

My address for my first three months (pre-service training) is :

KYRGYZSTAN
722140 Kant City
Lenina 97, RUPS
P.O. Box 22
Attention: Deanna Evans

The countdown begins..

So it seems I've made it. That is, all of my paperwork is done and I've been medically and legally cleared to begin training as a Peace Corps volunteer. As many of you know, this has been a long and unsteady process ... but alas, I will be boarding a plane Wednesday for Philadelpha where the Peace Corp Kyrgyz Republic group will attend what's referred to as 'staging'.

It's basically a meet and greet, and a chance for everyone to re-evaluate their commitment to serving a two year term - a job often described by returned volunteers as, "the hardest job you'll ever love."

I am looking excitedly towards my near future, and looking behind with bleary eyes - for I have known some truly wonderful people here and will miss them dearly. To all my friends and family - thank you for your continual support and kind wishes.

Look forward to some interesting posts in the near future, I'm sure there will be much of interest in Kyrgyzstan.

:) Deanna