Home!

This is a bit belated at this point, but I'm happy to announced that I'm HOME! My last weeks in Kyrgyzstan were great, we had a fabulous volunteer going-away party, I had a blast in Ireland with Ben and Jolynn, and I arrived back in Fresno last Saturday, November 10. It's great to be back. So far, I've been eating, using wireless internet, shopping, eating, catching up with friends and family, and eating.

By way of closure, I thought I'd end this blog with some reflections on the last 2 years. Big themes, things I learned, ways I changed, etc. I'm still only at the beginning of synthesizing everything, so these thoughts are a big scattered, but it's a beginning:

THEME OF MY PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE: Learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable!

• Learning to be vulnerable and honest about my struggles and things that make me uncomfortable; laying down the need to appear to have it all together and the great freedom that came as a result
• Learning to be willing to make mistakes; learning to let go of the idea of perfection (everything being good at the same time) and just enjoy life in all circumstances
  
• Learning that God's grace is sufficient for every difficulty I encounter, that I will make it through, that God is more than enough for me; learning to trust Him through difficulties and to face challenges and walk through them, rather than run away and hide. Just learning to deal no matter the circumstances
• Being challenged to reexamine choices and lines I'd drawn for myself; being constantly stretched to go outside my comfort zone. And in the process, discovering that I like to dance and I enjoy Gin & Tonic! :-) I'm so grateful for the opportunity to live and work with the amazing Talas volunteers who challenged me, respected me, accepted me, and made me a different person. Thanks guys--I thought I was supposed to be a door for God in your lives, but you were a door for God in mine.
  
• Growing in compassion for the outsider/foreigner, "the least of these"
  
• I love Jesus more than I did 2 years ago! I believe Him more, I trust Him more, I like Him more :-)
  
• God's glory is His goodness, and I have seen it!
  

PEACE CORPS THEME VERSES: Psalm 126:
When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South,
Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Yes! God brought a harvest from all the tears and weeping of Year #1! He is FAITHFUL. And He has done GOOD things for me. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but Kyrgyzstan the last 2 years, despite all the difficulties. MY GIRLS ARE MORE THAN WORTH IT! :-) They are my shout of joy!

• Psalm 18:16: He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. YES! He did!
• Psalm 121: I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7-9: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
• Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust God from the bottom of your heart, don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track.
• Psalm 40:1-3: I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm; He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Looking back, I see that God really did give me a new song about Him, one that flows more authentically from my heart and my experience of Him.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory...
• Isaiah 40:3-5: A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together...' I thought God would use me to make a way for Him in Kyrgyzstan, but God really used Kyrgyzstan to make a way for Him in me.

Things I'm SO Thankful For:

• Machalla
• Chris & Malinda
• Gulmira
  
• My Girls
• My Boys (aka, Will and Jon :-))
• Jess, Joe, Nate, Tacie, Carli--I love you, too!
• Duncan & Helen, Colin & Maureen
  

It's hard to summarize all that my Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan experience has meant to me and done in me, but I think that will do for now, scattered as it may be. I would be happy to sit down and talk with anyone who wants to know more, or just hang out! You can help me by contacting ME, instead of waiting for me to contact you. I want to see you, I promise! It's just a bit overwhelming to think about calling everyone myself :-).

And with that, I think I will say farewell to this blog. It's been a great tool for the last 3 years, but it's time to bring it to a close. Thank you to all of you who have kept up on my life, read with interest, and supported me through it all. You can still keep up with what's going on with me on Facebook! I'll be posting pictures there of my last weeks in Kyrgyzstan, my time in Ireland, and my homecoming. And so, Jakshilyk Bolcun, Den-Cooluk Bolcun, Igilik Bolcun, Jakshi Kalingizdar! (Basically: Good Luck and Goodbye!)

Probably the Most Fun I've Ever Had in Kyrgyzstan

So this week was the big week… The ACCELS test in Bishkek! For those of you whom I may not have told yet, the ACCELS test is actually 3 rounds of testing that take place throughout Kyrgyzstan whereby approximately 60-70 students who pass all 3 rounds get to study in America for a year (for free). It’s very competitive, and the past 2 years, only one student from Talas has qualified (each year), but my students and I have been preparing and looking forward to giving it our best shot! The timing of the test was impeccable—just 2 weeks before I leave the country—so almost more important than the test to me was the opportunity to spend quality time with my girls and make this a special way to say goodbye. And despite all my planning, it was more perfect than I could have imagined.

We set out on Sunday morning, along with a few other volunteers who were also taking students to the test. One of my girls (Ainura) had never before been to Bishkek, and several of them hadn’t been in nearly 10 years, so the trip began in great excitement!

The first round of testing was Monday morning, and it turned out to be much more difficult than we had anticipated. We’d all heard that the first round was easy, just a way to filter out the students who don’t speak English well at all, but the girls had some trouble with it, and most of them weren’t able to finish. So that was a little disappointing for all of us, but I think it prepared us for the worst and enabled us to focus more on just having fun. And my girls knew I was proud of them no matter what. As it turned out, two of my students—Ainura and Altynai—passed to Round 2. All three of my friend Will’s students passed as well (he was on cloud nine), and so that meant 5 of the only 7 passing students from Talas were Peace Corps Volunteers’ students—not bad! There were some tears from my other girls, but I assured them that I was so proud of them for all their hard work, and soon we were able to be happy for Ainura and Altynai and wish them luck on Round 2! That took place Wednesday and we won’t find out the results for another 3 or 4 more weeks.

My biggest disappointment was that Aizada, my best student, didn’t pass. She was the one I thought actually had a chance to make it all the way, so for her chances to end so early on was completely unexpected. The good news is that she’s young enough to try again next year, and I just know that familiarity with the test and another year of study under her belt will make her a shoe-in for next year (at least past Round 1!). She was disappointed as well, of course, but her attitude was amazing. Within 15 minutes of finding out the results and some well-deserved tears, she pulled herself together and said, “It’s ok. I won’t give up. I’ll try again next year and show America who is Aizada!” That’s my girl! The next evening she told me she had learned a good lesson. She’s used to always being first, so she thinks it’s been good for her to know what it feels like not to win. I was almost more proud of her for that than had she passed. I hope that this year, that lesson will be more valuable to her than passing would have been.

So that was the test, but the time we spent together is what I will really remember about this week. Thanks to the generosity of several friends and family, we were able to rent an apartment in Bishkek and go out to eat at places they probably never would have been able to afford otherwise. It was a blast! There were many firsts for my girls (and even some for me!). They ate Chinese food for the first time, real pizza for the first time, and real American hamburgers for the first time! As for me, when Will offered to buy me a drink in celebration of our students passing the test, I actually accepted (probably the last thing he, or anyone, expected), so for better or worse, this week marked the consumption of my first alcoholic beverage (I guess I can thank Peace Corps for loosening me up a bit).

The rest of the week was a build up to the Super Special Secret Surprise I had promised my girls. We did bazaar shopping (fun for them, but I will never again go bazaar shopping with 4 teenaged girls), visited the Peace Corps Office, went to the mini-Bishkek amusement park, and bought tickets to the Mirbek Atabekov concert! Mirbek Atabekov is my favorite Kyrgyz singer, just happens to be from Jon-Aryk, and I’d had no idea he was doing a concert in Bishkek until we got there and saw the advertisements! My girls and I couldn’t have been more excited. Then Wednesday was the day we’d all been waiting for. After Ainura’s Round 2 test, we met up with Will and Jon (K-14 PCVs) and their students and made everyone stand in a line, eyes closed, with one had on the shoulder of the person in front of them as we led them to the venue for the Super Special Secret Surprise. When we arrived, we let them open their eyes to see the Hyatt standing in front of them, where we all had High Tea. It’s possible that Will, Jon and I were more excited than our students, but not by much. After dinner, I gave my students their goodbye presents—books of pictures from the last 2 years. I’d been working on them for a while and thought it was the best way to commemorate our time together, and to let them know that I will never, ever forget them.

And then, the concert. It was SO much fun, and while I was sitting there, I couldn’t help but think that while I’d been planning and preparing this week for my girls, God had been going over my head, planning His own Super Special Secret Surprise for me! :-) The timing was perfect—our last night in Bishkek (not to mention that we were originally going to be leaving Bishkek on Tuesday, but the tests were pushed back a day at the last minute; Wednesday was the first day of the concert), a great way to end on a very high note! I’d never been to a concert in Kyrgyzstan before, and I had a blast. But it got even better! After the concert, I decided we should try to meet Mirbek. I usually hate being stared at and treated differently because I’m an American, but I decided to use it to my advantage this time. We talked to a couple of his handlers, who told us to go around back and wait. After a few minutes, a guy came out who my girls said was Mirbkek’s cousin (Jon-Aryk is really small, if you hadn’t caught on to that yet!), so I saw my opportunity and went for it. I approached him, introduced myself and explained that I am a volunteer from America and I’ve lived in Jon-Aryk for two years. I told him that I live with such and such family and I work with so-and-so (name dropping—the best way to get what you want in Kyrgyzstan!), and that my girls and I had come all the way from Talas to see Mirbek, and was there any way we could meet him? Eventually he went back inside, came back a few minutes later, and told us that Mirbek wanted to meet us! So we went inside and then Mirbek Atabekov himself came walking down the hall. I introduced myself again and asked if I could take a picture with him, to which he replied, “Of course!” Later he told me, Kyrgyzcha jakshi suiloit ekensing! You speak Kyrgyz really well! My night was complete. That was by far the coolest thing I have ever done in Kyrgyzstan.

That night my girls and I were so hyped up from all the excitement of the concert and meeting Mirbek. After taking a taxi back to the apartment, they decided they wanted to have the concert advertisements that were up around the city, so at 11:30pm, we went running up and down the street taking posters off light posts, hoisting Baktigul up to get the high ones, until we had one for each of us. It was hilarious. The perfect way to end our trip. Like I said before, I couldn’t have imagined or asked for a better time.

Now I have less than two weeks left at my site, and I can hardly believe it, but I’m so thankful for this week of fun times and memories that will last forever with my girls. Everyone should COS just because the end is so much fun! Enjoy the pics!

Eating reall pizza for the first time!

The famous Long Island Iced Tea... it will forever go down in infamy with the other PCVs. Will told Michaela afterwards that I had a drink with him and then made out with him... considering both equally unlikely scenarios, she actually believed him. (For clarity's sake, I did NOT make out with Will.) That's Jon in the background; he was really excited :-)

First hamburgers at the Volunteer Bishkek favorite--The Metro. They loved them!

Playing our new favorite game. They're pretty good! Aijamal even beats me sometimes :-)

At the Peace Corps Office. It was really cool; they got to meet a lot of Peace Corps staff memebers--both Kyrgyz and America--who encouraged them to go for their dreams and never give up!

At the Hyatt! It was so special for the girls. They're still talking about it!

After High Tea at the Hyatt. All my precious girls with their goodbye books.

My girls with the concert ad. We love Mirbek Atabekov!

The concert. Pretty good production value for only $4!

Backstage with my buddy Mirbek!

All us girls with our Mirbek posters :-)

COS & PC Lingo

These are busy days, with COS fast-approaching and less than a month left in country! Yes, that’s right: less than a month left in country. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I arrived in Kyrgyzstan and now I’m getting ready to go home. A new volunteer, my replacement, has arrived in my village; my girls and I are doing final preparations for the ACCELS test next week; and last week, the K-13s enjoyed our COS conference at Issyk-Kul, during which Talas (the 3 of us remaining) won the first annual Kyrgyz Kup (an inter-oblast competition held at COS conference)! And the next month will fly by, as it’s shaping up to be quite full. Traveling to Bishkek with my girls for the ACCELS test, a Halloween Concourse, souvenir shopping, and lots of goodbyes. So the reality that the end is near is beginning to set it. My reflections will come later, once I’ve had a chance to really process things, but for now, I just want to apprise you all of my coming home plans!

My COS (Close of Service) date is November 2; this is when I will officially no longer be a Peace Corps Volunteer. K-13 Volunteers will be slowly leaving the country throughout November, so I’ll be one of the first to leave. I’ll leave Talas on November 1 and Kyrgyzstan early in the morning of November 4. But before heading home, I’ll make a stop in Ireland to visit my friend Ben and his wife, Jolynn. I’ll have about 5 days in Belfast, and I’m really looking forward to seeing Ben (the last time I saw him was 2 ½ years ago, also in Ireland! Ha!), meeting Jolynn, and taking some time to reflect on and process the last 2 years before entering the whirlwind of a homecoming. On November 10, I’ll set out for home, arriving in Fresno around 10pm.

Homecoming! It’s hard to believe it’s really, truly going to happen so soon. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend the last 2 years anywhere but in Kyrgyzstan, but I’m also ready to come home now. I’m ready to see my family and friends, and to eat some Mint Chocolate Chip ice-cream :-). Since I’m coming home so soon, I thought it would be helpful for me to educate you all as to some of the PC Lingo. That way, we can understand each other a bit better when talk of my experience is full of acronyms like PCV, COS, and ET (as it inevitably will be, no matter how hard I try to break myself of the habit). So study up! There just might be a classic Lisa quiz at my next party…

PC: Peace Corps
“I’ll meet you at the PC office.”

PCV: Peace Corps Volunteer
“Talas has the best PCVs.”

RPCV: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
“I’m a China RPCV. I served from 1998-2000.”

K-13, K-14, etc.: Refers to the group with which volunteers came to country. I am a K-13; my group is the 13th group of volunteers in Kyrgyzstan. The K-14s arrived a year after us, etc.
“I’m excited to meet the K-15s! Hopefully they’re as nice as the 14s.”

ET: Early Termination—to leave before your 2 years of service is complete, of your own volition
“If life doesn’t get better soon, I think I might ET.”

Med Sep: Medical Separation—to be sent home before your 2 years of service is complete for medical reasons
“Did you hear they’re Med Sepping that new volunteer?”

Ad(min) Sep: Administrative Separation—to be kicked out of Peace Corps for breaking rules, damaging your reputation in your community, etc.
“Oh yeah, she was Ad Sepped.”

COS: Close of Service—leaving after completing your 2 years of service
“Are you COSing? When is your COS date?”

Site/Permanent Site—where you live after training; Jon-Aryk, Talas is my site
“Remember to call the Duty Officer when you get back to site.”

PST: Pre-Service Training—the first 3 months of training with Peace Corps
“We lived together in PST.”

IST: In-Service Training—a training that happens about 3 months after volunteers arrive at their permanent sites
“I haven’t seen you since IST!”

MST: Mid-Service Training—a training that used to happen after volunteers had been at site for a year
“It stinks that K-13s didn’t get an MST this year.”

CD: Country Director
“I love the new CD! Don’t you?”

PM: Program Manager
“I have to submit a report to my PM before tomorrow.”

LCF: Language and Culture Facilitator
“Ainura was my LCF during training.”

PCMO: Peace Corps Medical Officer
“I need to talk to the PCMO; I have strep throat again.”

DO: Duty Officer—a rotating member of the Peace Corps staff who volunteers have to call when they leave and return to their sites
“I forgot to call the Duty Officer yesterday when I got back to my site.”

HCN: Host Country National (a local)
“It’s important to have good relationships with HCNs.”

DOS: Description of Service—document all PCVs write before they leave; official certification and description of PC service
“Have you written your DOS yet?”

Makeover Madness!

Last Monday, I had my girls over to my place for something very girly—a makeover party! It all started a couple weeks ago when they asked to learn make-up vocabulary during club. So I thought it would be fun to get together and make each other over. We had hair, nail, and face stations; and of course, no makeover party would be complete without before and after pictures! Enjoy the pics of my girls—beautiful with make-up and without.

All my beautiful girls :-)

We took Before & After pictures of all the girls, but it would be way too many to post on my blog. So I'll just do my own! :-) We all know the key to a great After picture is an absolutely terrible Before...

The 'face station.' Me & Ainura. I pretend I'm good at this! :-)

The 'nails station'. My host parents grandkids also joined us for our party :-)

The Mile

The saying goes that you can’t really understand a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. I think we can all appreciate the value of having someone with whom to share life’s experiences, someone who can identify with the road we’re walking because they’ve walked it themselves. I’m so grateful to be blessed with a friend who flew 13 thousand miles across the world to walk that mile with me!

Just as a refresher for some of you who may not know, Gloria and I met about 4 years ago when we were placed together as roommates during our semester studying in Washington, D.C. Following graduation, we embarked together on the Great North American Road Trip—2 months of driving through the United States and Canada. So we’ve had our share of adventures, and our time in Kyrgyzstan together was quite another notable one!

Gloria arrived in Bishkek early in the morning (after 4 days of traveling and 10 hours in the Moscow airport) on Friday, July 13th. That first day was so exciting, and so long (waking up at 4am will do that to a day)! We spent hours just talking, only to look at the clock and find that while we thought it had to be early afternoon it was still only 10am. The next couple days were filled with Bishkek adventures—eating at my favorite restaurants, meeting a few volunteers and other Bishkek friends, visiting the Peace Corps office, and seeing the biggest bazaar in Kyrgyzstan. I think the most “Kyrgyzstan” thing that happened was while we were walking through an underground shop area that was being whitewashed. The man who was whitewashing wasn’t paying us (or anyone) much attention and accidentally sprayed Gloria with some of the paint he was using. Of course, this didn’t phase him at all! He went right on whitewashing as if nothing had happened while Gloria stood gawking at her now white-speckled clothes, shoes, and arm. Ah, Kyrgyzstan—you gotta love it!

On Sunday we headed out on the real adventure to Talas. On the way, we stopped at one of the many yurts in the mountains so Gloria could experience the national drink kymyz (fermented mares’ milk—yum!). Ironically, though we were still 3 hours from my village, it just so happened that we stopped at the yurt where my host grandmother was vacationing. So we had a nice little family reunion as we sat in the yurt and sipped our bowls of mares’ milk.

Then we had a week in Talas of village life. Things like outhouses, pumping water from our well, cooking with just one pot and pan, washing dishes in a big blue basin, and the highlight—watching the cows come home in the evening. Gloria was able to meet my precious girls and help me with English clubs. We spent a night with Jess & Joe in Talas city and did all the important city things like riding the famous Talas rollercoaster! We went out to another village where Gloria was able to meet almost all the Talas volunteers, take pictures with the Lenin dam, and see the Kirovka reservoir. Later in the week, we visited the most famous Talas landmark—Manas Ordo, where the national hero Manas is said to be buried. We had lunch with my wonderful British friends Duncan & Helen, and finally, we visited Besh Tash, a Kyrgyz national park. Basically, we did Talas!

Then, all too soon, it was time to head back to Bishkek and say goodbye. I’m so thankful for the huge blessing it was to share Kyrgyzstan, Talas, Jon-Aryk, my Peace Corps life with Gloria. For her willingness to walk with me, to see the sights, smell the smells, hear the sounds. It’s hard to put it all in one short blog post, but her visit was a significantly meaningful part of my experience here. Now there is someone from home who can truly identify with my life these past 2 years. And just one person—that’s all I really needed. Now when I go home, I will have someone to assure me that it wasn’t all a dream :-). Gloria, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I can’t wait for the next adventure!

You really can't tell from this tiny picture, but this is right after Gloria was sprayed with whitewash coming up the stairs from the underground.

Gloria with my host grandmother and a bunch of other random people outside the yurt in the mountains where we stopped to drink kymyz

Making pancakes in my "kitchen"

On the famous Talas rollercoaster! You don't have a very good view of the actual ride, but it's great! And not dangerous at all! :-)

Me in front of the famous Lenin dam. Isn't it a little disturbing??

Gloria & I at the Kirovka reservoir(we had to take lots of self-portraits b/c we're picture snobs and don't trust other people to take good pictures)

Gloria attempting to pump water from our well. She'll probably hate me for posting this pic b/c she said she looks like she's ready for a hoe-down (is that how that's spelled?). But I think it's great!

The cows coming home. They come home every evening at dusk, and the coolest thing is that they know exactly where to go and they can't be rushed. They all know how to get home, and if their ownders aren't waiting for them when they get there, they'll 'moo' to let them know they've arrived. It's so cool to watch!

One of the most exciting things Gloria brought for me from home was food for a Mexican Night! Tortillas, Taco Bell Salsa, Mexican Rice Mix, and the most exciting thing of all--Refried Beans!

Gloria in her pink shirt and matching pink outside shoes that I bought for her before she came. She said these were some of the things she was most glad she had in my village. If anyone else comes to visit before I leave, I promise you a pair of these beauties, too! You have your choice of a variety of colors, such as purple, pink, white... okay, maybe that's it :-)

Gloria and some of my girls at Manas Ordo. It was so hot this day!

Me, Aijamal & Anipa on top of the mountain at Manas Ordo. They say Manas climbed this mountain, saw that he could see really far, and decided Talas was the best place for him to be!

Me, Gloria & my student Aijamal in front of what is said to be Manas' tomb.

Gloria in the (very cold) river at Besh Tash

On top of the mountain we climed at Besh Tash

Friends Forever... haha.

Summer Camp!

This summer my girls are learning phrasal verbs, and ever since I taught them “look forward to,” they couldn’t stop saying how much they were looking forward to summer camp! And it did not disappoint. The 3rd Annual Talas Summer Camp, from July 2-6, was a great success.

Of course, for the Talas volunteers, summer camp started long before July 2. We started the planning in April, and it’s actually pretty amazing that we were able to pull it off in just 3 months! (Note to future camp organizers: start the planning EARLY!) This year, we decided to do an overnight camp, which hugely multiplies the time, effort, planning, money, and responsibility involved. We had a great group working together to make it all happen from the beginning, but as the Camp Director this year, the bulk of responsibility fell on my shoulders, especially in the weeks right before camp after Chris & Malinda left. But I have to say that as much work as it was, I really enjoyed myself! There were certainly times in the week before camp that I just wanted to press “pause” and take a vacation, but overall, this kind of director work energizes and motivates me—just give me something to plan and I’m happy! :-)

Once camp actually started, things were so well-planned that there were very few issues or problems that arose, and though it was exhausting just being responsible for 50 students 24 hours a day, it really wasn’t actually that difficult to run things. Like I said before, we had an amazing team of 27 volunteers (all 12 Talasians, 7 volunteers who came in from other oblasts, and 8 local university student translators) who were always on top of things and efficiently fulfilling each of their individual responsibilities. So with so many great people, my work during camp was pretty easy! Just making sure everything was running smoothly and troubleshooting when issues arose. It was fun!

So what exactly did camp consist of? We had 50 students from 10 different villages in Talas (each volunteer chose 5-7 of his/her best students to attend) all gathered at “Camp Barchin” in the forest about 30 minutes outside Talas city for 5 days and 4 nights. Each day had a different theme, which usually began with morning sessions on that theme and then arts & crafts and sports in the afternoon. Free time until dinner, and then each night we had a special evening activity, such as Capture the Flag, Bonfire & Smores, and a Disco (the students LOVE their discos!). The first day was the Welcome & Team-Building day. We broke the students up into 6 teams and they each had to come up with a team name, flag and cheer. We also had a ropes course of different team-building activities (trust fall, etc.), which was one of the most successful activities of the whole camp. The second day was Gender & Diversity day. This day we were fortunate to have 4 locals give sessions on Dating, Relationships & Marriage, Bride-Kidnapping, and Women in the Workplace. They were all incredible and really inspired our students. In the afternoon we had an activity and discussion about prejudice & stereotypes, which was quite instructive. One of my students said she’d never heard of stereotypes before, and now she sees that they are bad and she doesn’t want to perpetuate them. Woohoo! That’s why we do these camps :-).

The third day was the Fourth of July, so we just spent the whole day playing. Relay races, watermelon eating contests, and the beginning of the kickball tournament! The students had a blast, and my girls even presented us with a special gift: a flag they’d sown with the American flag on one side and the Kyrgyz flag on the other. That’s something I will treasure forever. Day 4 was Health, which was also one of our best days session-wise. In the morning we split up the girls and guys for sex education, trying to clear up a lot of the myths and misconceptions on the topic. We also had mini-sessions on Stress, Nutrition, and Smoking that the students really enjoyed. I don’t think many students here are taught about stress and how to deal with it, so it was really informative. My girls are still telling me stories of how they’ve dealt with recent stressful situations based on the things they learned in that session. Again, it’s so exciting to see things they were taught at camp impacting their everyday lives!

The last day was basically just cleaning up and goodbyes. We presented each team with special awards and each student took home a certificate, and by 3:30, they were all gone! None of the students wanted to leave, but they all left smiling, so I count that a great success. By Friday, all the volunteers were absolutely exhausted and glad it was over, but very proud of the week. We enjoyed a much needed rest and letting loose that evening, and then headed out to our respective villages Saturday morning.

For me, camp was gratifying not only because I know my students had a blast and learned some valuable things, but also because I was personally reminded that I am a good leader and I like leading. It had been a while since I’d been in charge of something like this before, and while the responsibility was a bit overwhelming at times, it also felt good to be in that place again. Several volunteers affirmed afterwards that they thought I’d done a great job as the director, stayed calm under stress, and treated everyone with courtesy and respect. For those things I’m really proud. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me that week; I could sense a special peace and confidence from God upon me, carrying me through and sustaining me. It was certainly one of the single most rewarding weeks of my Peace Corps service. It was great, and now I’m glad it’s over and life has returned to a slightly more normal pace :-).

Next… Gloria’s Visit!

Hard at work! Getting things in order for camp the day before we headed out to Barchin.

At the volunteer meeting the evening before camp started. We are very serious about this camp business!

Explaining the rules at the beginning of camp. Unfortunately, you can't see my clipboard in this picture (and I don't have a good pic of me with it), but as all the volunteers can attest to, that clipboard was a permanent part of my attire throughout all of camp. I loved that thing!

The Lucky Birds with their team flag

The Lucky Stars (no, it wasn't required to use 'lucky' in the team name) with their team visors

Aijamal and I with our visors. I admit mine is not very creative. The camp director just has so many responsibilities and so little time... :-)

This was probably the most fun activity of the Ropes Course. All the students had to get through one of the holes created by this rope "spider web", without touching the rope!

Having a ball at the ropes course--trying to stand up back to back with linked arms

Doing "Wooni Kooni Cha", our camp song (complete with hand motions, of course!)

My student Aizada presenting "The Role of Women in Kyrgyzstan" at one of our gender sessions

Students at the Relationships, Dating & Marriage Session, with guest speaker Aigul in the top right corner.

Just one of our MANY art projects, made possible by all the great supplies you guys sent from home! Thanks!

Sports time! I'll admit that I did NOT participate in dodge ball... still scarred from elementary school PE...

More sports--soccer, or "futbol"on this side of the world

Introducing Kyrgyz students to the wonderful world of kickball :-)

The 3-legged race, one of our 4th of July relays. Personally, this is my favorite :-)

Watermelon eating contest!

Roasting marshmallows on the 4th of July