Some Photos from June

Hey here are some pics from my bday and some events in June

P.S. if you've been reading the news I'm safe :-)
-Peace

My lovely month of May ;-)

First ans for most the scenery around Osh is beautiful!!!! Before I left for the states it was a interesting shade of tan and now that spring has arrived Osh has exploded into a lovely shade of emerald green. It has transformed the city so much in fact that when I returned to Osh I almost missed my apartment lol Coming back to Osh has been great my life has seemingly returned to normal (more on that later) and I like to think that I hit the ground running. Since my last blog I've restarted my vigorous training regimen and have cranked out two more grants. One of the grants that I wrote was for administrative software designed by the UNDP for the rural villages around Osh. This project is centered around increased productivity within the local government and cooperation between the youth and adult elements of society. How you ask? We are going to have the students from the Osh State technical university trained in the software who will then train the current and subsequent employees in the technology thus increasing the interactions between them. The second project is to repair a workshop in Kara-Suu (a village about 45 minutes outside of Osh). This workshop is at a center for deaf children and is in dire need of ceiling and roof repairs. I'm finding as I write more grants the easier they get (even though some are excruciatingly boring lol) Anyways both of these are good projects and my organization is well equipped and motivated to carry them out. This past week I have been at the Kara-Suu children's home (mentioned above) essentially just hanging out and spending time with the kids. As with everywhere else in KG that has had children they have stolen my heart. Its really interesting because the kids are taught two types of sign language one is simple gestures that are basically universal and the other resembles the sign language in America. I've been told that although some of the gestures in American and Russian sign language are similar they are also vast differences. It was great when they were using the simple sign language I was able to communicate with them instantly because I had used many of the gestures during my first months in country when my Russian language skills were lacking. So besides talking with the children we showed "Surf's Up" (my favorite movie about surfing penguins lol) and played basketball and soccer with them. They were a great bunch of kids and I am glad to be able to support them. Amazingly enough along with all of this productivity there has also been crazy things going on. In the 16 days that I have been back in Osh we have been put on standby three times. What this means that we are not allowed to leave our homes until we get the all-clear from PC.

Ok so that first part was two weeks ago when I was originally trying to type this blog out, but I havent been able to access blogspot since so here is how the rest of May went. The rest of the time that I spent at the Hearing Impaired school went very well and the last day of the program we brought the kids to Osh for s field trip about the city. It was great we took them to Suliman Mountain (yes the same mountain that I climb everyday), then to a restaurant that serves pizza (a first for all of them) and finally to the park to play and relax. They were so grateful and kind and just regular kids doing crazy kid things :-)
So today is my birthday! It is the second bday spent in KG and it seems like each one is getting better. Last year I had a party with all of my friends in PST with me and this year, since my bday is on a Tuesday, we are saving the festivities until the weekend. On Friday we are going to rent a playstation 3 hall and play video games all night and hang out, then on Saturday we're are getting chinese (my fav!) and hittin the clubs. Its really cool this year because I have local friends to celebrate my birthday with, also this means that I only have one more birthday to go until I'm stateside again. Anyways I'm beginning to ramble but I'm posting some pics from the Hearing Impaired school activities, and trust me there will be plenty from my birthday also so be ready ;-)

ok so it looks like the internet only wants to cooperate a lil bit today, be on the lookout for pics in the near future
-Peace

Month of Chaos

Where do I even begin? Home was both a blessing and curse and since so much happened I'm gonna try to remember everything that happened. Well the first week was actually great, I got home, ate junk food, hung out with my friends, read to my moms kindergarten class and generally enjoyed vacation. The second week however is when the chaos began. As planned me and my parents drove to Washington DC to see some grad schools that interested me. The schools were pretty neat but not really what I am looking for but still worth going to visit. Anyways on the drive back, I start getting text messages from my friends asking me if I was going to KG, had I heard what happened, is everything ok, will I be going back. This was surprising to me to say the least because in the modern era of technology, I nor my parents had anyway of confirming what was happening in KG. So I ended up calling one of my best buds (shout out to Adam Hirsh) and asking him to read me any articles on KG from the New York Times website. Since I am still stateside as of the time of this blog I still have no clear picture of what went on. All I know is that PC told me to stay put until further notice. Instantly my world was turned upside down, my vacation went from relaxing to extremely stressful. Between worrying about my friends, my local volunteers at the UN, my apartment, and my future it was rough to say the least. Honestly without the support of my fam and friends back home, it would have been way worse. Adding to the stress was the conflicting reports of what was going on between the media, my friends and workmates in KG, and Peace Corps, this is not anyones fault just the nature of what happened. Everyone had a different perspective and were all trying to process a very complex and constantly changing situation. Now although I was on an emotional roller coaster for 3 weeks the extra time that I was allotted enabled me to spend more time with my family and friends, as well as buy new clothes, laptop, prepare some surprises for my fellow volunteers in Osh and time to think and contemplate my next move after PC. So I guess all in all it wasn't horrible being home for an extended period but my life is in KG and so is my heart for that matter (hahaha at least for now) Anyways I'm posting some pictures with this blog so that its not all text. The first one is my watch showing how long (in hours lol) I was traveling for from Osh to Cleveland, and the second is my first and last meal in the US. ;-)

-Peace

I have the Anxious returning home Blues :-/

So I leave for the States in a week and I can't begin to tell you how anxious I am. Two months ago I could not contain my excitment to come home and now its the opposite. I think I'm just worried about how I'll fit in in the world that I left behind. Simple things that I have learned to live without or adapt to will suddenly be available again, things like drinkable tap water, constant power, washing machines, flowing hot water, central heating, menu's in english and supermarkets just to name a few. Not to mention now that EVERYONE will be speaking english, I just don't think that many people can comprehend what it is like to walk down the streets hearing two languages day in and day out. Another thing is that here everyone stares at me, its not a bad thing and I understand why they stare but I've learned how to walk down the street and not smile or look at anyone else, I NEVER did this in the states. My personal bubble/space has been reduced to KG size (super tiny, you get used to people always touching you) and I worry about being socially awkward when I get home, anyways I don't want this to sound like a super complaint blog but just a few things that are running through my head right now. Anyways if you see me while I'm back in the states and I'm kinda awkward at least you know why now lol

P.S. just to make this post a lil less depressing here are some pics of KG volunteers having some fun :-)
-Peace

Spring! Spring! Spring!

Spring has come to Osh and its awesome! Recently I've been able to go hiking twice a week and there are some truly beautiful places around Osh city. It so nice to see people out and about again, after a rough winter I almost forgot what spring was like. In other news my primary site was changed to the UNDP in Osh, which means that my reports and such will be from this organization instead of the orphanage. I will still work at the orphanage but my time will now be split. At UNDP I've already become hyper productive. We've started two clubs, a culture club and a debate/discussion club, have 3 grants in the works and are working on developing career and college guidence curriculum for the schools of KG. I've been really busy recently to say the least. The best news of course is that I'm coming home to visit in 18 days :-) Man I can't wait to see my family and friends, it will have be a full year since I stepped foot on US soil, crazy right?! Anyways just wanted to give everyone a lil update, I'm going to try and take some pics of the hikes I go on and post them next time, anyways I'm out
Oh P.S. for those of you who I will see when I come home I'm making a movie of a day in my shoes in Osh, be ready :-)
-Peace

From January 9th - Present

Hey guys I know its been forever since I've posted but hopefully you arent too mad lol Anyways I'll bring you up to speed on whats happened since Jan. First, I forget how the mundane things in my life are actually pretty interesting to you guys back home, hence I tried to wait until something exciting happened. Since my last post, I attended the PC Project Design and Management (PDM) conference, where I learned to design and implement grants and projects. As with most PC events we learned a lot but most of the fun came from seeing all of my friends from around KG. Unfortunately my only jacket was misplaced (stolen) at the hotel and the package that was sent from the states containing my winter coat never arrived, life sucked for about 3 days. Luckily my parents helped me out and I was able to buy a winter coat and light jacket so I wouldn't freeze to death. This winter has just been one crazy occurance after another. As most of you know my electricity situation is anything but perfect and it finally came for me to do something about it. After the umteenth time replacing my fuzes (which were from the soviet era, no lie) I man'd up bought the new replacement fuzes and did the work myself. Now I'm sure that most of you can't recognize the awesomeness of that statment. I almost died (not really but it sounds cool lol), I did get shocked three times though. I was proud of myself because I asked the guy at the hardware store how to change the fuzes and he explained them to me in russian and I was able to complete the task:-) Anyways on to other things, winter has finally broken!!!!! In the fastest change of seasons I've ever seen in my life, it went from 6-7 inches of snow on the ground to nothing in 4 days! I'm soooo happy that the weather is getting warmer. On the workout front I'm exercising like a crazy person. I'm lifing 4 times a week and I climb Sulimon Mountian everyday, trying to be like HULK for when I come home ;-) Speaking of which only 33 days til I come home to visit and man I can't wait to see my fam and friends. It will have been a full year since I've been home and boy do I have some crazy stories hehehe Mens/ Defenders of the Homeland day was on February 23rd and it awesome! Think of Fathers day but for every guy. It was really cool, my staff at High Times (where I have two English conversation clubs) bought me a Kalpak (the hat), horse whip, and the robe so that I could finally be a man in KG lol It was super fun and I can't wait til next year. :-) Lastly and I think the best news, I have started working with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) here in Osh. We specialize in Youth Development and I help write grants and design programs, its awesome and rewarding work and I love my staff there, whats better I can still work with my orphans :-) Ok, thats all I have for now, who knows when I'll post next ;-)
oh and heres a shout out for the K-18s (the newbies lol) that will be here in a month :-)
Here is the explaination of the pictures from top to bottom

1) That is Maxim and Rushana at lunchtime, my two tablemates when I eat lol

2) This is me and Suheyla on Suliemon Mountain (that was the second time for me that day lol)

3) Me and Ak-Jyldyz (which in Kyrgyz means white star, kinda pretty right?) with my robe, Kalpak and horse whip, I am now officially a man lol

4) Nazgul (which means tender flower in Kyrgyz) and Ilona, who loves to hold my hand.....always lol

5) Rushana and Valadik being goofy as always

6) Me and my Hightimes staff after Defenders of the Homeland day (such a good name for a holiday)
Anyways thats it :-)
-Peace

Just because I haven't updated in a long time

These are some pics of me in and around Osh, explaination to come tomorrow morning
-Peace