Two Stops Past Siberia

So, it’s been a quiet week here in Sunny Naryn. The summer feels like it is finally here – that means it feels to warm to wear pants. Without one clear vignette to give you all about the recent times of my life here, I’m going to present, instead, a casual synopsis of an uneventful week, a day-in-the-life, if you will.

Canvassing at work has long been finished, so I spend my days strolling in around 9:30 or ten, after conversing pleasantly with my family over breakfast in the morning. Sometimes when I get to work there are people there, sometimes the door is locked. I’ve yet to discover a rhythm as to when people arrive, so if no one is around, I’ll take a seat outside and do flashcards, or mosey over to the UNDP office, or often to the University, and visit my friends who work there. Needless to say, stress levels are decidedly low.

Last week a fellow SOCD volunteer, and good friend of mine from distant Talas City came to visit. His project out there is the same as mine, the Clean City Campaign, so I introduced him to people, and showed him our progress. We swapped stories and joked about how much of the project we’d understand if we all spoke the same language.

The day after he was satisfied with his time here, the two of us went to nearby Kochkor to visit another volunteer who works at Golden Hands, or the famed Altyn Kol cooperative. They sell high-quality felt carpets called shyrdocks to unsuspecting tourists. Their network of local artisans keeps them famed in the carpet world, and their organizational skills keep them busy with orders from abroad. So the three of us then did much of what my Talas Friend did the day before – swapped stories, shared, enjoyed each other’s company. Not a tough moment between us.

Here in Naryn, I’ve just come from a large series of meetings between some large local NGOs, notably the Kyrgyzstan – New Zealand Rural Trust. This NZ group featured a 40 year veteran of development work, clearly as interested in village level development as he was in developing the NGO’s he contracted with themselves.

This meeting showed me first hand what development work is really like, on the ground. It, more than anything, impressed upon me how lucky I am to be here, to be presented with opportunities to learn these skills. How not six months ago no proper development agency would have wanted anything to do with little tender-footed me. But today, I’m learning directly from UNDP specialists and seasoned development consultants, the folks whose lives are the light at the end of my tunnel.

Now today, I’m resting in my room, listening Cadillac by Keller Williams . I’m going to visit some neighbors shortly. I’m going to have to take my shoes off when I get to their house, but won’t want to walk around barefoot. The convenient solution? Socks with Sandals. All the way.

By the way folks, Internet Master Matt has KyrgyCarl.com up and running again. All the old letters are there. Enjoy!

Originally Written August 29th, 2009