New Kyrgystan Blog

Since the Kyrgyz Republic has neither Bamboo nor Typhoons. we thought it best to start another blog with more of a Central Asian theme. All future posts will be made at the new site, http://www.mountainsofheaven.blogspot.com

Destination: Kyrgyzstan

Malinda and I have been given a second chance with the Peace Corps, this time in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan (Kur-giss-stahn), officially called the Kyrgyz Republic. This country is high up in the mountains, on the western side of China, and the northeast side of Kazakhstan. This is horse country. The Kyrgyz are traditionally horse nomads, but under the collectivization programs of the Soviet Union, they now live a so-called "half nomadic" lifestyle, mostly because of the strict authoritarianism that unfortunately has never completely gone away.

Malinda is officially a Sustainable Economic and Organizational Development volunteer, which means that she'll be working with NGOs, economic planners, entrepreneurs, etc. to try to foster economic growth and prosperity there. A lofty goal certainly, but we'll try as best as we can. I will be teaching English (personally, I don't know why they would need it, but I'll provide the service).

So the timeline, as we know it to be at this moment is this:

• Leave for orientation (in the states) on September 14th.
• Leave for Kyrgyzstan on September 16th.
• Stay in the capital, Bishkek and its environs for 3 months, intensively learning Kyrgyz (probably Russian as well).
• The, off to our village for 2 years.

We will be changing our blog to a more appropriate theme, look for links here in the near future. That's it for tonight, I'm tired, and have to work early tomorrow. I'll be working on the new blog and assembling all sorts of goodies and info on Kyrgyzstan for you all, so come back every once in a while over the next week or so.

A New Invitation

It is official. We have another assignment. This time to Central Asia. The package will be Fed-Exed to us tomorrow morning, and it is likely that we will accept. Malinda will be working in business development, while I will be teaching English to kids. The only bad thing is that I will have to redesign this webpage, becasue its not so much about bamboo or typhoons anymore. More like horses and yurts. I am crossing my fingers for Kyrgystan, but anyone of them will be cool. My hope is to be in the mountains, with snow and meadows, horses and beautiful vistas. It is possible I know to be farther down on the steppe along the Caspian Sea, but who knows. They won't tell us- they force us to be surprised when we open the envelope.

Weeks until we leave: 9

New Assignment?

An update on the progress of our assignment: we have been told that it is possible that we will go to Central Asia. The Peace Corps serves in Kazakhstan, The Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. They also serve in the neighboring countries of Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and it is not clear if these countries count as Central Asian to the Peace Corps, as they lump both Eastern Europe and Central Asia into one big region for some reason. These countries are all on the old Silk Road, and were settled by Mongols during the reign of Ghengis Kahn. The Persian influence on these countries stretches into antiquity, as does Buddhism as conceived by converted Mongols and caravan traders. Contemporary Central Asia though is a mixture of traditional herdsman culture and old Soviet industry. In Kazakhstan, along the Caspian Sea, the petroleum industry is in full swing, but they still suffer under an authoritarian regime. The language of business and government is Russian, but over half of each countries' population are ethnic Central Asians (Kazakhs, Turkmen, Uzbeks, and Kyrgyz) and they speak their own languages (which are related to Turkish and Mongolian).

These possibilities are much more palatable to us than Bangladesh. Getting assigned to one of these countries depends on that country agreeing to allow another couple to be added to their volunteer list- they are currently full, but our contact in D.C. is trying to pull some strings and get us there. If we go there, we'd leave on Sept. 14th. We're crossing our fingers, but we're prepared to hear bad news.

Crisis Averted?

I called the Peace Corps today to officially decline the Bangladesh assignment. It really was hard for me to do, since I have tried so hard and waited so long to get an assignment. I felt as if I had failed somewhere.

They told me that I had to write a letter to the Placement Office explaining my reasons, which I will do tonight. The good news is that we will be considered for other assignments. We are still officially in the pool of candidates, and the Placement officer said a single declination will not likely hurt our chances of getting another assignment- people apparently decline more than once. We won't be doing that. The next assignment we get, we will accept.

So, all we need to do now is wait again. Hopefully, we will get an invitation soon, and we may even get to leave in August still. I was dreading the possibility of not going at all, but it doesn't look like it will be that bad.

sigh...Bangladesh

Bangladesh? This is what we have been waiting six months to hear? The one country in the world that we would even consider declining, and we get it. I don't know.

This is but my initial reaction to the news, perhaps it will change with a little more information. We kind of knew it would be Bangladesh, as the programs that we were selected for are emphasized there. It was the bottom of both of our lists of preferences though, and we are still adjusting to the idea of having to choose to go there or not. As it stands right now, Malinda is more enthusiastic about it than I am- maybe she should be writing this post.

Both of us would be teaching English it seems. We won't know exactly where we will be assigned in Bangladesh, that will come after a three month language instruction period and cultural immersion period. From what the PC has said, Bangladesh is "hot, humid, flat and very green." It is the size of Wisconsin, but has half the population of the entire United States. That's 140 million people crammed into Wisconsin, making it one of the most densely populated countries on Earth. It is also among the very poorest.

It is a primarily Muslim country, breaking off from India along with Pakistan (Bangladesh was once politically East Pakistan but became independent in 1971). Approximately 85% of Bangladeshis are Muslim, 10% Hindu, the rest Buddhist or other faiths. It is very conservative, but Islam is considered moderate there.

Electricity is common, especially in the cities, telephones are not reliable, but cell phones are very much in use. The internet is availbale in urban centers, usually in internet cafés. Pollution is severe, disease a serious problem, and cyclones and flooding are likely to occur at some point while we are there.





The steets of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh

Invitation

I just got off the phone with my assignment coordinator in D.C. She says that Malinda and I have been accepted and will be issued an invitation to serve!! I pressed her for some clues about where the assignment will be, but she would not offer any. She said the Peace Corps like to have couples open their assignment invitation together, and I guess I can understand that. But man! I'm just dying to find out!

Now at least I know what lies ahead of me in the next two years though. I can at least breathe a little easier now that we are no longer in limbo as far as our plans go. So much will be happening in the next few weeks here, it's going to be crazy. Bernie and Chris will be moving to their new house, we have to find a place for all of our stuff for 2 years, it will be hectic.

We will receive a packet in the mail tomorrow that will detail our assignment. We have 10 days to accept it or reject it. I don't think we'll be rejecting it though. So, you will all know tomorrow or Monday (I hope it doesn't take that long to get here) where we will be going. Until then!

Weeks until we leave: 9