valerie
November 7, 2022 - insight into how marshrutka drivers store coins
(ugh I had this post ready yesterday, just forgot to hit Post!)
November 4, 2022 - admiration for my student who brings me something daily. She said this is a Uyghur snack and told me the name in Russian, but I couldn’t make sense of it. Had to search around in Chinese to find it: 撒子. Baidu calls it a Chinese snack
November 3, 2022 - if I had had a license and car, I wouldn’t have had to wait at the bus stop this evening
November 1, 2022 - today’s exchange figures
(yes I am aware that we don’t actually use this collocation in English)
October 29, 2022 - Gapar Aitiev National Museum of Fine Arts. Gorgeous paintings and cool crafts here. Pic is a tapestry of a manaschi, a man who recites Manas (Kyrgyzstan’s national epic). There was a manaschi painting also. Both were depicted evoking magical imagery & elements
October 28, 2022 - mural on a building in which you can see a woman wearing a traditional Kyrgyz headdress called elecheck
October 26, 2022 - saw these outside of my neighbor’s door. wonder if they were making jam? or just bought a lot of berries?
I still see strawberries for sale on the street and in the bazaar but I know they will be gone soon with winter coming 😢
October 25, 2022 - a drink called tarkhun, a green soda made of tarragon leaves which was recommended to me. I have yet to try it, not because I don’t want to, but I’ve only seen it in a fairly large bottle and I am one person…perhaps I can get my colleagues to try it with me 🤪
October 24, 2022 - statue of a manaschi (a reteller of the Kyrgyz epic Manas) named Sayakbai in front of Bishkek’s Philarmonia (concert hall)
October 23, 2022 - advertisement. If my language skills are up to par, it talks about work abroad in Europe for men and women ages 18 - 55. The left has a list of countries and the right a list of jobs. It says you don’t need to know the local language within the red box
October 22, 2022 - free classical music performance by a cellist and pianist. There were so many people that there weren’t enough seats and there were people standing at the sides of the aisles to watch. It was kind of distracting. Would have been better as a ticketed event
October 21, 2022 - shashlik restaurant near my apartment. Why are there tires on the ground? Not completely sure, maybe because cars drive down that road and the owner wants to ensure they don’t get too close to the building?
October 19, 2022 - naan section at a supermarket (in the baskets on the metal display). There’s also a tandoor behind it, but to be honest I don’t know if it is actually used or if it is just for display?
October 16, 2022 - Did this ramen taste better than most ramen I have had in Bishkek? Yes.
Does that mean it was perfect? No. The tofu and chicken were quite bland.
But would I order it again? Surprisingly, yeah.
October 15, 2022 - birch forest at Ala-Archa National Park in autumn
I actually hiked here last autumn too, but by that time snow had already fallen and there were no leaves on the trees
