valerie

December 3, 2024 - comparing to yesterday’s picture…the village canal in mid-November after the first snow. The canal still had water in it at that time

village canal with snow on either side on a bright day

December 2, 2024 - the village canal is frozen now and filled with large chunks of ice. I passed by kids playing and sliding on the ice during my walks on Saturday and Sunday (yesterday)

sheet of ice (with some broken places) covering the bottom of a canal

December 1, 2024 - Mr. Cow died earlier this fall, and I was upset about it. For a while, every time I went to the outhouse (which meant walking by where Mr. Cow used to live), I would think about him. So it’s nice to have some new friends at home

one light brown sheep, one sheep with a black head and brown wool looking at the camera

November 30, 2024 - yesterday’s sunrise was beautiful, but unfortunately couldn’t get to a place where just the mountains and the sky were visible (because I was walking to school and was already running later than usual. Luckily, a student’s father, who was driving her to school, gave me a ride)

view of my village with trees (without leaves) and houses. mountains in the distance. orange clouds low in the sky above the mountains

November 29, 2024 - yesterday’s Kyrgyz/American Thanksgiving dinner with the English teachers at my school ๐Ÿ™‚ chicken instead of turkey

tabletop with food and drinks including mashed potatoes, a whole chicken on a slice of lavash, macaroni and cheese with white cheese, dinner rolls, Kyrgyz kattama flatbread, apples, Samsa, mini snickers

November 28, 2024 - My students made turkeys for Thanksgiving and wrote things they are thankful for on the feathers ๐Ÿ˜Š I only planned for 25 students to come to my club…32 came. So some students got blank papers and I asked them to trace someone else’s turkey template. It all worked out ๐Ÿ™‚

colorful paper turkeys on a board on a wall in a classroom

November 27, 2024 - new classroom activity that another volunteer (JICA) gave a demonstration of today

half sheet of paper with a table. questions on the left, celebrity names on the top. X's (for 'no') and O's (for 'yes') in the table

November 26, 2024 - another picture from the first snowfall earlier this month

mountains with fresh snow on them, and fresh snow on the ground

November 25, 2024 - our director invited us to his house for an early Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. I feel that with each passing Thanksgiving, I find Thanksgiving food even more meh ๐Ÿ˜‚ I didn’t even try any of the turkey because I don’t really like it anyway

large plate of turkey decorated with citrus slices on a table

November 24, 2024 - there’s already a New Year’s tree up by a shopping mall in Bishkek

Christmas tree with red ornaments standing by a building

November 23, 2024 - mountains behind my school. took this picture on Nov 14, the day after the snow first fell. Of course we don’t have that much snow anymore, but I’m surprised we still have some. Seems it has been too cold for the remaining snow to melt

mountains with snow behind a school building

November 22, 2024 - my host family gave me a bowl of these huge seedless grapes to eat. No idea where they came from. I should ask. The grapes were wonderful. I am definitely more appreciative of fruit now than I was before volunteering ๐Ÿ™ƒ

small white bowl with three large green grapes

November 21, 2024 - moonrise about a week ago

full moon in an evening sky, above a roof with snow on it

November 20, 2024 - bought a pack of cards with fruits/berries and the Kyrgyz, Russian, and English names on them. However, I’m not convinced that sea buckthorn (which is the berry shown) and guelder-rose are the same (I’d never even heard of the latter until I saw this card ๐Ÿ™ƒ)

picture of a bunch of orange sea buckthorn berries on a branch with the Kyrgyz, Russian and (wrong?) English names underneath (ั‡ั‹ั‡ั‹ั€ะบะฐะฝะฐะบ, ะพะฑะปะตะฟะธั…ะฐ, guelder-rose)

November 19, 2024 - cow

dark brown cow with a little snow on its back standing in front of a house and gate, in the snow

November 18, 2024 - orange flavored M&M’s. Do you have this in your country? ๐Ÿค” They were not my favorite ๐Ÿ™ƒ

orange packet of orange flavored M&M's, with a green female M&M holding an orange slice

November 17, 2024 - small central park in Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan

small patio and trees with snow on and around them

November 16, 2024 - there was a fall celebration at my school yesterday in which girls showed off outfits (mostly dresses) made of any materials. My favorite (not in this picture) was a dress made of plastic plates and cutlery because fall is the season for parties in Kyrgyzstan

in a school gym, girls with interesting and colorful dresses walking in a circle with spectators on the side

November 15, 2024 - the last of this year’s apples again: part two, snow edition

red apples on a tree with snow on the branches against a light blue (almost white) sky

November 14, 2024 - took so many pictures today. I’ve never seen this much snow in my village. I like the way these crescent moons look in the light

snowy Islamic gravestones in front of snowy mountains

November 13, 2024 - wooo! The first snow of this dry pocket of Kyrgyzstan!!

looking down onto snow on a garden and driveway from the second floor

November 12, 2024 - this morning’s sunrise (sadly with power lines in the way)

orange clouds near the horizon and gray clouds above

November 11, 2024 - in front of a neighbor’s house. The last of this year’s apples

two nearly bare trees in front of a house; two red apples hanging from the top of one of the trees

November 10, 2024 - plane in the sky above the mountains

snow-capped mountains with dark clouds above; light orange sky with a plane going straight up, jet stream coming from it. around sunset

November 9, 2024 - canal in my village on a windy day (yesterday)

dark blue canal water with ripples on it from the wind; graveyard and mountains in the background