What did I just get done doing you ask? Well, let me tell ya…

I just had one of those moments that I am starting to cherish.  The ones where I look around at what I just experienced and it hits me that I am no longer in Alaska, but in fact, I am living in Kyrgyz Republic serving in the Peace Corps.  Tonight’s experience happened while sitting in my host family’s kitchen house right after I finished helping my host mom and sister make Manta.  But let me back up.

I came home from “school” today and my mom told me that we were going to make Manta (internet search this amazing Kyrgyz food).  Tonight was the second time she has let me help do this and she even gave me big ol’ atta girl for being so much better this go round than the last.  Apparently my manta folding skills have improved.  :)  It is experiences like tonight where I am sitting in a kitchen folding rolled out dough filled with a mixture of raw sheep meat (yes, you read that right, sheep meat; a staple in the Kyrgyz diet, but more on that in a moment) potatoes, onion, black pepper and some salt that I really appreciate simple things in life.  Tonight I had a full conversation with my host family about Osama’s death, American music, and how to make pizza.  These may seem unrelated, but conversation can be pretty sporadic and it just adds to the awesomeness of being able to communicate with them.  

Another one of my favorite moments in tonight’s conversation was when Aidi (my little sister) opened the fridge and I asked if the big blob on the shelf was cheese.  Nope.  WRONG!  It was a chunk of sheep fat that they use for making a butter of sorts.  My host mom goes on to say how much she likes sheep meat.  I say I’ve never had it and I don’t know if I like it or not.  She laughs and tells me I have been eating it all along and that the mixture we just put in the manta was sheep.  I smile and think to myself how before coming here, I don’t think I would have ever eaten sheep without feeling noxious that the thought.  And tonight, I didn’t even think twice about it.  BTW, for anyone wondering, it isn’t bad at all.  In fact, I can’t really tell much of a difference between sheep and beef.  Obviously if I have been eating it for a month or so and had no idea, it isn’t that much different than other more “American” meats.

But back to my AHA moment.  After we put the manta on the stove to steam, my host mom threw some dough into the toaster oven (it is the only oven my family has and we use it to bake EVERYTHING) and the smell of fresh bread overtook the kitchen house.  She left me in charge of watching to make sure it didn’t burn and headed off to our sleeping house (I will try to post some picture of the different between these two houses.  It isn’t that our compound is big by ANY means, it is actually relatively small, we just have two houses for eating and sleeping) So anyways, this left me sitting in our kitchen house smelling the AMAZING smell of baking bread while staring out the window watching my host father clean out the barn with our bright green outhouse in the background.  I just sat back and actually laughed out loud because life is amazing here. Simple everyday tasks take a lot longer here, but there is something about it that I thoroughly enjoy.  Not to say there aren’t days when I wish that I could just go to the store and buy some bread, but the idea of making fresh bread every three days with my family is oddly comforting.  It may be sort of unexplainable why I find comfort in these things.  But I do and that is all that matters.

And not all of these moments are food related.  I have them every once in awhile.  Like when I am walking to “school” and have to cross over the sketchy bridge where I have to balance my weight on small metal rungs that stretch over a canal.  Or when I am walking down the street at the bazaar and I actually catch part of a conversation and UNDERSTAND what they are saying in Kyrgyz.  Moments like that make being away from friends and family worth it.

So, to say the least, I am really enjoying myself here.  And tomorrow I find out my permanent site placement.  For the first few months in country we are considered PC Trainees and live in a central area where we learn Peace Corps essentials and then on June 1st we will swear in as PC Volunteers and head to our permanent sites.  There is a lot of curiosity leading up to site placement announcements, because where you get placed will influence your job, which language you will be using the most, who you will be closest to for the next two years and a number of other crucial elements.   Tomorrow morning will be sort of like Christmas Day since it is so filled with excitement.  I can’t wait!  I am actually scared that I won’t be able to fall asleep tonight in anticipation.  But with my belly full of issyk non (hot bread) and manta I shouldn’t have too much of a problem.  

I’ll keep you all posted on where I will be spending my next two years as soon as I can!  Wish me luck!!