End of the Year, Part Two

Salut,

This is the 19th blog post for this year and it's last. Additionally, it is my last end-of-year post. With only two years, every first is a first, and every second is its last. 
Reflecting on a full year in Kyrgyzstan is crazy; the last time I was here I had only had six months, and now I look ahead to the next 7-8 months. I spoke a long time ago of seeing the seasons change, of seeing time wean and the students grow old. This time last year, Frank, my site partner, had left. Does it feel like a year? Yes, and no. I said I wanted to see Kuz Saykal grow and walk around the house; she was only 4 months old when I first arrived. I see Adelya wake and eat breakfast next to me, as we both prep to go to school, and I see her put on her thick coats and boots to brace the snow. I got to see the tree leaves fall and grow again. The flowers bloomed again, the memory of a field of poppies in my mind. I went to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan which I had wanted to do. I see the sun rise and set, pointing out the stars to Adelya and Alihan and watching them run through the snow. Spring came, bringing seasons of fruit back, and filling our table with apples, pomegranates, bananas, melons, and watermelons galore. I boiled under the sun, fanning myself with bazaar-bought hand fans. I saw the leaves fall and wither, bright in orange, alongside my students during the autumn festival. Now, I am here again trudging through snow.

The snow is my favorite part. This year, it is snowing more frequently and is heavier than it was last year. As I write this, it has snowed four times, the first time a week earlier than last year. I live right next to the school, walking right across the football field. On a lovely spring or summer day, that walk takes a minute; in the winter, 5 minutes. No one here is a weatherman; I ask for predictions for each next snow, and no one has been correct. The snow is soft at first before solidifying and getting crusty. My host family quickly shovels the snow to make walkways around the courtyard, so now there are huge piles of snow outside, several over a meter high. In the football field, no one shovels it. Now, with there being more snow and with greater frequency, the snow doesn’t melt fully before it snows again, so the snow gets on top of the existing layer. This made the field wildly uneven, and at its highest points, it is knee-high. Knee-high snow season! I am also double layering with jackets, because I am too lazy and cheap to buy a new thicker one, so I use my existing ones (also I think the ones in the bazaar are unflattering). If this is all so obvious for people who are accustomed to snow, I’m sorry, I’m just so unused to it. But I delight in it. The village looks absolutely gorgeous, and it is my own winter wonderland. I went outside the first time it snowed and took pictures, and while running across the field, I fell face-first into the snow.

It hasn’t helped school though. Students are chronically late already, but now they come 10-15 minutes late to class because they play in the snow between periods (classes are only 45 minutes anyway). I don’t blame them; I’d do the same if my hometown had as much snow. All the teachers and locals ask me if America is cold, and I have to explain the wild difference in temperature across the United States. I can’t say no; they’ve seen Home Alone and snow in American movies. I explain that in the north, it’s very cold and similar to Kyrgyzstan’s weather now, but in the south, where I’m from, it’s quite warm and there’s rarely snow.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy. Daniel, my host brother, turned 19! He’s been at home to fix some documentation. Aidana made salad and served a magnificent dinner to celebrate. My host dad’s brother is still hanging around the house. My host dad briefly flew to Moscow to visit the doctor. It seemed like he was okay and didn’t need too much medical attention, but his coming back prompted a huge feast. I think he and my host mother’s health has been so so recently. He had a footbath in the middle of the sitting room after dinner one night, the kids gathered around him, watching him as if it was the most interesting thing they’d seen all day.

We also celebrated Chingiz Aitmatov’s birthday. I believe we did this last year too. Chingiz Aitmatov is a famous Kyrgyz author, and his literature and writing are renowned. The students did various performances, singing and performing skits. Every day after school, Baktygul and I have been prepping Beknazar, one of our 11th-grade students, to compete in the English Olympiad competition, which is set to take place in January. Our school is set to host the biology competition, and Vanessa’s is going to host the English one for our raion. It was supposed to be allegedly in December but they expectedly delayed it.

In regards to the Peace Corps, most of the eco-tourism volunteers have left. The eco-tourism volunteers, called Response Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), served one-year terms. Two volunteers in their cohort, Kim and Mark, decided to extend their stay and are remaining in Kyrgyzstan, while the others have all departed back to America. Speaking of extensions, Peace Corps staff is opening the gates for volunteers to extend their service for a third year. So far, I have heard the rumblings of only one or two volunteers considering it.

I also had a wonderful visit from the staff. Tolgonai, who is in charge of grants, came to visit my school to survey our new equipment and check receipts. She came alongside Katia and Almaz, other staff members. Baktygul got me to buy sweets to serve them at our school, and they came and talked to one of the vice principals. Almaz and Katia came to my house, needing to trudge across the field with me, as their car took Tolgonai away, stranding them at my house. They came the day after Daniel’s birthday, so we had plenty of leftover food and sweets to serve them. Almaz’s visit was unusually long, and after Aidana said my room was messy (she never sees it, so I don’t know how she knows that), Almaz told me my homework was to clean my room. I got to talk to Katia, who was a volunteer in Ukraine and lived in Russia for some time. Katia is the new American staff member; Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan only has 2 American staff members, the rest are local.

Speaking of my project, Baktygul and I have hosted trainings to the teachers on how to use the projectors and the new SMART board. Due to the lack of technology available to them, most are not well versed in using computers, printers, projectors, or SMART boards. So teaching the older teachers felt like teaching your grandparents how to use an iPhone or the latest gadgets. I think it amazed them. Many teachers have taken advantage of the new equipment to my absolute delight. Gulbara, a Kyrgyz primary teacher, used our SMART board to teach an open lesson to students. Rakhat, one of the few Russian teachers, taught an excellent 3rd-grade class, showing YouTube videos and projecting exercises and vocabulary photos she prepared. With sufficient preparation and lesson planning, the SMART board is a massive asset to teaching the students. Currently, I use it to project the 5th and 6th grade textbook so students without the textbook can write. Our school suffers from a lack of textbook access and availability, so projecting electronic copies has been very helpful.

Additionally, the board has a writing feature, so I can write on the projected textbook and make notes. We have a few last things we need to buy to finish up our project. With all this going on, we didn’t have English week, something we had last week. I think it was hastily put together last year, so I am sort of glad we didn’t try to do it while we were so busy. Baktygul hosted a training with our director on “student-friendly schools” which was the topic during MST, which you can read about in my first October post. As I had already participated in it, I was the designated photographer while she spoke.

Tess invited all the southern volunteers for a fun Christmas party at her house. I got the chance to meet a few of the new volunteers in Osh, members of K-30. They all seemed extremely kind and sweet. 12 of us hustled into Tess’ house. I completely failed at American football, which they wanted to play. We ate some good Indian food for lunch, and we made pizzas on French bread. I made pesto pasta, an old favorite for everyone. I used to work at my cooperative housing complex as a nighttime and weekend brunch chef, cooking meals for over 50 people. I didn’t cook anything fancy, usually breakfast tacos, pasta, chilis, and fruit salads, and I learned to fry and bake. I forced myself to do it in college, as I was never a big cook and knew I needed to learn. It hasn’t been super useful here, as I rarely cook. The power has gone out a few times, usually for a few hours. While at Tess’ house, it went out which delayed our dinner.

I got some of the volunteers to play Bananagrams with me, and we exchanged White Elephant gifts. I have done Secret Santa but not white elephant before. I ran out of time, and due to circumstances, I ended up getting my gift from Tess’ host mom’s store (both Tahmin and Tess’ host families own shops). I got a super cool decorated desk stand and pencil holder, courtesy of Ben. We all slept on the floor of her guesting room, playing Tetris with the tushuks (quilts) so we all fit. I love Tess’ site, she’s a bit deep into the mountains, and the ride to her site is absolutely gorgeous, rolling hills and mountains. We saw some locals tubing down the hills. The sunrises and sunsets are to die for. On the way back, we ate at the new(ish) KFC in Osh.

Baktygul and I went this past weekend to Jalal-Abad city to buy some school supplies, in addition to New Year's decor. Our school is once again preparing to celebrate New Year's; their decor is basically Christmas-coded. Also, students know lots of famous Christmas songs. They know Mariah’s All I Want for Christmas is You, a few know Snowman, lots know Jingle Bell Rock, but without a doubt, they all know the chorus of Last Christmas by heart. Last Christmas is an overrated song, in my opinion, it’s catchy I concede, but that’s it. Baktygul and I decorated our classroom, printing and laminating pictures of snowmen, Santa, reindeer, etc. on our walls. The older kids began putting up the Christmas tree. Aidana tells me the Russian school’s tree is already up, and with 2000 students, their celebrations start before mine so they have enough time for all of them.

During the last week of school, I got the chance to visit Frank's old school and watch their New Year celebrations. Adelya had her celebrations this past Monday, and the difference between his old school and mine is always startling. My 11th grade class is only 1 class of about 20 or so students, while theirs has around 5-6 classes with at least a hundred. I know the names of the vast majority of my students (probably 60%), and I can't imagine the same if I were at such a big school. The celebration was mostly all in Russian, but their teachers decorated their auditorium with elaborate trees, garlands, fake presents, snowmen, etc. My school's was toned down, and also all the work was done by students.

The actual week of Christmas I was at school for most of it. The last week of classes before New Year's is a mess, and after talking to other volunteers, this is a universal problem. It's just vibes, one said. Each grade celebrates by having their own concert and their parents come to watch. The older students participate and lead the concert, dressing in fairytale-esque costumes. The entire thing is like if you smushed Halloween and Christmas together. At Frank's school, 11th-grade boys pulled a guy dressed as Santa in a sled around the gym as he waved to the crowd, ho ho hoing to all. At my school, bereft of a sled, they had to settle for our Santa merely waltzing in and doing his ho ho hos that way. The concert was much the same at my school. Performances by the students interspersed with dancing. I got bored of parts of it after watching like six versions of it, and I expect the 11th graders got sick of performing it.

During all of this, Baktygul and I were conducting final exams and tests for the students. With the New Year's concerts all happening, getting all the kids together was difficult. Like in America, near the end of school and the start of the holiday season, attendance decreases especially on the last day. In addition, all the homeroom teachers insisted we conduct the "student-friendly" trainings for the students (the aforementioned one was for the teachers) during the final week. On Christmas day, it was a major struggle to get up from my very comfy bed at 8 AM and walk into school where boring trainings were happening. Luckily, I was the designated photographer, not the leader. The last week just drained all my energy.

It feels accurate that my last days at school were the same when fall break started and when winter break started. For the 9-11th grade kids' celebrations, they forwent a concert and instead had a dance party in a separate auditorium. Like the fall ball, I got unintentionally put in charge of monitoring them while the teachers went to go to their classes. I feel old, but I simply have no idea how they had so much energy. They began the festivities and dancing around 10 am, and by 2 PM were still going strong. That same night the teachers and I had our own celebration in the city, so I went home to nap.

I mentioned the New Year celebrations from last year which were super fun. It's similar to a standard wedding, and honestly, Kyrgyz festivities in general have a lot of similarities to each other. I remember someone telling me it's all just excuses to eat food and that tracks. Birthdays, funerals, weddings, gaps, and guesting, are all anchored by a large meal shared. I will also admit that after comparing the DJing of the 11th graders to the DJing at the New Year party, the 11th graders were better DJs. Or maybe I'm more into the music that the 11th graders like.

I look back at my last year’s end-of-year post and my New Year’s resolutions. I accomplished neither. I didn’t learn any Russian, nor did I read any new Shakespeare. I accomplished so many things I hadn’t intended to. I visited Naryn and visited many, many lakes. I went on horse riding tours. I implemented a grant at my school, and now my students have new textbooks, new projectors, and a new SMART board. I learned to play chess (though I’m really awful at it). Bhaavya came to visit me, and I got to visit Issyk Kul Lake with her. I went to Almaty three times?? I took night trains through Uzbekistan, and I traveled to Tajikistan alone. I walked across 3 land borders. I went to weddings. I visited several volunteers’ sites. 

I celebrated Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving with my students. I celebrated the last and first bell ceremonies. I hosted summer camps and watched the Olympics at 2 am on Peacock. I celebrated my birthday with chicken wings in the mountains. I hosted a country line dance workshop. I celebrated Oktoberfest. I saw an opera, and I listened to a Beethoven performance in Bishkek. I got a boxload of 50 English books for my students. I hosted teacher training sessions at my school and for our raion’s teachers. I got to see Dune Part Two and Inside Out 2 in the Dordoi Plaza theater. I got sick a few times. I learned to recite Manas. I cried and went to many funerals. I ice skated up high in the mountains. I did my house chores (almost) every day. I ate good and bad Mexican food. I ate an absurd amount of ramen and Caesar salads. I went on very, very long hikes (by long I mean like 6 hours, which is short for seasoned hikers). I listened to a lot of new music and watched a lot of good movies. I bought weekly treats and sweets for Adelya and Alihan.

I was short-sighted and consistent in other ways. I read a lot of the same books. I wasn’t adventurous with food. I was a homebody in a lot of ways, both voluntarily and involuntarily. I was alone a lot. I was slow to answer texts. My Kyrgyz, despite reaching Advanced-Low, still felt slow and stilted. My English club attendance slowed. I taught alongside two other English counterparts with only limited success. I didn’t write lesson plans with Baktygul as much as I should have. I was lazy with lessons sometimes. I compared myself to other volunteers incessantly; I was happy a lot but sometimes made myself miserable. I was not often gracious or kind or grateful. My room was messy, and I didn’t always follow house rules to the T. I didn’t converse with the house guests beyond introductions. I didn’t engage with my visiting host siblings from Russia much. I spent a lot of time at the dinner table texting friends. I didn’t text my friends or family back home enough. I was frivolous with my money. I overspent on some things and let myself be scammed/overcharged on occasion. I was unkind and callous to my students when they didn’t listen. I was impatient for a teacher and prone to raising my voice. I was a cheap skate when it was important and an overspender when it wasn’t.

Lots of my stories made it into this blog; many did not. I wrote crazy stories, funny stories, and sad stories. Stories that made me cry, stories that made me laugh, and stories that made me want to pull my hair out. I was uncomfortable; I was challenged; I was delighted, curious and open-minded, impatient and unforgiving. I was energetic and spontaneous, lonely and extroverted. I was over-honest and blunt; I lied sometimes, directly and by omission. I did random acts of kindness; I forgot people’s names, and I was petty and rude. I was extra-visible, yet sometimes invisible.

I lived a year of multitudes. Full of happiness and joy and also great grief and sadness. I’m going to post an end-of-year photo reel on my Instagram, but know that beneath the happy photos are these multitudes. Stories lie behind them. Here’s to 2025! For my vacation, I am going back to Texas for my sister’s wedding.

Thank you 2024.

À Bientôt,
Grace

End of Year Bests

In general, I think I had an excellent year for movies, but a rather mediocre year for TV shows and for books.

DISCLAIMER: All of the books and movies I read or watched in 2024, they did not exclusively come out in 2024, so there are lots of old classics in the movie section. I'm also not a huge rewatcher, so no rewatches/rereads on this list.



2024 in Books (as of December 28, 2024)

Read: 133, pages: 57,986

Best Books: Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini, Just Add Water: My Swimming Life by Katie Ledecky, All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody (1st book in a duology), Fated Reign by Kristin L. Hamblin (2nd book in a series)

Series Recommendations: Market of Monsters by Rebecca Schaeffer, The Falconer series by Elizabeth May, The Celestial Kingdom duology by Sue Lynn Tan, Song of the Last Kingdom by Amelie Wen Zhao, The Shepherd King by Rachel Gilling

2024 in Movies and TV: (I haven’t seen any of the movies still in theaters boo… Wicked, I’m coming for you!!)

Movies: 158, TV shows: 7 (that doesn’t mean I watched 7 entire shows, it means I watched at least one season of 7 shows. I binged two), miniseries: 3

Best Films: Dune Part Two, The Wild Robot, Spirited Away, Memento, Singin in the Rain, The Truman Show, Howl’s Moving Castle, Inside Out 2, Kill Bill Vol 2, Chicago (2002 film), The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Whiplash, Fargo, Groundhog Day, Anora, Challengers, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Baby Driver, 127 Hours, Notes on a Scandal, the Menu, the Father, Arthur Christmas, Easy A, Bottoms, Emilia Perez, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Wolfwalkers, the Substance (I have seen 70% of this movie, the other 30% I’m too scared to watch).

Best seasons/miniseries: Agatha All Along, Fleabag (seasons 1 and 2), Umbrella Academy (season 2), Interview with the Vampire (season 2), Pam and Tommy

Christmas Music! My favorites! I’ll list some others besides the old classics 
  1. White Christmas- OneRepublic
  2. Underneath the Tree- Kelly Clarkson
  3. December - Ariana Grande
  4. Mary, Did You Know- Pentatonix
  5. Mary, Did you Know- Zara Larsson
  6. White Winter Hymnal- Pentatonix
  7. Mistletoe- Justin Bieber
  8. Merry Christmas- Elton John and Ed Sheeran
  9. Like It's Christmas- Jonas Brothers
  10. Oh Santa- Mariah Carey, ft. Ariana Grande
  11. Santa Can’t You Hear Me- Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande
  12. Hallelujah- Jordan Smith
  13. Snow- Leslie Odom, Jr.
  14. I Don’t Know What Christmas Is- Old 97s
  15. December 25- Charlie Puth
  16. White Xmas- Sabrina Carpenter
  17. 1 Wish- Ava Max
  18. You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch- Tyler, the Creator
  19. Snowman- Sia
  20. Count on Christmas- Bebe Rexha
Some non-Christmas songs that are STILL wintery that I love: Into the Unknown by Idina Menzel, Show Yourself by Idina Menzel, Butter (Holiday Remix) by BTS, Perfect Duet by Ed Sheeran and Beyonce, Leave Me Lonely by Ariana Grande, Snow White by Christina Grimmie, Feeling Good by Michael Buble, Celestial by Ed Sheeran, In the Stars by Benson Boone


2024 Apple Replay

Most Played Artists: Nathan Wagner, Taylor Swift, Halsey, UNSECRET, Saysh, Dua Lipa, Teddy Swims, Miia, Sam Tinnesz
Most Played Songs: Nightmare and Innocence by Nathan Wagner, Unrecognizable by Saysh, Experience by Ludovico Einaudi, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me by Taylor Swift,
My own top new artists: Saysh, Teddy Swims, Loreen, Zoe Wees, Faouzia, Isak Danielson, Natalie Jane, Emlyn
New Songs: Number One Girl by Rose, He’s a 10 by JESSIA, feelslikeimfallinginlove by Coldplay, Echoes by Tom Walker, world’s greatest ex by Emlyn, If You Died Today by Natalie Jane, AVA by Natalie Jane, The Door by Teddy Swims, Lose Control by Teddy Swims, West Coast by OneRepublic, How Do I Love You by Miia, Lightning by Zoe Wees, Tattoo by Loreen, Can’t Tame Her by Zara Larsson, Fur Elise by Faouzia, Desert Rose (cover by Faouzia), See You Again by Illenium and the Chainsmokers

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