A New Title AND A New Village

 It's been a while since I last had a blog update...mostly because there's been so much going on I haven't had any time to sit down and write. My current situation: I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer (hence "a new title") and have moved to my permanent site ("a new village" - where I will live for the next two years!!). School officially starts on September 1st, and until then, I am getting to know my new host family, school, and community.

Here's a brief rundown of everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks:

First: I found out my permanent site!!

    This is a complicated process that I can only describe to sorority recruitment. We had a meeting with PC staff to tell them our preferences for our permanent site. For me, I cared more about having a host family and counterpart(s) that I would get along with, and less about location. Meanwhile, the staff is also taking into account what each site (school, counterpart, host family) is looking for in a volunteer and who they believe will fit in best where. After staff had matched us with our permanent sites, we had what is equivalent of Peace Corps Bid Day. We all gathered in a room with a map of Kyrgyzstan on it, opened our envelopes with our site on, and went to stand on our village location on the map. With this, I am excited to say that I will be spending the next two years in the Jalalabad Oblast!! This is one of the two southern oblasts that PCVs are allowed to serve in and is known for being home to some of the world's oldest walnut forests, having heavy Uzbek influence, and incredible nature scenes. To read more about everything Jalalabad has to offer, check out this website: https://jalal-abad.com

Second: I became an official Peace Corps Volunteer! 

    I have spent the past few months as a Peace Corps Trainee, but as of August 25th I can now officially say that I am a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)!! This was a monumental day for me and all of my fellow volunteers. It was the day that we had been working towards for 11 weeks, and also marked the beginning of our journey as volunteers (seriously, the majority of my cohort left for their permanent sites immediately after the ceremony was over).

    The day began with an official oath administered privately by the USA Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan (fun fact it's the same oath that Senators, Representatives and the President take). After that, the Swearing In Ceremony began with over 200 guests including representatives from our host families, PC staff, our counterparts, and members of the Kyrgyz government. There were several speeches made by PC staff (including the Regional Director that flew all the way in from Washington DC to attend), performances by a Kyrgyz musical group, and performances by my cohort. My group was the last group to perform and we did a traditional Kyrgyz dance. Even better, the first time we danced the music cut off early, so we returned to dance again once the issue had been resolved (double the screen time!!). 

With the Ambassador

My group's ending pose (Take 2)

    After the ceremony was over, there was an hour or so of lunch where we had a chance to talk to everyone who attended. Spoiler: I also gave an interview to a Kyrgyz TV station, so stay tuned for that. Towards the end, volunteers began slowly leaving to head to their permanent site. This was the last time we would see each other for three months, and considering we have spent everyday together for the past 11 weeks, to say it was difficult to say goodbye would be an understatement...

    Also the Swearing In Ceremony is available on the PCKR Facebook page for anyone interested in watching it!!

Third: I'm now in my permanent site and school starts in less than a week!!

    Due to the distance of my permanent site from Bishkek (where the Swearing In Ceremony was), I actually didn't leave for my site until the next day. I spent the last night with the few other volunteers not leaving till the next day, and also trying to cram everything into my suitcases (fun fact: I way overpacked). After waking up at 4 am, driving an hour to the airport, taking a quick 1 hour flight to Osh and a 3 hour drive to my village, I finally arrived at my new host family's home.

    When I walked in, the entire family was waiting outside with signs and someone playing the Komuz (a traditional Kyrgyz instrument). They had also decorated the house with more signs and balloons, which was above and beyond anything I could've ever expected. Although it has only been a couple of days, I can already tell that I will fit in with this host family, school and community really well, and I cannot wait to see where these next 2 years take me (also one of my sister's knows Taylor Swift, so I can't really ask for much more)...

A "Welcome Home" sign from my family

    Anyway, that is a brief recap on what I've been up to the past couple of weeks. So many big events and monumental changes happening, that it was difficult to find time to write. Here's an attempt to catch y'all up on the biggest and most important things to happen. I also know that the next few months will also be full of change and new experiences, as I officially start my journey as a PCV, so stay tuned for more (and hopefully I'll be able to update a little more often).

Month 2: "Timeless"

    Month 2 in Kyrgyzstan is officially complete. I only have 2 weeks left of training before I become an official Peace Corps Volunteer and head off to the site which will be my home for the next 2 years. To say this month flew by would be an understatement. It was full of exciting firsts, growing moments and plenty of challenges. I've tried to post about as many of these moments as possible. However, there's so many it's almost to include them all. In an effort to sum up as much as possible, here's the official recap of Month 2:

• I went on my first hike in Kyrgyzstan!!
• When I learned I was coming to Kyrgyzstan, one thing that really made me excited was the prospect of living near mountains. I've always enjoyed hiking but haven't lived anywhere where it is something you can easily do. 
• However, this month our cohort of trainees went on a hike to Issyk-Ata (aka Hot Dad in Kyrgyz). Here's a couple fast facts:
• It was roughly 8 miles
• We stopped at a waterfall and a river
• I don't think I've ever seen a prettier view in my life 
• Also I have to acknowledge @girlswhostep in honor of the many steps walked this day. Brooke, if you're reading this ily and i miss our walks everyday

• I joined a dance troupe
• For anyone who knows me, this is especially funny since I'm a notoriously bad dancer
• I was recruited to join by my 14 year old host sister (who's also the dance team captain/coach)
• It was one of the most intense practices of my life
• We only had one practice, but I'd like to think that this is a continued thing 
• In reality, I have learned quite a few traditional Kyrgyz dances this month, although not all have been from this dance troupe but instead Culture Day (which you can read all about in the previous post)

• Teaching Practicum!!!
• This was two weeks where we actually were able to be in a classroom and teach the kids in our village English
• We were also able to co-teach with the local English teacher which was really beneficial because that's what we'll be doing at our permanent site
• It was definitely a learning experience but overall very helpful and made me even more excited to teach for the next 2 years  

Demonstrating a game called "Lion, Hunter, Princess"

One of my student's drawing of me during an activity

• Bishkek Trips
• This month we were able to go to Bishkek (the capital of Kyrgyzstan) for the first time and I have been several times since
• The city is full of things to do and restaurants to try 
• Some favorite things I've done so far include: going to the Osh Bazaar, visiting the Kyrgyz National Historic Museum, a Harry Potter themed cafe, and seeing this statue of Shrek in the middle of a park 
• This has also been a great opportunity to practice our Kyrgyz language skills (although the majority of Bishkek speaks Russian)
• Most of the time when we attempt to speak Kyrgyz the local  people are equally impressed and confused, and want to keep talking/asking questions about what we're doing in Kyrgyzstan (I can't say I understand 100% of what they're saying, but it's definitely getting better)

The Kyrgyz National Historic Museum

Shrek in Bishkek

• Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was released and 1989 (Taylor's Version) was announced --- the most important news of them all
• I know this doesn't directly involve me, but if you know anything about me, you also know how much of my lives revolves around t-swift
• So for those concerned: yes I have listened to Speak Now (TV) and I am aware 1989 (TV) is coming out 
• If anyone's curious, Foolish One is my favorite SNTV vault track 

In all, this has been a whirlwind of a month, and I feel like there has been very little time to relax and rest (or in Kyrgyz es all --- one of my favorite Kyrgyz phrases). However, although it's been busy, this month I've also been able to learn more about the country of Kyrgyzstan and the deep history surrounding the land and its people. Along with the history that's encompassed in museums, buildings and the statues that line the street, every single person I've spoken to also has their own version of history and what Kyrgyzstan means to them. It has been so interesting to hear different stories from my language teacher who served in the Soviet Military to my host dad who grew up in the same village he now raises his kids in. Everyone has their own Kyrgyz history and also knows the history of the people who came before them. Therefore, this second month post is named after "Timeless" (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault) -- also in honor of Speak Now (TV) being released this month. Spoiler: the song is not similar to anything I just said but the name is fitting (and the other option for this was the "Cha Cha Slide" because I listened to it approximately 56 times during teaching practicum). 

Anyways that's it for Month 2, stay tuned for the following few weeks that include site announcement, the swearing in ceremony and moving to my permanent site!

What Do Intestines and Dancing Have in Common? Culture Day.

    One of the days every Peace Corps Trainee looks forward to is Culture Day. It's a day, usually midway through our 3-month training, that allows us to participate in and learn about traditional Kyrgyz culture. Although we experience plenty of Kyrgyz culture, culture day allows us to explore beyond everyday occurrences. As soon as we received our schedule for training, I instantly starred culture day and started counting down the days. Now that it's passed, I can definitely say it went way beyond anything I ever imagined. 

    The first component of the day: food. For me, this part actually started the night before. It is a tradition in Kyrgyz culture that whenever there is a big event, holiday, or even if a guest comes to visit, that you slaughter a sheep/goat/cow/horse to eat during that time. Therefore, the night before culture day, my language teacher was tasked with slaughtering the sheep and preparing the meat to cook for the next day. My language group and I asked if we could watch/participate, and he said that we were the first volunteers in 30 years to ever help with this part. We ended up helping/learning how to skin the sheep and remove all of the essential meat and internal organs. At one point, I was tasked with cleaning all of the intestines to use for sausage later. If you're squeamish I recommend scrolling past the next few pictures...

Cleaning Intestines Part 1

     Cleaning Intestines Part 2

    After preparing the sheep the night before, the next day during Culture Day, my language teacher gave a presentation on the different types of meat and what each symbolizes. Age plays a huge part in Kyrgyz culture and a symbol of respect is to offer the sheep brain to the oldest male and the tail to the oldest female. They also let us try every part of the sheep, so by the end of the day I had eaten tail fat, liver, brain, and eyeball. After the presentation, sheep meat was used to make plov (a rice dish) and Kurrdak (meat and potatoes).

    Another part of Culture Day included learning how to build a yurt or a "Bahz Ooey" in Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz people were originally nomadic and used to live in yurts. Each part of the yurt has it's own name and meaning, and it must be put up in a specific order. Each step of the process was narrated by trainees and led by one of our language teachers, who made it more like a game/talk show by randomly handing the microphone to people to answer questions (fun fact: if you check the Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan Instagram, there's a video on culture day that features me answering a question)

The roof or "Toonduk" being built - which can only be held/built by males 

Helping build the yurt

    The final part of culture day was several performances of traditional Kyrgyz dances and songs. There were three dances that were performed by different villages of trainees. In a totally unbiased opinion, my village's dance was 110% the best one. We rehearsed for several weeks leading up to the performance (for some *aka the girls* this was fun and for others *the guys* it was not so fun). We also  convinced Peace Corps staff to let us wear traditional Kyrgyz clothing during the performance, which turned into us wearing it all day. After our performances, the local Peace Corps staff also performed a dance and song to show us what it should really look/sound unlike what we did which was more like a really good interpretation of it... (p.s. if you're looking for a video of the dance we did, you should check out my Instagram @emilyinkgz)

My group with our language and technical teachers

Me and the yurt we built :)

    That's the end of culture day. One of my favorite days that I've experienced in Kyrgyzstan so far, and definitely surpassed any expectations I had going into it. It was nice and very eye opening to learn more about the traditions of Kyrgyzstan and history that has occurred around where we are living. It also contained a lot of firsts (first time slaughtering a sheep, eating brain/eye, building a yurt, not being a horrible dancer, etc...) It's also definitely inspired me to learn more about Kyrgyz culture (and also started my campaign to have my group dance at our swearing in ceremony - stay tuned for August 25th to see if we actually get to perform). Kyrgyzstan is a country seeped in history and tradition that I can only hope to learn about in the next 2 years.