November 13
Well, I just got back from my visit to Talas and my new village Bakai-Ata and though it is by no means a bad place I didn't fall in love with it.A lot of it had to do with communication issues with the folks at the school and that led to a lot of frustrations. I am beginning to realize the importance in being able to stand on my own two feet and taking the initiative to get what I want. Obviously, the language barrier is a huge hinderance and things will get easier as I progress with Kyrgyz, but some things are just part of the culture; for instance never being on time, not thinking it neccessary to let me know when plans concerning me change and just really not having any personal boundaries.
But there were some really good things. I really like the family that I will be living with. It's a smaller family, the parents and a fourteen year old son. They have four older daughters that have moved out. The mom, Adil, is a vice principal at my school and I think that she is in charge of discipline. At home she's a lot of fun and has a very loud and outgoing personality, but at school she is a drill sergant. The dad is a bit more mellow, a nice contrast to his wife. I havent been able to figure out too much about him, but he is very kind and attentive which is a nice change from the host dad that I have now. The son is the pride and joy of his parents because he is a sportsman. Really nice kid, showed me the ropes around the village and we spent a lot of time hanging out listening to rap music and watching boxing...neither of which I am interested in, but if he's willing to show an interest in me, the least I can do is return the favor!
The 'village' has 7,000 people and all of the basic things that I need. I have no doubt that this will eventually be a great place and somewhere that I could eventually call home. Attitude really dictates everything here and right now PC feels like another job because everything is being done out of obligation . My hope is that as I get to know the community better and invest more of myself, then I will have a passion for the village and the people in it. Being an English teacher is just what got me to the village and allows me to stay there, but it is important that I find tasks/services to pursue out of want and not because I'm told to. PC is good in that it encourages and really requires you to find secondary projects and there very little guidelines as to what those need to be.


all the best, machalla
ive been trying to upload photos, can anyone tell me if you can view them