First Day and Last Day

September 1 is the first day of school in Kazakhstan. My host sister, whom now in the 10th form, complained bitterly about this day because the end of school means the end of sleeping in, tv until 2am, and hanging out with friends all day. Although students go to school, the first day is more of a holiday. Every school has a sort of presentation/talent show, and everyone in the family and close friends (if they are not in school themselves) are invited to attend. Because I am not a teacher and I didn’t want to embarrass my host sister, I didn’t go to the ceremony. However, according to my host sister, it’s pretty boring.

She has 5 classes on September 2: Kazakh language, Biology, and 3 types of history (World, Kazakh, and some other type we couldn’t figure out). “A total nightmare,” she said. Then she told me about a guy named Arman and how nice he is, and how she hopes he would call her.

Why does my left eye twitch when I think of high school and dating?

September 1 was also a big day for me because it was my last official day at work. I’ve been approved for a “site change”. This is Peace Corps speak for “moving to a different location”. This means that I will no longer be working and living in Karabulak.

This whole situation makes me feel bad because I like Karabulak a lot. The people in Karabulak are great and the town is in a perfect location (30km from Taldykorgan) which gives it a combination of rural and urban life. I enjoyed dipping my feet in both worlds. I’ve had days where I lit a петчка, planted potatoes and drew water from a well in the morning, and then in the afternoon I went to the mall in Taldykorgan. The weather isn’t too cold or hot and Karabulak is small enough that it’s easy to get to know people, but large enough that not everyone knows your name or your business. Although I probably sound like a college recruiter, my point is that I like Karabulak and I don’t regret a day that I was there.

The only reason why I’m left was because there was not enough work for an OCAP volunteer in Karabulak. Or any work at all. The CLC has been assimilated all but in name into the local government. They type their documents and make their photocopies. The director, (although I love her to death; she is an inspirational person) is never there because she is working on other things that I cannot assist with such as tax reports or trying to get the proper documents for a new building. These things are beyond my scope or abilities, and while I tried to do other projects involving my organization, there was simply nobody around to work with. So while Karabulak was amazing for sharing culture and promoting understanding about America to Kazakhstan and vice versa, it was not the right place for me. I didn’t leave my family, friends and my life in America to do copies and sit alone in a room for hours on end playing Harvest Moon on my computer. I don’t expect for my service to drastically change an NGO, save Kazakhstan, change the world or do anything huge. However, I expect to do something.

As a result, I have been sent to Ecik. Again. It’s kind of funny, because after one year I’m right back where I started. Because it was the training town for my group, Ecik was the very last place that I expected that I’d live again on Earth. However, there will be plenty of work. If I become bored here, it will be my fault because there is a lot to do and get involved with.

I’ll be working for an NGO called the Local Community Fund. They receive money from big donors and then re-give this money to local starting NGO’s and community organizations. For them I will be translating documents, assisting with writing grants in both Russian and English, and helping to create grants guidelines, RFP’s, and other grant related stuff.
There are also a lot of other things to get involved in Ecik such as a Youth Bank (which so far sounds eerily like the State Farm Youth Advisory Board), English clubs and helping out at a local University. This doesn’t count the volunteers that are close by whom I hope to work together with (or at least see on a weekend or two).

At the very least, I will be collaborating with interested people to *attempt* to assist a particular community. And that’s way better reason for living in Kazakhstan than playing Harvest Moon.