See you in two months.

Sunday Morning. Last night I returned from to Issyk (my village now) after a week in Almaty (large city close by) for my counterpart conference*, followed by a night to unwind with friends in the city. As the weekend concludes I am sitting in my room with a realization that I am quite content with my life here. A life that is about to drastically change once again.

Although all along I have been aware of the temporary nature of my life here in PST it has not prevented me from having a real sense of sadness to be leaving my home of the past 9 weeks. This past week probably only exaggerated that feeling. During counterpart conference we received the Peace Corps version of pampering. We spent all day with 35 of our friends, had 3 full meals a day provided for us and had no lesson plans or other extracurricular work to worry about, meaning our evenings were free. The combination allowed a great opportunity to solidify the friendships that will now be torn away from us this weekend as we all venture out into our perspective steppe.

We joke a lot about the “vastness of the steppe” but I don’t think I fully grasp yet the isolation I am about to encounter. Back at home I went to school 5½ hours away from my family and that inconvenience was considered a much larger distance to travel than normal. In Kazakhstan, one should actually feel very fortunate if they are given a group of friends within that radius. Here in Issyk I am a 24 hour train ride away from my future home of Zerenda. I have good friends that will be traveling as little as 2 and as much as 40 hours. It is hard for me to think of distance in terms of days. I will be in the same country, but literally days (yes, plural) away from certain friends. Essentially this means the relationships I formed and appreciated for the past 9 weeks, and that blossomed even further this past week, are about to be ripped away. Consequently, they will be maintained just as I maintain relationships with people back at home. Though in some instances I spent 10 hours a day with these people for 9 emotionally demanding weeks our contact will now be reduced to a monthly email and periodic text.

Now, it is true that our purpose here is not to form relationships with the Americans we trained with but instead to integrate into our villages and assimilate into the local culture and social construct. However, a November arrival into a village along the 58th parallel presents major obstacles to integration. As soon as I get there I will begin teaching around 9 in the morning and likely will finish my day around 5 to 6. This means that until somewhere around the beginning of March I will spend my days void of sunlight for six days a week. I expect it to be difficult to integrate when people cannot see me. Plus, even if there was light outside the frigid temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit that Zerenda will average as its high means most sane inhabitants will sit in a cocoon for several months, including myself. (They already have 10 inches of snow). By the time March rolls around I will be encouraged by seeing new things and fresh faces that I had no idea existed at my site. During the first few months when sunshine is infrequent and the town is in hibernation I will really long for the people I just spent 4 great days with in Almaty.

Fortunately, I consider myself the quintessential optimist. I can’t help but take pleasure in that fact that it took me just nine weeks in Kazakhstan to have something I feel blessed about and know that I will miss. I am sad to be leaving all these people in a few days but am encouraged to be in Kazakhstan and be thankful for something. The awareness of ability to find a positive outlook allows a sense of relief. Despite the steppe presenting some real gloom, I know I can be only two months away from finding encouragement and sitting down to reflect/report on that. I can’t wait.

*Counterpart Conference was a four day conference where every volunteer was introduced to the person they will use as their liaison to life at their respective sites. Every counterpart was trained into Almaty from all across the country and the four days was filled with relationship building activities as well as an introduction into Peace Corps philosophy. My counterpart is just a second year teacher and very shy but she gave me glimpses of friendliness that lead me to believe we will get along great. I think the entire experience was a little bit overwhelming and perhaps intimidating for her. On Sunday, I received a text of hope. She sent an unsolicited text that explained she was back in Zerenda and excited for my arrival. Baby. Steps.


Below is picture taken in an American run coffee shop after our night to unwind. The scrabble game and beverages were fabulous. The simple things usually are.