Life in Kyrgyzstan so far

Today is Tuesday, October 27. One year ago today, I was road tripping across the US with my two friends Nicole and Lauren for a PBS show called Road Trip Nation. After interviewing people in many different fields, I gained insight about traveling and finding happiness in life. Just a year later, I stepped out from my home away from home (Lithuania) to home further away from that, Kyrgyzstan.
At first glance, it would seem I was “deported” to Kyrgyzstan because the laws changed in Lithuania just at the time when I would need to apply for my Temporary Residence Permit card. However, in hindsight, I realize there was a greater purpose. There is a reason that I came to Kyrgyzstan and “fled” the country for 45 days. I am learning more and more about God’s purpose for this time as the days go on.
I arrived in Kyrgyzstan early Friday morning, the 23rd of October, around 5:30am in Bishkek International Airport. As informed by Altynai, I learned I would get a visa in the airport. However, when I went to pay, I didn’t have enough money for my visa! So, the security guard escorted me to outside the baggage area to the bankomat. Immediately, I saw Altynai standing outside the sliding doors with a huge smile. She was wearing the red hat I made for her 2 years ago. I wanted so badly to give her the longest, hugest hug, but I couldn’t because I was deathly afraid that the security guard would banish me back to Lithuania. I gave her the shortest, most anticlimactic hug ever. I then went to the ATM where it immediately spit my card out! Then to the second one, the same problem…well, it’s a good thing Altynai was there waiting for me, because she was able to lend me enough money to pay for the visa. In retrospect, I was stupid to not have Altynai’s number or address with me- if this had happened and she hadn’t been there waiting for me, I don’t know what I would have done. So, I went back into the baggage area, paid for my visa, tried my hardest to put forward my most convincing “don’t cheat me of my money because I’m an American” face, and then stepped out with visa in hand.
I was very impressionable on the ride home, looking with my head up and eyes wide open, making first impressions of the country. The city was barely awake- I think I was awake enough for everyone living in Bishkek. The first moment I saw the mountains in the horizon, I was in awe. Surrounding this busy, working city was the outline of the orange sun coming up over the mountains. That night and the following night, we slept at Altynai’s mom’s friend’s flat, because Altynai’s parents were still remodeling their place and wanted it to be finished before I got there. The next couple days, we walked around the city; saw all the important buildings that all tourists see including the presidential compound, the city center, universities, and all the main roads. We got things straightened out with my bank. After calling my bank and having them confirm that Kyrgyzstan is not on their list of “blocked countries,” we tried just about every ATM in the city until we found one that worked. We rested the next couple days and I had my first experiences on a mashrutka (minbus). The minibuses are small, crowded, and usually miserable. I learned the ropes quickly and learned what to do and what not to do i.e. what to do: give your seat up to a babushka or mother with small children; what not to do: ask for change of more than 1 som (the local currency).
On Sunday, we moved all our stuff to Altynai’s place and I finally got to meet her parents. We exchanged a few words (some of the only words we know in each other’s language) and then we had some tea and I unpacked my things. Shortly after, Altynai’s little three-year old nephew Eldar comes in the door. As I greet him with a small treat and a big smile, he hides behind Altynai and peeks around with his shoulders shrugged. He slowly warmed up to me during the day as we went for a walk to the Botanical garden, where Altynai’s mom lives. We saw roses, beautiful autumn colored trees and went on an adventure with Eldar. He lagged behind a bit, as he took about four steps for our two. He showed me their family’s land plot, where they grow all sorts of vegetables and have barbeques during the summer. Once we got home, he was exhausted and ready for a nap. We were on our way to church, an international church that Altynai introduced me to that evening. It was refreshing and exciting that I could understand the sermon, as it was in English.
The congregation is represents a wide variety of countries from Kyrgyzstan to Russia to Romania, to the United States, and many more I am sure. We met a few people from church afterwards. Since I left, I have been anxious to find an opportunity to volunteer in the area. It makes it difficult that I don’t speak Russian, but hopefully I will be of some use. Well, we soon learned that being a native English speaker was enough for me to find something to do. Before I knew it, I had met a new woman, named Elvira, who teaches English to high school students. I was booked from 9am-2pm for the next morning, and would be leading an English talking club to 11th form students. The woman that normally leads the English club is sick and Elvira told me it was an answer to prayer that she met me that evening. I couldn’t believe it, just a few days into my stay in Bishkek, and I was already going to be teaching English.
When we (Altynai, Elvira, and I) arrived in front of each of the three classes of 11th form students, they all stared at me, knowing upon my first step into the classroom that I was a foreigner. All I wanted to do was learn about them, and help them learn some English, but as time went on, I learned that they just wanted to ask me tons of questions. This was a bit uncomfortable for me, I don’t like the spotlight on me like this. Within the first 3 questions, guaranteed will there be a variation on the following questions: Are you married? or Why not? This is a huge part of the culture- women should be married by the time they are just about my age and it is considered strange if they don’t see this as a main priority.
The first class was most challenging, as I improvised what I would teach minute by minute. The second classes were a little more planned out and Altynai helped me with translation. By the third class, we co-taught and things were a bit smoother. After the three classes, we had some lunch and hung out in the teachers’ lounge. I met a couple other English teachers and learned about their struggles with the low pay that teachers make here. They also lack the respect from children, because of their young age. Students are demanding of them and expect curriculum and want to learn more English, but the budget doesn’t allow for teachers to buy the proper resources. My eyes were opened to the world of education.
We then went for a walk around the city and I saw some more important buildings, statues, etc. I got to see the American University of Central Asia, the school Altynai attended for one and a half years. As we talked more with Elvira, she told me that her parents are hosts to two Peace Corps volunteers in Kyrgyzstan and she asked if I would like to see the headquarters. I was very eager to see what they do here in KG. Following the pattern of the previous day, Elvira said, “how about tomorrow.” We agreed, and met the following day in the afternoon. We arrived, at the Peace Corps building, surrounded by a gate and high security. I showed them my identification to prove I was an American citizen & then met with one of the program officers. I told him about my history with the Peace Corps, of how I almost left for the Peace Corps the previous fall until my neck injury. He told me about the work that volunteers do in Kyrgyzstan and he even introduced me to a couple current volunteers.
I picked their brains about Peace Corps work and then the wheels in my mind starting turning about maybe joining the Peace Corps again. I began to daydream about reapplying to the Peace Corps again.
Time will tell, of course. I’m completely trusting that God will show me the path to take day by day & am thankful for His providence.
Please keep sending up prayers for safety. Thank you for your support always.

Padded room vs. busy loud airport for 5 hours? I’d gladly pick the latter.

As I’m sitting here in the Riga Airport, waiting for a few hours before my plane takes off to Moscow, I am proud to say the day is half way over, and I have yet to exhaust all my resources I brought to “occupy myself.” I have started making a hat (on the five hour bus trip from Klaipeda to Riga), and have written a much needed journal entry. Life at LCC was so busy that I barely had time to process all the changes brought on by my move to Lithuania and I was hardly able to write in my journal during this time. It was obvious that too much time had passed- as soon as I got pen in hand, I wrote like there was no tomorrow. Frantically writing down my thoughts & reflections, as thoughts came to mind, it was hard to write them fast enough.
Solitary Confinement & People Watching
Though I thrive on social interaction, I’m pretty good at occupying myself for long amounts of time, especially in “people watching” environments. Put me in a room alone, with no ability to people watch, and I think I’d go crazy. Solitary confinement would be the worst punishment for me. Even as a kid, when I would be disciplined for doing something wrong and was put in my room, I would peep out the window and look for my sister. Our rooms were next to each other, so we’d send messages through the windows when we were both sent to our rooms.
This being said, airports, public transportation, and anything related with traveling, are the best environments to people watch in. I’m not just speaking about international travel. Even when I’m back in the states, I love to go to New York City with a friend, sit on a park bench, and watch people going by. Seeing people smile when they meet a friend makes me smile. Seeing a homeless person hungry looking for his next meal brings me pain and discomfort. Watching a child play in the park, without a care in the world, heightens my imagination and causes me to look towards the simple pleasures of life instead of getting caught up in life’s calamities.
I see it as a challenge, when traveling internationally, to be able to interpret what people are saying, just using their body language. Isn’t there a statistic somewhere that says a huge percent (I don’t know the exact number) of communication is non-verbal. That is incredible to me. I could study communication day and night, and never get bored with it. How is it that I can travel half way across the world, where language & culture are completely different than the one I am accustomed to and still recognize the raw human emotion of “love, compassion, pain, or loneliness” from across a room? This, to me, is so much of why I love to travel.
Food for thought
As a child, I grew up reading “The Daily Bread,” a small devotional with daily short readings of stories, quotes, and Bible verses. My dad would read it to us at meals or any other time of the day – he modeled a deep, consistent faith in me and I am grateful for this. The Daily Bread for yesterday is so appropriate and really spoke to me when I read it.
It is entitled “Who Goes There?”
“Last fall, my wife, Carolyn, and I were driving up a winding mountain road near our home in Idaho when we came across a large flock of sheep moving down the road toward us. A lone shepherd with his dogs was in the vanguard, leading his flock out of summer pasture into the lowlands and winter quarters. We pulled to the side of the road and waited while the flock swirled around us. We watched them until they were out of sight, then I wondered: Do sheep fear change, movement, new places? Like most older folks, I like the “fold”- the old familiar places. But all is shifting and changing these days: I’m being led out, away from familiar surroundings and into a vast unknown. What new limits will overtake me in the coming days? What nameless fears will awaken? Jesus’ words from John 10 come to mind:
“When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them” (v.4).
We may well be dismayed at what life has for us this year and next, but our Shepherd knows the way we’re taking. And He goes before. He will not lead us down paths too dangerous or too arduous where He cannot help us. He knows our limits. He knows the way to green pasture and good water; all we have to do is follow.” –David Roper

Intercultural Trip- check!

Saturday was a big day- a day I was to lead a group of 37 international students at LCC around Vilnius for the day. We left at 6am from the dorm, woke up a couple stragglers, and were on our way. We stopped at the Hill of Crosses on the way, a phenomenal representation of people's faith despite obstacles. The sky was beautiful, bright blue background with cotton ball clouds patterned across the horizon, made for perfect, well... picturesque-for lack of a better word- pictures.


On the way to the KGB Museum in Vilnius, we were stopped by the transportation police for about 45 minutes. This meant we had to wait (while I pretended not to panic) while the police asked for all the documents from our driver. At one point, a student asked me... "where did we find this guy?" referring to the driver. I assured him that LCC had used this driver in the past and that he was reputable. So, we were on our way to the KGB Museum. We called the museum to tell them we would be late for our tour and arrived in the city soon after. When we got to the museum, the group split into two tour groups. One of the groups was led by a man whose ancestors had a direct connection with the KGB. The tour guide's picture (as a three year old boy) was even in the museum on the wall! The guide was compelling and told his story to the students with passion. The history of Lithuania has common attributes to many countries that were previously occupied by the soviet union. Each has it's own trials, pain, and distinct culture & history, but each, nonetheless has suffered. The museum was a different experience for each of us.
I made sure the day was not ending with the KGB Museum, since this would have left the students in a depressed mood. We then went on to a Greek Catholic church led by Ukrainians, which was interesting to me and the students, especially those with Ukrainian background. My student leader helped by translating from Ukrainian to English. The woman explained the history of the church and it was nice to have a special explanation for our group.After that, we went to St. Annes Church, a beautiful (and favorite) Roman Catholic Gothic style church built in 1500.

On the left is Steve, a coworker with the front door to St. Anne's ("SA" is written on the doors) on the right is me in front of the bell tower.


After that, we headed over to the Cathedral, in the center of the city. It was more beautiful than I had remembered, especially since the bells were ringing, resounding through the city. I made a wish on the wishing stone and spun around three times. Here's a video of me spinning and making a wish. The wishing stone marks the spot where the "Baltic Way" began- from Vilnius to Tallin.





The cathedral now left (2009) and then (2006) as a study abroad student.

After the cathedral, we thoroughly enjoyed Mexican food at "Tres Amigos." There were four of us, but one had to take the picture, so we managed to almost be tres amigos. Its the best, and only Mexican food I've had since I've been in Lithuania. Also, the best since I've been in Mexico. The place is owned by a Mexican man.



No day is complete (as of lately) without a hot air balloon viewing. So, here they are- check out the inverted hot air balloon shape of the building.

Driving Miss Hanson

Well, let's just say when I woke up yesterday morning, I never in a million years would have imagined the series of events that took place in that day. Monday, I was asked to drive with Laura Hanson (the Jill of All Trades & leadership coordinator, among other things) along with her student leader to Akropolis (a huge shopping center) to buy pumpkins and some other supplies for the "First Year Night" (a fun event for all first year students).

I woke up thinking... well, it's been nice, I got a good two months out of this adventure... before I stepped into a car (to drive) in Eastern Europe. Its not like people drive on the opposite side of the road here, but of course given my unexplainable fear of cops, I was nervous that I would disobey some law that I never even knew to begin with. I searched on youtube that morning "how to drive stick shift" to refresh my memory, having not driven a manual car in over two years. I kept trying to convince myself that "it's just like riding a bike..." Well, it was pretty smooth, though I may have alarmed my passengers when I informed them of my "youtube research" that morning. We got our seatbelts on , and were in for an adventure. We drove all across to the other side of the city to Akropolis where we chose from one of two huge pumpkins for decorations for the party. It was like supermarket sweep, as we raced across the store trying to find all the ingredients needed for "chocolate sausage" (don't worry , its not chocolate covered meat. I was relieved when I learned this. We got lots of pumpkins and gourds for decorations for tables as well. When we went to pay, the woman couldn't fit the pumpkin on her scale at the cashier! She had to call someone to come help her, and then we learned, through our student leader that speaks Russian, that in fact, we would need to run across the store with pumpkin in cart to weigh it ourselves. So, we weighed it, and by george, that was the most expensive pumpkin I have ever purchased! 50 litas (about $20USD). So, we got the invoice, ran to the car, got into the van (parked very crooked due to my lack of skill in driving large vehicles), and drove as fast (and safely) to LCC as possible. We got there, dropped off all the groceries, and then ran to our respective offices to get some work done (or to facilitate class, in Laura's case).

Not even an hour went by when Steve, Laura's husband came to my office to ask me or Rachel if we had any medical knowledge. Me, being completely hyper attuned and nervous about medical problems, panicked. "What's wrong, who's hurt, do you need me to call an ambulance?!" He explained that while Laura was cutting tomatoes for the salsa (made with a substitute of pico de gallo mix for fresh cilantro...) she cut her finger real bad... "She's laying on the couch with her finger in the air now, go check on her. Rachel checked on her, and established it was probably, yup... definitely deep enough to merit going to the hospital.

Who else to take them but me, the experienced driver of the day. I ran to reception, picked up Vesia (our friend & translator) on the way, we all got in the car. I pretended to be a seasoned driver and drove as fast (and quickly) as I could to the hospital. Poor Laura was such a good sport, not complaining at all, just asking us, "is there anything that you're missing now, I'm sorry to change your schedule..." Of course, my response NO! This is clearly much more important.

When we got there, the nurses and doctors of course did not sense the urgency of the patients in the waiting room and saw Laura before a woman whose leg was drenched in blood and as Laura was getting her finger stiched up, the puddle got bigger and bigger and Steve and I waiting outside began to get more and more nauseous. Well, Laura came out alive, finger all bandaged up. We joked about the episode of Friends where Chandler's toe gets cut off.

So, a word of caution, when you offer to help with something, be totally comfortable with people accepting your offer, because you may become the "expert" for the day, as I was with driving. Now I can feel comfortable to drive. Just call me if you need a ride in Klaipeda. I charge by the miles (and extra for after hours to the hospital).

Here's a picture above of Laura and I post traumatic incident...

New Pictures!

Thanks for your patience, as my computer crashed and I haven't been able to upload pictures until now. Here's a link to my new flikr account with a random assortment of my adventures in Lithuania so far. Enjoy!

Adventures

“The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake. The five most important words: You did a good job. The four most important words: What is YOUR opinion? The three most important words: If you please. The two most important words: Thank You. The one most important word: We. The least important word: I.”
Author Unknown

Todo, I don't think we're in Kansas Anymore

Well, each day is so full of adventures I can hardly update three weeks of adventures in one blog post, so I will start with some more recent tidbits. Some things I have been learning about Eastern Europe:
1. You can't buy stationery anywhere! Just simple stationery is impossible to find- only corny looking greeting cards with phrases I don't understand.
2. When in Klaipeda & you can't communicate with someone in Lithuanian, Russian, or English, try Spanish. Yesterday, Rachel & I had a whole conversation in Spanish with a woman in the book store. I'm pretty sure she's the only Spanish speaking Lithuanian I have/will ever meet.
3. Customer service is not of utmost priority in LT. They for sure don't believe in the rule "the customer is always right."

As far as my daily life here in Klaipeda, things have been just flying by! I can't believe it is already almost October. Each day is filled with meetings, both scheduled & unscheduled. I feel that the work I am doing here can be draining some days and fulfilling other days. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else right now. I am learning about myself & about people at a new level. Here, where relationships don't come as easily as they do in the states, it can be a challenge to feel confident about my time here. However, these relationships are so much more genuine once they become established, and I have seen the fruit of this work lately.

On another note, just last week, my computer completely died and I am only able to e-mail on my work computer. So, if I'm delayed in my response to you, please don't take it personally. I am always appreciative of any e-mails or snail mail I get. If you can please pray for a way that I can afford a new laptop, or find one at a cheap price, that would be great. I also have many documents & pictures on my computer that I am not sure they will be able to salvage. God is trying to teach me that I need to lose some of the comforts of this earth.

Still on another note, this next part of the e-mail will come as a surprise to many (but not all) of you. This summer, when I was still in the states, I was informed that during my stay in Lithuania, I would have to leave the country. There is a law here that states I can be here for 90 days without a "Temporary Residency Permit." It takes about 6 months to issue a TRP card. Therefore, since the laws changed, and the paperwork was submitted late, my TRP card will not be issued until December 10th, thus forcing me to leave Lithuania for about 45 days. I will be visiting my friend and former roommate Altynai (an alumni of LCC) in Kyrgyzstan. Please pray for the details of this trip. I will be leaving October 22nd and arriving back in Lithuania on December 4th.

I'm including some pictures of my time here- hope you'll enjoy (mostly of this past weekend spent in Liepaja, Latvia!