June has been a busy month work-wise, even though I feel sometimes like I’m not doing a whole lot at the same time.  This is sort of a hallmark of the Peace Corps – so many of us are so driven, that even though blogging, teaching, and helping your organization is work, there is not enough work to fill the day to the levels we are accustomed in the US.  But despite that feeling, quite a lot happened!

This month started out with a spontaneous weekend jaunt up to Arslanbob with some local friends and my sitemates.  We spent the weekend hiking, eating, playing extremely competitive Uno, before hiking and eating some more.  You can read about it more in-depth here.

The following day, it was back onto the marshrutka with the American Corner to head out to Chong-Alay, the most distant region of Osh Oblast and one of the most remote corners of Kyrgyzstan.  It’s been in the news recently also because of a massive 6.3-6.7 earthquake and series of aftershocks that rocked the region a few days ago.  In any case, we had a really great day sharing information about the American Corner and hosting a carnival for some of the town’s children.  I also got to meet and plan a training that will take place there later this week.  Read more about that trip here.

Then, the very next day, it was back out to the rayons, this time to Alay, for a planning meeting.  I’ve been trying to increase the reach of my work beyond just Osh for a few months now, and was planning a training there, but as fate would have it, their polyclinic is actually extremely active and capable, so I’m working to modify my training there to make it more useful to them.

Another day, another trip – this time it was out to Kara-Kulja, where we had another day of caravan and carnival with the American Corner.  Then the next day, I had my managers down from Bishkek, and had additional meetings and work to make happen.

The reprieve from all this travel came over the weekend, when some very dear friends from Harvard and Geneva happened to be backpacking through Osh on their way around Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and so we spent some time hanging out, hiking, and stuffing our faces with plov.  Given that part of my job is to educate people about Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyz culture, this even technically counted as work!  I also learned that I’m actually a pretty darn good tour guide, and that I should probably be doing more to help train more guides here.

Meanwhile, all my clubs kept on going – Movie Club, TV Club, Talking Club, and the planning stages for a health club (which we’ve been working really hard on launching for some time now).  I’m particularly excited for the health club, because it’s a much more collaborative and sustainable model than the other trainings I’ve been giving.

Then ten days ago, it was back onto the plane to Bishkek.  I had planned to have a mini city weekend, but as I’ve said before, you should always accept the invitation.  And when your Kyrgyz friend texts you at the airport saying “hey, come with us to Issyk Kul today,” it’s always a good idea to say yes.  So into the car we went and I spent two glorious days on the beach and four days with good friends.  Read more about it here.

The last big thing that I get to cover in this post was our Mid-Service Training, which is a sort of conference and training that marks the halfway point in our service.  Yes, Mile 14 for me technically means I have lived at site for one year, and that I’m more than halfway through my service.  It’s a weird feeling, this feeling that I kind of know what I’m doing, but I’ve only got a year to do what I can with that.  It’s intense.

Anyway, it was nice to see the other volunteers, particularly some of my friends who generally don’t leave their sites (good volunteers, they are!) and others that I haven’t seen.  Our group of Health volunteers had a giggly and wonderful week, which turned out to be really special because not only was this the last time we’ll all be consolidated until we leave the country, but also because it was the last time we will be working closely with our Program Manager, who will be leaving PCKG at the end of next week.  I don’t like to talk too in depth about people on here without permission, and with locals especially for privacy, but in case you didn’t know, my PM is probably one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met in my life – Fulbright Scholar, expert on just about everything relating to Kyrgyzstan, and also the future Country Director of a very significant new project that is opening here.  We are all so sad to see her leave us, but also so excited to see her in action in her new position where she can really fly towards her potential.  It’s really an amazing opportunity for her, and I’ll even get to keep working with her a little bit through my NGO.

After so much time away from site, it’s nice to park myself back down for at least a few days here.  It feels like I haven’t seen some of my colleagues in weeks in some cases!  I’ll be back on the road later this week for trainings, but after that, I’ll get some much-needed Osh-centric time, just in time for the end of Ramadan!  Stay tuned, subscribe, like on Facebook, follow on Instagram, and keep on reading!