Well another month has managed to fly past me without me so much as being able to stop and take a look, which is funny because it felt like one of the slower months of my time here so far despite actually getting a lot done.
Category: Peace Corps
A Glossary Of Peace Corps
Peace Corps has so many confusing acronyms and so much specific jargon that I worry sometimes that I am confusing readers beyond belief. So I decided to spend some time to think about the most common ones and write a guide to help you decode some of my occasional lapses into Peace Corps-ese. Continue reading “A Glossary Of Peace Corps”
Day Tripping to Chong-Alay
Today was one of those days that reminds me why I absolutely love where I am and what I’m doing. I’ve mentioned a few times before that I do some work on the side at the Osh American Corner, including talking clubs, movie clubs, an art club, and even a talk about Alaska Native art from my hometown. All of this works towards the second goal of the Peace Corps, which is to share American culture with the people of Kyrgyzstan.
Well, the American Corner program has a really cool even that’s happening right now called American Corner Book Caravan. Basically, the American Corner hires out a marshrutka (making it a literal caravan), and fills it with toys, games, books, and performers (and the occasional wayward Peace Corps Volunteer) and brings them out to regional centers and villages to set up mini-carnivals to share American culture and to share information about the resources available at our library in Osh.
Today, we went to the most distant rayon centre in Osh Oblast: Daroot-Korgon. Continue reading “Day Tripping to Chong-Alay”
Mile 13: Health Lessons And A Sixth Marathon
When you’re not allowed to finish (or even start) a marathon, what do you do? Why you pick one the next month and enter it, of course.
The thirteenth month of my service saw my visa get renewed and a lot of planning take place. Then we had a bunch of holidays, and then a really awesome and productive trip to Issyk-Kul where I taught health lessons in a bunch of schools before running a marathon. Let’s dive in.
Continue reading “Mile 13: Health Lessons And A Sixth Marathon”
24 Apps For Life In Kyrgyzstan
Let’s face it, you probably own a smartphone – more than half of people do. It’s a modern essential that not only has clearer phone calls than the Nokias we grew up with, but also one that I use for all my photography, communication, and navigation. Today, I want to share with you some of the best apps that I’ve found essential to exploring and navigating Kyrgyzstan. Continue reading “24 Apps For Life In Kyrgyzstan”
Mile 10-11
Well, I’ve let the blog slide quiet again, but that’s another temporary situation. Things have been busy pulling together a variety of work plans, revising them, bouncing for the occasional training, and a lot of other boring work stuff that you don’t need to hear about.
Mile 8-9: Winter Recess
Outside of my vacation, December and January were not particularly exciting months. It was hard to top the excitement that was my HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination Awareness Training at the very end of November, and then it was hard to do much of anything knowing that I was going to be gone for nearly 3 weeks. But, we got a lot of things planned and some good stuff is launching… finally! Continue reading “Mile 8-9: Winter Recess”
My Favorite Photos Of 2015
This year, some website somewhere decided to spy on us all to check and see which of our photos were our most liked on Instagram this past year. But, since the number of likes doesn’t always correlate to the best photos, I’ve decided to curate a list of what I think were by best shots that went up on my Instagram this year. Continue reading “My Favorite Photos Of 2015”
Earthquake!
tl;dr: There was an earthquake a series of earthquakes and aftershocks in Osh! I’m fine, no damage.
So, you probably heard about the massive 7.5 earthquake a few weeks ago in Afghanistan that also triggered some building evacuations here in Osh. What you almost definitely DIDN’T hear about is the 5.9 earthquake that hit Osh (literally, Osh was the nearest city) late Tuesday night, the 4.8 magnitude aftershock ten minutes later, the 4.1 aftershock three hours later, or the 4.9 magnitude aftershock three days later (which ironically happened during an earthquake preparedness training for volunteers).
My Peace Corps Packing List for Kyrgyzstan
So eventually someone is going to ask me for tips on what they should bring when they go into the Peace Corps. Kyrgyzstan (or Kyrgyz Republic, as Peace Corps calls it), in particular, is a pretty unique Peace Corps country, because not only do we have 100+ degree summers, but we also have -40 degree winters depending on the site. We don’t have to worry about ants invading our computers, we usually have pretty consistent electricity, and you can even buy Nutella in most grocery stores. But, getting to site for me meant fitting my bag into the overhead compartment of a regional jet. In short, the standard Peace Corps packing list doesn’t quite cut it for this country, so I’ve put together my own! Continue reading “My Peace Corps Packing List for Kyrgyzstan”