May 28, 2013
This morning I awoke quite
early, as I had to be at the London School with all of my possessions (which
have grown to include a computer, a shyrdak, and a bucket). The taxi driver who
drove me to the London School wanted to know where I was from, how old I was,
if I was married, if I was a lesbian, if I had a boyfriend, and if I was a
virgin. In that order. Great. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan.
I met the London School’s
director and her driver at the school and we set off for Toguz-Bulak. We only
stopped once along the way, at the rest area at Kholodnie Vodi – not much there
other than some kiosks selling snacks, and of course a cold water spring from
whence the tiny village gets its name. There was also an incredibly sweet
little black dog there. If I had been in my own transport (and going to my own
home), I would have taken her with me. I felt pretty terrible leaving her
behind.
When we arrived at the village
of Toguz-Bulak, our first stop was the Myrzamambetov Public School, where my
classes would be held. All of the school’s students and teachers – and
apparently a couple of parents – had turned up to meet me and to listen to the
London School’s director give a presentation on who I was and why I had come to
their village. From the exterior, it was obvious that the school was of fairly
new construction, but the interior was dimly lit and frigid, despite the warm,
sunny day outside. I grew chilled as the director gave her presentation. Her
presentation was entirely in Kyrgyz – a language in which I can only speak a
few words – so I don’t know everything that was said. I do know that she
included things like:
(While no one asked me for money while I was in Toguz Bulak, I’m pretty sure most people
didn’t pay any attention to any of the other ‘tips’ for dealing with The American.)
By the time the presentation
had finished, I was feeling thoroughly chilled inside the dark school-building,
and was looking forward to returning to the warm outdoors. Alas: during the
time of the presentation, the sky had clouded up, and the outdoors had grown
rather chilly. I found myself thinking how glad I was that I’d brought
fleece-lined leggings to accompany my sundresses!
We left the school and
headed towards my host family’s house on the northern edge of the village. They
live in a brand-new, two-story house (it was just completed this past
November), yet as is true in many Kyrgyz villages, they had no indoor plumbing
to speak of. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a brand-new, two-story house with a pit
squatter out back. And a yurt set up in the yard.
I met the family who were to
be my hosts for the next month: Rakhat and her husband Altynbek, and their
three children Nursultan (14), Nuraika (10) and Nurel (2.5). Rakhat teaches at
the Myrzamambetov Public School as well – she is a teacher of chemistry and
biology. Her husband is a farmer (they raise mostly sheep, but also some
cattle, goats, and chickens) as well as the regional deputy who represents the
three villages in the valley. We ate plov accompanied by boorsook and jam and
copious quantities of tea, and then the London School’s director left.
At that point I was feeling
pretty exhausted and in need of a nap.
Two hours later, I awoke
feeling refreshed and ready to explore my surroundings. I spent a little bit of
time watching my hosts plow a small field, using a horse drawn plow. The horse
was very compliant. I can just imagine the negative reaction if I attached a
plow to the back of either of my horses in the US! They were plowing the field
in preparation for planting wheat to feed their animals come wintertime.
After spending a little bit
of time watching my hosts plow, I decided to go for a walk around the tiny and
remote village. Toguz-Bulak is tiny – the size of many neighborhoods in the US
– and very desolate: wide dirt streets, small cottages (many in various states
of disrepair, although several even nicer than my hosts’ home, and all with pit
toilets), livestock roaming free, and in the middle of a wide valley, lined on
both the north and the south by tall mountains. From the western edge of the
village, I could see two other villages of comparable size: Kul-Tor (where I
was initially supposed to go) and one other village.
Unfortunately, I managed to
encounter not one but two Creepy Dudes, both in their forties, both quite drunk,
and both way too interested in me. The second one actually followed me to my
door. Unluckily for me, he turned out to be a childhood friend of Altynbek, and
as such was invited in for tea. Aaaargh. Luckily, Rakhat and Altynbek only kept
the drunk fellow around just long enough to be polite, then very forcefully
sent him on his way. After he left, Rakhat said, “He’s actually a decent guy
when he’s sober, but…” Yeah. I am all too familiar with that type, and let me
tell you how not interested I am! I decided at that point to invent a fictional
boyfriend to start telling people about. Toguz-Bulak is a small enough place
that “fact” of whether or not I was single would probably spread very quickly.
After dinner, I sat down to
plan my lesson for the following day. I knew that I would have three groups:
high school, middle school, and elementary. What I didn’t know was what levels
of English skills the students would have or whether or not any of them would
speak Russian. I also didn’t know if the school had any materials available for
me to use, or if the students even had textbooks. As such, I planned a lesson
that was really simple: a personal introduction (including photos from home of
my family, my house, and my pets), some basic vocabulary (translated into both
Russian and Kyrgyz) and the song Hello,
Goodbye by The Beatles. We’ll see how it goes!
Hey- So I came across your blog while googling the volunteer program at the LSB. I was hoping that you would be willing to answer some questions for me about the program. My email is jessicavangelder@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteI would really appreciate it :) thanks!