valerie

April 7, 2024 - people running a race in the park yesterday for World Health Day, which is today (is that why wellbeing was chosen for this day?)

in the distance, runners running up on a small, dirt trail in a park, with onlookers standing along the trail

April 6, 2024 - the weather yesterday afternoon was wild. first it was super windy and looked like this, like a duststorm blew in. The dust lasted about an hour, then blue/gray clouds came in, and it started to sprinkle, which turned to snow. After 5 minutes, the precipitation stopped

houses on a village street under a light tan sky

April 5, 2024 - serene - the calm after the storm

white mountains not long before sunset with a few small clouds in the sky

April 4, 2024 - I just really wanted to post this picture, okay?! sorry that I currently live at a high elevation and it’s still too early for foliage…at least I included trees, so you can just imagine leaves 😂

two pigeons sitting side by side on a branch of a tree with no leaves, mountains visible in the background

April 3, 2024 - behind on my own prompt 😂 a page from the basically national Kyrgyz 5th grade English textbook that had a birthday lesson with vocabulary words which we worked with this week including “birthday card“

picture of a textbook page with everything in English and small pictures of the new vocabulary words

April 2, 2024 - flowers in the hallway at my school

pink flowers on a plant in a lavender flower pot in front of a view of another part of my school and mountains

April 1, 2024 - toy. can’t remember if I posted this guy before. He’s technically an ornament, and one word for ‘ornament’ in Russian is игрушка, which can also mean “toy”, so this picture feels like a win to me for the prompt 😁

ornament of a gnome-looking man with a very tall hat made of styrofoam covered by fabric

March 31, 2024 - I helped the librarian fix her computer again. she asked, “what do you like? I’m going to (nearby city) tomorrow, so I want to buy you something”. I said chocolate. about 2 weeks later, she gave me this…opened. it seems she had taken one for herself, which I thought was funny

opened box of 16 small Merci chocolates

March 30, 2024 - approached this ATM which was displaying this screen. it was not clear how much longer I would have to подожди (wait, in Russian), so I went to a different ATM instead 😂

ATM showing what looks like an error graphic with the words "подождите, пожалуйста" ('wait, please' in Russian)

March 29, 2024 - a lamb that was born before spring break. you can see the fresh paint on its head between its eyes - my host mom had done it that day

a brown lamb with a spot of blue paint on it's head between its eyes

March 28, 2024 - my ticket (is that what we call this kind of paper? I don’t remember..) from Monday when I went to the US embassy to submit a passport renewal application

white receipt-looking paper with black text: "Welcome. US Embassy. Bishkek. Mon, 25 Mar Hr 1:47 PM. 006"

March 27, 2024 - went out for brunch. this was after we had eaten the 2 tacos we ordered in addition 😬 but everything was soo good. I know this cafe is owned by a foreigner, I think an American?

plate with two small pieces of toast, two small fried eggs, a small waffle cut up into 4 pieces, and two sausages. plus small containers of butter and syrup, and a cup of green tea in the top right

March 26, 2024 - the moon looked quite orange/red last night

orange moon in a dark blue sky over buildings

March 25, 2024 - today’s breakfast: блины (Russian pancakes) with сүмөлөк (pudding-like dessert eaten around the Nooruz holiday)

two cups of tea with lemon slices; a plate of blini (Russian pancakes) and a bowl with сүмөлөк, a brown pudding-like dessert (also a plastic container with сүмөлөк)

March 24, 2024 - birds for sale in a pet store

9 colorful birds in a black cage

March 23, 2024 - remnants of the Nooruz celebration at Bishkek’s main square, Ala-Too Square

a few yurts and decorations set up by the iconic Manas statue at Ala-Too Square

March 22, 2024 - nature photo before I go to Bishkek for a few days. yesterday at sunset

sky which looks like 3 layers of blue and a layer of pink over it. mountains in the lower left corner with power lines visible in front of them. trees sticking up from the bottom right

March 21, 2024 - thought this design on my tissue was a nice, cute touch. then I proceeded to decorate it with my mucus

white tissue with a sun made of indented circles in the corner and the same kind of clouds along a border

March 20, 2024 - school gym decorated for Nooruz. this was before student performances started

women in traditional Kyrgyz clothes on rugs in a gym. also a yurt structure (without the felt) set up

March 19, 2024 - my host family got a new vacuum cleaner! I think I’ve never been so excited for a new vacuum cleaner in my life

new black vacuum cleaner on a patterned rug by a dark brown staircase and a dark sofa with red and black patterned cushions on it

March 18, 2024 - made a friend this past weekend

white cat with a black mask sitting on a white windowsill, partly behind sheer white curtains

March 17, 2024 - made sushi with another volunteer and JICA volunteers last night

plate of sushi rolls filled with meat, egg and lettuce

March 16, 2024 - garden/small park in the next village over where another volunteer lives

red sign on the side of the street with the name of a garden/park, and the garden/park visible behind a red fence

March 15, 2024 - was not expecting to wake up to snow this morning

road covered by snow; trees, houses and mountains in the distance

March 14, 2024 - preschool in my village during the first weekend of the month when we had snow

yellow building behind a colored fence with snow all around