Isn't It Ironic?

It’s the little triumphs that I’m trying to focus on at the moment. The small things that make me feel like i’m going to be able to live here, and do okay. The past couple of days have had a lot of those triumphs. It started with having such a great and heartwarming conversation with my sister Aizada. She is almost 17, and really wants to improve her English, which is already really good. I have been giving Daston and Aiyapere some phrases and words to practice, but Aizada and I just chat. She told me about how she wants to go to The University of Central Asia and study business administration. She wants to study abroad in the US, and work in America for a few years. Then, she wants to open up a business in Talas, like a bowling alley or something like that. It was so cool to hear about her dreams and ambitions. She is a smart and driven young women and I can’t wait to see what the next two years have in store for her. 

Yesterday, I had a few really awesome moments. I have been making it a habit to stop into a different magazine (little convenience store) every day on my walk to ARZ (the reproductive health NGO I am working with) just to meet the people, and let them get to know my face. I always buy something small like juice or gum. The magazine I stopped in yesterday had the sweetest lady working behind the counter. She wanted to know everything about me. We talked for about 10 minutes, and I understood about 90 percent of what was being said, and she seemed to understand me just fine. When I got to work my counterpart, also named Aizada, but will always be referred to as Aizada Eje, told me that she wanted to take me to a puppet show at a pre-school. It was not a puppet show. It was an interactive, live show with the giant mascot characters, and it was so great. The kids were laughing and dancing. I loved every second of it. Especially because kids are just kids. They couldn’t have cared less that some 6 foot blonde lady was there. They just wanted to see Mickey, and dance their little butts off. Later I found out that Aizada Eje’s family were the performers. They travel from oblast to oblast doing these shows for children. 

Finally, after a pretty good session with my Kyrgyz tutor, I got to go home. I was about 40 yards from my back gate when this old man stopped me. All I was thinking was, “no, no, no. I just want to go home.” It also needs to be said that I have a really difficult time understanding when older men speak. They tend to not enunciate as much as women. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I could not only understand the words he was saying, but I understood WHAT he was saying. Listening comprehension has been a huge struggle for me. But, holy crap I knew what this man was saying! I was so ecstatic! He told me that he was my neighbor, and I was like family now. It is such a comfort the have an older man want to look out for me. It is a patriarchal society that places a lot of honor and respect in age. so having this older man know my face and name is an asset. 

Irony is a funny thing. So, as I was typing this Aizada Eje, my counterpart, came over to ask me about a math question. It was about number not adding up, and if you want to know the details of the question I’ll let you spend to money to call me. When she explained what she didn’t understand, I immediately saw what the issue was, but I had no way to explain. As good as Aizada Eje’s English is, there are some things that we just can’t communicate clearly on. Irony, man. What a jerk.