Danny took part in the strong women conference

Post by Jazgul Kazenova -From December 13 to 17,  Volunteer Peace Corps Katerina Delgado, in partnership with the alliance of reproductive health, conducted the 7TH OF THE 7-e training for coaches (TDT) "strong women". The main goal of TDT is to provide women with the knowledge needed to ensure a more informed, strong and healthy lifestyle for themselves and their communities. The participants included 18 local women and 18 peace corps volunteers. Trainers from the reproductive health alliance trained participants on reproductive health, stress management, "smart" goals and preparations for pregnancy. TDT was not all work, participates also took part in 2 hours of daily yoga, cardio and dancing. At the end of the training, all women participated in the 5-hour race! After training, local women will be reunited in TDT,  working together with volunteers for a 6-week female club. They were encouraged to use the knowledge they received within the framework of TDT to empower women in their communities. 

 

PC: Jazgul Kazenova

12.17.17

3 days in Cholton Ata, a 6 hour drive from Bishkek (capital) - aside from learning how to run a club on women's empowerment, a bit of time to enjoy the view...

Issyk Kul

Although Google map shows travel between Cholton Ata to Bishkek is about 4 hours away, the drive is actually closer to 6 hours due to the road conditions.



Back in Bishkek, Danny welcomes a change in the food scene. Satisfying his food crave of anything other than boiled mutton, dinner at a Chinese restaurant and feasting on mapo tofu does the job! Due to China's proximity to Kyrgyzstan (neighbors to the east side), there are many mandarin speaking Chinese in Bishkek.

Since Danny's is on the 'Peer support network committee', he will remain in Bishkek until 12/20/17. His remaining time in Bishkek will be for additional training as a peer support.

And now we worry less as Danny seems to be acclimated to the four seasons in Kyrgyzstan. According to his weather report, "it's been warm, around 0 (celsius) degrees". And we in the Bay are saying "Brrrrrrrr!"

12/13/17 Flight cancelled

After spending the night in Kerben and a 3 hour plus bus ride, Danny and fellow PCVs were ready for the short hour long flight to Bishkek only to have the only flight of the day from Jalal-abad to Bishkek cancelled.

So, onward to the next largest town, OSH. Another bus ride and another 2 plus hours. The travelers are spending the night in a hostel and for the first time in almost 2 months, Danny is eating something other than boiled mutton! Pizza! Is is good? It's ok... nice change from boiled mutton. OSH is the second largest city after Bishkek (the capital) and things are less expensive than Bishkek.

12/14/17 - Success ....9am flight from OSH to Bishkek....

 

Conference in resort town of Cholpon Ata in Beautiful Issyk Kul

On Wednesday, Danny leaves the village for a week to participate in a 'Strong women' conference in Cholpon Ata, Issyk Kul. First. he will spend the night in the nearby town, Kerben, then take a 3 hours bus at 7am to Jalalabab. The flight time to Bishkek, one hour, will be the shortest portion of his transit. Finally a 6 hour long drive to Cholpon Ata, Issyk Kul.  Perhaps he'll have better internet service for a few day.

Cholpon-Ata, literally means "Venus-father", the name of a mythological protecting spirit is a resort town on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan with a population of 10,525 (2009 census). Cholpon-Ata is known for its view of the imposing alpine ranges of the Tian Shan  and an Open Air Museum with about 2000 petroglyphs dating from 800 BC to 1200AD.

PC: https://kyrgyzstan.orexca.com/img/kyrgyzstan/map.jpg

Issyk Kul  is a lake in Kyrgyzstan. The name refers both to the lake and the oblast (region) containing the lake. The region is centered around the massive Issyk Kul lake, which is the second largest alpine lake in the world. It is completely ringed by the massive snow-capped Tian Shan mountains that lie between 3000 and 4000 meters.

Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" in the Kyrgyz language and although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes. Issyk-Kul Lake was a stopover on the Silk Road, a land route for travelers from the Far East to Europe. 

PC: Copyright © 2017 WallpapersHome 

12.10.17 Another week, another package arrived

Yay, renewed faith in the USPS. Package #2 left SFO on 10/10/17 and made scanned into Kyrgyzstan PO on 12/6. The package was sent to Bishkek (Danny's prior location) two months ago. Danny may be able to retrieve both packages this week as he is flying into Bishkek for a conference in Issyk Kul and it would be interesting to find out what is left in the package. Apparently, another family mistakenly sent an iPhone to their son, only to have the iPhone missing from package.

Meantime, life in the village is starting to look like winter wonderland....

"I teach in a frozen barn"

Very Kyrgyz cuisine

Growing up in CA is definitely has it's advantages. We are spoiled with abundance of fresh vegetables and fruits all year round as well as being able to enjoy cuisines from all over the world.

In the village, it's all real Kyrgyz food and just Kyrgyz food. No options of eating anything else. Since Danny is in a very small village, there are no restaurants so he does not have the option of 'eating out'.  The closest town is about an hour away and the few restaurants only serves Kyrgyz cuisines.

In comparison to what we are use to eating, Kyrgyz food is bland as they like to boil their meat and the only seasoning is salt. Kyrgyz are Muslims so they don't eat pork which is restricted by their religion. Their main meat product is lamb/goat and there is no vegetable in the wintertime.

"To make boiled mutton i: 1) the head, skin and innards of the killed sheep are removed; 2) the sheep is chopped into pieces along the body; 3) it is boiled in clean water; 4) blood and grease in the soup are discarded when the water boils; 5) salt is added and the cooked mutton is served. 

The boiled mutton is held in wood dishes and put on a table. People eat the mutton with their hand only or knife.  According to Kyrgyz tradition, the sheep tail is given to honored guests and the eldest man to show respect. When eating mutton, people are expected to take the piece in front of them and and not pick around for a particular piece."

http://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Kyrgyzstan/sub8_5b/entry-4765.html#chapter-2

PC: Nat Geo

Priority Mail finally arrived after 3 months!

After months with no signs of the packages sent to Danny on August 31st and October 10th, the first package showed up in Bishkek on Nov 28th. Unfortunately, Danny is no longer in Bishkek so it will probably be awhile before he has the chance to retrieve the package as his new home is about an 8 hour drive away.

Sending a package to Danny's new location may be a bit more challenging.  The mailman does not deliver to the village. In order to receive/send mail, Danny must go to the closest town (which is an hour away) to meet with the Post Office personnel first to 'set up an account'.  He can then provide us with an address which probably will be in Cyrillic.

We will probably need to address the mail in both English and Cyrillic.

Letters of the Cyrillic alphabet (see also Cyrillic digraphs)
А A	Б Be	В Ve	Г Ge	Ґ Ge upturn	Д De	Ђ Dje	Ѓ Gje	Е Ye	Ё Yo	Є Yest	Ж Zhe
З Ze	З́ Zje	Ѕ Dze	И I	І Dotted I	Ї Yi	Й Short I	Ј Je	К Ka	Л El	Љ Lje	М Em
Н En	Њ Nje	О O	П Pe	Р Er	С Es	С́ Sje	Т Te	Ћ Tshe	Ќ Kje	У U	Ў Short U
Ф Ef	Х Kha	Ц Tse	Ч Che	Џ Dzhe	Ш Sha	Щ Shcha	Ъ Hard sign (Yer)	Ы Yery	Ь Soft sign (Yeri)	Э E	Ю Yu
Я Ya