September 1, 2023 - grew up in cities so agriculture has mostly been an abstraction for me, but now I live it. Host sister, host mom and I unfolded bags today that will be used for upcoming potato harvest. Was told some kids will miss school to help out. Potatoes are the main cash crop in my town
August 31, 2023 - weird cloud cover today, with white clouds over the mountains in the distance and dark gray clouds closer to my town. It rained a bit this morning and it was very windy today. The power even went out for about an hour. But ended up being nice and warm in the afternoon
August 30, 2023 - my host family took me to a family friend’s house out in the country. My host sister and one of their daughters went walking around where they live
August 29, 2023 - my 10 yr old host sister keeps making little crafts for me and it’s so adorable. I don’t know if she likes that I display them or she gets enjoyment out of the creation process (or both), but I love it and it reminds me that I need to do more for pure enjoyment without inhibition
August 28, 2023 - my classroom! The school year starts on September 1st (Friday) but my main coteacher said that there will only be a start-of-school ceremony on that day. Lessons start next Monday, but I’ll only be observing for the first two weeks, then teaching together with my coteachers
August 27, 2023 - potato plants at another house in the village. apparently that’s the popular crop to grow here. on that note, my host mom and grandma were preparing potato sacks today (the kind made of mesh-y material with a ribbon-like thing working as a drawstring)
August 26, 2023 - my 10 year old host sister and I burned a cake today 🤣 the oven temperature was too high so the outside burned but the inside didn’t cook all the way. I let her deal with the oven since I’ve never used it before, but didn’t pay close attention to what she was doing. Next time!
August 25, 2023 - I moved to Naryn oblast today as an official volunteer and will live here for 2 years!
August 24, 2023 - at Orto-Sai Bazaar. the sign reads ‘make keys’ in Kyrgyz (top) and in Russian (bottom).
August 23, 2023 - do you think we overpacked? (to be fair, the blue and red bags are medical bags which were provided to us)
August 20, 2023 - host mom of a colleague makes traditional Kyrgyz slippers. She made a pair for him as a gift. I asked if she could make me some and was quoted a price. But since my host mom and his are friends, my host mom heard that I wanted slippers and paid for them herself as a gift to me 😳
August 19, 2023 - got home late in the evening after watching Napoleon Dynamite with colleagues. Forgot that I had scheduled a call with my mom, so my host mom gave me a plate of food to take to my room 😶 (I usually eat dinner together with them at the table they have outside)
August 18, 2023 - view of Ala-Too Square, the National History Museum, and some of Bishkek from the ferris wheel in Panfilov Park
August 17, 2023 - chalkboard after an English lesson I observed from one of my colleagues. He did a great job!
August 16, 2023 - the family of one of my colleagues made fried chicken and fries for all of us for lunch. it was delicious, especially the fries
August 15, 2023 - 10 ruble bill from the USSR. One of my colleagues had it - I don’t remember where he said he got it from
August 14, 2023 - this little dude was nibbling on his acorn while hanging onto a tree with his back legs/claws. I have to say, I think squirrels are one of my favorite animals to photograph (not that I’m a professional 😆)
August 13, 2023 - today we discussed the legend of Burana Tower (Wikipedia) in Kyrgyz, and this is how one of my colleagues depicted it. You can read the legend on the linked Wikipedia page
August 12, 2023 - a cute house in Krasnaya Rechka village. My colleagues and I agreed that we’re all in love with the old style balcony on the second floor. It seems like a decent number of village houses in this area have them
August 11, 2023 - Also on yesterday’s adventure, while we were reading the plaque, a group arrived in a van. We thought they were tourists, but they were archaeologists from China. My colleague and I spoke to them with our limited Chinese, and they let us come with to this other nearby site
August 10, 2023 - went to a UNESCO designated place today of Buddhist building/monument remains which were once located along the Silk Road (it’s listed on this webpage)