What just happened?

Let's back up a few weeks. The award was given by the US Embassy and the Kyrgyz government reacted. Our visas, unfortunately were due around this time.

On July 29th, our country director made contingency plans for us to possible go to the US on "Administrative hold", meaning we would go back to the states and wait to see if/when we would get our visas. Being the planner that I am, I packed.

On August 4th, we received verbal confirmation that our accreditation (the first step to visas) was approved for 4.5 months. I unpacked and celebrated with my family. Began planning the year with my counterpart. And then...

On August 7th we were told that Mid-Service Training was urgently cancelled due to visas complications. If we would not receive our accreditation by the end of the week we would have to travel to Almaty and then the US and put on "Administrative hold"...again. This looked like it was it. It was getting down to the wire and the PC staff seemed to be panicking. So I packed again, told my family again that I could be leaving, and this time it look more serious. I said good bye to my counterparts, started making plans in the states and really starting to lean into it.

On August 10th, we got a text message at 8pm saying we were given accreditation by the Kyrgyz government. Because we still didn't have  our visas, we would continue with the plan to possible leave the country, pack up all our junk, continue to say goodbye to everyone here and just be emotional messes.

August 12th, everyone arrived in Bishkek with huge bags and tired faces.

August 13th, we got our visas. Peace Corps said we should stay in the hotel for the weekend and just rest. I was mostly pissed that I packed twice.

So that was my month so far. I wanted to break it down for everyone who got some serious mixed signals from me about whether or not I would be coming home. That is why.

And now I'm tried after reliving it.

Coming up: School starting. Trip to Osh and Jalalabad. Fall slowing approaching.

Standfast

I have had a pretty uneventful summer. It's been over 100 F for the past few weeks. I have been hiking quite a bit and working at summer camps around my village. It's been nice relaxing, seeing other volunteers and having the opportunity to travel around the country.

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! 

Schools Out for Summer!

We are a full two weeks into summer vacation and I have never slept so much.

May was crazy. There are at least 6,000 holidays in May, which means class was not a priority for my school. Also, the new volunteers arrived and because I am so close to them, I spent a lot of time teaching lessons and helping them in the village. So May went by really quickly, and I already miss my English Club kids.

But I digress. Right after school ended, I got on a plane and headed to Istanbul. This city might be one of my favorites. It's filled with culture and history, plus there wasn't a sheep's head in sight! I really could see myself in this city in the distantly near future.

But I'll just show the pictures of the past few months!

Kids being kids

My main ally at guestings. We throw down the silly face competitions.

English club girls caught me running, and joined in at the end

Sometimes, when there is no electricity, you can't do anything but put tea lights on your face

AND my classes 

6A - The very best

7V - Super bright and active

10A - Finally can respond to "What are you doing?" with different verbs

5V - These kids know how to take a picture

AND Istanbul!

Galata Tower

Happy dance

Got us doing to Kara Jorgo 

Really feeling the spirit and beauty of these Mosques

I mean, come on!

Gorgeous city!

We made friends with the cat that lived outside of the apartment. We named her Belle.

Couldn't have said it better myself, barstool