October 1, 2023 - my sister tried to teach me a Kyrgyz variant of hopscotch, but wow it is really hard to understand game instructions in another language. or maybe it is just hard to understand my sister 😂
September 30, 2023 - another Kyrgyz museum, another yurt. A true national treasure
Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan
September 28, 2023 - The Peace Corps medical team here gave every volunteer in my cohort a resistance band to use for workouts. They also gave us a jump rope, which my host mom, sister and I really liked, but it disappeared a week or two ago so we have to buy another 😥
September 27, 2023 - saw this kitty on the way to school that I wanted to embrace, but it just meowed at me and walked past without a care. But then ran into my host cousin who was returning home from school (he lives with us) and he embraced me (he’s 7 years old)
September 25, 2023 - a cow and some glare that we’re going to pretend can be classified as flare. Or maybe the sun’s rays can be considered flare. anyways, I took this from inside a car as we were stuck in a livestock traffic jam on the way to the banya (no water in our bathroom that day)
September 24, 2023 - September 23 was Kyrgyz Language Day, so some students at my school organized a celebration on Friday, September 22. Some students danced, others belted out songs, and others recited some poetry
September 21, 2023 - went on a picnic this past weekend with my host sister and her friends. A good activity to indulge in before fall when it will be too cold
September 20, 2023 - I think I was a disruption at today’s goose meeting. I pass them almost every day either on my way to school or returning home. They honk at everyone who walks by (especially if it’s too close), kind of like dogs
September 19, 2023 - projection going slightly off of the edge of the screen. in a classroom in my school, during a Kyrgyz lesson with my local Kyrgyz tutor (who is also a Kyrgyz teacher at my school)
September 18, 2023 - it started hailing on my way home from school, so that’s how I ended up with ice on the nylon fabric of my raincoat
September 17, 2023 - went with my host sister to her friend’s house for a picnic and some intense dancing occurred
(video title is “Dance if you know this trend” in Russian. to be clear, these are TikTok trends 😂)
September 16, 2023 - oof!, aka, it was not a good idea to eat this pizza while my stomach was still recovering from something
September 14, 2023 - statue of Turdakun Usubalievich Usubaliev who was born in Kochkor and worked as a politician during the Soviet Union
Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan
September 12, 2023 - might have unintentionally incited some panic in my students by giving them this test today
(it’s not for a grade. it’s part of our admittedly imperfect procedure to try and get data on whether lessons cotaught with a volunteer produce any results in students’ English ability)
September 11, 2023 - in retrospect, I’m pleased that I had half of this candy left to eat after work today. I was so hungry but it was at a weird time of day in between meals 🥲 my little brother/cousin gave the candy to me randomly a few days ago
September 9, 2023 - sign in the Kyrgyz language with local emergency numbers.
өрт кызматы - fire service
милиция - police (a Russian word, but I heard Russians in Russia use a different word for police)
тез жардам - ambulance, literally ‘fast help’
September 8, 2023 - my family’s horses are back from yonder! ‘Yonder’ actually refers to jailoo (жайлоо in Kyrgyz), which are mountain valleys where Kyrgyz people traditionally take their animals in the summer