Last Christmas....

Okay, so I think that Christmas reminds me of home and all the comforts that home offers, but then when I really think about it, I wonder, what would I be doing at home for Christmas anyway? Last Christmas, I worked, much like this Christmas. I, actually, worked a double on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, at a group home. On Christmas Day, I had to work at 2 different homes – I went, reluctantly, but I still went, I wanted only to stay at one home, oh the things I did!

It was a superb day; a great Christmas, even though I was “working.” I worked in the morning at my FAVORITE home with my two FAVORITE co-workers! And Santa, of course, stopped at our house as well. In the morning we all opened gifts! Clean up followed, then dinner prep! One of my co-workers shared his favorite beverage from home – he’s from Africa – it tasted like vomit – I can still remember the taste quite well, even my other co-worker thought so!

I really loved my group home job, I called them today to wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – I, also, of course would love to pick up shifts…in 22 months. Despite what The Boss may think, I do plan on returning to it – well, I guess, as long as I would be rehired! I’ll hold my breath – I’ll have SO much more to offer after my two years here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

This was my first Christmas away from friends and family and I did find myself a bit homesick, but I managed well and tried to have a good Christmas, despite no Christmas in Kazakhstan L

On Christmas morning I wandered through the bazaar and found super cute socks – the fuzzy kind – for cheap – I bought a couple pair for my best work friends! I wrapped them with magazine pages – my new favorite kind of wrapping. I said, “Merry Christmas!” And told them it was a Holiday in America. Then they went to the store and purchased a yolk-a for me and decorated it, when they gave it to me they said “Merry Christmas” as best they could – it was so sweet!

In the afternoon, I celebrated Christmas with my English club! We had been learning about Christmas since pretty much the beginning of December. On Christmas day, I brought in Christmas music! That in and of itself was a big hit! We had cookies and candy and played games like pin the nose on frosty! That was fun. Then we made ornaments from cardstock to decorate a tree and snowflakes to hang throughout the classroom. And of course there were small gifts from the bazaar! Oh glorious day!

We finally got snow on December 19! I have seen the pictures of the snow that ya’ll got back home and found myself oddly jealous! We got only a few inches – but it was still nice! Now it’s just a layer of thick ice and it is freezing cold here – I’m not sure how cold because I have yet to figure out Celsius! But I know that it is REALLY cold! It is then that I am thankful for the large buildings that block the cold wind!

No Mullets Please

Well, I finally did it! I got my hair cut in Kazakhstan – let me tell you I was SUPER nervous! I did have to continue reminding myself throughout the cutting that it was only hair and it would grow back – I kept trying to think of the worst thing that could possibly happen and remind myself that it would be “fixable.” My hair was getting nappy and gross and NEEDED to be cut – it hasn’t had a REAL cut since mid-August! I wanted my usual 2 inches off and layers, the layers were what made me the most nervous. I mentioned that I wanted to get a cut earlier this week, at work, and the gal whose desk is perpendicular mine, Rada, said that she was getting a cut on Saturday and invited me along. I did my best to explain to the English teacher what I wanted, who then told Rada who was going to be with me so that she could tell the cutter J Of course, I had to go by centimeters and not inches – but that was a fairly easy conversion using the converter on my phone.

The woman who cut my hair, took out scissors, began cutting, and speaking to me in VERY fast Russian! AHH! Rada was able to come to my rescue and explain how I wanted my hair cut. The woman desperately wanted to give me angle type bangs – but I really did not want that! She settled for a weird cross over in the front, which at first I didn’t want either, but she was insistent, so I decided that it would not be the end of the world – and left it the way she put it until just after we left the salon – but when I look at pictures, I kind of like the weird part thing. I do plan on return before 4 months!

Party Time!

Last week was Independence Day in Kazakhstan and it also happened to be the birthday of my host sister – who turned 13! I was excited for her and we had LOTS of guest over. Of course I had thought about what I was going to get her for almost all week. I finally decided on a Rihanna notebook and some gel pens that I was able to find at the bazaar. I also threw in some packets of Kool-Aid (there is no Kool-Aid in KSTAN – those of you who enjoy this bring lots – even if you don’t think you enjoy – bring lots – you will soon come to love this childhood drink). My host sister loves Kool-Aid and is sad that there is not Kool-Aid here, I was happy to share mine. J I didn’t want to buy wrapping paper – you know Peace Corps budget and all, but I didn’t just wanna give it to her unwrap, so I got creative and made it a themed gift. I have a few People Magazines with me – that are forever old, but I just can’t part without them – I went through the pictures and found pages with Rihanna. I taped the pages together to make it large enough to wrap the gift and then wrapped it – I must say, I was quite impressed with myself J

Today has been an exciting day and it is still early! I was finally able to sleep in! (It’s Sunday today – but will most likely be a weekday when I post this) I woke at 10am and cleaned, yea doesn’t sound THAT exciting. Then I had chai and cookies for breakfast and then my host family asked for help with preparation of supper! I was thrilled, of course I wanted to help! We are having Monte, which is my lu-be-me (favorite). I last had it on November 7 – the day Trainees officially became Volunteers – my previous host mom made this for dinner as she knew it was my favorite and it was my last night with them L I was most excited about the meat grinder today though! I had never before used one (and to sound completely naïve, I really never thought about the idea that at some point my own meat back home had to go through this – it doesn’t come out already packaged as “ground beef” – no my friends, it does not J). They let me be in charge of it! I got a little carried away and took pictures lots of me with the meat – but in my defense back home I buy already grinded meat, my family thought it was weird that I would take so many pictures, but I really was excited!

Christmas Trees

Christmas is not a holiday celebrated in Kazakhstan – I know sad day! But before you get too sad, know that I am having a “holiday exchange” at my school and there will be a Christmas celebration – complete with caroling, hot chocolate, gifts and even a Christmas concert, put on by the children of my school (as requested per my director – she asked if I would be interested in doing it on a day that was not one of my greatest here – but that made me SO much happier!)

In class we drew a tree on poster board and taped it to the wall, as well as, a fireplace so that we could hang out stockings there “with care!” We made stockings with colored paper and each took turns hanging them up using tape. Then “Jingle Bells” was the song that was taught – soon “We wish you a Merry Christmas” will also be taught – but that was enough for one day!

Last Sunday I went to the bazaar to purchase my own Christmas tree (or New Year’s Tree, I guess – called a “yolk-a”). New Year’s is a BIG deal in Kazakhstan and there are trees for this Holiday – decorated very much like a Christmas tree back home would be! The one I purchased is VERY small, but I have come to LOVE it! I also purchased some lights to wrap around it and when it was “decorated” I plugged it in and went to get my host family to have them come and see it! They laughed at the idea of a New Year’s Tree being put up this early! I tried to explain that it was a Christmas tree – but due to my lack of Russian, I was unable to say it. They said that they would put a big New Year’s Tree up on December 21!

But still NO snow! I know – I shouldn’t complain – but really – if it’s going to be THIS cold, it might as well be snowing! And Christmas wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t snow – but there may not be snow for me this year, which is actually unusual for Kazakhstan and just 5 hours North of me there is snow!

A view from the Top!

While PCVs are not allowed to drive, we are allowed to take rides from strangers and from the local friends we make (the ones who have cars). Last Saturday, a local friend drove to an overlook in my city that allows one to see the whole city! The view from the top is WONDERFUL! And it was just above the lake at sunset. It was beautiful – I really do love my city! Afterwards, he drove to another area where we could walk out onto the frozen lake – but the cautious side of me came out as I was unsure about whether or not the ice was frozen enough to support me, so I watched as my friends walked out onto the ice and then wanted to “test the waters” for myself – I managed to walk out a little – but really I just took pictures!

A Kazak Party

Today after work I wandered back through the bazaar, determined today to find a hat! And I found one! It is SO fun looking and warm and cheap! My plan is to always look interested until they tell me a price and then I speak broken Russian – this way no one really knows that I don’t fit in here! I was super happy with my purchase – I also purchased mittens (and thought of one of my good PCV friends)!

I got home and was informed that it was the birthday of my host mom’s brother-in-law and we were going to a birthday party – I was nervous because I didn’t have any toasts memorized, but I went with it anyway! We got there and of course, I was awesome and amazing just for being there! That’s my favorite! They didn’t do toasts at this party – they also didn’t speak in Russian at all – only Kazak. I know very little Kazak, but managed as best I could. We had beshbarmark (which translated in Kazak means 5 fingers) and yes is eaten with your hands! It’s a fun tradition that I am still unable to do – thankfully they allow me to have a plate and don’t think of it as rude – it’s just the “crazy American.”

Thanksgiving!

My first 12 hour overnight bus alone went well, I mean I made a few “friends” who talked to me and tried to be patient with my Russian ability or lack there of. Early Friday morning my train was in a BIG city and was greeted by a familiar face! It was a wonderful meeting after 3 LONG weeks of being apart and in unfamiliar settings (mind you we spent every day together for 12 weeks – so 3 weeks is a lot!). We attempted to purchase my ticket back, but the woman wanted us to go speak to the police – since our Russian isn’t all that great, we opted to “come back later” and hopefully with someone who would be able to help.

We took a bus back to her place where I met her host mom, ate breakfast, changed and showered…she has a REAL shower – you know the kind where you stand during a shower and keep the water running? IT WAS WONDERFUL!

In the afternoon, my friend’s host mom agreed to meet us to purchase a return ticket. This time it worked – no questions asked. Then we headed over to her site mate’s apartment where we celebrated Thanksgiving with other Peace Corps Volunteers. We had lots of delicious food! Including: chicken, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, hummus, cauliflower and even pie! One of the Volunteers here made pumpkin pie – with real pumpkin! Be impressed! But no Jell-O L I know usually I say, “It’s not a holiday, unless there’s Jell-O, but it was the best we could do in another country! After dinner we watched “A Christmas Story” and others of us chit-chatted about everything!

The following day, I finally purchased a classy purse and can stop carrying my huge back pack everywhere!

Don't Judge

So the time of day that used to be my favorite has now become my least favorite. During PST I loved lunch time – I loved meeting up at the hub with everyone and discussing everything about everything. I loved that we would all share lunches, if someone forgot a lunch it was never a problem because the rest of us all had TOO much lunch anyway. I loved setting the things we didn’t want in the middle and the daily saying of, “is this up for grabs.” I loved when someone received a package from home and it was Christmas for everyone because we all shared (we were all winners!), I love us Kaz-20! Now I have lunch with 5 wonderful women who don’t speak any English and generally I speak very little and understand next to nothing; we all have the same meal so it’s not like we can trade and I don’t know how interested they would be in trading anyway. Today I went to lunch a little bit late only to find far more than 5 women in the “Teacher’s lunch room!” There were 15 women sitting around a much larger table! On the table was lots of delicious looking food! Among the types of meat…HORSE! I was so excited to try horse! Now before you begin to judge me, know that in Kazakhstan horses are not kept as pets and there are lots of “wild” horses. I know that eating horse back home would be so WRONG! And how many others times in my life will I be able to try horse! I thought I might gag at the idea of eating an animal that we don’t eat at home (and couldn’t help thinking about one of my good friend’s back home who has a horse – sorry Deb), but to my surprise it was very delicious! There was also wine at this lunch which we don’t normally have with lunch and it was followed by toasts, which I cannot really say yet because of my lack of Russian skills, but I did what I could and most people are generally impressed – Maladeyets Christina!

I attempted laundry again today and did it the way that I was taught last week – personally I think it’s more efficient the way I do it, but then again, during PST my host mom did everything for me, so I guess I really don’t know and I wanted clean clothes for my weekend trip! I could wash like 4 items at a time – which really is not that many at all, but on the upside only took 20 minutes in the washer and I didn’t have to hand wash them! I purchased a ticket to go north to be with other Volunteers for Thanksgiving – well, actually I get there on Friday because I work on Thanksgiving and would work generally the day after as well, but took a day off – I know crazy! I’m totally excited! I’m going to meet one of my very favorite Kaz-20 friends! (and all of her site mates). I was told that they have snow – we do not have snow yet – I know I shouldn’t complain about that, but if it’s going to be cold it might as well be snowing! So thankful I don’t have to drive in it this year!

Last week I was riding the bus home when I saw a massive amount of people at the Cinema, curious about what was going on, I made my way toward the cinema. I could see a bazaar type thing, but could not see what it was they were selling. I thought ‘this must be a mini bazaar’ which I was all about because BIG bazaar are too overwhelming for me. I went to the cinema and as I got closer I realized it was a meat market. They were cutting meat everywhere and there were cow heads sitting on tables! It was kind of gross / cool at the same time!

Week #2

My second week here has been full and crazy and I have enjoyed every minute of it – well, I’ve enjoyed this week more than I did last, as I still feel like I’m still learning every thing and figuring out what life in Kazakhstan is all about! I made spaghetti for my family – I’m unsure of how they felt about it, but I loved it! Even if it didn’t taste like it would if I had had Ragu – Three Cheese flavor!

There is a Bowling Alley here!! It’s 3000T (it’s like $30) per hour so the more people we have the less we pay, of course, the less we bowl also, but I think like 5 is a good number? Kaz-20s WHEN you come visit me, we are definitely going! I found gummy bears at the bazaar the other day! They were cheap and they were SUPER good! Still no diet coke though – I think I’m over my addiction! I have had regular coke, but only like 1 per week since I’ve been at site!

I did laundry at my family’s house this week! I needed to! I wanted to throw everything together, it’s faster that way, but my host mom did not like that! So I split it up into 3 groups, but only did 2 because the 2nd one was unbalanced so began to make a crazy noise and my host mom got nervous and said I could do the rest tomorrow – I got nervous (because I don’t wanna break the thing) and said that I didn’t need to do laundry .

I’ve watched a few American films dubbed in Russian here – the most recent was Material Girls with Hilary and Haley Duff – it was on TV the other day and I have learned that if I listen closely enough I can hear the English behind the Russian – I’m told that watching TV is a good activity and fun way to learn Russian but if I can’t understand what they are saying, it would be difficult for me to regurgitate what I hear in the correct context.

School here is Monday – Saturday, which is totally crazy and I have a difficult time adjusting to being at school on a Saturday, even though during PST we had language classes on Saturday and all the days are short (school is 830a – 2pm), I just cannot get used to it! Anyway, I went to the bus stop where I normally catch bus #12. I stood there for what seemed like a REALLY long time and the bus never came, so I said to myself “I’m going to get on the next bus that comes.” It was bus #11, which I have seen 11 near my school before, so I thought it must be safe…right? WRONG! The bus went out of town! Not really far out of town, but nevertheless, out of town. It went to the local factory here which makes metals and lets lots of smoke off into the sky. That’s where a lot of people work so my bus was kind of crowded. We get there and everyone gets off – mind you, I know that this bus is going to go back to where it picked me up, so I stay on the bus and people getting done with work get on. They charge me a second time to continue riding and we head back into town! I get off the bus where I got on and decide that it would be a good idea to walk because 1) I can’t find bus #12 and 2) I was a little irritated. So I walk like 25 minutes to work – talking to myself and deciding that I was not going to have a bad day because of the bus mix up. I reminded myself that I want to ride all 4 buses here just to see where they go and now I do not have to ride #11 because I know it goes to the factory

It snowed here last week! But now enough to stay – it has, however, been incredibly cold and I’m still trying to figure out temperatures that are Celsius! Like -5 C sounds REALLY cold, and it is cold, but not –degrees Fahrenheit. I’m told that it gets really cold here – colder than Michigan, but in January / February – I’m told it can get as cold as -40 C – when I realized it was Celsius I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up with -40 C would be in Fahrenheit – yea -40 C = -40 F!! AHHHH!!

One down

One week down, 102 left to go! The first week here at site was full of highs and lows. Some highs: I did manage to find where the internet café is located, I can take the bus to work alone, I have made friends with a woman from my workplace who speaks English well, I have a schedule and will begin English clubs this week, I got acquainted with my town and know where the important things are located, I was able to walk through the bazaar and have a favorite seller, I met two local people who speak English (one has agreed to help me with translation of seminars!), I was able to sign up for my own PO box (all by myself), and made spaghetti for the fam while listening to English music way super loud! My sister from Karaganda (like 6 hours away), came for the weekend just to see me J She studies English there and her English is very good

I’m still adjusting to life here and trying to figure out just what my role will be at the school since I will not be teaching.

So I'm at site!

The end of PST marked a new beginning! I actually hate when people say stuff like that, but I guess it’s true. I know that I will miss my OCAP friends a crapload (you be the judge of how much that is). We all swore in as “official” Peace Corps Volunteers last Friday! Yea for no longer being a Trainee, but now a REAL Volunteer! We had to take a bus from our site to the site of Swear In. On the way there our bus broke down a little and we all had to get off the bus and stand on the side of the road. Thankfully, we had left early enough that a minor set back really was not a big deal and after all, when going to a ceremony where we were the guests of honor, the ceremony really had to wait for us J Our setback was really only like 25 minutes and then we were on the road again in the same bus. At the site of Swear In there were lots of speakers then the actual Swearing In of Volunteers, followed by a wonderful reception with lots of food! Bkycha!

Some people had to leave on Friday because their sites a really far away – I got to stay with my hosts an extra day! But that meant I had to say goodbye twice. Friday I had to say goodbye to some of the best friends I have made over the last 3 months! It was sad and many of us cried, even though, we know we will see each other in just a few short months – yea March!

My host mom prepared my favorite dish Friday night and we exchanged gifts! My host mom asked me why I wasn’t laughing and then I began to cry – I wasn’t ready to leave them. As a girl who has never had to live with a host family, I could not have asked for a better 1st host family! My whole world was changing – and as many of you know – I HATE CHANGE! Saturday my family dropped me off at the school where the Peace Corps van would pick me up! We went there at 1:15pm and the van pulled up at 1:30pm! The minute the PC van pulled up it was time to go and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I glanced at my host mom and sister, who were both crying. We all hugged and my host mom told me that “This was not goodbye, but see you later,” and “Their door is always open.” I will definitely be back to visit them!

I had to sit for 2 hours at the bus station alone – I was kind of scared, but felt like an accomplished woman in doing so! It gave me a greater sense of independence in this large country. I boarded the bus in the evening and was here by daybreak. I took a taxi to the house of my new host family, where I went back to sleep as sleeping on a bus proves to be rather difficult most of the time. Later in the day I unpacked the pieces of luggage that I had with me, I still have 2 more at another family’s house, that I hope to gather really soon. I had a successful first day of work and am excited to be here!

“Live and let live, do not judge, take life as it comes and deal with it, everything will be okay”
– James Frey

Charin Canyon

We went to a Canyon on Sunday! Here are some sweet pics! I'm still sore!

Okay so I don't have Canyon pics with me, but I will upload them soon! So save the link and try it tomorrow!

My BIRTHDAY cake!

UPDATE

Life is good, crazy as always and down to only two weeks left of Pre Service Training! Afterwards, I will be living in the middle of KSTAN on the Eastern side. The city lies approximately 500 km west of the Chinese border. It is a small town with a “Gi-normous." Which is actually the second largest lake in Central Asia! A sandbar effectively divides the Lake into a western half, which is fresh water and an eastern half, which is saline. It has been reported that the Lake may be on its way to the same fate as the Aral Sea; the lake has already shrunk by over 2,000 square kilometers.

There is already one Volunteer living there, who has been there for a year and has one more year to go. There are two main streets just like my town back home! I will be working at a boarding school / orphanage. It is a Kazak speaking school. Kazak is the national language of Kazakhstan; I have only studied a few hours and have minimal skills with that language. The nice thing is that everyone here speaks Russian AND Kazak, but foreigners who speak the Kazak language gain more respect (and get better bargains at the Bazaar) and Kazak is actually a really pretty language and I wish I knew more. I visited the town last week, for the week, it is 10 hours away from where I live now by bus. The people were so nice and the children were SO hungry for attention kind of from anyone, even people who don’t speak their language! This works out well for me because I have about 200 “helpers” to “help” me and a really good base for “volunteers” to help me with future projects! AND I SAW STRAY CAMELS!

The Peace Corps requires that Volunteers have secondary projects in addition to their main “baby,” of course some people have to rely more on secondary projects for work because their organization sucks, I don’t think that will be the case in my organization, but I am more excited about secondary projects than about what I’m actually going to be doing, which I don’t even know what that is because my director doesn’t really know, the only thing I know for sure is that I will be in charge of English club and an Ecology club at the school (I am now learning about Ecology :-))

D you know about the free website you can use to text me? http://www.sms.one.kz/ in the little box put my phone number 323-7862, then hit the button that starts with an “O” I hear it’s fairly easy. Please remember to sign your name to them though, I wanna hear from ya’ll!

I'm still alive

So I realize it’s been almost a month since I’ve updated this, and SO many things have happened! Here’s a brief re-cap:

We have had some pretty amazing times together and I love all the field trips we have taken, I think my favorite was the trip all the way to Almaty to marvel at the train station! ;-) But really I have come to enjoy everyone’s company and get sad about leaving them too soon! I feel like we’ve become a family – love you all! One night we all went to the Country Director’s house where we had lots of delicious food: hambugs, brownies, ice cream. It’s crazy how much I’ve missed them and it’s only been 2 months. Having a quick drive through is definitely a luxury I didn’t think I was going to miss…

Last week I found out where I would be living for 2 years! There was a fun ceremony and refreshments followed. There was a map of KSTAN on a table with little hut thingys placed on the map at each of the sites. We went one-by-one to locate our hut. It seemed SUPER long, as I was number 17 out of 20! But I am really excited about my site and, although, I don’t want to leave my Kaz 20 family, I really want to work! It sounds like I will be working at a Boarding School assisting with English and an Ecology Club! Next week I visit my site and hopefully learn more as I am eager to start!

I met my counter part this week. A counter part is kind of like a teacher / friend / someone for me to go to for assistance over the next two years. Peace Corps Staff did a BOMBDIGGITY job matching Trainees to sites / with Counterparts. My counterpart is amazingly awesome and reminds me of me. She is incredibly fun and laughs! That was really the only “requirement” that I had – must laugh! 

The day after Site Announcement 15 of us travelled into the “Big City,” Almaty. We met up with some education volunteers and rented an apartment (which is similar to a hotel, only bigger). I think I can speak for everyone and say that we all had a super “lovely” time. We went to a place named Guns-N-Roses! There were burgers there and we all devoured them like starving children!

My favorite thing about this town has got to be that there are stray cows! It was totally crazy when I saw a random cow walking down the street. There are also donkeys that eat out of the garbage near the school where I learn Russian. And one day I had to wait for a bunch of sheep to get out of my way so that I could walk home. There are wild dogs here…well, not really wild, just LOTS of strays. It’s kind of like Sparta in Kazakhstan!

My host family continues to be incredibly awesome! My mom quizzes me everyday on vocabulary around the house and every night they try and include me in the conversation. My host mom is genuinely excited in what I have learned each day and she is often the one who will repeat phrases of others in, what I like to call, “slower, dumber” Russian. I taught my family how to play duck-duck-goose, which was hysterical! My host mom thought it was the greatest game ever and arranged us all in the kitchen to play. The funniest part really was that we all squatted because sitting on the floor/ground is not generally accepted here, I had a difficult time balancing, but we were all laughing and they were speaking lots of Russian.

I think that Pre Service Training (PST) is difficult and a time of very little sleep and LOTS of work, but am trying not to wish it away as I know, like many other things in my life, there will be a day a look back and wish I was back in PST. I hope to get better at updating this.

We still only have Dial Up at our site, but I have prepared this at home and saved it to a flash drive so that I would not take too long on the computer and could write more to all of you (LUCKY!) I have been in Kazakhstan for a week and have already fallen in love…with Kazakhstan ! It is SO beautiful here! The view outside my window looks out to mountains where I can see snow at the VERY tops of them! I will upload pictures when we get DSL, which is promised by next week Wednesday, but that doesn’t REALLLY mean Wednesday, it means whenever someone gets to it, no one here really follows a schedule, which is so abnormal for us Americans, but we all seem to be adjusting okay…although who of us can live without facebook!

My days here are very LONG. I go to Language training from 8am-12:30pm. Then I have one hour for lunch and we have sessions in the afternoon where we learn the ins and outs of Peace Corps. What is expected of us, what we should expect, etc. and we get shots aka: random vaccinations. Lunch is probably my favorite time of day. Host families pack lunches for volunteers and it generally includes some form of vegetable and / or fruit and leftovers from dinner and possibly a boiled egg or two, AND definitely bread. I have learned that bread is a very special thing here and should NEVER be thrown away! I didn’t learn that until my 3rd day here and unfortunately had already thrown some away L OOPS! At lunch time all the Community Development Volunteers (there are 20 of us) gather and trade lunch items, like grade school…it’s pretty much a great time! Leftovers are utilized here, we throw NOTHING away. One time I had Monte, which has actually become my favorite meal here for dinner, then breakfast, then my mom packed it for lunch and we had it for dinner again! Good thing I liked it! We certainly never have breakfast food for breakfast, but rather leftovers.

We have Chai a lot here…I’m not sure how often, but definitely with every meal and if someone drops by and after people get out of the shower / banya (Google that and know that I refused banya) I still have a hard time figuring out the schedule, but I don’t really think there is one; Kazakhstanis don’t schedule anything and it is not uncommon to stop by someone’s house unannounced. The people of Kazakhstan are SO nice! They know who is an American and will talk broken English saying “Hello, how are you?” I generally smile and speak my best Russian, which is just about as good as their best English. All cars here are taxis and I am told it is safe, I had to take one today to the Bazaar, but it was with my translator, I would be too nervous to do it by myself and it costs 100 tenge, which is a little less than $1, but my PC salary is very small. I live near the bus stop and it only costs .40 tenge…much more manageable, although my language skills are not great enough to take the bus quite yet…I am learning lots everyday though!


There are some things I already miss from home…some of the other PCT (Peace Corps Trainees) and I were talking about wheat thins and cereal today! I miss hot water! Unlike some of the other volunteers I have a home with no hot water and actually no shower! Can you say “bucket bath?” They boil water for me so that I can bathe!

PHILLY

Hey friends --

I'm in Philly enjoying my complementary 1 hour free of internet!! WOOHOO!! I got in today at like 12pm, but we didn't actually get to our hotel until 1pm there were 5 other Volunteers that I took a shuttle with. Getting registered was a drag! and took forever, leaving NO time for lunch...I grabbed a muffin at the Sheraton that was like a katrillion dollars!! But oh so worth it.

We had trainings from 3-7pm tonight which actually wasn't too bad! Altho it is like -40 F in here...not really, but still VERY cold! Afterwards, I went out with a few Volunteers to dinner. There are 63 of us, so we had to break up a bit. My group went to a Cuban restaurant, which was very delictable!!

Well, I guess that's really all, kind of boring...tomorrow is going to be another INCREDIBLY boring day...we have to be at training at 8:30am!! we break for lunch at 12 and come back from 1:30pm to 6pm....Then Tuesday...we out!!

I love you all!
Love,
Christina

Peace Corps

Hey friends --

Six months after applying, the Peace Corps finally accepted me. It only took 3 dentist visits, cavity fillings, multiple dr. visits, random vaccinations, the 30 day oatmeal challenge, and doctors notes stating that I am healthy and will remain that way throughout my 27 months of service. I finally received my invitation today! I have been nominated since the beginning of January, but had to be medically cleared before the Peace Corps would accept me.

I will be departing on August 18, 2008 and returning November 7, 2010! I will be teaching special education in Kazakhstan, located in Central Asia. For the first 9 months I will live with a host family while I learn new customs and languages. And possibly longer, depending on the renting situations I encounter

That's really all I know...I have to work on Passport stuff, paying my debt off and selling some things. Thank you for your encouraging words and prayers! I appreciate you all.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Gandhi


I hope to use this site as my official Peace Corps page for periodic updates throughout my 27 months of service.