Every couple of days I have a new idea for a blogspot entry and then I never actually sit down to write it...from getting AIDS tests done to running about to car garages, to living with 18 year-olds, to eyelashes and birds, to the new dollar store. But today I decided I should write about all the things I’m thankful for. It’s been a tough winter and heading into a very busy spring, but as I was doing grocery shopping today I was reminded of how blessed I am.
First I have a car to run around in to do shopping and I don’t have ride on the marshrutkas!!
Second I can do all my shopping in real grocery stores, and I don’t have to brave the bazaar in the mud.
Third really good coffee has appeared in the grocery stores of Bishkek. It’s a good price, tastes good, and it’s roasted in Russia and marketed for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, so there is a good chance it’s here to stay:-)
We had beautiful weather today, spring has finally come!!
and now a few things I’ve learned over the last couple months
...if you get an AIDS test anywhere in the world they inevitable think you are some sort of drug user, prostitute, or have unprotected sex-even if you walk in with an American passport and clearly tell them it is for a visa requirement. What’s worse is that they treat you as if you don’t even know how AIDS is transmitted. When I registered for the test the first thing the guy asked was if I knew how HIV was transmitted, and then when I went into get my blood drawn, the nurse handed me a very explicit booklet on STDs....what do they think I do in Kyrgyzstan?? And why do no other foreigners get that kind of treatment??
...but on the other hand Kyrgyzstan at least gives you your test results the next day...in America I had to sign all these papers and release forms, and even one paper that stated that if the test came back negative it didn’t necessarily mean I didn’t have HIV, but if it came positive it also didn’t necessarily mean I had the virus...hmmm...that was reassuring! But after all those papers I still never received my test results! Who knows where they ended up! But in Kyrgyzstan I just showed up the next day and they just handed me a certificate saying I was negative. So at least I know I don’t have AIDS:-)!!
...you can tell whether or not a guy is a foreigner by his eyelashes! Every girl has something they look for in a guy, from hands to teeth to feet to something, but apparently some girls look at eyelashes. I have one friend here (a local girl) and she was telling me about one guy she saw on the marshrutka and how she was trying to determine whether or not he was an American (I always look at his shoes nearly always a give away), so she was telling me different things about him, and then told me the determining factor that told her he was an America was his eyelashes, because they were so thick and pretty. No Russian could have eyelashes that pretty. I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard...I had never thought about a guy’s eyelashes before, let alone to tell me if he was a foreigner or not!! I guess you never know what some people look for:-)
...this is the grossest thing that I’ve come across this winter....my sidewalk outside my house is like the bottom of a birdcage...there are literally thousands of crows that live in the trees in my area, and one night as I was walking home it sounded as if it was raining....but in actuality it was bird poop dropping on the sidewalk...I literally had to dodge the falling bird poop. Fortunately I didn’t get hit, but let me me tell you the smell and the sound and everything was enough to make me want to throw up!!
Well I guess that’s all for now...quite a long update, but it’s been awhile!!
02 March 2008
29 December 2007
Vodka, credit cards, and an American driver's license
So what is driving like in Bishkek? That is the question that I get from many people since I bought a car a month ago. It's been an adventure! For one thing I think I'm the youngest single female foreigner to drive a car in Bishkek...I get lots of questions from other foreigners about that, and some weird looks! There are a lot of different things that I need to get used to. For one thing, driving here, I think, is like slolam(sp?) skiing because there are so many pot holes, and bad drivers to dodge. So the idea of staying in your own lane just doesn't even exist. Lots of foreigner complain about this one, but I've discovered that if you study how everyone drives here, there is a rhyhm and reason to why they drive the way they do. Then you just have to drive like everyone else and it's not such a big deal.
Then there are certain things that aren't as easy to find here as in America...like windshield washer fluid....but why do you need special fluid when you have vodka? That's what the locals think anyway, half vodka, and half water in the resevoir does the trick....but wow does that stink. I was at my roommates house, and her dad had a bottle of vodka, so he put it into my tank with some water, and then I proceeded to clean my windshield....when I got out of my car, it smelled like my car had just taken a bath in vodka....not a very nice smell...I think I'll be trying to find real windshield wiper fluid! But in case anyone is wondering vodka does the trick!
The other thing that I haven't found yet is an ice scrapper...being from New England, I've always had an ice scrapper and I've always known where to buy if I didn't have one, but here I didn't have one, and was mentioning to my friend from Hawaii that I didn't have an ice scrapper, and how it was a pain in the neck. She just looked at me and said well a credit card works well for that problem...hmmm good thought! It just so happened that I had an old old plastic gift card sitting in my wallet...I knew there was a reason I never threw it out! It has turned into the perfect ice scrapper...much better than bare hands and a bottle of water like the locals do it!
The other thing about driving is the police...but being a foreign young girl is great on that end here. The first time I was pulled over, the officer looked at my license and looked at me, and asked if I was an American. I said I was, and then he looked at me again and asked, "So can you pay a fine?" I just looked at him and said, "nope can't pay a fine" and he was like,"don't you always pay a fine in America?, and I said,"no not always" and he looked at me again, and said," oh okay, go on."! That one was easy! The next time, they pulled me over the officer came up to the car, and said, "Hello beautiful." I handed him my documents, he looked at the drivers license for a long time, and ask, "Are you from Switzerland?" I said, "No I'm an American." he answered, "An American?!!!" Yup that's what I am!, then he pointed to my seatbelt to ask if I had been wearing my seatbelt. Of course I had been, my mother taught me well:-) and I told him that, and he was so apologetic, say, "Oh I'm so sorry, go on." So far no fines, no problems, just have to smile. The best thing is that they don't sit in their unmarked cars waiting to put their lights on like in America. They just stand at the side of the road and wave people over with a bright orange stick...that's somehow a lot less intimidating to me!
So that's some of my driving adventures so far, I'm sure there will be more!
18 October 2007
back
People are probably wondering what happened to me, it's been so long since I posted or even e-mailed people...I myself feel like I disappeared...so what is fall like in Bishkek? BUSY!!! August into the beginning of September are usually so slow that you feel like you are going to die, and then everything happens at once and you don't know what end is up!
So Life has started full swing for me. I have 16-18 lessons a week that I'm teaching, worship practice, orchestra and several small groups so all the free time that I had a month ago has disappeared. On top of all that, I had the responsibility of organizing an a week long orientation program for my company on a budget of $24.00 a day with the dollar falling every day. It was a lot of work, but I gained lots of experience, and 50.00 a day is a much better figure for a budget! So I've barely had time to eat the last several weeks, but the orientation program is over now, all went well, and my life is settling down into a routine.
My current feeling on life is that I love what I'm doing!! Sometimes living in Kyrgyzstan is difficult and sometimes I miss my family and friends back home, but teaching and working at this school, I absolutely love. It's so nice to come from work each day tired but satisfied that you are doing exactly what you want to be doing. I'm enjoying fall in Bishkek, enjoying working with my students, enjoying seeing what God is doing in the hearts of people here, and waiting to see what the future will bring!
So Life has started full swing for me. I have 16-18 lessons a week that I'm teaching, worship practice, orchestra and several small groups so all the free time that I had a month ago has disappeared. On top of all that, I had the responsibility of organizing an a week long orientation program for my company on a budget of $24.00 a day with the dollar falling every day. It was a lot of work, but I gained lots of experience, and 50.00 a day is a much better figure for a budget! So I've barely had time to eat the last several weeks, but the orientation program is over now, all went well, and my life is settling down into a routine.
My current feeling on life is that I love what I'm doing!! Sometimes living in Kyrgyzstan is difficult and sometimes I miss my family and friends back home, but teaching and working at this school, I absolutely love. It's so nice to come from work each day tired but satisfied that you are doing exactly what you want to be doing. I'm enjoying fall in Bishkek, enjoying working with my students, enjoying seeing what God is doing in the hearts of people here, and waiting to see what the future will bring!
16 September 2007
inflation, food, and trying to live...
Although the article is about Uzbekistan the same problem is going on here in Kyrgyzstan. We haven't had any protest yet, but it will definitely be a very difficult winter for many people...
DUBAI, 4 September 2007 (IRIN) - Sharp increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs are causing discontent and sporadic protests in Uzbekistan, say rights activists.
“About 100 people staged a protest in Oltioriq District of Ferghana Province on 3 September demanding that the `hokim’ (district head) hear their grievances. It was sparked by recent price rises for bread and flour which are basic staples for Uzbek people,” Surat Ikramov, head of the Independent Initiative Group of Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan (IIGHRAU), a local rights group, said in Tashkent on 4 September.
“Yesterday evening I myself went out to buy bread but couldn’t find any. The situation in the provinces is even worse,” Ikramov told IRIN.
The price of flat local bread has gone up 50-100 percent and the flour imported from Kazakhstan used for baking bread, has almost doubled in price, Ikramov said. “Overall, the prices of main foodstuffs have gone up by around 50 percent,” he said, adding that one kilogram of meat was now about US$6 - up from about $3.75.
According to Ikramov, a schoolteacher or a doctor earns about $70-80, which is considered an average monthly salary in the country, while the minimum monthly salary is only $12.
Ulugbek Usmanov, head of IIGHRAU in Tashkent Province, said the recent protest in Oltioriq in the densely populated Ferghana Valley was related to the increasing cost of living for many families, particularly bread. The Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley is home to almost a quarter of the country’s 26.5 million population.
“This has badly affected many families, particularly in rural areas, where bread consumption is high due to the inability of people to buy other foodstuffs, and families are large,” Usmanov said.
“What happened in Oltioriq more or less reflects the mood of people in other parts of Uzbekistan. People are unhappy with the situation,” Usmanov said.
Ikramov said there was huge discontent and this had turned into localised sporadic protests like the one in Oltioriq.
The Uzbek news website Uzmetronom.com reported that similar sporadic protests had taken place recently in the cities of Andijon, Namangan and Ferghana - all in the Ferghana Valley.
Mass protests unlikely
But the activists said it was unlikely the discontent would turn into mass protests or an uprising as happened in Andijon a little over two years ago.
Uzbek security forces violently suppressed protests in Andijon on 13 May 2005, reportedly killing up to 1,000 people, mainly unarmed civilian protesters, according to various international and local rights groups. The Uzbek government claimed the death toll was 187.
“The mentality of Uzbek people and their inability to organise means that we are unlikely to see any mass protests. What I foresee is that because many people don’t have much of a choice regarding the difficult socio-economic situation more of them will go to other countries, mainly Kazakhstan and Russia, in search of jobs to keep their families going,” Ikramov said.
“In brief, people’s discontent will turn into a protest with their ‘feet’ - leaving the country in search of income,” he added.
According to the UN in Uzbekistan, poverty - defined as anyone receiving less than 2,100 kilocalories per day - stood at 26.2 percent in 2003. A UN survey showed that the poor in rural areas constituted 28.7 percent, as compared to 22 percent in urban areas. The highest concentrations of poor households were in the southern and northern regions of the country. In the south the poverty rate was almost four times higher than in Tashkent Province.
DUBAI, 4 September 2007 (IRIN) - Sharp increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs are causing discontent and sporadic protests in Uzbekistan, say rights activists.
“About 100 people staged a protest in Oltioriq District of Ferghana Province on 3 September demanding that the `hokim’ (district head) hear their grievances. It was sparked by recent price rises for bread and flour which are basic staples for Uzbek people,” Surat Ikramov, head of the Independent Initiative Group of Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan (IIGHRAU), a local rights group, said in Tashkent on 4 September.
“Yesterday evening I myself went out to buy bread but couldn’t find any. The situation in the provinces is even worse,” Ikramov told IRIN.
The price of flat local bread has gone up 50-100 percent and the flour imported from Kazakhstan used for baking bread, has almost doubled in price, Ikramov said. “Overall, the prices of main foodstuffs have gone up by around 50 percent,” he said, adding that one kilogram of meat was now about US$6 - up from about $3.75.
According to Ikramov, a schoolteacher or a doctor earns about $70-80, which is considered an average monthly salary in the country, while the minimum monthly salary is only $12.
Ulugbek Usmanov, head of IIGHRAU in Tashkent Province, said the recent protest in Oltioriq in the densely populated Ferghana Valley was related to the increasing cost of living for many families, particularly bread. The Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley is home to almost a quarter of the country’s 26.5 million population.
“This has badly affected many families, particularly in rural areas, where bread consumption is high due to the inability of people to buy other foodstuffs, and families are large,” Usmanov said.
“What happened in Oltioriq more or less reflects the mood of people in other parts of Uzbekistan. People are unhappy with the situation,” Usmanov said.
Ikramov said there was huge discontent and this had turned into localised sporadic protests like the one in Oltioriq.
The Uzbek news website Uzmetronom.com reported that similar sporadic protests had taken place recently in the cities of Andijon, Namangan and Ferghana - all in the Ferghana Valley.
Mass protests unlikely
But the activists said it was unlikely the discontent would turn into mass protests or an uprising as happened in Andijon a little over two years ago.
Uzbek security forces violently suppressed protests in Andijon on 13 May 2005, reportedly killing up to 1,000 people, mainly unarmed civilian protesters, according to various international and local rights groups. The Uzbek government claimed the death toll was 187.
“The mentality of Uzbek people and their inability to organise means that we are unlikely to see any mass protests. What I foresee is that because many people don’t have much of a choice regarding the difficult socio-economic situation more of them will go to other countries, mainly Kazakhstan and Russia, in search of jobs to keep their families going,” Ikramov said.
“In brief, people’s discontent will turn into a protest with their ‘feet’ - leaving the country in search of income,” he added.
According to the UN in Uzbekistan, poverty - defined as anyone receiving less than 2,100 kilocalories per day - stood at 26.2 percent in 2003. A UN survey showed that the poor in rural areas constituted 28.7 percent, as compared to 22 percent in urban areas. The highest concentrations of poor households were in the southern and northern regions of the country. In the south the poverty rate was almost four times higher than in Tashkent Province.
31 August 2007
Independence Day
Well I got an unexpected holiday today! It's independence day here, and I forgot about it!! So it means that I have the apartment to myself since my roommates left, and I have generally enjoyed a slower paced day!!
It has now been 2 weeks since I arrived. It's hard to imagine that a short three weeks ago I was still in America!!! What a different world. So I thought that I should share all the wonderful things that I love about Bishkek....somehow I was reminded of many of them today when I was walking around.
The heat!! I complained a lot this summer about the cold in Massachusetts and then when I got back to Bishkek it was pretty cool too, but the heat has returned and I'm loving it!!! The only probably is that it has turned the marshrutkas (public transport) into public saunas. The description would not be that nice so I'll spare you, just remember there is no air conditioning. The best thing about the heat is that it is a dry heat...so my hair does whatever I want it to, and you don't feel so gross like when it's hot in Massachusetts, and at night you can still sleep....although it does make for a lot of dust, and I've learned to appreciate stories from the Bible about feet washing....it is definitely a must everyday in a hot dusty climate!!
Shoro!!! When I was home I also talked a lot about the national drinks that I love, and shoro has been a welcome addition back into my diet. I swear it's really healthy...and makes you feel a lot better on a hot day!
Turkish sesame bread. The Turks make the best sesame rolls, and sesame cheese bread. It's really just delicious. I forgot how much I enjoy it till I bought it again...it almost makes up for the lack of bagels (but not quite:-)
Russian: I wasn't sure how it would go getting back into daily Russian, but it has been fine...I've forgotten a few words but they come back really quickly, and it seems I have gained the ability to type better in Russian this summer. My lastest accomplishment is IMing in Russian with Cyrillic script. That is a feat I never thought I'd accomplish!! So thanks Natasha for letting me IM you in Russian!!! And thanks to all my friends who help me and have patience with me as I continue to learn!!
Weddings: weddings are great where ever in the world you are, and I got to go to one of my good friend's wedding just after I got back. I'm so glad that I was able to be here for it! For some pictures you can go to this link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47341&l=af9a3&id=905265240
So although there has been a lot of adjusting getting back into life here. I'm thankful for all the things that I love about this place!!
27 August 2007
Back in Central Asia
I fully intended to update my blog spot periodically through out the summer, but obviously it never happened! In the midst of the summer I think it was all too much for me to make sense of. I live in two different worlds with two different sets of values and views on life. Two different standards of livings. I feel comfortable in both worlds but the crossing between the two can leave you a little disoriented.
So now I'm back in my second home. They say that it takes one day for every hour of time difference. That makes 10 days for me, meaning that today I should have fully adjusted. Have I fully adjusted yet?
I noticed many things as I left one world for the other. The fact that I was leaving America not entering became apearant at JFK. Security was fairly lax, they didn't even ask me to take out my lotions and liquids! They just moved us all on through. When we landed in Moscow it became even more noticable. People started clapping when the plan landed...people never clap in America when a plan lands! In the airport the airconditioning wasn't working, the air was stale and full of cigarette smoke. People had all staked out their spots on the floor to wait out the long layovers, putting newspaper or blankets on the floor to sleep on. (I even slept on the hard marble floor with a just a little travel blanket, I had a ten hour layover, and that was the only way to sleep....I don't think I have ever been more uncomfortable!) The coca-cola I bought to keep me awake cost $5.00, and there was pretty much no security to get on the plane to Bishkek. I guess they figure they don't have to worry about terroist going there!
Then I arrived in Bishkek. The city seemed to look dingier than I remembered it, and everything looked smaller...I think being tired makes everything look different, because now the city looks like I remembered it, but in the moment it was an overwhelming thought of, where am I? The only other thing I noticed was that they had replaced all the old soviet style trash dumpsters with new shiny steel ones on wheels, that look like they come from the space age! My first marshrutka ride was so awful, I think I almost started crying while I was still in the van. They seemed hotter and more crowded than I remembered. I was quickly reminded why I want to buy a car! The bazaars seemed full of over priced Chinese junk, and everything seemed dirty.
So I could go on and on about my first week and how stressful it was, but then everything clicked. (my friend said it would, one day after you get back it's like you blink and everything seems normal again and nothing bothers you) So everything clicked for me on Friday night. I was catching a marshrutka late, when they are really full, and I got on an extra full one. There must have been at least 35 people in a 15 passenger van. I was pressed in on all sides by Kyrgyz men (remember that there is no rule in Kyrgyz culture that you should try not to touch the person next you on public transportation) it was very tight! Anyways at that moment fortunately I didn't start crying, instead I thought about all the complaining I heard in America regarding public transportation, and I almost burst out laughing. If anyone had seen me there or been in my place they probably would never complain again. (please don't interpret this wrong, I'm not condemning anyone for complaing about public transportation in America, it can be a pain anywhere, but remember it can always be worse!) So at that moment something clicked everything was about as awful as it could get, but that's what I'm here for right? Not because life is easier here, but because I can offer something, hope, where there might not normally be any. Just for the record. I got off that marshrutka a half a block early and almost started crying as I walked back to my apartment because it was so awful, but for the moment as I was trapped there between all those Kyrgyz I was able to reconcile being back in a place that is deffinitely not a first world nation.
My time in America seems like a dream. Everything is so clean and pretty, you have infinte choices for everything to suit every single diffferent type of person. The standard of living is miles above anything here, and I'm reminded why America is the place everyone dreams of coming too, and I'm reminded that I'm blessed to be from that country, and as I live here in my second home may I live sensitively to the poverty and may I live a simple life with compassion on those around me, and never take for granted all that God has given me. So have I fully adjusted yet? As much as I ever will. I don't know if you can ever fully adjust back to either place. The other one will leave it's mark on you forever; but you learn to live where you are at and enjoy the adventure of adjusting!
So now I'm back in my second home. They say that it takes one day for every hour of time difference. That makes 10 days for me, meaning that today I should have fully adjusted. Have I fully adjusted yet?
I noticed many things as I left one world for the other. The fact that I was leaving America not entering became apearant at JFK. Security was fairly lax, they didn't even ask me to take out my lotions and liquids! They just moved us all on through. When we landed in Moscow it became even more noticable. People started clapping when the plan landed...people never clap in America when a plan lands! In the airport the airconditioning wasn't working, the air was stale and full of cigarette smoke. People had all staked out their spots on the floor to wait out the long layovers, putting newspaper or blankets on the floor to sleep on. (I even slept on the hard marble floor with a just a little travel blanket, I had a ten hour layover, and that was the only way to sleep....I don't think I have ever been more uncomfortable!) The coca-cola I bought to keep me awake cost $5.00, and there was pretty much no security to get on the plane to Bishkek. I guess they figure they don't have to worry about terroist going there!
Then I arrived in Bishkek. The city seemed to look dingier than I remembered it, and everything looked smaller...I think being tired makes everything look different, because now the city looks like I remembered it, but in the moment it was an overwhelming thought of, where am I? The only other thing I noticed was that they had replaced all the old soviet style trash dumpsters with new shiny steel ones on wheels, that look like they come from the space age! My first marshrutka ride was so awful, I think I almost started crying while I was still in the van. They seemed hotter and more crowded than I remembered. I was quickly reminded why I want to buy a car! The bazaars seemed full of over priced Chinese junk, and everything seemed dirty.
So I could go on and on about my first week and how stressful it was, but then everything clicked. (my friend said it would, one day after you get back it's like you blink and everything seems normal again and nothing bothers you) So everything clicked for me on Friday night. I was catching a marshrutka late, when they are really full, and I got on an extra full one. There must have been at least 35 people in a 15 passenger van. I was pressed in on all sides by Kyrgyz men (remember that there is no rule in Kyrgyz culture that you should try not to touch the person next you on public transportation) it was very tight! Anyways at that moment fortunately I didn't start crying, instead I thought about all the complaining I heard in America regarding public transportation, and I almost burst out laughing. If anyone had seen me there or been in my place they probably would never complain again. (please don't interpret this wrong, I'm not condemning anyone for complaing about public transportation in America, it can be a pain anywhere, but remember it can always be worse!) So at that moment something clicked everything was about as awful as it could get, but that's what I'm here for right? Not because life is easier here, but because I can offer something, hope, where there might not normally be any. Just for the record. I got off that marshrutka a half a block early and almost started crying as I walked back to my apartment because it was so awful, but for the moment as I was trapped there between all those Kyrgyz I was able to reconcile being back in a place that is deffinitely not a first world nation.
My time in America seems like a dream. Everything is so clean and pretty, you have infinte choices for everything to suit every single diffferent type of person. The standard of living is miles above anything here, and I'm reminded why America is the place everyone dreams of coming too, and I'm reminded that I'm blessed to be from that country, and as I live here in my second home may I live sensitively to the poverty and may I live a simple life with compassion on those around me, and never take for granted all that God has given me. So have I fully adjusted yet? As much as I ever will. I don't know if you can ever fully adjust back to either place. The other one will leave it's mark on you forever; but you learn to live where you are at and enjoy the adventure of adjusting!
19 June 2007
Culture Shock Part 2
Shortly after I got back to New Salem, I had a big reminder that I'm not living in the city anymore. I was sitting at the kithen counter and heard a lot of noise and heard the chimes clanking around, not just ringing. I looked up to see a bear on our back deck. Needless to say it was a little shocking and scary. Apparently this bear just shows himself when I'm around. He has been around the last three years stealing bird feeders and tearing things up in the yard, but the last time anyone physically saw him was also on the back deck when I was home....hmmmm, I find that a little disturbing, and now I don't even like to sit on the back deck. Every time I hear noise out in the woods, I'm sure that the bear is coming back for a visit. So here are a few photos of the bear. I'm not in the city anymore, and it's a little weird for me. I guess I've gotten more use to the city than I realized.
Culture Shock Part 1
In general there has been little culture shock as I return to the states but there have a been a few things and I'm sure there will be a few more things over the course of the summer....
answering machines...who would have thought that answering machines would be a problem. Fortunately I haven't yet forgotten what they do, but they sure do scare my friends in Kyrgyzstan who call! We don't really have answering machines in Kyrgyzstan, so when I finally called my friends, a couple of them said that they had tried to call me and then this answering machine came on and they didn't know what to do. So I don't know if they thought they got the wrong number when they heard the answering machine or if the English kind of threw them off or what, but I've been having to explain how to call and leave a message if I'm not home!! And what was even more funny was coming home to a message on the machine saying, "hello, Rebecca? Hello? Hello?, it's me "..." Hellloooo???? click. I guess one more person to explain the wonders of an answering machine too!
Russian language. The other funny thing is watching my parents respond to my phone calls in Russian. Very few of my friends speak English over there, but it happens to be very cheap to call from Kyrgyzstan to America through the internet at internet cafes so all my friends said they'd call me. That made me happy, I love talking to my friends, I just didn't really think about the fact that no one here speaks Russian! So the first time someone called they asked for me and my mom handed me the phone and I immediately launched into Russian and my mom sat there the whole time with her jaw on the floor listening to my conversation. When I hung she just looked at me and said, "The girl who couldn't even say 'si' in Spanish in highschool, just carried on a whole conversation in Russian without even stopping to think or anything...!!" I think she finally understands that I can speak a foreign language....maybe that's why I've tried to learn Russian so well...to prove to my mother after my miserable failures in highschool that I do have the ability to learn another language!!!
So the second time I got a phone call was funny too, because this time I was in the shower. When my friend called (a different friend) I guess she thought I answered the phone, because apparently she said several sentences, while my mom started to panic. She came racing up the stairs and knocked frantically on the door....someone is talking in Russian you got to take the phone!!!! It's weird to realize that I don't even know what it feels like to not understand Russian anymore. And it's weird how quickly my brain just reverts to Russian when I hear my friends voices on the phone. I don't even think about what language to speak in, it just comes out in Russian....I guess that's a good sign!!
answering machines...who would have thought that answering machines would be a problem. Fortunately I haven't yet forgotten what they do, but they sure do scare my friends in Kyrgyzstan who call! We don't really have answering machines in Kyrgyzstan, so when I finally called my friends, a couple of them said that they had tried to call me and then this answering machine came on and they didn't know what to do. So I don't know if they thought they got the wrong number when they heard the answering machine or if the English kind of threw them off or what, but I've been having to explain how to call and leave a message if I'm not home!! And what was even more funny was coming home to a message on the machine saying, "hello, Rebecca? Hello? Hello?, it's me "..." Hellloooo???? click. I guess one more person to explain the wonders of an answering machine too!
Russian language. The other funny thing is watching my parents respond to my phone calls in Russian. Very few of my friends speak English over there, but it happens to be very cheap to call from Kyrgyzstan to America through the internet at internet cafes so all my friends said they'd call me. That made me happy, I love talking to my friends, I just didn't really think about the fact that no one here speaks Russian! So the first time someone called they asked for me and my mom handed me the phone and I immediately launched into Russian and my mom sat there the whole time with her jaw on the floor listening to my conversation. When I hung she just looked at me and said, "The girl who couldn't even say 'si' in Spanish in highschool, just carried on a whole conversation in Russian without even stopping to think or anything...!!" I think she finally understands that I can speak a foreign language....maybe that's why I've tried to learn Russian so well...to prove to my mother after my miserable failures in highschool that I do have the ability to learn another language!!!
So the second time I got a phone call was funny too, because this time I was in the shower. When my friend called (a different friend) I guess she thought I answered the phone, because apparently she said several sentences, while my mom started to panic. She came racing up the stairs and knocked frantically on the door....someone is talking in Russian you got to take the phone!!!! It's weird to realize that I don't even know what it feels like to not understand Russian anymore. And it's weird how quickly my brain just reverts to Russian when I hear my friends voices on the phone. I don't even think about what language to speak in, it just comes out in Russian....I guess that's a good sign!!
31 May 2007
Home Sweet Home
It's been a long time since I updated, but I'm finally back on US soil!!! The last month went by so quickly, getting ready to leave and then traveling and finally, yesterday was my first day back at my home in New Salem. I'm very thankful to be home, and enjoying all the wonderful things about America, like friends and family, bagels, coffee shops, stores where you can buy quality clothes, ice cream, not being in a city....and much more, but also missing the good fruits and vegetables of Kyrgyzstan, the wonderful view of the mountains I have, the new grocery store they just built down the street from me, seeing the strange sights of random things done in Kyrgyzstan, like repairing the cracks in the road by pouring hot tar out of a tea kettle! And of course missing my friends in KG. It can be hard to live in two very different worlds, but I'm praising God that he has allowed me to be part of both worlds, that I can experience the world he has created and share back and forth between them!
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