To The Ends of the Earth...
A Birthday-Kyrgyz Style
So Sunday was a holiday- Easter, and our Sunday group had a picnic after the service- very many delicious foods- plav, laporshka, salads, cakes, etc. But it was not only a holiday, but also Janna’s birthday! After I returned home from our group’s picnic, I waited to meet the others and head out to Janna’s house for her birthday party. On our way, Aisuluu, Dastan and I stopped by the bizarre to pick up a gift, some flowers and a cake. Flowers are an important thing- they are often given for holidays and especially for birthdays. When we arrived we went into the home and there was many people (her family) there sitting and eating. We readily took our places among them; I sat next to Dastan because he knows English good and helped as my translator. Let me layout the scene- you are in a room with a table cloth spread out in the middle of the floor covered with all kinds of food- salads, borsok, laporshka, cookies, candies, jam, meat, drinks, and tea. Around the table setting are laid long mats which everyone sits on around the table area. Toasts are also a very big cultural thing- and maybe because I was the most obvious foreigner I was asked to give a toast for Janna. What is also cultural (Russian culture) is after you give a toast- you down a shot of vodka, which I politely declined and was given a glass of juice instead. Now, in America, we are not big toast givers- usually only at weddings and then just a few people. But people here have it down to an art! I on the otherhand- need much more practice! So then plates were passed to us and mine was promptly filled with almost everything. Another cultural note- the sheep- for many, or maybe any celebration it is typical to have one sheep- kill it and cook it all. I saw it being cooked and skillfully carved, only after I had eaten parts of it that probably I normally would not have. The good thing is I have yet to have the brains- I stress yet. But it was delicious for the most part. But that was not the end- after eating inside, we all went outside to wait for the main course- Bishbarmark, which translates as ‘five fingers’ because that is traditionally how you eat it. It is made up of home-made noodles and sheep meat. We had sheep ribs with ours. Though again I was told to make another toast! As was placed in front of me a shot of vodka. Trying to get out of it I said I had already made a toast and offered that someone else be given a chance- but there was no way out of it. So once again I said that I did not drink vodka, but this time the crowd was more insistant-“it’s our culture”- and having no back up from my friends of this culture I found myself in a very awkward position. Then a break- I was told I could drink however much I wanted- not the whole shot. Perfect. So I fumbled through another toast, picked up my shot of vodka and tipped the glass so it looked like I drank some, all the while keeping my mouth closed. It seemed to work- with exception of one guy who insisted I drink more, but the others said it was ok. Only to have another person give a toast a little while later and instead of drinking my tea, it was again insisted that I drink the vodka again. So again I tilted the glass- I am glad that vodka is clear and it really isn’t noticeable that there was pretty much the same amount in the small glass as when it was given to me. Soon after, we had cake and we headed back home; though the celebration there continued for the rest of the day. Another cultural note- the person of whose birthday it is does all the work- so being there for Janna, we rarely saw her as she was often cleaning up dishes, getting tea and what not. It was an experience for me and brought up some questions to my local Kyrgyz friends about maybe the right way to go about that situation, I guess I did ok. Culture or compromise….sometimes not a very clear line.
A Perfect Day!
Saturday was a perfect day! We had planned a picnic for English Club, and since Easter was the following day, I decided to add in some Easter flare. Earlier that morning Yylkon and I went shopping and bought the hotdogs, plates, stuff for salads, and about 30 eggs. Then Izada, Parizat, and I did some coloring! Once I got them started I started making a Jell-o cake! I love them! But unfortunately there is no Cool Whip here so I found some regular white frosting and decorated it with sprinkles and jelly beans. Jelly beans are also another no-show here in Kyrgyzstan but thanks to my mom- she had sent some egg coloring kits, several bags of jelly beans and holiday gifts and candies (and also large plastic eggs to hold the treats). So after much preparation everything was ready and we were off to the park to meet our students! When we arrived there, Yylkon stayed to meet them at the entrance and I took a few of them with me to unload the taxi and bring all the stuff to our picnic spot. We had great weather- sunny and warm, and to my surprise, the park was not full of people- but that was good because we were able to get the nice spot under the trees and in the shade! After setting the blankets out and food stuff, we headed to the open field where we set up the bases and got ready for baseball. Baseball has become very popular with our students- to which I am very happy- they even know about the best team in baseball- the New York Yankees (yes I’m a bit partial). We had a good turnout, about 14 people came. After two innings we decided it was a good time for a food break, so we headed to our picnic area and started the fire for roasting our hotdogs. We had a very good time of eating and talking and eating! After a while Ira had a chance to share about the holiday- what it is about and why we celebrate. It was a good time! Then it was out to the field for more baseball- we played until dark and called it a day when we could no longer see the ball! It was a perfect day!
Kara-Kol
I was invited to come and do an English club lesson for students in Kara-Kol. Kara-Kol is a city east of Bishkek, on the other end of Lake Issyk-Kul. It is about a 6hour ride by marshruka. The English club was on Friday morning, so Thursday evening Dastan and I got on a marshruka and headed to Kara-Kol. Friday morning we had English club and about 10 students were there. It was a good thing that the sun was out because the room that they typically use was being occupied by another group and no one had a key to open up another room. So we had our class outside! It was fun, we talked and played some games and at the conclusion of the lesson made plans for them to meet me the next day and show me around Kara-Kol. That night, they had a kind of hang out time for the students at a café, they had some discussion time and did a presentation on HIV/AIDES. Then we ate fried potatoes, but these ones were crinkle cut and reminded me of french fries back home (it made me smile). Afterwards we were invited to Chicka and Mira’s home for dinner. The whole new life team of Kara-Kol was there, and we had a really good meal. Then it was time for Nertz- I am not a good Nertz player, we didn’t play that game when I worked at the pool; needless to say I did not do very good, but had a good time! Saturady morning I met with 4 students from the day before and they showed me around Kara-Kol- the campuses, the center, Tsume, a couple parks, a museum, the stadium, and the bizarre. It was a nice time- walking around and learning more about the area and about them. I liked Kara-Kol, it is much quieter than Bishkek, there is more nature, less cars and the mountains are closer. It is very beautiful there! While I was there I also go to walk around with another girl,(as the team had trainings), she brought me to their zoo. I was warned ahead of time that I might see that it is not a very good zoo. Particularly because they don’t have enough money maybe to feed the animals what they need- for ex.- the bears aren’t always fed meat, but potatoes. Well, we went and I thought it was pretty good- not as bad as I was told. They had a variety of animals from that area, and it was pretty cool. It reminded me of the Utica zoo. We were again invited to dinner- which was again delicious! It was a good time for me, not only to see more of this amazing country, but to meet and get to know some more people here!
Tis the season…baseball season!!!
That’s right, it is Spring and baseball games have begun! We invited our students out to play baseball the last Saturday in March and about 8-10 people came. It is a lot of fun to teach people how to play, and to watch them play for the first time! One girl was up at bat and she hit the ball and just stood there, and so I yelled “run, run!” – she ran…but straight for the pitcher with the bat in her hand. It was funny. But since then we have played two more times, and they are looking pretty sharp out on the field! Maybe I’ll add in some of the more complex rules…maybe. After the first game, I had baked some chocolate chip cookies for an after game snack- and they were a big hit!! So when we planned for our second game everyone reminded me not to forget those delicious cookies! I made them, and gave out the recipe. Well, later some people had some questions about the recipe and so this past Saturday, instead of playing baseball, (because it was still cold) we had a baking class! I taught them how to make chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately only about 6 people showed up, but it was ok- we had plenty of ingredients and they all were able to make their own batch. Murat and Azamat were the first two there, and upon entering the room Azamat asked-“Where are all the girls?” It was kinda funny. There were only 3 girls there, Yylkon, Acel, and myself, and 4 guys- Murat, Azamat, Tolgot, and Elnar. So it was very interesting to see them preparing cookies! Typically here, the guys don’t really do kitchen work- unless it is fixing the sink. Plus, I don’t know if you have ever made CC cookies without an electric mixer, but it can be a tough job! After we had made our dough, they said they had even more appreciation of the cookies I made for baseball- seeing how much work it can be. They were able to take their dough home to cook, and we cooked the batch that I made. While the cookies were baking we played UNO- and that was a lot of fun!! So our Saturdays continue to be a good time of being with our students and building up our friendships!