10 Month Update

Hopefully, by the time I get this posted, I will have been in the ol’ Kyrgyz Republic for 10 months! Hard to imagine that it has almost been a year. I can’t say the time has flown by (I actually think it might have been frozen for a little while during the summer), but it does seem that time is keeping on, as it usually does. I have now experienced every season in country, though I still have quite a bit of spring left to enjoy before the death grip of summer comes back around. As always, here is a run of how things are going:

· I have successfully completed 39.13% (45 of 115 weeks), so basically 2/5 done. It seems odd to put it in such terms, but that’s the way it is. Seriously, you guys need to get this economy turned around or I will stay another year. I’ll do it, too. You know how people are when they get those cushy government jobs…

· I haven’t taken another language test, but I can assure you that I am easily within the top 0.008% of Kyrgyz speakers in the world (assuming 6.2 billion people worldwide and 5 million Kyrgyz people). The biggest problem, however, is that I am definitely in the bottom most percentile in my village, except for that one Russian guy who refuses to learn Kyrgyz and is quite proud of the fact.

· We have not had much of a loss of volunteers since the last bi-monthly report. As far as my group goes, we have only lost one person in the last two months. If I do my math right, that should bring us to an even 40.

· I bought a huge Peace Corps shirdak last month. If I remember, I will put a picture on the page. Outside of that, no major purchases of any interest. We got a pay raise last month of a whopping 40 som ($1.11), since Peace Corps found it necessary to differentiating the pay between those in villages and those in cities. So now, not only do the people in the cities actually have a choice of what they can buy, they can actually afford it now too.

· Still have not been the victim of a crime, but I am staying vigilant. If I remember my training correctly, this is the time of service it is most likely to happen, since I am getting comfortable in my site and not being as careful about things.

· My family is down to 3 cows, 2 sheep and 2 lambs. Our cat went missing and is presumed dead. I think that means I can get a chick now, though Peace Corps says I shouldn’t because of “bird flu.” All off our sheep went to pasture, except for one that is pregnant and another that is milking the two lambs. It is starting to get a little lonely, I must admit.

· My not throwing up in country streak has come to a terrible end. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I want to remind everyone to remember not to mix alcohol and any kind of medication. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I don’t think I will ever make that mistake again.

· Holidays have been aplenty this April and May. Noroos was at the end of March and was alright. I was in Bishkek at the time, so I might have missed some of the fun. May 1 is International Workers’ Day; May 5 Constitution Day; and May 9 is Victory Day. Needless to say, I won’t get any work done until about June, so I guess I should give up on that front.

· I guess my luster is starting to wear off. Proposals for “daughter meeting” have dramatically fallen off. Maybe my strategy of telling people how I am actually not rich is starting to backfire. Now people have started asking about what I plan to do when I go back to America. When you really look at the question from their perspective, my status has changed from “I want him to marry my daughter” to “when is this guy leaving”? I guess that is what happens when people really get to know you

· I am still reading quite a bit, though not nearly at the level I was during the winter. An increase in my ability to communicate and to walk outdoors has dramatically reduced my time/desire for reading. As mentioned in a previous entry, I read a Chingiz Aitmatov book and enjoyed it. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald was really good. Currently reading a book on the history of the Soviet Union and Jude the Obscure. I really love endings where everybody dies, I guess. Having The Office Season 2 sent to me has not helped in inspiring me to read either.

On an unrelated note, say thank you to all of your teachers and people you know that are teachers. National Teachers Appreciation Week is this week (May 6-12). Sam, you are the only professional teacher that I know, so I guess I will say “I appreciate you” because there is no way I could do what you do. Seriously, little kids are gross.