But yesterday we received some concerning news, the tension between the US and Kyrgyz government is growing. Today the government has reported that :
1. The DCA – Defense Cooperation Agreement for US Military will not be renewed.
2. The 1993 Agreement (for USAID and programs) is being revoked.
3. The size of the Mission (USAID mission) will be reduced.
These actions have been caused because the US Embassy gave a humanitarian award to an ethnic Uzbek Kyrgyzstani who is currently imprisoned (Click here to read more!)
What does any of this mean for Peace Corps? We don't really know yet. We are kind of waiting and watching the reaction of the Kyrgyz people this weekend. And while on standfast, we are locked down in our villages. This was our first time having standfast status, which was making most of us very jumpy. I have already started to separate my belongings in case we have to consolidate (aka all huddle together until 1) the storm blows over or 2) we get the hell out of Dodge)
It's still hard to tell what will happen. I think all of us were overly anxious because this was the first time the country has had this kind of security threat. I'm was feeling very uneasy last night because our country isn't the most stable compared to the other Peace Corps countries. There have been revolutions in the past, there is a strong Anti-American sentiment here and we have the highest reported incident rate in all of Peace Corps. Yeah, we have some problems.
And as much as I complain about eating sheep and pooping in a hole, I'm not ready to leave. Again, I'd like to note that I am getting way ahead of myself, at this point we are not leaving. But it's hard not to prepare for the worst case scenario. I will be extremely disappointed if we have to evacuate. I feel like there is more work to be done here and I'm finally at the point with my language and integration to do it. I can't help be think of how I will feel if we leave. How I will feel my work was incomplete, taken from me and possibly wasted. But if we do evacuate, and I got the opportunity to join a different post, would I? Would I want to go through this incredibly difficult year again? Luckily, we are no where near that decision. Once more, I was just stuck in my village. Nothing more, nothing less.
The holiday (Eid, the end of Ramadan) has definitely been eventful. After 6 hours of marathon guestings, we got this news. Good thing my village has water right now, or else I'd be screwed! (touch wood)
Today we were told that our standfast status has been lifted, however it was noted that we may be going on standfast again in the upcoming weeks. Things are touch and go, which is putting me in a strange space.
And as always, pictures from around Kyrgyzstan:
Mountains, mountains, mountains
Summer camps
This little girl was giving me Kyrgyz Side-eye on the marshrutka, so I took a picture of her.
When the electricity goes out, I braid hair.
Hiking, hiking, hiking
We fell upon this family living in the mountains for the summer. They were very kind and even did a little casual Kok Boru for us. You know the game, the one that is like polo but instead of a ball it's a dead headless goat. Such fun!
See the goat?
Since it's been ungodly hot outside, we found a pool in Kant and enjoyed about 5 hours of it.
And Eid came and went. We spent the whole evening beforehand preparing. Mostly just frying every kind of dough my family can make.
That's all!
