Last week the power was off (more or less) for 4 days. Sporadic 1-2 hour returns every now and then made me celebrate prematurely, thinking that I wouldn't ACTUALLY have to clean out the fridge for lack of electricity, and only after the 5th time that I was thrown back into darkness did I realize that the universe was just teasing me for sport. Touche, universe, you old dog.
One-and-a-half years ago me would have needed a little time to be resigned to the fact of power failure and its accompanying distresses (including having nobody to call to B&M* to), but present-day me was really quite unaffected. This drastic change in my character may be hard for some of you to believe, but I'm here to tell you people, that after living in Central Asia for 2 years, nothing really surprises me. In fact, I'm probably a little warped when it comes to my threshold of inconvenience/ unforeseen circumstances/ expectations, in that even in America I will hope for the best, but sit down un-phased with some dried fruit if, in fact, the worst is what I get. I'm telling you, you can ride anything out if you have some dried figs, apricots, or cherries, nom nom nom.
In America, we might call this being "low-maintenance", or "chill", or even "easy-going", but in Kazakhstan it is much, much more than that. Being able to take things in stride is not just a personal characteristic endowed to a precious few Type B personalities, it is a cultural mantra on par with "time is money" for us Americans. Patience is tested so often in Kazakhstan that people are born with the notion that "everything is solvable", or "Bсе Pешаемо", and they say it without reservation, firmly believing that no matter what situation arises, it can, and will be decided at some point. And you know what, they're right; it always is decided one way or another.
Anywho, there I was with no power, sitting in my house alone on light-less night #2 when I heard a wildly butchered version of "Forever Young" coming from some dark corner of the courtyard in-between our building cluster. Usually, butchered American music doesn't grab my attention, but I'm a real sucker for Dylan, so I moseyed out to the balcony for a better assessment of its whereabouts, soon to determine that some local youths were playing around with their guitar, just as bored without electricity as I was.
Maybe it was them, maybe it was me, or maybe it was Memphis, but I got the notion to join them, so out I went into the cool night to make new friends. After 2 hours of talking about American rock and roll, my life in Kazakhstan, and the real words to "Forever Young", I gratefully bowed out and headed back to my apartment.
There are moments in Peace Corps when you realize that you are achieving exactly what you set out to achieve, and sometimes this is squarely rested on making yourself available for the opportunity to find you, instead of resisting to embrace the direction the fates are pushing you towards. I think "Bсе Pешаемо" epitomizes such an idea, and even though I had 2 more nights before the electricity issue was decided, I benefited on this night from the joys of spontaneity catalyzed by a lack of other distractions.
Admittedly, cleaning out the refridgerator should have been a distraction, which I came to realize after the 4 days was up, but alas, it seems as though I am not quite ready to part with my frat-house predilections :D
One-and-a-half years ago me would have needed a little time to be resigned to the fact of power failure and its accompanying distresses (including having nobody to call to B&M* to), but present-day me was really quite unaffected. This drastic change in my character may be hard for some of you to believe, but I'm here to tell you people, that after living in Central Asia for 2 years, nothing really surprises me. In fact, I'm probably a little warped when it comes to my threshold of inconvenience/ unforeseen circumstances/ expectations, in that even in America I will hope for the best, but sit down un-phased with some dried fruit if, in fact, the worst is what I get. I'm telling you, you can ride anything out if you have some dried figs, apricots, or cherries, nom nom nom.
In America, we might call this being "low-maintenance", or "chill", or even "easy-going", but in Kazakhstan it is much, much more than that. Being able to take things in stride is not just a personal characteristic endowed to a precious few Type B personalities, it is a cultural mantra on par with "time is money" for us Americans. Patience is tested so often in Kazakhstan that people are born with the notion that "everything is solvable", or "Bсе Pешаемо", and they say it without reservation, firmly believing that no matter what situation arises, it can, and will be decided at some point. And you know what, they're right; it always is decided one way or another.
Anywho, there I was with no power, sitting in my house alone on light-less night #2 when I heard a wildly butchered version of "Forever Young" coming from some dark corner of the courtyard in-between our building cluster. Usually, butchered American music doesn't grab my attention, but I'm a real sucker for Dylan, so I moseyed out to the balcony for a better assessment of its whereabouts, soon to determine that some local youths were playing around with their guitar, just as bored without electricity as I was.
Maybe it was them, maybe it was me, or maybe it was Memphis, but I got the notion to join them, so out I went into the cool night to make new friends. After 2 hours of talking about American rock and roll, my life in Kazakhstan, and the real words to "Forever Young", I gratefully bowed out and headed back to my apartment.
There are moments in Peace Corps when you realize that you are achieving exactly what you set out to achieve, and sometimes this is squarely rested on making yourself available for the opportunity to find you, instead of resisting to embrace the direction the fates are pushing you towards. I think "Bсе Pешаемо" epitomizes such an idea, and even though I had 2 more nights before the electricity issue was decided, I benefited on this night from the joys of spontaneity catalyzed by a lack of other distractions.
Admittedly, cleaning out the refridgerator should have been a distraction, which I came to realize after the 4 days was up, but alas, it seems as though I am not quite ready to part with my frat-house predilections :D
*bitch and moan
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