valerie
September 30, 2025 - back to the 14k I ran last week. This was the start and finish line at Ala-Too Square (at least for the marathon, half marathon, and 14k. The 5k started in a different place but also finished here)
September 29, 2025 - new electric buses (that are not trolleybuses) slowly being rolled into Bishkek’s bus fleet
September 28, 2025 - a cat sitting outside of a pet store which refused treats that we bought from said pet store
September 26, 2025 - pool building wall not far from my house. I assume it’s public, but I’m not 100% sure. You can’t see it from the picture, but there’s no water in the pool anymore because it’s fall and most people would consider it too cold to swim
September 25, 2025 - school beshbarmak!
sadly, this was the blandest beshbarmak I’ve ever eaten, and it’s already a bland dish. Would have been better with some shorpo
September 23, 2025 - Kyrgyz Language Day! School set up a yurt inside, which was definitely a fire hazard. The student performances were supposed to be outdoors, but we stayed inside due to rain. And I completely forgot to go watch my students’ performance 🤦♀️ was too busy thinking about my lessons..
September 22, 2025 - a pest killer machine in the produce section of a supermarket close to where we live
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!
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?
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
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
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
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
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..
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)
September 11, 2025 - I have always seen this (coal?) plant from a distance, but this was my first time being there up close
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 😞
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
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
