We've just passed our 1 year mark in Kyrgyzstan! It's crazy to think about, 27 months used to seem like an unimaginably long time, especially when I first arrived. I remember thinking that PST was never going to end. But now here we are, a year in, I survived the winter, and I have enough landmarks to see me through the rest of my service.
Here's what I've been up to in this last year:
Mom and dad came to see me off at the airport. We had a pre-departure orientation in Washington DC and I got to meet the people I would be spending the next 27 months with.
We arrived in KR and spent the first few days in Cholpon Ata at a nice hotel. I remember seeing the snow capped mountains across the massive lake, and that all of the food was white. We were introduced to the numerous types of kasha (like oatmeal made with milk, and can be almost any kind of grain) and more dairy than I've had in years.
Tim and I met our PST host mothers for the first time at the PST family matching ceremony. I could barely say hello and was incredibly nervous. It took me several months before I realized how awesome, relaxed and accepting my PST family was. I had no reason to worry!
PST was hard but I look back on it now fondly. Our LCF was amazing and made language classes fun, this is us practicing how to speak to a mashrutka driver. We took a break everyday for group lunches with our host families. Kyrgyz people are very competitive and this played in our favor, our host moms and kalins prepared awesome meals for us. These were some of the best meals I've had in country.
Less than two months later we were assigned to our permanent sites. Summer was an adventure. On my own for the first time I had to figure out how to live in KR: shopping, taking taxis, cooking on a hot plate, bathing in a banya.
My host family took me on a picnic by the river.
Meeting up with other volunteers was a nice break, it was a relief to be able to speak English! We hiked up to Altyn Arashan, the weather was pretty terrible, it started hailing and the mountain turned to mud, but the hot springs at the end were great!
I went to a garlic festival at a another volunteer's village. We sang a couple English songs and watched a game of kokbaru.
We returned for a few weeks in August to finish training. It was nice to be reunited with our host families and other volunteers. I felt like I was coming home for spring break. I even brought all my dirty laundry to wash at my PST house!
Kunduz taught us a Kyrgyz dance and we performed it in front of our host families and volunteers.
I taught a group of boys about reproductive health and HIV at TOBE camp, and got to hang out on the beach!
In October I took a short trip to Istanbul and was happy to see my parents, and enjoy the sights and delicious food.
As soon as I got back we had our first snow... and well, this was pretty much how my winter went:
But the perk of being in Issyk Kul is that we get to do fun things like ski and go snowshoeing in the mountains.
And I got to meet Obama.
Тамаша.
But I did check out the Obama bar and the Putin pub in Bishkek.
In March I moved to Ak Suu, I was sad to leave my old host family but excited to start my new job! And the view is pretty amazing too.
Anna and Becca came over for Easter and we decorated Easter eggs with my host siblings and introduced them to pad thai and brunch.
It's getting warmer now and I'm thrilled that summer is on it's way with all of the wonderful things that it brings like cheap vegetables, fresh jams, and hiking, and the joy of being outside without freezing to death.
I've started a fitness club in my village.
