Archive for June, 2010

So They Call You Kyrgyz Carl

Posted by KyrgyCarl in Letters on June 7, 2010

I got an interesting phone call last week. It was from my superiors in Bishkek. They had seen the Trees for the Kyrgyz success video, and wanted to show it at their next big event. The event in questions? The Swearing In ceremony for the new class of volunteers.

And so this is how I was introduced to the new volunteers, introduced not by my Christian moniker, but instead as I am apparently known but the staffers in our main office, as Kyrgyz Carl. The reaction, among my compatriots, was positive, though did inspire some gentle ribbing.

“We should drop him off in the mountains somewhere, get him lost,” one of the new volunteers told a friend of mine, “that way we’ll lower expectations on ourselves.”

To which my friend so appropriately replied, “you don’t know how much he’d like that.”

And so it goes. We were the new guys, learning the ways of the experienced crew. Now, it is us who are showing people around, telling them what we know. And talking to them, folks, is different than writing letters home. For instance, during our first meet-and-greet, my friend said, “well, I don’t think anyone has been really hassled out here.”

“Well,” I countered, “there was that time I got into a taxi with a drunk guy, who sped down towards the bazaar, and chased me from his car swinging his fists.”

Whereas here, folks, I focus on the wonderful moments, the ones that extend to the majority of my service, I felt obliged to warn these guys. They know how wonderful it is here, how safe it is. I told them about the time a very, VERY drunk old man grabbed my bag strap, perhaps trying to greet me, as he was to drunk to speak. We pushed him off gently, though, because we didn’t want to knock him over.

And I got to thinking, in those moments of story-telling reflection, how different one audience is from the other. Folks, I give you my world here, in positives and negatives, in the proportions that I see it.

But so is life. And this new crew is throwing me, and many of us in the old guard reflecting. Before we were comfortable with our language abilities, before we had friends in the community. Before we were clear on our jobs and were close to our coworkers.

And in that reflection, it has grown clear how that comfort snuck up on us. Little by little, we grew with this place, and are still growing. And as much as I want to show and teach the new volunteers, I know how much I needed to learn it all myself. This part of Peace Corps, the transition to the new generation of volunteers, is a very real part. The city is now populated with so many more of us, with new personalities and goals. It is an exciting time. More so that those sneaky little feelings would have led me to believe.

,

1 Comment

Summer and the Final Bell

Posted by KyrgyCarl in Letters on June 1, 2010

So, here in Sunny Naryn, during the winter, I seemed to reference the biting, bone chilling cold every week. These days, I just can’t get enough of the warm weather.

These Kyrgyz folks, so conscious about not getting cold, are walking around in skirts and t-shirts. I hardly even need a jacket to ward of a chill at night. We’re out and about without the armor that kept us warm all winter. The hills have turned green, and the animals have all gone out to pasture. The weather extremes, folks, make this place just all the more real.

The onset of warm weather has also brought another summer steadfast – kanykul­­, or, as we know it so faithfully at home – Summer Vacation. But before they’d let the kids out of their classrooms, we first needed to observe the tradition of akyrky kongoro – the last bell.

This is the ceremony where the old kids graduate, and the everyone celebrates. We were outside in the weather, and there was singing and dancing, and costumes and fun. But that was just at the regular school.

At the music school, where my 14 year old host sister was just finishing up, a recital commenced. There were piano players, a flute player, a kid who sang with an accordian, and lots and lots of komuz players. The komuz is the traditional Kyrgyz guitar type instrument, carved from the wood of the apricot tree. For those of you who saw the Trees for the Kyrgyz final video, you heard it played there, amongst a host of other traditional instruments. In the grand finale of the recital, all of the players plus their teacher got on stage for a powerful strumming string session of bliss.

The last bell, akyrky kongoro, has heralded far more than simply seeing the kids march about the streets in their new found free time. It also means all the happy summer things that I didn’t know I missed are coming back.

First off, kymys, the fermented horse milk that shocked me (and everyone else) on  arrival has started to flow from the mountains. It is much lighter than the cow kymys I’ve been drinking all winter, and carries an almost woody flavor. Nostalgia is a funny thing.

There are also sheep. Lots of sheep are around these days, and the prices are going down. Over the weekend, my host father simply informed me that we’d run out of meat at home, and a koi soi, or sheep slaughter, was in order.

This time around, though, I’ve seen it done, and I’m getting confident. As I have now decided that I would like to slaughter a sheep for my American family when they arrive a month from now, I decided it was time to get my hands dirty.

Now, while they won’t let me slit the throat yet, I am learning to skin the beast with my fist.  This stuff is Peace Corps, through and through.

,

No Comments