valerie

September 20, 2025 - tried a Japanese snack yesterday that a JICA friend gave me before I moved to Bishkek. It was essentially a giant cheeto, and I liked it!

Part of a snack that looks like a giant cheeto with a hole in the middle, next to the snack wrapper

September 19, 2025 - last week saw and heard this little, yellow remote controlled car thing that was being used on a street near my apartment, I assume to flatten the road?

blue truck with a long truck bed. a very small, two-part yellow vehicle next to it, and a man behind the yellow vehicle holding something in his hands and looking at the yellow vehicle

September 18, 2025 - most classrooms have a smartboard with a screensharing app teachers can use to wirelessly share their laptop screen on the board. Mine doesn’t, so we have been using my personal HDMI cord, which bent so much that it no longer works

One end of a black HDMI cable with the metal part bent slightly downwards

September 17, 2025 - should I start a ‘cats of Bishkek ’ blog?

Gray/brown cat sitting next to a bush with some green leaves

September 16, 2025 - burger for lunch after running 10.5k on Sunday morning 😋 14k running event is next week, so had to prove to myself that I will probably be able to run it without dying

burger with fries on a plate

September 15, 2025 - entryway of a cafe near our apartment where my fiancé and I spent yesterday (Sunday) evening working 😭🙃 at least it was productive. I like the macarons. It’s funny because I don’t think they actually sell any

Half of a fake green garland arch in front of an entrance door. Fake flowers, fake macarons, and fake coffee cups within the garland

September 14, 2025 - from yesterday morning, when our power was out. You can see how the area closest to us was without power, but farther away the buildings have lights on

view of out a window at dawn. Buildings in the foreground are dark, but buildings in the background have lights

September 13, 2025 - walking 10 floors down the stairs with my fiancé (not pictured) because not only were we without power for most of the day, but the building generator wasn’t working for about two hours, during which we couldn’t use the elevator. Some parts of the stairs are not maintained..

tiled floor and stairs with some missing parts of tiles and some chipped tiles

September 12, 2025 - another stray cat I sometimes see, usually after work on my way home from the bus stop. This one will eat my snacks but is skittish about sudden movements, and in general any movements made toward it (so I don’t get to pet it)

brown and black striped cat with a white muzzle, neck and paws crawling out from under a thick, metal fence (blocking off construction)

September 11, 2025 - I have always seen this (coal?) plant from a distance, but this was my first time being there up close

Building with four smoke stacks visible across the street, close to a car repair shop

September 10, 2025 - one of my students bought the chocolate thing and dropped it in the hall outside our classroom. It broke and there was a pile of chocolate sauce on the floor 😒 at least it was on the side of the hall and not in the middle, but still, no one told me…I just found it there 😞

chocolate parfaits with marshmallows on top inside a clear coffee shop display case. Thick, round sandwiches wrapped in plastic wrap underneath

September 9, 2025 - I try to feed this cat snacks on the way to school, but it always rejects them. I guess that means it is fed enough, which is good

orange and white cat sitting under a bush

September 8, 2025 - when we went to Ala Archa Park at the end of August, four horses without any people attending to them passed us quickly at a particularly narrow part of the trail. It was a little scary because we were going up and they were going down to the river for water

horse walking down a rocky path

September 7, 2025 - cool sunset on the way home from the supermarket

pink/orange sunset visible at the end of a city street

September 6, 2025 - sign: no parking
car: well, I’m not directly in front of the sign or behind it, so must be okay

gray and white car next to a metal gate with 'no parking' painted on it

September 5, 2025 - Georgian restaurant. This tarhun tasted so different from the bottled, carbonated stuff in stores (in a good way!). And the khinkali salt and pepper shakers were very cute. The ambience of the place was cool, and the food was good, too

green drink in a clear cup on top of a dark red patterned table fabric, next to khinkali (Georgian dumpling) shaped salt and pepper shakers

September 4, 2025 - there’s a little park with sculptures like this around, though mostly of people. This one was called something like “relaxing”

statue of a big cat, probably meant to be a snow leopard because those live in Kyrgyzstan

September 3, 2025 - a student made these for me 😁

Three small pieces of paper, one with a pizza, one with a bunny, and one with a strange cat-like creature drawn on them. Also folded so that they stand up by themselves on a surface

September 2, 2025 - Bishkek traffic at 6:30 pm

10th floor view of a busy Bishkek road

September 1, 2025 - I’m so glad my fridge can hold 175 L of milk, said the lactose intolerant woman
(yes, I know it doesn’t have to be milk in a carton, or the milk could be lactose free! I’m just trying to be funny 🙃 I have no other interesting pictures because of school)

Sticker on a fridge with its specifications in a yellow-ish light, due to light shining into the room through a colored curtain (not pictured)

August 31, 2025 - yesterday at Ala Archa Park

Mountains, trees, and a stream on a sunny day with a clear blue sky

August 30, 2025 - got one last hike in at Ala Archa Park to see this waterfall before the school year gets into full swing

Waterfall

August 29, 2025 - saw a good shirt

Strange back of a shirt with a picture of a cartoon driver with a unibrow who looks like he is wearing a paper bag over his face, with the text underneath: "moth-eaten but I think Mrs. Pepper can make her a little red coat out of the good part"

August 28, 2025 - a student randomly brought slices of cake to school today for my teaching assistant and me

One slice of cheesecake and a half-hearted slice of cheesecake with pistachio, both on a white plate

August 27, 2025 - one student stayed inside during recess to paint: “my mom doesn’t let me paint at home because she says I will make a mess”
later:

(to be clear, I thought the situation was funny. This student is so sweet and well-behaved, and I don’t want to get in the way of her creativity!)

orange and yellow paint on a light gray/brown classroom floor