valerie
February 22, 2024 - saw this delightful bird picture in a book about Arslanbob that I read with my Kyrgyz teacher. It is called дрофа in Russian and Great Bustard in English
February 21, 2024 - today is Mother Language Day, and this classroom had some quotes in Kyrgyz about languages/mother languages on the board. the most interesting to me is элсиз тил болбойт, тилсиз эл болбойт (without people language isn’t possible; without language humanity isn’t possible)
February 19, 2024 - I got to watch an open lesson today, and I took this picture as a reference for how this teacher used the projector. not sure if those are her own cords or if those get left in the classroom (the laptop is hers, though). this is 1 of only a few projectors in our school
February 17, 2024 - it FINALLY snowed in my village and region today! not a lot, but it was still beautiful to see
February 16, 2024 - this week was English week at school around Kyrgyzstan, so there were a lot of decorations in the hall. this one made by students describes English-speaking countries, and it taught me that a “bloody lion” is a symbol of Great Britain..
February 15, 2024 - in the informatics lab in my school. I think the wall decoration is cute. unfortunately, the computers in this lab look old. I don’t know how well they run or what OS they have
February 14, 2024 - my host mom made her own холодец (holodets) last night, and I walked into the kitchen this morning to see 10 bowls of it on the counter 😂 luckily I wasn’t home when the bowls were served, but I did try a little bit later and it wasn’t horrible. still not my favorite food, though
February 13, 2024 - closest mosque to my house. I often hear the call to prayer, especially in the morning
February 10, 2024 - another volunteer and I hosted a community English club at his school this morning. He lives pretty close to me, less than 10 minutes by car, but I have never walked down that road before (it’s a road that goes through the middle of potato fields) bc people rarely walk down it
February 8, 2024 - reading more Kyrgyz children’s books with my Kyrgyz teacher. took a picture of this page for a couple vocabulary words. this book was about a day in the life of 2 kangaroo teachers and their 22 kangaroo students
February 5, 2024 - SWOT analysis completed by teachers during a meeting today regarding our school community. I kind of wish I made an effort to invite staff and community members who aren’t necessarily teachers. oh well. 4 posters like this and want to translate them for myself
February 3, 2024 - inside the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan when I was in Almaty a month ago. They have a mix of modern art and traditional handicrafts displayed
February 2, 2024 - if it comes as any surprise, northern Kyrgyzstan in winter is neither the best place nor time to try a mangosteen for the first time 😂 it was still good, but not as good as I feel like it should be. and it was a pain to cut open
February 1, 2024 - construction on indoor toilets starting at my school (project was already planned before I got here). Coteacher said toilets will be built on the 1st and 2nd (out of 3) floors and that the work will finish in 2 months. don’t know anything about building, but feels too optimistic
January 30, 2024 - in 9A’s classroom. I teach this class (but not here - in my English classroom), and they are active and enthusiastic about learning English. Their homeroom teacher is my Kyrgyz teacher. They decorated their classroom themselves. One of the boys painted the picture with the family
