October Snow Brings a Chill to the Air

Day 13: I worked at the apartment until about 10 a.m. since I didn’t have morning classes. When I arrived at the office, it was very busy with international students filling out paperwork.

Nowhere to sit! Fortunately, I had toured the library, so I found a quiet place to work there. After preparing most of my lecture for Thursday, I headed to the faculty lunchroom for a warm meal.

I had just started when the dean of medicine asked me to join him for a meal in another building. When I arrived, I learned I had been invited to join a meal honoring the one-year anniversary of the death of a faculty member’s mother.

She had prepared a traditional meal with salads, nuts, dried fruit, and bishbarmek. Bishbarmek is the rich noodle dish with horse meat. It was an elaborate meal to set up in the offices and several of the women helped her. I recognized several faces and met several more people. Everyone was warm and welcoming and I got some good tips of things to do during my stay.

When the meal was coming to an end, one of the male faculty members recited a passage in the Quran in Arabic. I didn’t understand it, but it had a nice, comforting tone. It reminded me of some of the Jewish customs expressed in Hebrew. We said Omen, the blessing, at the end of the meal and the only word I understood was American. It was translated to me that the people that honor the deceased bring good things/wishes to them and an American might bring some extra good. It was an incredible honor to be included in this special meal. I had to leave for class, and as is custom I was given food (candy!) as I said goodbye.

My afternoon class was teaching evidence-based medicine to medical students. The second-  and third-year classes attended. The first years had just taken exams and were on break. This was an easy talk since evidence-based practice evolved from evidence-based medicine. The students again acknowledged most of their information comes from text books and they were receptive of learning how to get and read journal articles.

After class I had about an hour at my apartment to get ready for the evening. I felt a bit guilty because my driver stays and waits when I have a break between work at the university and evening activities. He is always very patient and gracious about waiting.

At 5:30, I headed to a Georgian restaurant in the city center to meet other Fulbright Scholars and English teachers. Jon, the Fulbright Scholar from K-State arranged it for us. On the way to the restaurant, it was sleeting so driving was a little more treacherous than usual and I was a bit worried about the return.

I immediately forgot my worries when I saw friendly American faces. Conversation was easy with this group, and I learned a lot about the different Fulbright programs. There were two scholars (Jon for a year and Woei for a semester), two English Teaching Fellows in Kyrgyz Republic for a year (one at Ala-Too). Woei’s wife also joined dinner and it was interesting to see how they were managing the experience with their children.

I learned that scholars and teachers in the longer program all arrived at the same time and had organized training from the Embassy. They all met each other when they arrived. Also, they had a stipend to arrange their own apartments and all had chosen to live in the city center. I wish I had known this before I arrived as I could have much more independence in the city near restaurants and shops.

Though they had similar Fulbright “jobs” (scholar/teacher), all of their experiences were different. Being a Fulbright Specialist is a great way to try out the Fulbright experience to see if applying to be a Fulbright Scholar (semester/year) might be a good match in the future. It was also great to get out and have easy conversations in English and enjoy some different cuisine.

I didn’t want my driver waiting in the cold, bad weather, so I needed help managing a taxi after the meal. I would not have been able to do it by myself, because the taxi driver asked several questions about my address in Russian or Kyrgyz. It was my first time alone in a cab and I was happy that everything went smoothly! We were getting heavy snow, but It wasn’t sticking to the roads, so it was an easy drive.

When I got to the apartment things did not go as smoothly. I was supposed to have my mid-term report call with World Learning, the company that manages the Fulbright Specialist program. We were connecting by Skype, and I wasn’t receiving any contact requests and could only see five of my contacts. I emailed back and forth with the person I was meeting and we decided to try the next night instead. I’m glad because I was exhausted and problem-solving technology issues was not going well.

Day 14: I can’t believe it has been two weeks! Sometimes I feel I’ve just arrived, and other times I feel settled like I’ve been here far longer. The other thing I can’t believe is how much snow we got overnight, in October! When I woke up, it was still snowing! The snow is beautiful, but it is very cold, and I don’t have a lot of warm clothing. I got dropped off near where I was teaching so I didn’t have to spend too much time outside.

My schedule showed a room number and instructor name, but I didn’t know what discipline I was teaching. When I arrived for class, the room was locked and there was no teacher. I recognized some faces from the Monday lecture to linguistic and interpretation students. They were scheduled to be in that classroom and helped me get in and set up.

I was already thinking about how I would adjust my lecture since I had JUST talked to these students. They insisted it would be good for them to have the same lecture again, but that was not OK with me.

While I was setting up a student told me the secretary said I was supposed to be in the room next door with first-year students. Again, there was no teacher and these students had not been told they might have a guest lecturer. By this time, class was already 30 minutes late starting, and I decided to just teach them about scholarly

writing like I had planned. The students were very helpful and attentive. Afterward they were very thankful I had presented to them and took some pictures with me. But I can’t help wondering if this is normal. Two classrooms of students with no teachers and no communication about what was expected of them. I was also surprised that two or three students arrived 30 minutes late while I was lecturing. I started late, so this meant they were an hour late for class. I’ve noticed in other classes students often arrive 15-30 minutes late. I’ve been told there are attendance policies, but it appears they are loosely followed.

Since it was so cold I thought I might eat in the student canteen rather than walking across campus to the faculty lunchroom. With the Fulbright Specialist program, the host institution provides meals or a stipend for meals. It was my understanding I could eat lunch either place, but I must have misunderstood.

 

The woman working in the Canteen had no information about me or my visit. Some students tried to help, but I decided it was easier to just brave the cold and walk to the faculty lunchroom. I’m glad I did because I ran into Jon, the Fulbright Scholar. I shared my perception that faculty might be a little too comfortable with me and using me as a substitute teacher.

It was nice to hear that he’d had his best morning of teaching. Both Jon and Rachel (the Fulbright English teacher at Ala-Too) told me during dinner the night before they spent about 50 percent of the time managing classroom behaviors making it hard to teach. I was glad he had a better day and was able to feel effective with the students.

After lunch I found a quiet place to make a few final changes to my talks. I’m glad I purchased the Wingle for Wi-Fi because I haven’t been able to access university internet. The ability to work anywhere is something we take for granted in the United States.

I spoke to the medical students about scholarly writing and autism spectrum disorder. I have given the talk about scholarly writing about five times already, so that went smoothly and was well received. Though I enjoy talking about evidence-based practice and writing, I was excited to talk about something different. Particularly about autism since that is an area of interest and expertise.

Autism is not as prevalent in Kyrgyzstan, and people tell me there are almost no services. Several people have told me there is only one private school. The day before I had asked students what they want to know about autism, and I’m glad I did. In addition to basic information about diagnoses and associated impairments, I talked about myths of autism. I found this to be important since some of the questions they asked showed me they believed the myths that people with autism don’t feel emotions and have intellectual disability.

Their questions allowed us to talk about the spectrum of the disorder and not making assumptions about ability. I also shared some tips about sensory processing, communication, etc. I saw students frantically taking notes, so I think it was helpful. Afterward, a few students thanked me not only for the lecture but for my clear English speaking.

Though it is an international university and classes are taught in English, the language skills of students and faculty varies. I imagine it is challenging for international students who don’t speak Kyrgyz to get the full intent of some lessons.

My mid-cycle report was rescheduled for this evening, so I spent some time uninstalling and reinstalling Skype with VERY slow Wi-Fi. It worked and I had a successful call with World Learning. My representative asked about my trip to Bishkek, my apartment, the host institution, my time outside work and my health. Though I’ve experienced challenges, overall my project has been good.

I feel a sense of responsibility to meet the objectives of the call to promote research at Ala-Too university and sometimes feel I am not working toward that objective by teaching only students. Though most days I see the students as having the will and energy to make a culture change toward using research in the future. Next week I will have some faculty workshops which may feel more directly related to my project.

Day 15: This morning I talked to second and third-year international students about case study design. It was nice to have a slightly different topic to present. I was done teaching by 10 and had a few hours to work in the office, and was surprised to find it quiet for a change. I plugged in my laptop and phone and after a few minutes realized I had no power.

Working on campus is always a challenge, but this was new as I had power a few days ago at this desk. I had to work in power saving mode, which makes things even slower. My computer died, and though the international staff was busy teaching and working, they very quickly found be a new space.

There is no one in the office yet, so I’m able to get work done. The office space is a little cold since they haven’t turned the heat on yet, but I find with power, quiet and my coat and can work quite effectively here.

This afternoon I got to visit the U.S. Embassy. The last drive to this area of town had awful traffic, so I was impressed Mutarbek found another route. We arrived a little early, so I thought I might have to wait…and I did.

My visit hadn’t been processed, so it took over a half hour to enter. The weather was warming, so it was pleasant to wait. I know I would need to show my passport and would likely be screened. I had no idea how thorough the screening would be. In addition to leaving my phone, keys, Carmex and lip gloss with the guards, they also wanted me to leave my credit cards because of the magnetic chips. Fortunately, the person I was visiting offered to hold onto them instead.

 Our meeting reaffirmed things I was learning about Central Asia and Ala-Too International University. The lax organization and structure is uncomfortable for me, but typical. I feel I am making progress and really look forward to workshops with faculty next week. I got a quick tour and was impressed to see in addition to modern offices, the Embassy has a nice cafeteria and gym. It really is impressive to see the security and work that goes on at the Embassy.

On the way back to my apartment, I asked to stop at a mall to do a little shopping. With the cold, I really needed to replace the hat I’d lost. I was grateful the Fulbright English teacher, Rachel, taught me to ask, “how much” in Russian (Skol'ko). A lot of things weren’t marked, so I needed to ask.

I found a hat store and managed to get help and pay without any English. A big step for me! I also stopped at the mall grocery store. Though I had success getting my hat, I was not brave enough to navigate the fresh bread and deli section like the locals. I just picked up the packaged stuff with prices already marked!

On our long drive to and from the embassy, Mutarbek pointed out sites and is teaching me Kyrgyz words for traffic and university. I can recognize them by sound, but I definitely can’t spell them. He was also very patient as I attempted to say good evening with some correction.