This entry is really poopy (tee hee hee!)

17:15 12 July 2008

Tomorrow is my first day off. The way my training and the school system here works is half lessons on Saturdays and off Sundays. So our four hours was only two and a half. As difficult as I thought it would be to practice and learn a language in a classroom for so long and often, I really like it. Malika, our teacher, is fantastic and I almost wish we spent more time in class. Unlike some language classes I have taken, these fly by, are fun, and are incredibly effective.

SCATOLOGICAL WARNING: This section contains numerous references to poop, diarrhea, bowel movements, and include profanity. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

As I said before, I have been told by current Volunteers that I will shit my pants. While this has not happened (thankfully), I do have what I will kindly refer to as environmentally readjusting bowel movements… This isn’t really a problem since our outhouse is nice, but the fact that I’m going 3-5 times a day is annoying and makes me feel gross. I’ve actually nearly grown accustomed to the ammonia and crap stench of an outhouse. I appreciate the mornings before it has grown hot and caused the contents to really get cooking (yuck.) and I’ve almost come to the point where I don’t mind using Soviet-era books for toilet paper (My host family doesn’t do this, but some do - the toilet paper here is basically party streamers except thicker, it’s incredibly rough. No such thing as Charmin Ultra here…). Luckily I haven’t had to use the outhouse at night. Most families let their dogs loose at night (dogs here are for protection, not pets, and the way they are tied up during the day is sad to me) and it makes it difficult to use the outhouse. Luckily I’ve started an oral re-hydration regimen that should make me regular again soon.
A lot of Volunteers have told me that whenever they talk to people at home, they say that they don’t talk about anything other than their BMs. I understand why, most Americans are used to relatively nice bathrooms (even the best outhouses here resemble the worst gas-stations in cleanliness and smell) and water and food to which they are accustomed. Once you have lived (and I stress lived over visited, even having lived here only a week, these are somewhat permanent conditions) in a country where you are a complete alien, you get excited about universal things. One of these things is taking a dump. Everyone in the world does it (except for women)

END OF SCATOLOGY SECTION

Things that have happened recently:

-Three of my classmates and I were walking around Dmitriyevka to get a feel of the layout of the community and a very drunk man (I had seen him before in a similar state) approached us. The natural and correct thing to do would have been ignore him and keep on walking. One of our compatriots, however, decided it would be more interesting to sit and chat with this belligerent man. Her rationale? She didn’t understand his drunken Russian

-Sitting outside of our compound on the bench, a stray lamb wanders up bleating. Solution? Have me shoo it away with a broom.

-Sitting outside of our compound on the bench, the drunken man wanders up babbling. Solution? Mama Lubov shoos him away with a broom

-Mama Luba exhibited her sense of humor. Three of the students from my group were over and she insisted we sit for tea and some food (correction- lots of food). As not to worry the other Mamas, Mama Lubov called them up and let them know we were there. She decided to have a bit of fun by telling them that we were all in Bishkek (an hour away) and hear their reactions. Some humor can cross the language barrier evidently.

-My family slaughtered a pig in order to have a special meal for me. Mama was talking about this a few days ago, and at first I didn’t understand, she kept saying words I didn’t know, and the motion she used looked like shaving to me. After I finally understood, I was a big combination of nervous and curious. Nervous because I didn’t know if I would be expected to help or if I could take it and curious because I really have never seen an animal slaughtered before. I didn’t get to actually watch the slaughter, I was at class when it occured, but I did see Papa gutting the pig, it’s quite a gory site but was interesting nevertheless. Tomorrow we are having pork shashlik, a popular national dish, and Chris, a former Trainee guest they hosted, will be there. I met him today and he seems like a nice guys so it will be nice to have another American at the table with whom to talk.