10/8-10/29

Hello again!

The Gap Year team has finally arrived and settled into Central Asia!!!!

Here are some final photos of the team in Orlando and before our 24 hours of travel:

Travel

Even though the traveling was rough (due to motion sickness), I experienced minimal jetlag! I was able to sleep on the plane ride over the ocean which got my body adjusted to Central Asia time. It was such a blessing from God that jetlag was not a big problem for me in transitioning.

We got into our city at 5am and went straight to the store! We picked at the store for some snacks. When I walked in the store, I was very disoriented. This didn't look like Walmart or even Aldi with clearly marked aisles. It wouldn't have mattered if the aisles are clearly marked because everything was in Russian! The staff members came with us to the store and helped me to find some yogurt to eat for breakfast. Since day one, the staff here have been wonderful at taking care of us which is also such a blessing from God.

After the store, we went to the English Center. The house we were renting was still occupied so we had to wait at the English Center until we could move all of our stuff into the house. While at the English Center, we got to meet the staff, eat some homemade food (pilaf!), and also get a picture of what ministry would look like while we stay here for two months.

Below is a photo of us laughing, in desperate need of a shower after 24 hours straight of travel.

What am I doing?

I spent most of my week meeting students and talking to them at English Talking Clubs. My team and I go to English Talking Clubs both at the English Center and in colleges and universities. We speak with students who are between 14 and 22 years old, most of whom are learning English in their classes at school. Their English isn't perfect, and we don't know any Russian, so the first week here was very difficult and draining to keep conversation going. As time here went on, it got a lot easier though. The students are so gracious to help each other- if one student doesn't know the word in English they ask the others for help and usually they find the word. If that doesn't work, Google Translate is always available.

At the English Clubs we talk about anything from our hobbies to our purpose in life. Of course, our topics depend on the amount of English that the students know and the creativity of the questions we ask.

This week I got to spend time with these two girls who were 15 years old and didn't speak much English. They were so sweet, they brought their English-Russian dictionaries with them. I asked if I could look in it and we started to teach each other! It was so much fun. I would flip through the dictionary, pick a word, and then try to pronounce it. They would graciously correct me and help me say the word as it is supposed to be pronounced. Then they would try to read the English version of that word to me and I would help them to pronounce it. I had so much fun.

Central Asian Food

Left to right: plov, lagman, and sumsa (the dough triangles)

I love to eat lagman, it is noodles, meat, and vegetables in a red-oil sauce. The only problem is that I usually spill lagman all over my clothes. Even my shoes, in fact. Do not worry, lagman does wash out of clothes.

Although all of the food is wonderful, my body has taken some getting used to new foods. I am grateful that I only experienced minimal sickness at the beginning of my time here.

Culture

While in Central Asia, I've been immersed in a whole new culture. I have tried to learn some Russian, so I can get around here and communicate with the students I spend time with. Russian is so hard so I've only learned some phrases. "Stras viche" is hello and "spaceba" is thank you. I already knew "dos vedanya" because of Anastasia- the movie and the musical. My favorite word is "snek" which is snow. It's just very funny to say.

The two words that we hear people use to describe us are "Americanski" and "Angleski" which mean American and English (language). Those two words are so funny to hear and as a team we often makes jokes about being "Americanski".

I had the opportunity to visit the National Museum here and it was incredible. The building? Gorgeous. Everything inside the building? Also gorgeous. I was so grateful to learn the culture of the people I am spending time with.

Here are some photos of me learning Russian numbers and then photos from the museum:

Thank you!

My time here has gone so quickly, it's hard to believe we're halfway through our time. Thank you so much for taking time to read my blog and look over my pictures! I look forward to sharing more about my time in Central Asia soon!!

I am going to put a few more pictures down below for you to look at: