-‘Supernova’ at COS conference
Almaty is the setting for the second part of my goodbyes because it is where the Peace Corps office is located. Before leaving every volunteer must pass through the office to COS* (Close of Service), which includes a final medical checkup, interviews with the Country Director and Regional Managers, and signing some documents. Only after this are volunteers free to leave. The advantage that I have is that Ecik is an hour away from Almaty so it is easy to visit and say goodbye to the majority of the Kaz-20 volunteers as they leave Kazakhstan this week.
Kazakhstan is the largest Peace Corps country, which means that volunteers don’t see each other very often unless they live in the same area. With effort, volunteers can visit others to work on short term projects and for fun, but it can take a lot of time. My closest friends in Peace Corps lived about 6 hours (Taldykorgan), 14 hours (Shymkent) and 48 hours away (Kostanai). As a result, volunteers communicate mainly through text messages and occasional phone calls. There are some volunteers in my own group whom I’ve seen only 4 times after our training period because they are so far away.
Throwback to the old school: Hanging with volunteers on Christmas in Taldykorgan, 2008
So what does this mean? When I was pissed off, or down in the dumps or needed someone to talk to or even a hug, it wasn’t like I could just go to see someone who understood what was going on. My closest Peace Corps friends weren’t exactly just down the street but in some cases lived literally days away. This is not a complaint, because I wasn’t the most isolated of my fellow volunteers, not even close. There were some volunteers who lived 3-4 hours away from the nearest American; which is perfect definition of the word alone.
And even if a volunteer has local friends that speak English, it’s can still get lonely because they won’t understand the difficulties of living and working in Kazakhstan as a Peace Corps volunteer. Add into the equation that it is very hard for volunteers to talk regularly with friends and family based in the US because of the10-14 hour time difference. And while they may try, they too cannot understand everything. All of this equals to some volunteers getting pretty lonely and feeling isolated over the course of their two years.
Good times at Hessen Pub, PDM conference in Taldykorgan, 2010
Even with the distance and difficulties of regular communication, I became close to a couple of volunteers who I will try to stay in touch with when I get back to the states. It’s weird, because even though I haven’t seen them face to face very often over the past two years they are still close to me.
So, I spent one night in Almaty this week to say goodbye to the Kaz-20’s who are finishing up their COS. We ate Chinese food, rented an apartment, played charades, listened to obscene amounts of Lady Gaga and generally just hung out and talked, reminiscing and telling stories about our last two years. The horrible situations that made us cry ago were suddenly funny to look back on, and the funny things became even funnier.
When I think about some of the crazy things that volunteers in my group went though, I can only shake my head. Some of them went through some heavy stuff and had very bad and ridiculous situations, the type of situations that if they happened to me I would have probably quit. And while a lot of people in the Kaz-20 group left early, most of us stayed on. For those who stayed, I’m glad they did. Without them, the past two years would have not been as interesting, productive, and not as fun, and I probably wouldn’t have finished my service without their support.
*It’s not grammatically correct, but I think it’s cool that many volunteers have adapted the acronym “COS” as a verb. For example, “I’m COSing today”.
1 comments:
Kyle, I doubt you remember me, but I was your Spanish 3 teacher at Central High School your senior year. You were one of those students who stays on in my memory because you were so extraordinary. I am delighted to read or your Peace Corps experience and also to see that you still play the sax. Though I can't entirely relate to your experiences, I did spend one semester in Mexico, which at the time was considered to be a 3rd world country. I was there with only one other student and there weren't too many English speakers in the town where I lived. While difficult at the time, it is so empowering to have lived through. What will you pursue once you return to the states? Best of luck and safe travels.
Mrs. Trimble
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