Evening Times

21:45 21 July 2008

Evening is my favorite time of day in my village. Around five or six each day a lot of the cows that graze in a nearby field come home. It’s really interesting because they know exactly where to go, and turn right in to their respective homes; it is quite a sight to see a few dozen cows walking down the street and peeling off one or two at a time when they should. Evenings, and lower temperatures, also bring the residents out onto the street. Children all over the world laugh and play in the same language. Men and women gather outside on the street, eating and drinking and laughing. The village which, during the day, seems dry, dusty, and abandoned really springs to life.

While I witness this transformation everyday, it was particularly evident today as I was walking to a fellow trainees’ house to get my hair cut. I my house right after dinner, and it is about a 20 minute walk to the other side of the village, ample time for me to observe all sorts of interesting sites. After weaving my way through the mass of cows (I walk towards bulls, not run from them) I ran into a group of pubescent males. Occasionally these interactions can be awkward as this demographic often sizes up the American. Fortunately, this group was friendly and stopped to shake my hand and chat. After asking if I would drink vodka with them (which I of course declined), they said that my Russian was good which made me happy. I then proceeded to mosey on towards my destination, passed a group of children playing (accompanied by the host of accented “hellos” of course) and noticed how children here make do with what they can. Their choice of toy today was a liter soda bottle filled with water, tied to the end of a string and dragged around to great amusement. There was also a really cute Kyrgyz boy that was eating a tangerine and ran up to the edge of the street, I greeted him in Russian and he shyly replied. My language skills have come to the point where I was able to ask exactly which house I was going to, I knew where it was but wasn’t certain of the exact address, and arrived at my destination.

Shawn, the fellow trainee that cut my hair, did a really good job, and it was nice to have a conversation with her and her host sister who is excellent at English. I’m still really impressed by how good my hair looks! It will also be a lot cooler which will be nice. The walk home was similarly interesting, a group of adults sitting outside invited me over for chai and vodka, but being sensible again, I declined. A young boy on a bicycle passed me a few times, each time with a host of “hellos”. Funny kids.

In other news, I think my family has finally realized that I really just don’t like meat that much. I explained that for twelve years I was a vegetarian in the States, and they were incredulous to how big I was despite this. I replied with a joke that had I eaten meat in the States, I would have been about 3 meters tall, and I didn’t want to be that big. They still encourage me to eat all the time, but when they put out some kind of pig fat rolled up and I declined, they didn’t pursue the issue any further. Alright, I was tired when I woke up this morning so I should get to bed early tonight. Добре ноч.