valerie
December 9, 2023 - despite almost every other place in Kyrgyzstan getting snow overnight, it only started snowing in the afternoon here and it didn’t snow much. still my sister and I went into the street and she drew this. then a drunk guy walked right through the middle 🙃
December 8, 2023 - tonight’s dinner - manti. filled with meat and potatoes, which is not my favorite kind. I prefer manti filled with pumpkin or Chinese chives. but my host mom is a great cook, so these manti still tasted good and weren’t too fatty or oily
December 7, 2023 - my family has been drinking a lot of bozo lately. it’s a fermented drink usually made from millet. I like it! Radio Free Europe has this video about Kyrgyz bozo on their website
December 6, 2023 - my host mom bought some Smart & Rich brand tea and hot chocolate today. She also received a booklet with info about their various products inside. This is the page about their hot chocolate (in Kyrgyz). I’m going to use this as reading practice
December 5, 2023 - I bought this instrument in Bishkek which goes by various names in English but in Kyrgyz is called an ooz komuz (ооз комуз). I’m definitely not an expert after an hour of trying to play, but I am actually making some cool sounds thanks to the help of this video
December 4, 2023 - picture from about a month ago of a bag of kurut that my Kyrgyz teacher gave me before our first jog together. I tried a little bit and it was good, but I’m afraid to overindulge in dairy produts with my lactose intolerance
December 3, 2023 - seen while shopping for a winter hat in Bishkek. Was not a fan of the different fonts, but otherwise resonated with the hoodie
December 1, 2023 - clear day to see the mountain next to our resort. you can see the wooden steps in the picture (same ones I mentioned in yesterday’s post. i also climbed them again today)
November 30, 2023 - climbed some steps that go up the side of a small mountain at our new hotel (actually a resort) today. this was maybe not the best weather for that. it was cloudy and misty and most of the steps are wooden. but hey, it was a good workout and we survived
November 29, 2023 - there was a small fire in our hotel, and our conference had to move to another hotel. it was a chaotic day, but it was also a little fun and broke up the monotony of our conference 😅
November 28, 2023 - staying at a hotel in Bishkek for a conference and noticed this on the ceiling of my room, a sign indicating the direction of Mecca. I’ve never seen this before, so I thought it was cool
November 27, 2023 - made gulab jamun yesterday using mix that I brought from America (there were more, but these were just the first batch, to see if they came out edible or not)
November 24, 2023 - my local colleagues got together for a “Thanksgiving” lunch 🥺 we had a rotisserie chicken instead of turkey, they bought a cake, and gave me three chocolate bars. after we had eaten from the food on the table, my coworkers said, “now let’s order two plates of plov!” 😶🙃😨
November 23, 2023 - happy Thanksgiving and happy first real snow from my village! (which is funny to say because all of the snow on the ground melted by 2 pm)
November 21, 2023 - my host mom came to my room today and said, “витамины тебе” (Vitamins for you, in Russian) as she handed me this plate. I think my host mom’s native language is Kyrgyz, but she did go to a Russian school growing up, so her Russian is pretty good
November 20, 2023 - taken during fall break. my family made a kind of salsa that they called приправа (priprava), which is strange because as I understand it, this doesn’t fit the Russian use of the word приправа. I wonder how universal this use is in Kyrgyzstan
November 19, 2023 - lahmacun that we ate in Kochkor yesterday. I have doubts about its authenticity since it is designated as a Turkish or Armenian dish (and I live in Naryn region, which I’ve read is 99% Kyrgyz), but the most important part, in my opinion, is that it was good
November 17, 2023 - I like to think my grammar is pretty good, but I was stumped on why we use the form “pulled” in this sentence. Any ideas?
November 16, 2023 - this plant was in my room when I first moved in, but I should not be trusted to take care of it. Recently, it grew a few flowers though, so maybe that’s a good sign?
