valerie

October 17, 2024 - coteachers and I hosted a training yesterday for homeroom teachers and directors at our school. They identified safe/not safe/“50-50 safe” places at school (hence the school maps with different colored sticky notes on the wall) and brainstormed ideas of how to make school safer

smartboard and brown chalkboard hanging on a wooden wall, with 4 school map paper posters (with green, yellow and orange sticky notes) taped on top

October 16, 2024 - went to another school this morning to give a training with another volunteer. That school was really big, and they have a nice assembly hall (at least compared to my school)
Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan

stage with red curtains around it on the left; chairs with red seat covers on the right, facing the stage

October 15, 2024 - my host grandma literally put these fruit in a bag and told me, “take them to your room and eat them. If you leave them here in the kitchen, then your host sister will eat them” πŸ˜‚

two pears, a banana, and grapes in a plastic bag

October 14, 2024 - a volunteer has found a Eurasian forest dormouse in her outhouse. Meanwhile, I have this, and it’s not the only one πŸ™ƒ The outhouse is nicer than our old one, but can’t help but wonder if it would be nicer to NOT see the spiders (old outhouse had no light and had dark wood and tin)

spider with long legs sitting in a hole on a white brick wall

October 13, 2024 - cool clouds from yesterday

two big white clouds, one thick, one more wispy, in a blue sky

October 12, 2024 - just some cookie things that I really liked. I think I bought them at Fix Price in Bishkek

pack of thin, chocolate chip cookies, with almost half of the cookies gone, in front of a window. Russian writing on the package

October 11, 2024 - instructions and questions in Kyrgyz for a training that my coteachers and I will give next week. I’m in ‘teacher with no life’ mode right now because I’m pretty tired after I get home from school, so my camera roll is a little sparse πŸ˜•

paper with text and three questions in Kyrgyz, and blank lines to write on after each question

October 10, 2024 - host family has turned my bike into a clothes rack since there’s a flat tire that I need to take care of πŸ™„

bike with jackets draped on it against a concrete oven

October 9, 2024 - small legal representation office in Kochkor. Wonder if anyone actually works here

small blue, green and white building which looks more like an outdoor storage shed than an office

October 8, 2024 - birds on the roof above my window

looking up at a roof overhang, bird tail feathers visible

October 7, 2024 - yesterday’s sunrise in the neighborhood. Sadly, it was gray and cloudy for the rest of the day

sunrise over a neighborhood from a second floor view

October 6, 2024 - coal trailer. Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan

vehicle with a trailer hooked up to it, both containing coal

October 5, 2024 - one of the few things I got during yesterday’s Teachers’ Day celebration at school. This was from the school student council. Google Translate translates the words as, “you are a uniquely unique person”, which I think sounds funny

two mini Albeni chocolates taped to a paper with Kyrgyz words which translate to 'you are a unique person'

October 4, 2024 - small sports center in my village. Never been inside
(actually, I didn’t know this place existed until a taxi drove me past it once… it’s not far from my house, but there’s no reason for me to come this way)

small, pale yellow 2-story building with its name on the outside wall

October 3, 2024 - We did a review of clothes in today’s English club (since the last three clubs have been somewhat related). Then I gave each pair of students a blank person template that they had to make clothes for πŸ™‚ made a display afterwards of their work (on a board that no one looks at)

display on a board that reads 'English Club' and has 5 people made of paper (1 boy, 4 girls) wearing different things

October 2, 2024 - my friend Mr. Cow (Zoya’s older brother)

dark brown cow with its tongue in its nostril

October 1, 2024 - you know it’s fall when snow has fallen on the mountains

brown mountains half-covered in snow

September 30, 2024 - my host brother brought home these huge, monster strawberries, courtesy of his friend. We ate some, and the others are being turned into jam. My mom commented, “the last fruit of summer”, and that made me sad 😭

large green bowl with sliced strawberries and sugar

September 29, 2024 - went into the storage room where I keep my bike to find this… luckily, my family moved my bike to a different place, they just didn’t tell me that they had πŸ™ƒ

grain dunes completely covering the floor of an outdoor storage room

September 28, 2024 - next to the river I recently discovered in my village

spiky pink flower next to a river

September 27, 2024 - some fun guys in my village

golden mushrooms with brown spots on the caps, next to a tree trunk

September 26, 2024 - Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan. Funny that “St. Petersburg” (Π‘Π°Π½ΠΊΡ‚-ΠŸΠ΅Ρ‚Π΅Ρ€Π±ΡƒΡ€Π³) is written half in English, half in Russian (but all with English letters). Also, love the enthusiastic touch of three exclamation points

parked, yellow Vansped truck container with text "...with us to Sankt Petersburg!!! www.vansped.com"

September 25, 2024 - hotel view in Bishkek

6th floor view looking down on nearby buildings and streets

September 24, 2024 - relatively new restaurant in Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan

bright, open area in a restaurant with a few tables

September 23, 2024 - my host dad breaking up large pieces of salt for the horses

ground-up salt with small chunks in the bottom half of an old bottle plastic container