One year mark in KG

One year. Kyrgyzstan.

So much have happened. I don't want to say that this is a life changing experience, however, I feel that I have learned to embrace a lot more now than I would have ever. I have left my comfort zone and came half way across the world. Sometimes I reflect upon this and would think that it was a big life decision that I made but I'm glad I did because..

I now have an extended family that I can never forget. As the youngest of my family, I always wanted younger siblings. My wish came true.. but in Kyrgyzstan. I have so many younger brothers and sisters, including a few older ones. They care for me very much and I love each and every one of them. To name a few incidents, it's watermelon season and my brother invited me to go to the village to try them. My sister, who just went to Sweden, asked me to help her with English. Another brother would always come up to me to compare his height. My aunts and uncles are very concern about me and my future. While it's true that we have a language barrier, that doesn't keep us separated. We try to express ourselves genuienly. It is sad the fact that I cannot understand them sometimes, but we try our best.

For those that are interested about my work life here. I've been working so much at the hospital -- dedicating my time and energy to those that are in need. Sharing my knowledge and expertise with those that will benefit. Out of humor I would complain to my friends and say that I don't get paid enough for what I do. I can't say that everything have gone smoothly since I've been here... but I am making progress. Something as small as teaching computers to the nurses and doctors OR to a larger scale of creating a trust and communication seminar. Going on rounds to do infection control monitoring. Creating a physical therapy room for Cerebral Palsy children. Increasing patient satisfaction. Blood drive? And possible introducing a public health curriculum. Bottomline is-- I am trying to introduce methodologies are the sustainable, efficient and economical. It takes much more than just a seminar to change their behavior and ways of doing thing. It takes constant reminders, patience, trainings and much more. Of course I cannot say that I already completely understand their culture. I have only scratched the surface. But thanks to my friends and organizations that I've partnered with... I feel like I have gone a bit beyond the surface. But I will never reach the core.
There are times where I feel I would benefit from having a team of people to work with me but this is a part of the challenge I agreed to take on.

Outside of the hospital -- I work with motivated and energetic youths. Teaching them how to become confident individuals, to voice their opinion, to volunteer in their community and most importantly how to respect each other. I enjoy working with the student population and it gives me a different insights at things. I helped out with two camp last year and have decided to do the same this year. I may do more but that depends on my hospital schedule. Photos to be provided later.

I am really grateful for those that kept in touch with me throughout my service in KG. I know that you have taken your precious time to write to me, to think about me and most importantly to tell me what has been going on with your own life. Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I know that there are also many that have kept reading my blog as a form of concern... that is why, I enjoy writing so much. I know that I have been missing out on a lot of news. I'm sad that I can't be with you all to celebrate those happy/exciting special occasions or even moments where you're down. But bottomline is... I miss you all. I look forward to the day we can all meet again.

I think back to how different my service would be if my service would be in Africa. I would become the minority. I may possibly live in a hut. Walking miles to get to work and to/from places. I would be learning another language (don't know which, but definitely not Russian). However, I am also glad at the same time that I got to come to Kyrygzstan.

I'm not counting the days that are remaining but... I still have one year to learn more about this country. Till I see all my folks back in America and to celebrate all the occasions that I missed.

Stay tune.

Coming soon... Blogs

- my family (in Kyrgyzstan)
- my co-workers
- kg geography

Are there any specifics or request? There is so much to write and I want to make sure I hit all the things you want to know or are curious about. : )

Photo: Me and the Kyrygzstan Legendary hero "Manas" (statue in the background)

Be-lated Chinese New Years, holidays, other thoughts

So my previous blog has been sitting in my computer for a while and I decided to post two back to back posts. Hope you'll enjoy reading them.

First all, Happy be-lated Chinese New Years to all those who celebrate it along with my family and friends around the world. As always, I wish everyone good health, good career, good fortune and of course a happy year to top it all. It was hard to find people to celebrate with me in KG but I managed... The week before CNY I had shabu shabu (hot pot) which was a real treat. I never imagined that there would be such a cuisine in KG. I still wished I had people to celebrate CNY with me on the day of thou. Hopefully in 2015, I will be celebrating the traditional way.

Happy Women’s Day—March 8^th. I received flowers on this day. It’s a big holiday in KG. But I haven’t heard about it much in America.

March 21^st—Happy Nooruz. It’s the New Year Day for the Muslim culture. People here are majority muslim and with a small percentage of Christians/Catholic. Since it was New Years, I had the day off to attend a festival. I also had the chance to go to my friend’s village to celebrate with her family. I made Or-ra-mo with her family. Or-ra-mo is a Kyrygz tradition dish consisting of carrots, onions, and meat (fat) wrapped in a thin layer of dough and then steamed. Of course it was tasty but super unhealthy with all the pure fat in it. We also took a short hike behind the mountains : )

Once again, I apologize for replying late to all the private e-mails that you all sent me. I will try my best to stay on track.

2013 so far has been a great year for my friends. Without any name mentioning, I have a few friends going to medical school and then another few friends going to graduate schools, a friend getting married and a few friends who have found a job. I want to say Congratulations to you all in person! I wish you all the best and hope that all will continue to go well for you all as it thus have.

As for myself, I am still learning bit and pieces every day. It's like a puzzle where even after these 2 years of service... I will yet be finished. Working in a collective culture has its perks and challenges. Behavioral changes for some folks are very very hard as they are easily affected by their elders and people around them. I have worked with many individuals and it seems to be that making choices and decisions for yourself is hard. Logic and critical thinking is…. Let’s say that I don’t encounter that too often.

I was very hurt by the fact that a local OBGYN has failed to inform the dangers of alcohol drinking to the pregnant women that sat next to her. Perhaps it was my fault too for realizing so late. It was frustrating to know that the local OBGYN knew about the dangers herself but was unwilling to express it to the pregnant women. Situations like these make my heart ache.

Following a proper schedule is also another problem that I frequently encounter here. Are people in America too dependent on our agendas/planners? Is that a bad thing? But not having any sense of schedule/planning is even worst. People forget about scheduled meetings, weekly classes and project plans. It may sound funny and minor but I am very excited when people show up for my computer classes (it's alright if they are late.. I have learned to forgive and to have patience). If I can teach how to use computers in Russian, I think I can tackle it is Chinese as well. With that said, if I have time when I return to America, I might teach computer classes in Chinese. Following my thoughts, Scheduled weekly meetings require constant reminders. While it's true that I am working with mostly adults, there were many times where I have to chase people down. It may not sound frustrating at first… but it adds up.

Photos:

-          Shabu shabu

-          Women’s day

-          Nooruz festival + tent

-          Me making Or-Ra-Mo

-          Short hike

Thanks for all the support

I would like to take the time to thank all the support in various forms (care packages, e-mails, photos, phone-calls, skype dates, reading my blog and many more) from all my family and friends. Thank you for taking the time to keep up with my experiences at KG. It has already been 11 months since I left my home country and started leaving my footprints in a foreign country. I miss each and everyone of you. I look back at all the pictures that we've taken and think about all those good times that we've had. Some were as recent as the week before I left back in May... and some were back as far as to when I was in high school. : )

To those that have had e-mail/skype communication with me may have noticed that my English is a bit rusty. I hope that it doesn't make me become weird thou. Sometimes, I simply just forgot the English word that I want to say. But the funny part is that I may know a Russian replacement of that word.

The road conditions are rough here and I feel like I am walking on snow/ice 85% of the time. When it first started to snow, I questioned why people didn't sprinkle salt on the ground like we do in the states... now I know why. I think the problem was that the temperature was too cold and it snows too often. The salt won't really do much and plus it is expensive. Trying not to slip and fall is kinda tricky. Thankfully Peace Corps provided Yak-tracks to use so that we won't go slipping as often. But still got to walk slow and steady.

A brief mentioning of dogs. Did I mention to some of you that I wanted to have a dog in the states? I think it might be a part of the American dream to eventually own a dog for many individuals. So the situation here is that you don't need to go to the SPCA, the pound, nor the breeders to adopt/purchase one. They are quite available here...sadly on the streets thou. It hurts me to see the stray dogs in the cold in the winter. But this is apparently a part of the culture and how things are done here. Dogs on the street are normal. Dogs inside the house are not normal. Man’s best friend gets kept outside rather than next to you in the house.

My internet connection is not the best here so I apologize if I don't get to your e-mails in a timely manner. The other reason is because work has been busy lately and I am tired by the end of the day. I will try to respond sooner : ) G

 Pictures:

-a huge dog that I encountered on my journey to Talas. HUGE.

- A little dog that I met in the village

- Summer festival photo from my friends organization

Happy New Years!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM KG!!!!

Winter days in Karakol, KG.... are so cold. I've slept in places where there were heating.. but not warm enough. I've also slept in places without heating... I don't think I slept at all that night. I was spending my night shivering in order to keep myself warm. Volunteers that have previously lived through a winter said that, "winter days are short but they are hard to get by. You will notice that you are cold all the time. You will crave for comfort food. You will miss your family and friends from home". A part of me is experiencing that. However, I embrace that because I know that it is part of the journey and adventure of working in another country.

Christmas was around the corner. Has everyone got to their Christmas shopping, somewhat perhaps? Even though Christmas shopping was stressful at times, I, nonetheless miss those times. I miss listening to the jolly Christmas songs as we browse from store to store to search for the perfect gift. I enjoy the atmosphere of having the crowd, and sometimes even the long line to checkout. Christmas is my favorite holiday. Sadly, we don't celebrate that here in KG. We do celebrate New Years and it will be the equivalent of Christmas...in terms of giving and receiving presents from each other.

Before I know it, another month has past. I go through the amount of personal possessions that I have in the country and realize that they have grown exponentially. Asides from the clothing  & bare essentials that I bought with me on the plane... that are other things that I have accumulated. For example, books/training material, water filter and space heater. All from Peace Corps. In country, I have made a few long term investment as well. Say for instance, purchasing a rice cooker because if you know me well enough... I don't really know how to cook. It would be safe to have that around and to try to experience a few dishes. I bought a small bag 2 months ago that I bring to work along with all my work related material. Cheap quality and it has already teared a bit. But that's ok as long as would last me for more than a year??? (Having doubts about the fact that it would last a year). And a huge thank you to those that sent me care packages. There are days when I am day and unhappy, but the items in the packages Cheers me on.

Oh, so the reason I bought that up (luggage and everything) is because I have officially move out of my host family and currently live alone in KG. Living with a host family was definitely a wonderful experience. I got to practice my Russian language, I got to taste traditional dishes and most importantly, we have numerous amount of stories to tell each other. However due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to move out. I will try to go visit. Two different host families and two completely different experiences. It bought me closer to understanding how the culture was and will therefore help me with my work. It also bought a lot of new faces and relationships into my life. To this day, I have many host dad & mom (that I think I will call host uncles & aunts), and host brothers and sisters that I intend to have for my rest of my life. : )

I know that I mentioned previously on how KG is surrounded by 90% mountains. It is absolutely breathtaking everyday to be able to see snowcap mountains around me. They are within a very close distance and are crisp and clear during the day time. Perhaps this has to do with the fact growing up in a big city. I rarely had the oppportunity to be closer to mother nature (moutains, ocean, stars, trees). Looking at them makes my day better when I am in a bad moon.

I recently spent New Years with my training host family and they had a very special tradition. The action and party does not start till late night. During New Years eve, the families would take their time to clean their home, prepare the food, and (still having to tend the livestocks). After all is prepared, we would first enjoy dinner with the family and then head out for guesting. It was an all night long event lasting from 6pm to 6am the next day. Very interesting... and exhausting I shall say.

Sorry.. no pictures yet but I wanted to post this blog up a I know that this is already late. I'll make it up in my next blog.

6th Month mark.. a bit over actually. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

6 months away from home, away from America, away from New York-- and so much has happened. Hurricane Sandy invaded New York and it made me really concerned and worried being on the other side of the world. I wish I was there to go through everything with my family and friends. I am glad to hear that for the most part everything was ok for most individuals. I hope that everything will return to normal soon for those that were affected badly

The winter here is cold and it had already snowed in early October. I don't know if my winter clothing (the ones I wear for the winter in NYC) can stand the cold, but if not...it gives me the more reason to shop.. if such items are available. One main problem here is not how cold it is but how warm it is indoors. Many buildings, apartments, and homes don't have heat inside making the cold much worse. Don't worry folks, I will take care of myself. This also gives me a good chance to test out the HEAT-tecs from Uniqlo as well as the Underarmour heatgears.

It was my birthday a month ago and a few friends celebrated with me at a local restaurant. I had the honor to have brownies and American cake because we have some  skilled chefs here (my friends and American colleagues). ; ) My host family, the one I live with from May-July, also celebrate with me when I visited them. So apparently when it is YOUR owns birthday, you have to buy the cake, invite the people and arrange everything. Complete opposite from the American way.

Frustrating that my Russian language is not at the level I would like it to be. I have been practicing but sometimes I realize that I can't even correctly pronounce the word. And because of my Asian roots, I am frequently mistaken as Kyrgyz in this country. People in the stores, bazaar, at the bus stop and many other places all try to speak to me in Kyrygz. Over and over again. Little did they know is that I don't speak Kyrgyz... I speak Russian. I don't blame them because I think I would do what they are doing. What are the chances that a Chinese girl knows Russian.. Quite Slim.

Going off topic--- global warming. A month ago I attended a training session for promoting Environmental awareness in Kyrgyzstan. Even though I was never environmental friendly, I think otherwise now living in KG. Being the fact that I can't recycle a coke bottle or properly dispose of aluminum cans is starting to bug me. I search for the blue bins (for cans and aluminums recycle) and then the brown can (for paper recycle).... none of the those exist. Many litter bugs in the country : ( . Most people in this country are still wrapping trash in plastic bag and then burning them. The toxic fumes enters the atmosphere-- eventually becoming the air we breathe. Burning trash also increases the overall temperature of the environment. Being that KG is surrounded by mountains ~90%, the ice on the glaciers serve as water reseviors during the winter time. If temperature continues to increase.. the ice will melt and KG will lose this valuable resource. I hope that there will be an improvement to this situation.

Thanksgiving spent in Kyrgyzstan. No turkey but I did have many many delicious dishes made by the fellow volunteers whom know how to utilize the local ingredients. I know that many of us traveled to visit our family and friends and had spent some quality time with them. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast and had a warm gathering with your loved ones.

On Nov 12th. It was officially my 6th month mark in KG. Not to count but that would mean I am 21 months away from my Peace Corps Service from ending. Originally I thought that 2 years would be a long time... but I guess my thoughts are wrong.

This blog is a bit late but there will be one coming shortly afters.

Hope you all enjoy reading! Thanks for keeping up with me and providing me the continuing support.  : )

Write soon.

Pictures to come soon too!

ACCESS & my work at the hospital..

About four weeks ago, I returned from an ACCESS camp. It was absolutely an amazing experience that I look forward to participating again next year. At the site, I worked with students ages 15-18 in order to strengthen their English proficiency. We had sessions that taught American television, music, diversity. Asides from the American culture sessions we also provided them with interview, resume and life skills that we hope will aid them in their future education/career. My team, MIAMI!! Yes I know that I am from NYC but that city was already taken. I was happy that I got MIAMI as some of you may know that I like to watch basketball... MIAMI HEATS. The camp was also the graduation ceremony for the 120+ students that were a part of the ACCESS program. We had a bon fire on the beach, lit lanterns, had team building activities and many more.

Remarks- Working with students is always a treat for me as my career has always been developed more on the health care side. Spending a week working with young leaders of KG really gave me a satisfaction that differs from working with patients. Thus saying, I really really enjoyed it very much.

And for these past few weeks, I have gone back to work at my hospitals. Almost every minute has been a challenge for me being that fact that my Russian language is not up to par yet. There are still much that I don't understand as I wished I did. It is frustrating at times--- but people constantly remind me that I have only learned the language for 3 months and that I am doing well.

In addition to the language challenge, I am also facing the challenge of not understanding the KG health care system. I spent maybe almost 10 years learning about the US health care system, medical education, patient care etc... but I realized that now it's time to learn about another system. Asking people questions, reading articles, observations etc.

Along with that, I am trying to get in touch with international non profit health organizations to provide assistance to the hospital. With that said, if anyone knows of any, please e-mail me. I would appreciate any help I can get.

I also want to help my friends here, one whom is a doctor who wants to travel to other countries to gain hands on experience in the field of OGBYN. Another friend is studying software engineering and would like to study in the US or a chance to have an internship with American companies. Please contact me if you know any programs or companies that have such opportunities. They are both talent individuals and I hope that they can learn from other parts of the world and return to contribute to their native country.

Write soon!

pictures...

And.. I’ll be heading out to another camp this week with IREX, wish me luck and safety-- all.