This weekend I went to visit a friend so I could be around at least one American on the 4th of July. Well catching a taxi out to his village is not the easiest thing especially since they only come into town around 8-9am and leave around 11-12pm. I went to the taxi stand at 11 and started asking around to all the drivers who was going to Kyzyl-Tuu (Tav's village). The first driver pointed in a random direction (Tav believes that they take joy in making foreigners go on a wild goose hunt for a taxi) and then I asked another driver who helped me find a car. As I sat in the taxi there were two young boys fighting for at least 15 minutes. No one was crying, so I just ignored it. Finally more people showed up (taxis here wait until the car is full to leave… that way they can get the most money possible because they charge by seat not by the whole car) and it looked as if we were going to leave. Wow there were a lot people. It ended up being 4 children and 6 adults. I had one of the children on my lap, which is common here. The greatest success was that I was able to communicat where I wanted to go, have a basic conversation with the women in the car about why I was in Kyrgyzstan and find Tav in his village only using Kyrgyz. I may not be very great at the language yet, but at least I can get what I want. That is a huge accomplishment.
Peace Corps Volunteer "Brooke's Peaceful Perseverance" writes: Life is good. For the past two days we haven't had any power. In Tav's village it came back on last night for a few hours (just enough time to watch Germany destroy Argentina).
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July.
Caption: June 15, 2010: Peace Corps Volunteers reach the safety of a helicopter in Osh. All of the Peace Corps volunteers in the southern region have been evacuated safely. Most of the violence has been restricted to the south, and the north remains peaceful. It is anticipated that volunteers will remain in the north. Photo: R Moreno
Happy 4th of July all!! I am sad I don't get to barbecue and watch the fireworks with my friends and family.
Life is all about successes. I have figured that out now more than ever before. If I don't enjoy the small things all the other big things will be way to overwhelming. This weekend I went to visit a friend so I could be around at least one American on the 4th of July. Well catching a taxi out to his village is not the easiest thing especially since they only come into town around 8-9am and leave around 11-12pm. I went to the taxi stand at 11 and started asking around to all the drivers who was going to Kyzyl-Tuu (Tav's village). The first driver pointed in a random direction (Tav believes that they take joy in making foreigners go on a wild goose hunt for a taxi) and then I asked another driver who helped me find a car. As I sat in the taxi there were two young boys fighting for at least 15 minutes. No one was crying, so I just ignored it. Finally more people showed up (taxis here wait until the car is full to leave… that way they can get the most money possible because they charge by seat not by the whole car) and it looked as if we were going to leave. Wow there were a lot people. It ended up being 4 children and 6 adults. I had one of the children on my lap, which is common here. The greatest success was that I was able to communicat where I wanted to go, have a basic conversation with the women in the car about why I was in Kyrgyzstan and find Tav in his village only using Kyrgyz. I may not be very great at the language yet, but at least I can get what I want. That is a huge accomplishment.
Returning back home was just as big of an adventure. We headed out to where one catches taxis (hitching rides with cars going into town). There was not one to be found. We were trying to get out of the house at 7:45 to catch one by 8am and we were stopped to drink tea. Tav's brother showed up and was going to At-Bashy as well so he helped us find a car. He stopped a guy on a horse and took the horse to a neighbor's house to get us a ride there. We walked to his street as he started driving toward us the car died. Oh no… do I really want to get into this car? Turns out he ran out of gas. We had to wait for a little while he went somewhere to get some. As we waited 3 cars drove past with seats open that I could have gone with them. No, I'm in it for the adventure. After getting the car started again we were on our way. WAIT nope we were stopped by another person to catch a ride but he had more people back at his house that needed a ride as well. With only one seat left in the car I began to wonder if the car was going to be like it was on the way to Kyzyl-Tuu. Yes it was. Well I guess it was a little better… only 7 people this time. THEN (yes there is more) there was construction on the road. We stopped for a few minutes and the driver got out and started kicking the tires. I'm not sure what good that did, but I guess it made him feel better. We made it back to our village without any more problems until we ran out of gas on the way to my house. I just ended up paying the driver and then walking the rest of the way. The best part was that he only charged me 50 som when sometimes they can charged up to 70 som.
Life is good. For the past two days we haven't had any power. In Tav's village it came back on last night for a few hours (just enough time to watch Germany destroy Argentina). It is supposed to be turned back on now (says my host mom). I don't mind that it's out during the day but it's hard at night because it is so dark. Just another adventure to remember back on!
