More pictures!

Since I caught up with uploading 6 months worth of pictures a few posts ago I figured it would be easier to keep up with new pictures as I go. Here is an album that shows summer in Kazakhstan. It is a work in progress. Keep checking back for additions. Later this summer I will be traveling around to help out with summer camps so I hope my album will show a variety of locations, not just Shymkent and Almaty. I know I've been posting alot of pictures lately and have neglected writing. I hope to change that. Look out for a new entry soon!

Here Comes the Sun

Homemade

Proof

So if you saw the last post in my blog you read about what I've been up to for the first six months in Shymkent, now here are the pictures to prove it!

First 6 months in Shymkent

Six Months At Site

I could write so much to catch up on the past two months but I don’t know where to start. One recent event was IST (in-service training) with Peace Corps in Almaty. On the first day we did an activity where we had to write down the new things we have done, experienced, learned or seen since getting to site in November. It was a great exercise to show how far we’ve come in that time.

Yesterday marked six months of being at site. So in celebration I added a few things for April to complete the list. In six months I…

November

• Met my awesome sitemates
• Moved in with a great host family
• Was interviewed for the local news
• Started journaling
• Observed HIV/AIDS trainings held by my organization
• Had a delicious Thanksgiving with my fellow S.K.O (South Kazakhstan Oblast) volunteers
• Bedazzled my cell phone

December

• Tried cooksi (Korean noodle soup) for the first time
• Started a women’s club with another volunteer
• Hiked around the Burgulook mountains
• Gave and received presents in a white elephant gift exchange
• Celebrated Christmas with the S.K.O. KZ-21s
• Set new year’s goals with friends over pizza

January

• Embarked on an adventure to the Aral Sea
• Joined a gym for a 1000 tenge a month
• Made my own Kazakhstan greeting cards
• Got a site visit from my Regional Manager, Alma, and had a meeting with her and my director
• Introduced my English club to Glee

February

• Was visited by Marissa and Kostya
• Spent a few weeks with Erin (adopting in Shymkent) and her friend Elizabeth (RPCV Bangladesh)
• Started weekly trainings with the student volunteers of Intellect
• Went to a rock party (aka concert) and saw a band cover the Ting Tings
• Had a small role in a play for English week at school
• Got awesome packages and letters
• Made brownies from scratch
• Celebrated my birthday with sitemates and local friends
• Visited a Shymkent orphanage with my organization

March

• Made a summer mix cd for a volunteer freezing in the north
• Helped host 50+ volunteers/guests in Shymkent for Naruz, the Kazakh New Years
• Visited Turkestan
• Conducted a peer-training for my student volunteers with the help of other youth development (Y.D.) volunteers
• Went to an orphanage with volunteers from P.C. and my organization to hold trainings and mini-Olympics.
• Moved up a language level in Russian since the end of P.S.T. (October)
• Presented on Volunteerism Development at I.S.T.
• Ate Indian food for the first time since August

April

• Got to Skype with a few people for the first time since getting here
• Rode a horse at the Hippodrome
• Spent a beautiful day in the Akmechet mountains
• Attended PDM (Project Design Management, a P.C. training) with my director
• Met Erin’s baby, Hannah
• Booked tickets for a summer vacation with my brother
• Started Kazakh lessons

Man and Cat Nap

Week in Pictures

A week in Kazakhstan, but not this week.

More from January

I know it's well into February but as I mentioned in my last post I'm still playing catch up.

An Accident

Unfortunately one of our KZ-20 volunteers, Jaime, got into a serious car accident on her way back home from Shymkent, where she was visiting my sitemate for the weekend. The roads here can be very dangerous when iced over during winter. When we first heard about the accident from Peace Corps she was unconcscious but in stable condition. Peace Corps took good care of her to make sure she got the medical attention needed. She was moved from Kazakhstan to a U.S. base in Bishkek, Kyrgystan, then Germany where her parents met her and finally back to the States. We have been following her journey to recovery thanks to blog updates from her sister-in-law that our country director has been emailing us (because blogs are blocked on and off). Now she is at a rehabilitation center and shows signs of improvement each day. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We hope for her full recovery.

Blogger Blocked

Since mid-January there have been problems with accessing Blogger. Volunteers here discovered that we could not get on our blogs to write new posts update or read anyone else's blogspot. Many of us rely on our blogs to keep family and friends updated so it was a big dissapointment. I still don't understand why but the local internet provider, KazTeleCom, has blocked 13 other websites aside from blogger. If you take a look at the list, you've got to wonder why some of the sites were blocked. These days I can access my blog sometimes and from some computers. I will keep posting as I get access so keep reading! I've got some great ideas for future blog posts such as picture only posts and an entry of frequently asked questions. If you have any questions about Kazakhstan or my service leave them in a comment so I can answer them in my FAQ blog!

Packages From Home

I got four amazing packages since my last blog. In fact, three came in on one snowy day and it felt like Christmas. Thank you sooooo much!

From my parents



From Juhi

From Faith

From David