Saturday, April 24, 2010

First picture from K-stan

Hey everyone, I finally got a chance to take a few pictures of my village. Unfortunately, I could only upload one to the blog...I am going to try to get more online soon!

Below is a picture I took on my way to school in the morning. On clear days this is the view I see out my bedroom window when I wake up to each morning. See there really are mountains in Kyrgyzstan!NOTE: The postal code for Kant city has changed...I updated the address in the previous blog post, so make sure you use the updated version.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Maybe I'm not meant to be clean

I want to prefix this blog post by saying that it was never my intention to have a blog about showering and to my knowledge no other volunteer in my village is having any problems or confusion with their Banyas. Apparently I’m just no good at bathing. Week three in my village and second Sunday of the adventure (technically third but I spent the second one at an “undisclosed location” so no stories about showering there. Sorry), that means it’s Banya time! I was super excited for my warm Sunday Banya as we have had cold, rainy weather for about a week now. I know I explained last time that a Banya is basically a sauna room where you shower.

This room is heated, of course, by fire. There is an old metal stove/oven in the Banya with a thick metal chimney that takes the smoke out of the room. I hope you all are following so far. I decided that I wanted my clothes to be warm post banya so I laid them out nicely on top of the metal fire pit/ stove/ oven thingy. My glasses were fogged up so it took me a minute to realize that I had actually managed to lay my synthetic-spandex-type-
material Under Armor shirt on the chimney portion of the stove, and it was now engulfed in flames. Acting fast I moved it to the floor and threw cold water on it. The black shirt then proceeded to turn green and then melt back together a couple sizes smaller and missing the majority of a left arm. Oops.

Besides my lack in Banya ability things are going great. I spend the majority of my days in Kyrgyz class and will have the opportunity to start teaching at the local school once a week. For my first lesson I have been instructed to teach the concept and vocabulary associated with Halloween to a room full of 9th graders. We’ll see how that goes. I’m guessing it will involve a lot of practice screaming---and candy of course. As all classes should.

Below is my address in case you want to send me an awesome care-package. It’s best to copy it from here so it’s in both English and Kyrgyz.


Kyrgyzstan,
725000, Kant city
97 Lenina Street, RUPS
Mailbox # 22
Joanna Ison

Кыргызстан,
ин. 725000, г. Кант
ул. Ленина 97, РУПС
аб. ящик № 22
Joanna Ison

Friday, April 9, 2010

More news and Banya fun


 

Hey everyone,

So I have been instructed that I must write some stories on my blog. Being that I can't write about the most exciting stories I guess I will just share a funny one.

I had my first banya (shower) last Sunday. Since most Kyrgyz people only Banya once a week, banya's are actually a pretty big production. So it's this room that is heated with coals like a sauna, it's really warm and relaxing. Then there is a huge bathtub of cold water and a big pot of hot water on the coals as well as an empty bucket. The idea is that you mix the hot and cold water in the bucket and then bath yourself. Simple enough. The thing that wasn't explained to me was each banya has a drain on the floor so you literally just bath yourself in this room. I however, didn't know that and didn't want to be the American who flooded the banya so I spent the first 5 min or so trying to figure out how to bath myself. I didn't want to stand in the tub and get my dirty water in with the clean water, that just didn't seem sanitary. So finally I decided to stand in this small bucket that was suppose to be used for mixing the temperatures of water and bath myself carefully to ensure that the bucket caught all of the water and I spilled very minimal amounts on the floor. When I was done I brought the bucket outside and asked my host mom where to throw the water, she just laughed at me, brought it back in the banya and threw it down the clearly visible drain that I had just missed. Opps. Also, I found out the next day in class that the average banya lasts about an hour, cause it's a relaxing sauna duh. I was in mine for ten min tops confused and not relaxed. Needless to say I'm excited for next attempt at a Krygyzstan banya.

I guess general stuff, my host family is great and my host parents are younger then me which is kind of odd but cool. I'm learning Kyrgyz faster than I've ever learned another language but I am deff years from being fluent.

I hope all is well in the states, and I'm kind of glad that CNN has forced you all to know exactly where Kyrgyzstan is located on a map!

I'm safe!

Hey everyone,

I can't really say much but I am safe. I'm still in Krygyzstan- can't say where but in a really safe place in country with the rest of the PCV.

Also, I can’t talk politics even if I did know anything so please don’t send me anything political about Kyrgyzstan or the US or Russia or anyone really. But I am safe and haven’t felt unsafe for a second.

Miss you all!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Update on Jo

Hi all,
This is Joanna's sister. As many of you may know there is serious 'unrest' right now in Kyrgyzstan. For those that don't know check out BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8608440.stm) or CNN...I suggest BBC. Anyways, we have not heard from Jo but one of the volunteer's parent was able to get through the Peace Corps office and posted this on Facebook:

"I just talked to a Peace Corps rep in Washington D.C. All of the Peace Corps trainees in Kyrgyzstan (70 were in the group) have been put on “stand fast... See More” status. The Peace Corps is especially watchful and protective of the trainees since they are all new in the country. All trainees have been accounted for and are safe.

The rep mentioned the Peace Corps country rep for Kyrgyzstan was at the State Dept. as we spoke. Additional information should be posted on the Peace Corps website (www.peacecorps.gov) as it becomes available. (There is no news there right now.)"

I know many of you are worried about Jo and I will definitely post any information the families receive on her blog. Likewise if any of you hear from Jo please share any and all updates. I would also suggest checking out the Facebook group "
Peace Corps - Kyrgyz Republic - Family of K-18" parents have been very good about posting anything they hear.

-Jennifer