Mixed messages

22:45 9 September 2008

I found out today that two trainees and two volunteers decided to ET- Peace Corps lingo for Early Termination of service. While I was unsurprised at the trainees, finding about the volunteers, whom I had met during my first days in-country and respect immensely was a huge shock. This is also the first time that someone to whom I had grown close has decided to leave, these are our fourth and fifth ETs, but the other three I barely knew. These two trainees both had their good reasons, but I will definitely miss them dearly. I have heard this region has a somewhat high ET-rate- it’s not easy to live here, but I can’t help but be a little bit bummed out that the already small volunteer/ex-pat community in country is shrinking even more.

On a more positive note, I had a great experience today. The American government finances these places in cities called American Corners; basically they are places with small English-language libraries, free (incredibly slow) internet, a place to learn about America, and a meeting place for anything American related. They are commonly used by PCVs to hold English clubs and do other American themed events. I participated in a panel that tried to introduce Kyrgyz high-school and college students to what "real American" culture was. As I have mentioned earlier, many here get an extremely distorted view of MTV, films, and mass media of what America and its culture is. We were there to talk about our experiences as Americans, how they could be similar or different to Kyrgyz experiences, and answered any questions they had. Their questions were generally surprisingly thoughtful and interesting- we answered everything from how juvenile criminal justice works in America to how the educational system works. Perhaps they were most impressed by how well traveled we were, everybody on the panel had been to a decent amount of places, and while that is not universal American trait, it certainly is representative of Peace Corps Volunteers- you have to have a certain wanderlust to want to do this for two years.

Well, today was both inspiring in what impact I believe my role can have here and somewhat depressing knowing that the numbers of my fellow K-16s can really only go down. It’s a reality that I will have to deal with that PC service is not for everyone and everyone needs to make a personal decision, even after being here for some time.