My First Kyrgyz Home - Ivanovka Station

Training Days

So much has happened since we left the hotel two Tuesdays ago. It’s been two weeks since I left the comfort of toilets, showers, internet, and speaking English. Now outhouses, showers every fourth day, and speaking Kyrgyz are my daily norm. I’m lucky to have a shower and an indoor toilet I can use at night. Other volunteers take banyas on the weekend, Sunday, and may have to trek to the outhouse at night. I shouldn’t get too comfy though because this will all change in three months. 

Once we left the hotel, we started our pre-service training. This training happens in three stages and gives volunteers all the resources and experience they need to serve.  Phase one includes language and cultural learning. In phase one we get a host family that will help us learn the language, integrate into Kyrgyz culture, and ease us into life in a different country. At the end of this phase, we have a language test and will get sworn in to officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer. In phase two we go to our permanent site to test things out and begin to integrate into the community. We will get another host family that we will live with for our two years of service. In phase three, we return to our pre-service training sites and get technical training in exactly what we will be helping with. Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan has three types of volunteers, English/Teacher Trainers, Health Volunteers, and Community Development Volunteers. I am an English teacher where I help a Kyrgyz English teacher develop lesson plans, work on their English, and help provide worldly views in everyday matters. 

Currently, I’m just starting out phase one where we go to school six days a week and have language class with six other volunteers. The Kyrgyz school system has school on Saturday, but we just attend for a half day. Sunday is the only weekend day.  In my village, Ivanovka Station, there are two language groups. Sometimes we get together as a larger group and our teachers team teach. The language learning is very rapid and we are given a great deal of information. I’m usually tired everyday after processing large amounts of grammar rules, new vocabulary, and big lunches. 

Everyday our language group of six guests and another person’s house. Our host moms make different Kyrgyz dishes and always include large amounts of chai, or tea. Food here is oily, fatty, and bland. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious, but limited. An average meal consists of a carrot and cabbage or cucumber and tomato salad, lots of bread (nan), and a main dish. The main dish usually includes rice or potatoes and carrots and a meat. At breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you can find candy and cookies to eat with your chai. Sweets are always around.

One thing I really enjoy is drinking chai with a spoonful of raspberry preserves mixed in. Kyrgyz people believe this can cure any cold or sickness. So far I have not gotten sick, but it’s only been a week. And hey, I drink my chai with raspberries everyday. Maybe that’s it?

Some days all volunteers meet up at a hub site where we get health, technical training, and other more general information. In my year, there are 60 volunteers spread out in about six different villages. On hub site days, we travel from all around and meet up for group trainings. It’s great to see everyone again where we talk about our host families and what we did that week.

My host family is made up of one person. I live with an Apa (mother) who has three other children around my age living in Bishkek and Istanbul. With the language barrier, I’m not quite sure where my Ata (father) is, but it’s just the two of us at home usually. Every time we have a meal it’s a time to review what I learned in language class and build my vocabulary. I have learned more language in one week than I ever thought I could. 

After language class I sometimes go over to other volunteer’s houses to study, play frisbee in the field, or go home and talk with my Apa. The best part of this past week was when a group of us walked to the end of our village and took pictures of the mountains. The mountains here are amazing! They definitely made me feel even more at home. While this experience is going to be challenging, I know that the mountains are a place I can go for comfort. 

For now, I think this is a good introduction on what is going on. In a future post I’ll show my village, house, and Kyrgz language teacher. Right now I’m trying to take everything in, experience as much as I can, and practice the language. 

A funny side note: At dinner tonight, I asked my Apa what type of meat we were eating with our rice. We were eating the Kyrgyz national dish of rice, meat, carrots, and peppers. She said in perfect English, ‘children.’ I looked at her funny and she went on to say, ‘children koi?’ Koi is the word for sheep. She then said ‘child koi.’ A light bulb went off in my head. GOT IT! Lamb. We both laughed because she realized her mistake. We were not eating children, but lamb. Oh languages!