I, Matt Bruton, do solemnly swear...

Saturday,  June 12th, 2011

Whew! What a week! This has been one of the busiest yet. Since swearing in I have been in my village a total of 2 days. There have been constant seminars and meetings ever since the first of June, in every place except for my village. Since day one, everyone has been telling us that life in the KG is slow. Things just aren't developed enough to have expectations of anything other than marshrutkas* to move quickly. But if this past week is any indicator, I just don't see it...

Marshrutka  n.  See also: a 15 person vehicle that fits 30, one of the most uncomfortable and yet intimate experiences in country.

First off, swear in was amazing, because it is the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, the Country Director and staff went out of their way to make the event extra special. We rented out a large auditorium in downtown Bishkek, invited heads of state (many of which showed), host families, and future counterparts.  The American and Japanese Ambassadors both made speeches, and volunteers made several dance and song performances made the event a great success. You can watch videos of the performances and the Ambassador giving our oaths online, www.ustream.tv/channel/k-19.

After the ceremony and picnic that followed we once again loaded up, this time for good, and said our sorrowful goodbyes.  Because this is Kyrgyzstan (TIK) we crammed 8 people, including 3 volunteers' belongings for the next 2 years, into a Chinese version of a Dodge Plymouth and drove 7 hours to the eastern shore of the lake. Like I said, the most intimate moments generally occur whilst hurtling through space at pee-yourself-speeds.

Two days after I arrived in Tasma, and much convincing later, I found myself in Karakol, the capital of Issyk-Kul, wandering semi-aimlessly until fellow K-19s Meghan and John showed up several hours later. We had agreed to come check out the city the first weekend together.  Karakol is a beautiful place with the lake on one side and the Ala-Too range on the other, which would and does make a great base camp for tourists looking for some outdoor activity.  One of the largest glaciers in the world is accessible via Karakol, as well as hundreds of backpacking and mountaineering trips- which I plan on taking as many as possible.

 Bishkek was a week of seminar after seminar. Yawn. The first of which was put on by the US Dept. of Commerce, which means they had some serious money! The cool thing about this was that Mike, a fellow PCV and myself were the only English speakers, meaning everyone was given a mic and an ear piece for translation into Kyrgyz, English, and Russian (picture the U.N. - Crazy!)  following the seminar the speakers took us out for the best lunch drinks we have had in country thus far, though its not difficult to beat 15 som plastic cups of vodka. 

I finally got back to Tasma today, whew! Which takes a lot more work that one would think. As I mentioned in a previous post, taxis only leave my village at about 8 am and return again at about 2. Needless to say I missed my half an hour window; not to mention I have no idea where the taxis going to Tasma leave Karakol from, I'll put it on the 'things to figure out' list right next to finding healthy food. A marshrutka (which presumably still has my cell phone) dropped me off about 14 kilometers away from my village, uh-oh.  So I did what any risk-averse and safety oriented volunteer would do in a foreign country, I hitchhiked. This is actually quite a common way for people to travel in country. Virtually every car on the road is a taxi, you can't drive 5 kilometers without seeing someone hitching with either their groceries, children, family cow, a new yurt, etc.

But on a more serious note, I miss everyone and I really appreciate all the emails and quick notes I've been getting, things get lonely out here, I mean really lonely, so thanks for all the hellos! And I PROMISE I will write you back even if it takes me a little while, if there is anything you'd like to know or want to hear about I'd be happy to send a more personalized email or write a post about something in particular. i.e., ridiculous medical practices, and ahhh.... interesting food items. But have a good night and I hope you are all well, I miss and love you all!