PC Flashback - Kazakhstan, June 1997

It's ungodly hot and muggy here today. My assumption was that Kapchagai – being in the desert – only experienced dry heat. WRONG. And of course there's no A/C here, so we get no relief. Then, we spend all afternoon running around town on this scavenger hunt thing trying to figure out how to mail letters, make phone calls, and send telegrams. THEN, after school, a bunch of us decided to try out this dance class being offered by a Russian dance instructor. Except for the (curse word) heat, it was fun. She started teaching us a traditional Kazkah dance and everyone really enjoyed it.

I don't know if I mentioned the weird smell in the air here in my last letter, but I've finally figured out what it reminds me of. You know those little black “snakes" we used to get on the 4^th of July? Those small black round things that you lit and they spewed out a black ash “snake"? Remember how those things smelled? Well, that's what the air smells like here. Partly coz they burn their trash here and partly for some other frighteningly inexplicable reason (leaking gas?). But one thing I've noticed over here is that there's not as much trash in the first place. Unlike America, they don't have tons of pre-packaged goods here and they don't buy as much stuff, so, duh, not as much to throw away.

I often have random intense thoughts/realizations. Example: I was helpng my host mom make borscht the other day - we're supposed to learn a new local dish every week – and we're standing in her little cooking alcove/annex off the kitchen when all of the sudden I just thought, “Wow! I'm in the former Soviet Union making borscht with a Russian babushka!” Then, immediately after that, I thought, “My god! Look how much oil she's using!” Ha! I think the Russian RDA for oil is about 3 cups per day. On the plus side, I'm eating way more vegetables than I normally do. But this will supposedly come to an end when winter hits. Here's a pic of me with my host mom:

Okay, time for me to bitch a little more about our Kazkah language classes. Bleh. The language is very difficult. The alphabet is even longer than the Russian one – 42 letters – and, just as an example, a brother and sister call their same little brother two different things/use different words. That is, a boy would call him his little bother, but a girl would call him, say, her little brinner or something. I mean, I'm trying to be culturally sensitive and what not, but that just seems silly to me. And I'm sure there's probably some bizarre sexist reason for it.

Speaking of language fun, there's a boy (he's 15) in my apt. complex who speaks a little English, which is cool. He's taught himself, so it's not too much, and it's fun coz he's always so formal when he's speaking English. He always looks dreadfully serious, even when he says something like, “I think Hollywood is very beautiful and wonderful.” I was playing chess with him the other day (of course chess is big here, but I actually won – mostly by playing in a bizarre, impatient, ‘not normal' random way that completely flummoxed him) – and he asked if I wanted to see the local “muscleman church.” I was like, “Um, the muscleman church? Muscleman?” And he got a little offended and said, “Yes, muscleman. I know I am saying it correctly.” Anyway, of course I agreed and the next day he and a buddy took me to see their brand new…..Muslim church.  Ha! His name is Stas and the little neighbor kids are always firing questions at him to ask me. There's always a group of them around my apt. building when I get home and they all take turns saying, “Hi, David!” “Hi, David!” And that's the extent of their English. Ha! Here's Stas (the taller one) and his buddy at the "Muscleman" Church:

I tell you what, though, the kids are the only friendly people here – at least when you see them on the streets. Kazkahs do NOT greet strangers on the street and are, in fact, extremely sullen in public. If you go down the street smiling, they assume you are either drunk or insane. No lie. They're wonderfully friendly and warm when you're in their homes, but on the streets….yeah, not so much. We've been told if a stranger approaches you on the street and is friendly, or even just says hello, we have to immediately beware as they're most likely getting ready to jump you or trying to pul the “Tenge trick" (Tenge is the local currency) or something.

We got that info. From one of our ENDLESS and BORING medical lectures. Every couple of days, they get us all together to warn us about the water, the food, the air, surrounding countries, being gassed and robbed on the trains, etc. Then we get a shot (so far, we've had rabies, tetanus, diptheira, encephalitis and I think we've got another fourteen coming – yay!).

Aside; GAWD I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH DIRT THERE IS!!

Disclaimer: Any thoughts, observations, opinions, etc. are of course mine and not necessarily the views of Peace Corps.

Posh Corps

So the Montenegro Peace Corps post has earned the moniker "Posh Corps" and I'm so there for it - figuratively AND literally.  It starts with the fact that the country is just so dang purty! The mountains, the coastline, the weather, the picaresque houses overlowing with bougainvellia, etc etc etc.

But wait, there's more! All Peace Corps trainees/volunteers here are issued a tablet - complete with mouse and keyboard and a SHIT TON of data (something like 40 gigs). We also all get fire extinguishers, water filters, and space heaters. We also get local sim cards with, again, tons of data and minutes and the country, in general, is pretty wired. Now, many other posts get some/all these things, too, so on the whole Peace Corps, in general, is way more "posh" than when I did my first go round back in the late 1900s.

But again, the beauty of the country, and the Mediterranean climate, give us a leg up for sure on the mud hut villages and other less posh places of PC yore.  I mean, check out these pics of the beach that is, literally, a 10-12 minute walk from my place. 

And speaking of my place, like all trainees, I DO have my own room, BUT it's actually more like a studio apartment, with it's own entrance, up on the second floor above my host family, and I have my own bathroom and kitchenette in addition to the bed, table & three chairs PLUS a bunk bed. And did I mention the TV with about 50 cable channels? Granted, those channels most all broadcast in Montenegrin or Serbian, but there's a couple of channels that will have the odd U.S. show and/or movie, in English, with Montenegrin subtitles. Here's a couple of shots of my host family's home - my place is on the second floor, with the white door on the left:

That second shot is the entry drive, overhung with grape vines - with grapes my host dad uses to make his own - amazing - wine. They also have a couple of mandarin orange trees, pepper plants, etc. In fact, most every house here has the requisite overhang with grapes or kiwi, and then mandarin orange trees, and/or olive trees and/or apple trees and/or various other fruits and vegetables. So yeah, talk about direct to table!

Now, we have been "warned" not to expect this kind of stuff once training is over and we ship off to our posts - esp. if we're posted further north, which most of us will be.  But this definitely makes the transition a bit easier. So I'll enjoy this while it lasts and hopefully reflect back on how lucky I was once I start whining down the road!  :)

Disclaimer: Any thoughts, observations, opinions, etc. are of course mine and not necessarily the views of Peace Corps.

Peace Corps, Take Two!

 So Peace Corps is hard. I knew this, of course, based on my previous volunteer experience, but "living it" again has reminded me of how mental and sensory exhaustion can be just as challenging as your basic physical exhaustion.  As we wrap up our 5 day orientation in Albania at the Monastery of St Vlash (click HERE for a history of the place - pretty interesting), here are some initial thoughts/observations:

• As soon as we exited the airport, there was that wood burning smell. Same thing I experienced in Kazakhstan and other "developing" countries. Still a lot of trash burning. It's not necessarily that unpleasant, just odd.
• The monastery has its pros and cons as an orientation/host site. The food is good and naturally locally sourced. They have goats, sheep, chickens, fruit trees, etc. (a pomegranate tree with the biggest pomegranates I've ever seen!) They make their own butter, yogurt, jams, etc. so I'm already eating healthier and eating more veggies than I did in the states.
• On the downside, they also have a fair number of dogs to guard the compound and the animals. When we first arrived, I was like, "Awwww, doggies!" But after a few nights of them barking their fool heads off, I've progressed more to an atittude of, "Those fucking dogs!"  :)
• Back to the food: one night they served what they called "Potato Puree" - which, as you may have guessed, is basically mashed potatoes. But I like their phrase better and hope to remember to always refer to mashed potatoes as potato puree in the future!  :)  I have also eaten more eggplant in the past few days here than I have in....well, ever.  Lol
• The trainees are just as interesting a mix - if not more so - than my first go round. Definitely more POC. We even have a very proud drag queen from Arizona. Lots of whip smart folks, as well as a few of your usual PC hippy dippy types (like me!). At least four LGBTQ folks, including me, and probably more who have not yet "announced." I am actually the 4th oldest volunteer, as we have an 82 year old woman, a 71 year old woman, and a 63 year old man. There's a few other folks in their mid-late 50s and then the remainder of the 42 total (35 Albania, 7 Montenegro) are a mix of recent/semi-recent college grads and folks in their 30s.
• One thing that is very different from my last go round is the technology, and what PC provides to facilitate connectivity. We were each given a Samsung tablet with headphones, wireless keyboard & mouse, and a 60gb data plan--partly to aid in ongoing online training.  We were also given sim cards for our phones with a data plan that left the one I had in the states in the dust. I wanna say it's another 40gb for the phone for data and gobs of minutes and texts. Accordingly, PC expects - and provides - pretty consistent communication with volunteers. 
• Tomorrow, we leave for the Pre-service training villages and the Albania and Montenegro trainees will thus split up (expect for periodic joint training when we come together - sometimes in Albania and sometimes in Montenegro). I have been told my host family is an older couple - a retired priest (!) who is 73, and his wife is a retired banker of 68. 
• As it so happens, these folks just found out they've come up in the "queue" to be able to go to a thermal spa for a week or so and will be leaving soon after I arrive, so I will actually be settling in to THEIR house alone. Kinda trippy, but I'm actually glad to be able to acclimate a bit, figure things out etc., w/o having to bother them.

Will probably post again right before they return with initial observations on Montenegro and our training site, my homestay, etc. Onward!

Disclaimer: Any thoughts, observations, opinions, etc. are of course mine and not necessarily the views of Peace Corps.