Hello...
...from the land of plunging temperatures (snow during the day last week), the plunging dollar (down to 34 som to a dollar, from 40 when I got here), and house-rocking earthquakes (felt my first earthquake two nights ago, no damage but it sure got things shaking!). Despite that dramatic opening, there once again isn't much in the way of news. School was cancelled this week so the kids can help their families get the apples and potatoes in before it really gets cold; which is expected early this year (not a harbinger for a pleasant winter, although a New Year's trip to Goa, India will not only split up the season, but give me something to look forward to until then).
I'm pretty much settled into my routine at this point; going to school, finishing a book every two or three days, going 'guesting' with other teachers, teaching my host brothers how to throw a football, beating a number of original NES games before the power goes out and I have to turn off my computer, etc.
One night the other week, I went guesting with a number of teachers to celebrate the beginning of the school year and the education of the first graders. At first, it was the normal 'guesting' experience, with vodka toasts, tea, salads, and some dancing; until the wind picked up and the electricity (surprise surprise) went out. Building fires to cook the food and lighting candles to converse and eat by, the hosts and guests were unfazed. Sitting on the floor around the low tables in the flickering candle-light, the host gave a toast and then prepared the 'song cup,' a cup filled with anything (in this case only mineral water), and passed to someone who sings a song, and then passes it to a person of their choosing to sing another. Sitting there in the dim light, the rain pattering on the tin roof, huge platters of steaming freshly-slaughtered mutton, listening to the singing of traditional Kyrgyz songs was one of those experiences I expected coming into Peace Corps...one of those 'wow' moments spent experiencing another culture in a way, with an intimacy, that could almost never be done as a tourist or a visitor. I was in the group as a member of it, not as an outsider or a guest, but as a fellow teacher, a colleague, a friend. Then it was my turn to sing. Although I know a Kyrgyz song or two, I had a request from one teacher (the one with whom I rocked out to Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin) to sing 'Yesterday' by the Beatles. So, I obliged, and although it wasn't a traditional Kyrgyz song, and the fact that my singing voice leaves a bit to be desired, they claimed to enjoy it, and nodded understandably when I explained the meaning of the lyrics.
Until next time,
Zach
I'm pretty much settled into my routine at this point; going to school, finishing a book every two or three days, going 'guesting' with other teachers, teaching my host brothers how to throw a football, beating a number of original NES games before the power goes out and I have to turn off my computer, etc.
One night the other week, I went guesting with a number of teachers to celebrate the beginning of the school year and the education of the first graders. At first, it was the normal 'guesting' experience, with vodka toasts, tea, salads, and some dancing; until the wind picked up and the electricity (surprise surprise) went out. Building fires to cook the food and lighting candles to converse and eat by, the hosts and guests were unfazed. Sitting on the floor around the low tables in the flickering candle-light, the host gave a toast and then prepared the 'song cup,' a cup filled with anything (in this case only mineral water), and passed to someone who sings a song, and then passes it to a person of their choosing to sing another. Sitting there in the dim light, the rain pattering on the tin roof, huge platters of steaming freshly-slaughtered mutton, listening to the singing of traditional Kyrgyz songs was one of those experiences I expected coming into Peace Corps...one of those 'wow' moments spent experiencing another culture in a way, with an intimacy, that could almost never be done as a tourist or a visitor. I was in the group as a member of it, not as an outsider or a guest, but as a fellow teacher, a colleague, a friend. Then it was my turn to sing. Although I know a Kyrgyz song or two, I had a request from one teacher (the one with whom I rocked out to Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin) to sing 'Yesterday' by the Beatles. So, I obliged, and although it wasn't a traditional Kyrgyz song, and the fact that my singing voice leaves a bit to be desired, they claimed to enjoy it, and nodded understandably when I explained the meaning of the lyrics.
Until next time,
Zach
posted by Zach at 11:41 PM
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