valerie

December 20, 2024 - played Othello for the first time in my life earlier this month as part of an English game/activity demonstration

blue and pink dots on a paper Othello board, with English sentences at the ends

December 19, 2024 - taken from inside a moving car with tinted windows. Mountains near the village I visited yesterday. The scenery there was beautiful, and I wish I had had time to take pictures in the actual village. Generally wish for more time, daylight and health to spend outdoors in winter

snowy mountains

December 18, 2024 - visited a teacher in another village, and her students presented project work on English speaking countries. This was the display that the American group made

contiguous US made of cardboard, with a school bus, Golden Gate Bridge, White House, NASA, and Statue of Liberty accessories

December 17, 2024 - the mountains south of my village (they’re farther away than they look in the picture, about 10 - 15 kilometers away)

snowy mountains behind village (brown trees, dirt road, some houses)

December 16, 2024 - I think this is a raven?

small and plump-looking raven walking across ground with rocks on it (grass behind the raven)

December 15, 2024 - dangerous guard dogs

two geese (one white, one gray and white) in front of a house with a teal gate

December 14, 2024 - getting warmed up

looking down at a small semi-trailer truck, with exhaust in the air around the front

December 13, 2024 - same window from last year that only has a single pane and ices over on the inside when the temperature is cold enough. Today the ice melted and made a watery mess on the windowsill, which had a lot of papers on it 🙃

windowpane on left covered with (about to melt) ice; normal windowpane on right

December 12, 2024 - a peek of yesterday morning’s taxi. I was sitting in the back seat. I liked the seat upholstery that looked like an older chair/sofa pattern. It was so cold both outside and inside the taxi that I could see my own breath in the taxi 🥶

back of the passenger car seat with floral upholstery

December 11, 2024 - Japanese tea ceremony demonstration by JICA volunteers 🙂

four people mixing matcha powder in hot water for tea with bamboo tea whisks

December 10, 2024 - the poop shed behind our outhouse

shed with gaps in the walls containing piles of (cow) poop. to the left, a fence, and an outhouse

December 9, 2024 - picture from last week at moonrise

tiniest sliver of a waxing crescent moon in a pale pink/orange sunset sky, with mountains below

December 8, 2024 - farming machine in someone’s yard with “Kyrgyzstan” written on it in Cyrillic letters

red farming machine with "Kyrgyzstan" written on it in Cyrillic letters, next to a house

December 7, 2024 - English poster for sale outside of a school supplies store. U for Umbrella, V for Violin, W for Volf

part of an English poster showing the letters of the English alphabet and one word starting with each letter

December 6, 2024 - tired and sick again, so here’s a picture from last month

pigeons on a teal roof with snow

December 5, 2024 - today, 8:00 am. No Daylight Savings Time here

pink and gray sunrise over snowy mountains

December 4, 2024 - my host sister decorated her room for winter 😁

room. paper trees and stars on the window. 3 craft snowflakes on the wall

December 3, 2024 - comparing to yesterday’s picture…the village canal in mid-November after the first snow. The canal still had water in it at that time

village canal with snow on either side on a bright day

December 2, 2024 - the village canal is frozen now and filled with large chunks of ice. I passed by kids playing and sliding on the ice during my walks on Saturday and Sunday (yesterday)

sheet of ice (with some broken places) covering the bottom of a canal

December 1, 2024 - Mr. Cow died earlier this fall, and I was upset about it. For a while, every time I went to the outhouse (which meant walking by where Mr. Cow used to live), I would think about him. So it’s nice to have some new friends at home

one light brown sheep, one sheep with a black head and brown wool looking at the camera

November 30, 2024 - yesterday’s sunrise was beautiful, but unfortunately couldn’t get to a place where just the mountains and the sky were visible (because I was walking to school and was already running later than usual. Luckily, a student’s father, who was driving her to school, gave me a ride)

view of my village with trees (without leaves) and houses. mountains in the distance. orange clouds low in the sky above the mountains

November 29, 2024 - yesterday’s Kyrgyz/American Thanksgiving dinner with the English teachers at my school 🙂 chicken instead of turkey

tabletop with food and drinks including mashed potatoes, a whole chicken on a slice of lavash, macaroni and cheese with white cheese, dinner rolls, Kyrgyz kattama flatbread, apples, Samsa, mini snickers

November 28, 2024 - My students made turkeys for Thanksgiving and wrote things they are thankful for on the feathers 😊 I only planned for 25 students to come to my club…32 came. So some students got blank papers and I asked them to trace someone else’s turkey template. It all worked out 🙂

colorful paper turkeys on a board on a wall in a classroom

November 27, 2024 - new classroom activity that another volunteer (JICA) gave a demonstration of today

half sheet of paper with a table. questions on the left, celebrity names on the top. X's (for 'no') and O's (for 'yes') in the table

November 26, 2024 - another picture from the first snowfall earlier this month

mountains with fresh snow on them, and fresh snow on the ground