Posts tagged ‘Kyrgyz family’

April 24th, 2010

Learning Like a Child: Host Family Flashback Part 2

For seven long weeks I lasted as a regular in the Kyrgyz family. Somehow, now when I think back, I don’t know how I did it.

Some days were more trying than others. As a complete newbie to Russian, I quickly realized just how much brain power I expended at my lessons constantly thinking, translating and deciphering all day long. When I came home, I simply didn’t have it in me to struggle with the family. Instead, I would take to my room and start on my hours of homework, which of course was not fun, but it was very necessary in the beginning.

Dinner was generally ready around 7pm, at which point I was awakened from my homework-induced space-out session by a cute little girl shouting, “Brooooke, kushat!

After thanking my happy little caller for her notice, I would stumble out to the living room and help prepare the table for food. The dynamics of the family situation were very strange to me, for quite some time, and preparing the table and babysitting were some of the few duties I ever had to carry out. Maybe since I was paying to live there they felt the need to treat me more like a guest than a member of the household, meaning the mother felt the need to always serve me even when I offered to help.

So, serve me she did, along with the other two children. Yes, I said it; in my role of trying to learn the Russian language like a child, I had actually become like a third child to this woman. And, I could see it in her eyes – when she asked me where I was going, when I would be back, and also when she had to ask me the same questions over and over again until I could respond – she felt like she was my mother.

Yep, just like her third, older and yet somewhat more retarded child, I sat at the dinner table getting the same reactions to my lack of speedy responses as both Mira and Rasul, who were simply unruly four and seven year olds.

Really, there are a million and one ways I could explain just how incredibly child-like I felt in those couple months with them, but none so vividly do the point justice than this following incident:

Let’s flash back to the moment that I walked in on poor Mira in the bathroom. I know, more toilet humor on this blog; it’s just what you were looking for, right? Well, I feel like I need to explain the setting a little bit better. See, the toilet in that bathroom was actually on a little platform, making it a little taller than normal toilets. Therefore, after sitting down, you could not help but have to deal with your pants falling completely to your ankles when you have to basically jump down in order to get off the toilet.

I guess it’s hard to explain without drawing a picture, but I feel that might be a little too much toilet imagery, which could very well take this blog to a new low. I’ll leave it at this: What seems so simple in a normal bathroom setting was made just a little bit more difficult in this situation because of the added height. That was one of the things I quickly learned.

The second thing I learned was that apparently the door to the bathroom doesn’t really lock when you might think otherwise.

Yes, my reader friends, I was just about to grab my pants that were so low at my ankles when I heard a jiggling of the door handle. My mind went into panic mode.

Jiggle, jiggle… What do I do? What do I say?!

The moment happened at a normal door opening speed, but to me it was in slow motion. I wanted to say, “Stop!” in Russian, but I forgot the word under pressure (strange considering I had to use it every day on the marshrutka). I wanted to scream it out in English, but of course I was in this limbo period where I was so used to trying not to say something in English that even that couldn’t come out.

No words. Only a small yell as the door started to swing would remove itself from my lips, but it was too late. There was not enough time to pull my jeans back to their proper position…

… and there I was, stuck like a deer in the headlights as my host mother realized someone was in the bathroom already… me.

My eyes were probably 10 times their normal size as I tried to cover myself. My host mother, too, was in shock, but laughed as she closed the door again.

I had a flashback to poor little Mira standing there the same way maybe not a week before, only I was on the other end. This time, I was the child, and as corny as that sounds, it was just so suiting to the way I felt living there and not being able to communicate.

This is Part 2 of a 2 part series on learning like a child. If you missed Part 1, click back now. Don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed so you never miss a post!

If you want to learn more about language study abroad, check out the guest blog post I did for Runaway Jane: Language Study Abroad – How to Make the Most of It.

April 19th, 2010

Learning Like a Child: Host Family Flashback Part 1

When a language is just so different from your native tongue, the best thing you can do is to forget about any preconceived notions you have about language structure and just attempt to learn it like a child.

I learned my lesson the hard way – by spending countless portions of class time hounding my poor teachers as to why things were said one way in English, but another in crazy – and irregular – Russian. How was I ever to learn this difficult language if I couldn’t put my own thoughts into Russian words?

I was getting frustrated. I spent 5 hours a day, 4 days a week, sitting in a classroom at the London School in Bishkek getting bombarded with sounds and characters all too foreign to me; still, I felt like I was unable to portray my thoughts to my host family back home who were seriously beginning to question whether I was even going to my lessons in the first place. It was a struggle.

Before heading to Kyrgyzstan, I was totally against the idea of living with a host family since I know I am the type of person that needs a bit of personal space. However, my decision changed after arriving at my first lesson to see just how overwhelming this new language was going to be. The truth was I didn’t see myself getting anywhere in the coming months unless I took drastic measures, which at the time involved sucking up my personal preferences and trading them in for a cute little Kyrgyz family.

Even though I was just a handful in years younger than my host parents, I quickly became closer to the 4 year old and 7 year old children because of our language capabilities. Whenever the parents spoke, I just took on that deer in the headlights expression and wanted to run away to my room to scavenge a dictionary or pretend I was asleep. The children… they were perfect. I started watching them, and looking to them for my queue.

Honestly, they were just what I needed. Since they were so basic, I was able to associate the words I was learning in class to when they should be used in real-life. Even though I wasn’t making huge strides those first couple of weeks, I finally realized that looking at the language from a child’s perspective truly helped me gain my footing in Russian. I had to drop what I thought about my own language, and just start anew.

In the process, I somehow managed to strike up a bond with Mira, the 4 year old. At least that’s what I think it was. She would follow me around, crawl across my lap and even lick my arms (she had an unhealthy obsession with licking stuff… the table, the bag of mayonnaise, people). We would play together a bit with her dolls, or watch Ninja Turtles dubbed into Russian. I don’t think we said much ever, but there was never a need to get too detailed. The joys of being 4, right?

And then one day I was given the lovely duty of babysitting. Perfect. My absolute favorite thing to do (not really), especially when the children speak another language. Wasn’t their mother afraid something might happen and I wouldn’t be able to effectively communicate in order to get help?

Luckily, the time passed without a hitch. The only thing I wish I had done beforehand was go through my vocabulary and figure out how to say, “Oops, I’m sorry I barged in on you in the bathroom with your pants down. My bad,” in Russian.

I will never forget the little girl’s face as I opened the unlocked bathroom door. She stood there with the widest eyes, both jaw and pants touching the ground. Not a word was said; I quickly shut the door in a panic and stood there until I could remember how to say I was sorry. It definitely wouldn’t be the last time I wished I could remember how to quickly respond in Russian while living in that house…

…but that’s another story, and it will have to wait until next time.

Be sure to check back on Friday for Part 2, or just subscribe to my feed to be notified automatically via email or feed reader.

January 17th, 2010

Avoidable Mistakes

I have to apologize again for the late post. I was tagged a while ago now by Michael of The Mobile Lawyer blog to make a post on all the avoidable mistakes I’ve made in order to help others out in their travels.

Well, the reason it took me so long is because I just couldn’t think of much! For the most part, I have been really lucky on my travels (*knocks on wood*) and have avoided many travel problems because of my anal retentiveness. Some mistakes I could have possibly avoided, though, are as follows:

1. Women, You Are Married – Even if you are single, or even if you have a boyfriend, you ARE MARRIED. Get a fake ring and flaunt it because telling interested parties that you have a boyfriend still means that you are technically “available”. I know that in some places this may not matter if you are a solo traveling female, but maybe it could help. And, maybe this could have prevented me from being surrounded by countless Kazakh border guards who then proceeded to snag my phone in order to steal my number (and then repeatedly call in hopes of a date). Yep, I told them I had a boyfriend, but when they asked if I were married and I said not yet, it was open market for them. Woops! READ MORE: When a border crossing goes wrong.

2. Triple Check Visa & Entry/Exit Requirements – Don’t just trust the one source you look at, even if is a reputable book or website. Requirements change, so be sure to ask around. Even though I checked a government website for Americans abroad before I went to New Zealand, it failed to mention the need of an outbound flight. When I showed up at the airport, I simply couldn’t get a boarding pass until I bought an outbound flight, which was seriously annoying at the last minute! READ MORE: New Zealand Visa Run Fun Fun

3. Be Sure Before You Buy – It’s a no brainer here. Don’t buy plane tickets, sign up for classes or agree to a homestay for x months until you are sure that is really what you want to do. I have made some hasty decisions on plane tickets in the past and ended up spending extra money to have dates changed because of changing plans.

In Guatemala, I paid for a month of Spanish lessons in advance and then felt bad asking for my money back when I left 1.5 weeks early (I just couldn’t take San Pedro any more – damn hippies everywhere!). So, I left the money because in actuality it was not that much to me, but so much to them.

Finally, I paid for a couple months of homestay with a Kyrgyz family that I later regretted because I really needed my own space. I waited this one out, but it was just a sticky situation. Weird random stuff happened all the time like my little host sister licking my arms and the mother walking in on me in the toilet. I also felt a little intimidated by my Judo fighting / military host dad who decided that showing me a video of him and his “Russian Delta Force” troop breaking bottles over their heads was a great idea for the first time we met. READ MORE: Meet the family.

Hopefully this post will help someone to think twice before making certain travel decisions! Happy travels.

January 15th, 2009

What has been the best year of your life?

In one of my conversation clubs in school here in Ukraine, I asked my students what the best year of their life has been. Questions like these, followed with a simple, “Why?”, are a great way to get them all to talk (my main goal for my classes), while also killing a ton of class time. However, a lot of the time they like to turn it around and ask me the same thing, so after thinking for just a few seconds, I confidently answered:

“It has definitely been 2008.”

“Why?” they asked (They also probably thought this was a good way to kill class time!).

I felt kind of odd answering their question. Imagine trying to explain to people in Ukraine, most of whom have never even left their own country, that travel has been the most amazing thing you have ever done. Instead of rambling on about my travel lust, I tried to keep it short and sweet and save all the details for my lovely readers (that’s you!). So, here are some of the wonderful reasons why 2008 was so great!

1. I got to travel… A lot!

In 2008, I saw many different countries: Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Poland, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Hungary.

In the grand scheme of things, that probably doesn’t seem like much. It was a whole year, afterall! But, I like to think my approach to travel is still just as interesting as those people who are taking on the whole world in a single year. Don’t get me wrong – I love to be on the move (I miss it right now actually!), but hitting up a major site for just one long weekend doesn’t quite give you the perspective I’m looking for. What happens when people go back to work and all the tourists go back home? How does life look then?

2. I did some interesting things!

3. I met some amazing people!

The people you meet on the road really make it something special – they set the tone, and even shape the memories of a place forever. Travel with someone for a few weeks, or few days even, and you feel like you’ve known them forever. I would say I’ve been lucky to have encountered such interesting and wonderful friends from my travels – all the way from my Bishkek Crew and my Baltic Gang to my now Ukraine Posse. Yup, lucky. Last year will forever be shaped by the people I’ve laughed with, cried with, smiled at, hid from, been annoyed with, been surpised by, dreamed with, dreamed about, hated, and loved.

4. I learned a lot about myself!

As cheesy as it sounds, I did learn a lot about myself during my year of travels. Well, maybe learned isn’t quite the word I’m looking for. Perhaps notions about myself, and the way I am and deal with life, became fact in my mind. No, there were no life-changing, earth-shaking discoveries, but I would say I have a better understanding of where I stand.

Cheers to the good and the bad! Nothing is perfect. In spite of all its amazingness, 2008 still had its breaking points. Oh, I’ve been all over the place. I’ve been up, down, left, right – happy, sad, you name it. Maybe I’ve been good at times at hiding such things from my blogging life, but maybe other times I haven’t. Heck, I sometimes even forget that people are actually reading this! But, what else can I say? I wouldn’t change any of those experiences or decisions in 2008 because without them, where would I be now?

What about you? What has been the best year of your life? I’d love to hear back from my readers! ;)

August 20th, 2008

Central Asian TidBits Buffet

In an attempt to be caught-up and on-the-ball upon my return abroad in September, I’ve decided to combine all these little ideas for individual blog posts into one smorgasbord of interesting bits. So, here you have it! What I’ve learned, loved, lacked and l-acquired (?) while in Central Asia.

bishkek at night

Snot Rockets in Paradise:

If said more than a few times in the past, but I am super, super, super germaphobic. I hate the idea of eating off other people, with a passion, once that may have even brought me to tears. Something about the thought of someone else’s slimy saliva sitting on my food, or the idea of getting sick from their germs… ugh… well it makes me cringe. I came a long way during my time in K-Stan, and sometimes I am able to block this fear out of my head completely and just dig in. (I only said sometimes…)

Well if this wasn’t bad enough, there are definitely other parts of the culture I find a bit on the disgusting end of the spectrum. Watch out when you’re walking behind some local guys. Let’s just say they have a tendency to spit or blow snot rockets off to the side, and if you’re in the right place, you just might get caught in the crossfire.

Plastic Bag Much?

In Bishkek, a city where the majority of people commute by public transport, or just plain walking, locals need a way to carry items to work, school, etc. The funny part about this is they choose to do so in a plastic bag. Everyone has a plastic bag. They are so popular you can even buy them at little kiosks with their own local brand names. Erica hit the jackpot when she bought a plastic bag displaying a picture of an eagle with the line, “Protect Feral Animal” on it. You have to love those great English translations.

Meet the Family:

The Kyrgyz are definitely quick to take you as a part of their own family, and one such experience stands out in my mind. Ryan and I were finishing dinner in the apartment when I heard someone shouting outside, “Do you speak English?!”

I popped my head out the balcony and looked up to see my upstairs neighbor hanging his head out of the window. After a short exchange, he invited us up to his apartment, where we were fed lagman (yum!), introduced to his entire family, and then made part of said family. How nice!

Going Local:

There’s a term the students at the London School liked to use when a foreigner comes in and then starts worrying about a price difference of 5 soms, or starts to enjoy local beverages. When this happens, they’ve “gone local”.

kumiz

Remember that poll I had about drinking fermented mare’s milk? Let me refresh your memory:

(I have since omitted polls since redoing my site, but let’s just say that the majority of people did not want to drink fermented mare’s milk.)

The drink is actually called Kumiz and is as disgusting as it sounds. But, when you are at a table of foreigners with a pitcher of this stuff in the middle, and a table of local Kyrgyz look at it and say, “I want what they’re having,” you know you’ve done it. You’ve gone local.

When it’s hot, it’s hot!

I had heard stories of the heat in Bishkek, but didn’t believe it would actually be that bad until one day it reached 110 degrees while I was living on the 8th floor of an apartment building without air conditioning. I wanted to die.

Maybe High Heels DO Look Good With… Everything?

Another student told me a fairly bad joke that goes a little something like this:

Q – How can you spot the Russian woman at the beach?
A – She’s the one in the high heels.

I don’t know how those girls over there do it, but they are always sporting a pair – rain or shine! And just like worrying over 5 soms, in time I began to think, “Hey, maybe those heels would go good with my bathing suit.” No, I don’t have a pair yet, but give it time people.

Bishkek – Nightlife Hotspot?

No, not really. But, there are a few places to go after nightfall for some action, take for instance, the Golden Bull where we found this Kyrgyz stripper/flame dancer.

stripper

Where Everyone Knows Your Name:

I flew out of Almaty, Kazakhstan to come home, and that involved yet another Kyrgyz-Kazakh border crossing experience. I had all of my stuff with me (I have acquired a LOT while in Bishkek), so the taxi driver let me keep my bag in the back of the taxi and explain to the border guys what was actually in it so I didn’t have to carry it. As I was standing there talking to one, I heard another from behind say my name.

Crap. I turned around to see a familiar face – one of the ten border guards that I dealt with back in June. He started asking me why I hadn’t called Rinat back, and when I would come back, etc. I got out of that one by saying I needed to go have my passport stamped, but as I was walking out I was shouted at to see my backpack.

Lies. All lies. He didn’t want to see my bag. He wanted to verify with my passport that I was in fact that American girl that Rinat was desperately phoning the previous month or so before. Wow.

Room for seconds? Keep checking back…

May 1st, 2008

Meet the family.

I bet you have been wondering what life with my Kyrgyz family is like, right? I have purposely put off talking a lot about this because for the first week and a half, my host dad was away for work. Well, he finally arrived back home this past weekend and home life has changed drastically – not necessarily for the worse – and I am finally seeing how a Kyrgyz family normally functions.

mira and aizada

Meet Mars: Mars is my host dad. He is in the Russian Delta Force as he put it, meaning he is in a special security team here in Kyrgyzstan. He practices Russian Judo (was a former Kyrgyzstan fighting champion), and even showed me the video documentary of his team breaking bottles over their heads and demolishing burning boards. Every night, except for the first night when he spent hours singing Karaoke, we have watched some sort of video involving the military. He is very passionate about his work, which is always refreshing to see, and is very much in line with anti-terror governments. He might sound a bit on the scary side, but I assure you he is a very easy-going man.

Meet Aizada: Aizada is my host mom. She is a German teacher, which makes me wish I had retained a little bit more from my semester years ago. It is funny because when she cannot think of what to say in Russian, she will say it in German hoping it will ring a bell. She tries really hard to communicate with me. I am still slowly coming along with this Russian learning business. I might have to stay a bit longer than I was planning (but that’s not so bad, right!).

I guess German is actually a common language here in Kyrgyzstan. When I am out and about, I often get asked if I speak German. I asked Aizada about this and she said that after the war, all in Central Asia had to learn to read German in case there was another. Just a little tidbit!

Meet Rasul: Rasul is my 7 year old host brother. He doesn’t talk much and, like any other young boy, spends most of his time playing video games on the computer. He also never wants to eat unless its meat.

Meet Mira: Mira is my 4 year old host sister. She is the one I get along with the best! We use words like “play” and “doll”. When we can’t think of anything else to say, we just watch cartoons.

Since Mars arrived home, our dinners have grown in size and also in their communality. For example, we might have a big plate of Russian salad in the middle of the table, but there is no serving spoon, and no plates, so we eat off our fork and then stick it back in for more. Also, Mars has no problem eating off the serving spoon for the main dish. What do we do if someone gets sick?!

Well that’s about it. We live in a small apartment in a nice little microdistrict of Bishkek. When I step outside in the morning, the mountains are in full view. More updates later.

PS – I just learned that we are not going to have hot water for a month starting mid-May!

April 27th, 2008

Food, Vodka, and More Vodka

One of the perks of being involved with a language school is meeting all the interesting people that come and go. We have a nice little community of people to hang out with, which also opens the door for meeting other Kyrgyz families. This week, Ryan and I were invited over to Jamie’s host family’s “mansion” for a typical dinner involving food, vodka, food, and much more vodka.

The Kyrgyz people have a way of dealing with alcohol that I am not too familiar with from growing up in the States. They think of any excuse for toasting another shot of vodka, and if your glass is empty, it will be filled before you know it. On top of the shots, they mix it up with juices, sodas, and beer! Did they not learn that mixing leaves you sick?

Just when you think you can’t possibly eat another bite, they bring out another plate of Manti. And, when you try to refuse the huge pile of food, they put it on your plate anyways. At least I enjoy eating until I’m too full to move, or else the evening could have turned for the worst. Overall, it was a great time, and here are the pictures to prove it.

Dinner lasted a very long time. Ryan and I took a taxi back to our neighborhood (we live about 5 minutes away in the same microdistrict). After parting in the late, dark, and stormy evening, I realized I was locked out of the apartment building and had left my cell phone inside. I had a slight panic attack at first, but then proceeded to pound on the door until my host mom realized it was me and let me in, laughing the whole time because I drank too much vodka. What a night!

PS – Everyone thought I was about 17. How can I be turning 25 in a month and still be confused for 17?!