The End of a Great Summer

As I boarded the already over crowded bus, I searched for a place to sit. I was fortunate enough to be able to share a two person seat with 4 other people. Thankfully, the ride isn’t too TERRIBLY long. We were able to squeeze 31 people, their 3 month belongings, like a katrillion plants and lots of swarming flies (they didn’t take up too much room they were just irritating) onto a bus that comfortably seats 20 people. Some children were sitting on the laps of older kids and adults, while others were sitting on luggage. I wish I had my camera so that I could have taken a picture, but was unable to get to my luggage. As we sat in the moving bus, sweltering hot and unable to move the kids began to sing the only Kazakh song I know, rather loudly, and MULTIPLE times! It was priceless. Although this placement didn’t seem “ideal” and 100 days of camp certainly did not seem “ideal,” either, at that moment I realized there is no where else in the world I would rather be. And although I’ve had fun summers back in America, I’m certain this has been one of my favorite summers!

A WHOLE YEAR...SAY WHAT?!

Let me take you back: August 10, 2008, Sparta Baptist Church (SBC), Sparta, Michigan. This was my last Sunday at SBC and went like every other Sunday. I attended both services. Pastor Bruce (PB) announced that I would be departing the following Sunday SUPER early morning. During Contemporary Service I was called to the front, along with the Elders and they prayed for me. As I made my way to the front PB reminded the congregation of words that I had once uttered, “Why would anyone ever want to leave Sparta, it has everything you need, it’s essentially the center of the universe.” I ABSOLUTELY love that small town! Everyone enjoyed a laugh and the service continued as usual. After church I said goodbye to those people that I really only see on Sunday mornings, then I was off to my last week at work. I worked my regular 40+ hour week before saying goodbye to my favorite boss, the individuals I worked with and my fun co-workers.

I had lots of goodbye parties / get togethers the end of that week and on the morning of August 17th; I got up REALLY early to catch a flight to Philly. My flight was scheduled for 8:30am (per the airline rule I had to be there at 7:30am), and I was meeting friends before that for breakfast at IHOP. I said goodbye to many of them and then continued to the airport with: Merri Jo (the Sub), her daughter Alana, my BFF Kelly and another friend Angie. I thought they would just drop me off and go, but they came inside the airport to wait with me and they were even granted passes to come and wait with me at the gate. As my flight number was called we all hugged and I boarded the plane with tears in my eyes. I think I cried from Grand Rapids to Detroit – which is a short flight. I had very little time to run to my connecting flight. I made it just in time. Once the second flight landed I was in Philly with like 10 other (future) Volunteers who had connections in Detroit as well, some who would eventually become my some of my very best friends. It was nice to meet up with people who were experiencing the same emotions as me. We claimed our luggage and went on a hotel for “Staging.” This lasted 2 days (Sunday & Monday) where we all got to kind of know one another – there were 63 of us, so it was difficult to know everyone, but we were at least introduced.

Tuesday August19 we boarded a bus that took us to JFK airport, checking in 63 people went much more quickly than I thought it would. We had lots of time to chill at this airport. Some people purchased internet for a brief time, others bought gifts for host families and some people took LOTS of pictures  I bought internet and talked with my BFF before we FINALLY got to leave. This was my first time flying over an ocean and I was a bit frightened, thankfully, I was able to sleep rather easily and the kid next to me was super nice about letting me be SUPER nervous and SUPER chatty. Thanks Andy!

We had a lay over in Germany that was supposed to be like 2 hours, but ended up being more like 6 hours. I think this is when lots of people became friends. We had LOTS of free time to just chat play cards, play Frisbee (yes, some people played Frisbee INSIDE the airport), or make Friendship bracelets. And we finally arrived in Kazakhstan early Thursday morning. Because we were supposed to arrive the night before our schedule didn’t really allocate time for us to get settled. It was time for Orientation. First on our list…breakfast. We had spaghetti noodles in warm milk…yea, Welcome to Kazakhstan! My favorite meal in America is Spaghetti and I’m a cereal lover and I just don’t think one should be allowed to make spaghetti cereal, it just isn’t natural (this was the only time that I have ever had that or will ever have that).

We had Orientation for 1½ days and then we were taken to our amazing training villages and host families. We were kind of just dropped off and went home with strangers (funny how that works). I was SUPER nervous getting into the car with these people I didn’t know, whose language I didn’t speak, apprehensively I went. I knew they were totally legit when on the car radio “Dancing Queen” was playing; I think this is when I relaxed. There were 20 other (soon to be) Volunteers in my village and we hung out everyday, mostly because we had to, but then on the days we didn’t have to we opted to. Some people went home early on, not gonna lie, I totally thought it looked like a viable option for me (once or twice during training), but then I remember my last Sunday at SBC and my last week and thought I needed to make it “at least a year.”  Of course, now I LOVE this place and the next year is going to be a cake walk!

We all Swore In as Volunteers on November 7, 2008 and scattered around Kazakhstan. This was a difficult day as we had to say goodbye to all the people we had become good friends with and with our host families as we parted. I arrived at site on November 9th and started work the following day. Walking into the unknown was rather difficult, but somehow I managed. I knew very little of their language and they knew very little of mine, but somehow we made it work. It was a holiday for the kids. I met the director of my school and became better friends with my original Counterpart. And a schedule was decided on that really wasn’t followed, not on my part. I had a difficult November and considered going back to America (I know it hadn’t been a whole year, but I didn’t care, I was ready to throw in the towel). Then I remembered words that my Youth Pastor, Nate had once spoken to me when I wanted to give up at something else before I really got started he said, “Give it 6 weeks, if you still feel the same way, then you can re-evaluate, but before then you are not thinking with a clear mind.” Alright, since this is one of the smartest men I know, I thought I would apply the previous advice to this particular situation and I am certainly glad that I did! Thanks Nate!! And although I’ve had both good days and bad days, the good days outweigh the bad.

As I sit here now, staring almost at the half-way point, I can’t believe how far I’ve come! I also realize, like all things in life, this will end, I don’t know that I will be ready when that day comes, but I’m going to do my best this year to leave a path for the future Volunteer to follow. I spent a few months at site waiting for a site transfer, hoping and praying for a site transfer even. Because I was waiting on the site transfer that never happened, I managed to do very little work, not ever wanting to get too far in because hopefully, I would get out. This was me having a bad attitude. Once I realized I wasn’t going to be granted a site transfer, I attempted to start / find projects to work on. This proved to be rather difficult. My Regional Manager visited in February and my Counterpart was changed, which was a wonderful thing! My new counterpart seemed to be a bit more motivated and actually wanted the added responsibility of a having a Volunteer. I began to work with her more and adjusted my attitude because although this wasn’t EXACTLY what I had in mind for my PC service, it was what I was given and since it really isn’t about me, I needed to do my best to meet THEIR needs. The school year ended in May and camp began at the beginning of June. This was the perfect opportunity for me to get to know some of the kids and staff better as I worked every day with them. It was this summer that I realized how much I want to do for my school / organization. I realized that my school has never had a Volunteer and they have very little idea about how to work with one, but it’s my job to teach them. Because they have never worked with one before, they don’t know what my job “should” be. This week I’m working on my own job description. They are happy with whatever I’m willing to provide, this really leaves me with countless opportunities! I’m excited for the next year and nervous that it’s going to go by much more quickly than I’m ready for it to:-(

A New Flat (aka: Apartment)

Earlier this summer I *almost* had an apartment. I looked at it on a Saturday, the owner said she would clean it on Sunday and that I could move on Monday. However, on Monday evening she called to inform me that she and her husband had decided to sell the apartment rather than rent it. I was thoroughly disappointed and SO badly wanted my own apartment. I continued my search for a few more weeks before *FINALLY* finding my very own place! There were a few places that I saw that I thought I would take just because I desperately wanted a place, but none of them *REALLY* made my <3 happy, so, I waited…and…WALA!

I moved the beginning of August and have LOVED EVERY MINUTE. It’s a cozy place; similar to a studio apartment in America. I live on the 2nd floor; there are only 2 floors in this building. The living room doubles as the bedroom in the evening and is absolutely perfect. The couch pulls out into a bed. Outside the living room / bedroom is a super sweet balcony, where I mostly dry my laundry, after hand washing of course, and if you look closely you can see the lake! I think it will be bitter cold in the winter, but I guess I’ll worry about that when it comes. The kitchen is lacking a few things, but not anything that can’t be purchased at the bazaar. I really need to purchase shelving units and most importantly an oven. Since I have been and will continue to be away at camp during August, I will buy these items come September. The toilet and the tub are in separate rooms, per usual in Kaz, if it were any other way, I would be totally confused:) And (Aunt Laura) please notice the garbage located in the bathroom for the TP…it generally isn’t flushed here.

My place is located 2 blocks from my workplace and very near to the local grocery store and just outside there are sellers of fresh fruits and vegetables. My landlady is SUPER awesome and her apartment is located directly underneath mine so she’s always available if I need anything (or if my house key gets stuck in the outside of the door at 10pm). Because there are only 2 floors – 3 apartments on each floor, I was able to meet many of my neighbors; they seem like very nice and helpful people. In fact, just last night I knocked on my neighbors door to ask for the telephone numbers of some of the taxi services. Not only did she write them all down on a piece of paper for me, she also called some of the services. Love this place.

Right now, I’m working on hanging pictures up, of course there isn’t a lot of table space and I don’t have picture frames, but what I do have is tape! I have begun taping pictures to the living room wall and I’m rather impressed with it. I want to have more developed here or get some from home **hint**

Last Weekend

Well, the weekend has passed and another one is quickly approaching, but my last weekend was SUPER fun! On Friday my sitemate, another Volunteer (Mary) and I went to a new café, located near my *new* apartment! It was delicious – I had some sort of teriyaki thing, Mary had a yummy looking plate and we all tried DOG!! I know...I can’t believe it either! But at what other time in my life will it be okay for me to eat dog, right, probably never, so I thought I would try it while I could. It wasn’t too bad, but I would probably never try it again, based on principle, but I do think that I will return to that café. 

On Saturday, I went to the beach with my landlady’s daughter, Tatiana and her boyfriend (I forget his name). We drove out to an amazingly nice beach! They brought their air mattress and we all sat on it and went out SUPER far in the lake! We had a nice picnic and returned to town later in the day. I had been wanting to go to Xamaleon (the only dance club here) and they were going later and invited me…like I would turn that down…HELLO! I went and had an excellent time! It was body art day at Xamaleon where you could get random tattoo looking things on your body, I didn’t do it, but watched other people. We danced like crazy people ‘til 3 in the morning! 

On Sunday, I slept in for a LONG time, and then went to the bazaar to purchase more things for my apartment…WOO WOO!! In the evening I finally plugged my stove in to make eggplant! Too bad I don’t have an oven…yet, I’m going to get one soon!

I returned to camp on Monday. The last pic is of some of my favorite women at my school. We had a difficult time getting the wine bottle open, but shared LOTS of laughs trying…

Busy

My week back from Almaty proved to be super busy. My sitemate was conducting a 2 week long Leadership camp at site for children with strong English skills. The first week was about abilities and creating change, while the second week focused on gender roles, drugs and HIV. 

Other Volunteers came to assist with the camp and we generally had a good time everyday! One day we even went bowling and made nachos!! It was delicious! During these weeks we saw people who looked like they could be foreigners. A brave Volunteer asked if they were…sure enough…they were not from Kazakhstan, but from Belgium and they knew English! We hung out with them one evening and shared what we were doing, while they shared what they were doing. They were just travelling / backpacking. One of the Belgians had a connection here so the decided to come during their summer break. They wanted to see life here, to observe the locals. We invited them to come to camp; they were happy to come. They introduced themselves to the children and allowed for questions. 

After day camp, most days we were able to go to the beach where we swam (well, some of us…others just laid in the sun) and we made sand castles!! TOTALLY FUN!!

Camp in town was exciting, although I did miss my own organization’s camp and am looking forward to next week when I get to go back to Camp Bolashak.