Christmas/Being bitten by a dog

Things had been a little too normal around here. Work had been progressing normally and family life was pretty much just as it has always been. The days were starting to get shorter and the nights a bit colder, but nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. Blogs had been getting harder to write. Who wants to know about a normal day?

The Christmas season, pretty much came and went. The whole holiday hustle and bustle just doesn’t exist here. Kyrgyzstan, being a predominantly Muslim country, does not celebrate Christmas. I had a hard time getting into the whole Christmas spirit without a TV shouting at me to buy something. No late nights closing up the store, no credit card debt, and no Santa Claus. To be honest, the day kind of snuck up on all of us. Before we knew it, Christmas was here.

My Christmas Day started off pretty normal. My friend Erin and I decided to make an American breakfast that morning (well, kind of American. She’s a vegetarian, but don’t hold it against her). Eggs over easy, hash browns, kiwi, and hot bread got the day off to a good start. We decided to head to the post office since we knew we had packages. Upon arrival, we realized we had a lot of packages, including one for another volunteer named Lorenzo. Since Lorenzo wasn’t feeling well, we decided to make a Christmas house call.

Lorenzo enjoyed his package and the company. Erin and I left, but soon separated when she expressed a desire to use the internet in the café on our way home. I proceeded on my way homeward with my two packages in hand. I walked for about 15 minutes and finally made it to my street. I was humming along with quite a bit of excitement, wondering what could be in the boxes (truth be told, I peeked at the Monopoly game). All of a sudden, I felt a sudden presence on my left leg. I turned around and sure enough, a dog was biting me. After dropping the packages and a couple F-bombs, I swung around to kick the mutt, but he had already scurried away. I picked up the packages went limped the 200 yards left to get home.

Once home, my dad helped me wash the bite and treat the wound. There wasn’t much damage: I was wearing jeans and the dog hadn’t actually pierced my skin. I was bleeding, so I called the Peace Corps doctor to be on the safe side. Sure enough, Peace Corps decided to error on the side of caution and I got a free vacation to Bishkek for three days to get rabies shots! Anyway, I went to my room and unwrapped the presents. They were wonderful.

That night, Erin’s host family had a Christmas dinner for us. While it wasn’t a ham, it was very nice. Her mother was quite determined to make sure that we felt at home. They had a small gift exchange and we had a cake (which is a big deal here). The evening was delightful. Afterwards, I came home, took a few pain pills, and packed for my trip to Bishkek. Pretty much a normal Christmas!

To end, I would like to thank everyone that sent boxes (listed in order they arrived): Stephanie; Mom and Dad; Karla, Inee, and Laurie; and Yong. I would also like to shame those of you who didn’t: Darrel Moreland. It really does me good to get things in the mail. It is just nice to know that people back home are thinking of me!