It was a precautionary measure given the massive amount of rumors all the volunteers were hearing all over the country about more problems happening closer to the referendum. Everything passed peacefully and I returned back to my village on the 28th with my fellow south shore volunteers. That same day our volunteer support assistant called me to tell me of my new COS date was now July 2nd, and not July 7th. And that I would be coming to Bishkek on the 1st with my close friend Jonathan.
Peace Corps Volunteer "Pat in the Kyrgyz Republic" writes: I spent about 5 or 6 days at an undisclosed location with all of the volunteers before the constitutional referendum that happened here on the 27th
Monday, July 5, 2010
Coming Going Leaving
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
7-6-2010
Well this is the last post I will be making from Kyrgyzstan. I might make one in a few days or a week or two, but I doubt many people will still be reading it. But I feel like it needs an official ending/sendoff than just a little note.
7-4-2010
Well, I didn't do a very good job keeping up with my little mini-journal I was keeping when the unrest began here a few weeks ago. I will be posting two entries I wrote in June below this post, but a lot has happened since. I wanted to leave up my blog post about donating as long as possible. The international community has been doing a lot here recently and lots of money is coming in. Some of my friends who are finishing early are staying to work for some of these aid agencies and I respect them greatly for it.
I spent about 5 or 6 days at an undisclosed location with all of the volunteers before the constitutional referendum that happened here on the 27th. It was a precautionary measure given the massive amount of rumors all the volunteers were hearing all over the country about more problems happening closer to the referendum. Everything passed peacefully and I returned back to my village on the 28th with my fellow south shore volunteers. That same day our volunteer support assistant called me to tell me of my new COS date was now July 2nd, and not July 7th. And that I would be coming to Bishkek on the 1st with my close friend Jonathan.
I spent 3 days in my village, swimming in the lake only once. My time in the village was cut short about 3 days with the new COS date, but they were 3 relaxing days as I had already prepared my bags and said goodbyes before I left for our consolidation, not knowing if I would return. But I did return, as I said above, and I'm glad I was able to share those few days with my host family before I left. I was able to make a final trip to Karakol to get some souvenirs for myself before I left and to say some goodbyes to the K-17s and K-18s I had gotten to know well here.
Saying goodbye to my family was very surreal. I struggled to hold back the tears saying goodbye, in hopes that it would make it easier for them. From my understanding I think it is very hard for Kyrgyz to say real goodbyes. Their word for goodbye basically translates as "go well" and alternatively "stay well." Everyone always comes back eventually and they don't go away for too long. I plan to return, in a few years and if I have the money for it, but you never know what the future holds.
In fact, the last few days have been very surreal. I was running around the Peace Corps office on the 2nd like a chicken with my head cut off trying to complete my Close-of-Service Checklist. After check-ups and paperwork and more paperwork I handed in the last few things and officially became a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer on July the 2nd at 5:00pm. This means I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer. I've finished my PC service. I was expecting some sort of profound feeling to come over me once I became an RPCV, but nothing did. I'm not sure when it will but perhaps after a few weeks in the states there will be some sort of realization and internalization of the past 2 years. I think I am still in shock and disbelief of the fact that I will be flying out of this country in less than 30 hours, returning back home as a normal American. With the next part of my life once again an unknown.
For the past few days I have been saying goodbye to friends that are more like family. The goodbyes have seemed to be easier than I had thought though. It is rare in life to meet people who you know that when you reunite it will feel as if no time at all has passed. I've met a few people in my life like that during my formative years, and I've met many people here who have been as important in a unique yet brief time. I think that this understanding makes it easier for me to say goodbye; I know I will see them again and it will be just as I wrote: as if we had been apart for no time at all.
This journey that began almost exactly 2 years ago has changed me in so many ways, many of them I am consciously unaware of at this point. I feel like I went through a new life and became a new person. I'm not sure what this means for my future, but I know it will be impacting my life until the end.
6-15-2010
So it has been five days since the unrest erupted here in Kyrgyzstan. I have been entirely safe for the whole time, watching the World Cup and enjoying the company of my friends in Karakol and my host family in my village. It's hard to do that when all of this is going on a few hundred miles away. I figured I'd try to write down some things that have been running through my mind the last few days and try to keep an updated mini-journal on this crisis until it ends (hopefully sooner rather than later).
So according to multiple new outlets there's a possibility that this has been orchestrated and purposely provoked violence. I can't even fathom how someone gets to the point where they are willing to do such a thing. What does it accomplish? The pointlessness of all of this suffering is heart breaking. I am filled with a rage and an equally powerful sorrow when I read some of the accounts of the things that have been happening here. I feel helpless, stressed, and sad. I can't imagine how my friends who lived through this are coping.
I've had moments of overwhelming emotion wash over me randomly when I start thinking about the suffering going on down there. I've never been attached or so close to anything like this going on in the world before. I have really been able to understand and feel the human story to events like this that occur all over the world. These things can be avoided and stopped but it's a failure of our civilization in general to do so. It's pathetic really. I have a newfound respect for aid workers and aid organizations and am considering things in the future that I can do to help people suffering throughout the world.
I don't even know what else to say about it right now. I've read some horrible accounts of what has happened to some of these victims of violence. I'm glued to the internet and spending plenty of money on my cell phone. I'm hoping for the best and always worried about the future.
6-18-2010
Well, three more days have passed since my last little mini-journal update. I've calmed down a bit since the emotional rollercoaster that was the last few days. The situation is slowly becoming stable. It is still volatile but it seems things are heading in the right direction. Aid is pouring in now and hopefully it will do plenty of good for Kyrgyzstan. I think the country really can progress if this new government brings in the younger, educated and open generation of Kyrgyzstan. They are the future and they need to do things right.
I've just been informed today of my new Early COS date of July 5th. I think the idea of actually leaving here sunk in when I got that phone call from PC. I have like 16 or 17 days left in this country. After two years, only 17 days left. I'm terrified to say goodbye but happy to be returning to America, to my family, and to my friends. I'm sure I'll have more time before I leave to put up one last blog entry, a goodbye of sorts I guess. I doubt I will be able to reflect much until a lot of time has passed after returning home.
Home, that's a funny word to me now. I have two homes now I guess, two families, two lives. It is a feeling too surreal to explain or describe properly, I think. One of these lives is going to end soon though. What that means for me I have yet to experience, but I think it is going to be difficult. I'm at ease with the idea of leaving soon though, but it still scares me. I am dreading the goodbyes I have to say; now even moreso, as they have been accelerated by 2 months. I want to make the best of the time I have left here and that starts tomorrow. I might have to say some goodbyes to friends – friends that became family – and I don't think I'm ready for it.
