FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Monday a patch of dry grass caught fire at the summer camp. As soon as my kids ran in and told me what was happening I immediately grabbed my phone to call the fire department.... only to realize that there was no fire department near by lol As I was thinking what to do next my kids (mind you I have some as young as 6) snapped into action and started putting the fire out themselves!!! They were hauling water up from the beach and using wet brooms to snuff out the embers. I was extremely proud and impressed by what my kids did in a pinch. I asked my coworkers if fires happened often and they said that it was the first fire ever at the camp. We are still mystified with the cause of the fire and I am even more surprised with how my kids knew exactly what to do, they truly are amazing:-) Interestingly enough the boys at the orphange have been caught twice for smoking (which I have an inkling feeling that a still lit cigarette butt caused the fire) and once for stealing fruit from our neighbors garden, so as much as I've been praising them they also have had some serious tongue lashings as well lol On a side note I was thinking the other day (I have tons of time just to sit and think lol) that at 22 I am very grateful to have seen and done so much at 22, Life is Good:-)
-Peace

Its been a good week:-)

The past few weeks since I last blogged have been pretty sweet. I've kept busy, eating well (reletively) and am integrating into my community. As usual my orphans always keep me on my toes but this week even more so. Ususally my diet at the orphanage summer camp consist of Kasha (imagine watery cream of wheat) for breakfast and soup for lunch and dinner....EVERYDAY!!!!!! The soup is usually little more than broth and some potatoes and the Kasha gets old real fast.... Honestly though I can't complain because its free food and my orphans are eating a lot better than most kids in their situation. Anyways back to why I've been eating well this week, we've had watermelon, carrots, cabbage, tons of other veggies and rice!!!! I know these things don't mean that much to you guys back home but here they are like gold, sooooooo delicious. To add to that feast a company in Karakol donated a case of candy bars, which while very nice, it meant that my kids were bouncing off the walls all week. As for keeping busy and integrating into my community I've recently begun training in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). If you don't know what it is google it and you'll see that its pretty intense. My trainer/partner happens to be the Kyrgyzstan national champion at 80kgs so im in good hands. He says that I may be ready for a real fight in 6-7 months so im super excited! My trainer also has a break dance team so last night he invited me to watch his team perform at a local club and they are very impressive. Its really cool to have a local friend. Our communication is sometimes comical because he knows about as much English as I do Russian. (which my Russian is getting better by the day so I may have to stop using that reference) Anyways things are continuing to go smoothely here, and if you feel up to it hit me up with an email or a phone call or if ur really ambitious send a packages, any communication is appriciated:-)

Note: the picture I've posted is where I work during the summer, the camp is by the pier on the left side behind the trees, hahaha my life is sooooo hard;-)
-Peace

Hiking at 12500ft

Me, Taylor and his two volunteer host brothers from Holland went hiking this weekend. Seeing as this was my first time ever seriously hiking I had no idea what to expect, round trip we hiked 21km to 12500ft. Sleeping at this height offers some interesting side effects. First ur really light headed, then you get a headache and finally your dreams are REALLY messed up!!! i.e. James Earl Jones and I were in a battle royal tag team match and he was offering me words of wisdom during our ordeal. Imagine teaming up with Mufasa and Darth Vader, how can you lose lol Anyways I took a few pics, I hope your jealous ;-)
-Peace

Life is rough on the beach

During the summer my orphans go to a camp about 20 minutes outside of Karakol. The camp is right on the beach and its AWESOME!!!! I spend three to four days out there every week just hanging out, learning Russian and swimming in the lake. As with everything there is a downside, like getting jumped on at 3AM, hearing a crying children (tears my heart everytime), and figuring out how to stop fights and disciplining them in Russian. They are always super busy either with swimming, arts and crafts, or "DiscoTeka", where they blast loud music and do little kid dances all night. I'm being kept really busy and I can't complain, life is good:-)
-Peace

This is my life.....

Ugh!!!!! I left my phone in a taxi on my way back from Bishkek this weekend. The taxi driver made off with it because I realized that it was gone the moment I stepped out of the cab. The driver knew it was in his car because he promptly drove off and turned my cell phone off, meaning I couldn't call it. Thus have a new number now, if you want it just hit my email up. Buying a new cell phone stings when your on a PC budget, I think its just gonna be one of those weeks......
-Peace

A word on Early Termination.....

In the PC world early termination is known as ETing. When someone ETs you feel like you lost a part of yourself. These people have gone through so much with you and when they leave country you may never see them again. You constantly ask yourself "is there something I could have done to make them happier in country?!". We've lost five in Issyk-Kul Oblast (where I live), as a matter of fact all of the ET's post PST have been from here. Sometimes its pretty lonely and depressing when you think about it. Thats why when someone ET's its best to move on as soon as possible, because to dwell on their loss would drive anyone crazy. People leave for different reasons, all of them good, but it still stings and leaves a hole in your heart when one of your family decides to go home.
-Peace

Summer Time:-)

Hey all!!!! Okie dokie lets begin with the explaination of culture day/the wedding misunderstanding
Culture Day
Culture Day is an event sponsored and held by PCT's to show aspects of other cultures in KG. (ie Kyrgyz, Russian, Turkish, etc)Many groups sang traditional songs in the respective national dress. My group in Dmitrievka presented a Russian wedding. It is a very elaborate process, and the entire ceremony was done in Russian;-) First the groom and family memebers get into a line and approach the bride singing, the bride is sitting with another female friend/family member. When I, the groom reached a predeterminded spot I was stopped and asked playful questions on why I was there (to get married clearly) and I then had to pick out my brides lips from a poster of different peoples lips. Once I picked the correct lips I was able to move one space closer. The I was given an apple with matches sticking out of it. As I picked out a match I had to say a tender word, there were five words and the last match that I needed to pick out needed to be the shortest or else I couldn't get married. After this I was able again to move one more step. Now I was given a plate which I threw on the ground and members of my entourage placed money on the shattered pieces. When this was done my "best man" (Jared) collected all the money and presented it to the bride. Luckily my plate had shattered into enough pieces that I was able to "purchase" my wife lol At this point I was able to sit next to my wife, I kissed her on the cheek and the deed was done..... but wait!!! My host father took my new brides shoe and my best man was made to get it back for her. (I think this part was supposed to represent her purity or honor I think) After the shoe was returned everyone got into a big circle and we danced the waltz, I never thought my social dance skills would come in handy ever again lol After the dance me and my bride walked hand in hand down the path with our entourages singing us farewell. The whole process took about 20 minutes and resembled a musical, it was extremely fun!!! Thanks to Freckers for being my fake bride ;-)
Note: I have no idea if this is a Russian wedding in KG or in all Russian tradition as such this is only what I experienced.
Site Visit
After culture day we went to visit our permanant sites. My perm. site is really cool and I finally met my orphans! My counter part doesn't speak english, well no one at my orphange speaks english which is good for my language but stressful and frustrating sometimes. They are all really cool and meeting with my new host family (the one that I will live with for two years) was great. My father is a retired Akrana, which I am still trying to figure out, its something between a hunter, police officer and soldier, but really cool nonetheless bc he still goes out for romps with his old Akrana buddies. Both my mom(Chinara) and 26 yr old sister(Aidai) are doctors which is cool and my 16 yr old brother(Salamat) wants to be an economist. I have another sister in who lives in Bishkek but I haven't met her yet. My new place is also really cool. I essentially live in compound housing. My room and the kitchen are connected and the rest of the house is separated by a mud room/reception area. My new host fam is a good mix of wanteing to talk to me and also giving me my space. I think the nex two years are going to be SWEET!
My Birthday
As most of you know my birthday was on June 1st, it was my first birthday away from home and a tad sad to start off with. I was super excited that my parents called me right before I headed to language. I was nice to hear their voices and speak with them, you guys just don't realize how much it means to volunteers when we get communications from home, be it letters, emails, or phone calls. Anyways the day went on like usual until after language. My family threw me a big party with music, dancing, and my favorite Kyrgz dish, Plov! It was one of the best but also saddest Bdays that I've ever had, such is life right.
Swearing In
For our Swearing-In ceremony I was asked to give a speech. Now normally I would have done this without a thought, but the US Ambassador attended and I had never spoken in front of a government offical, as such I was nervous as sin! Luckily I got through it without a hitch. Afterwards we were invited to the Ambassador's house to have American food (burgers, fries, DORITOS!!!), we also got to meet some famous singers and rising youth in Kyrgyzstan. Its so nice to be done with PST I didn't realize how rough it was until it was over. I will miss my friends and host family in Dtown, but I am super excited to be starting my work with the Orphanage!!!!
Well thats all I have for you guys now, expect another post and maybe more pics next week!
oh and sorry this one took so long, lifes been a whirlwind the past few weeks
-Peace