valerie
September 11, 2024 - I climbed this ladder to where my host family keeps the hay, not all the way, but I realized that the top step wasn’t being strongly held in place when it came loose…glad my foot wasn’t there when I realized 😳
September 9, 2024 - host family bought a new electric kettle! Our old one broke 1-2 weeks ago, so we’ve been boiling water on the stove, which is fine but not as fast. Host mom said this kettle was 1600 Kyrgyz som. The last one was 2000 som and lasted 3 years. Hopefully this one lasts long, too
September 8, 2024 - rode my bike to this monument this morning. I could have sworn that it used to be on either Google Maps or the local maps app, but couldn’t find it. It was about a 5 mile (8 km) ride one way. And some parts were just slightly uphill, so it was hard (one part was very much Uphill)
September 7, 2024 - (agriculture work?) vehicle in the Independence Day parade in Kochkor which happened last week. I thought it was funny that it had a fire extinguisher, when it seems like many places in this country don’t even have one 🙃 also made me wonder, how liable is it to catch on fire?
September 5, 2024 - when I came to school on Knowledge Day (September 1st), all these textbooks were in my English classroom. Not even English textbooks
September 4, 2024 - one of many quotes on the wall at school encouraging students to study well
this one is “Knowledge gives people wings” (literally it’s actually, ‘Knowledge is people’s wings’, but I can’t figure out how to rework that so it flows well in English)
September 3, 2024 - First Bell Ceremony at school yesterday. Officially the start of the school year, even if my coteachers still don’t have their schedule yet (I don’t know if the students do, either..)
September 1, 2024 - part of a parade in Kochkor yesterday for Kyrgyzstan’s Independence Day
Happy Independence Day! Эгемендүүлүк күнү майрамыңыздар менен!
August 31, 2024 - neighboring volunteer’s secondary project (student center) opening ceremony. The student center looks great, and I’m surprised they completed it in less than a month (granted the building and some of the furniture were already there)
August 30, 2024 - wedding last night. Very long. I think Kyrgyz weddings would be nicer if I could actually talk to people, but it’s so damn loud that you have to shout into each other’s ears. So with that and the quick, flashing lights during the dancing, it was exhausting
August 29, 2024 - finally dragged myself out of bed today for another morning walk/jog. Nature’s color palette did not disappoint
August 28, 2024 - sign at another volunteer’s school that says “Sports ground” in Kyrgyz (спорт аянтчасы)
(аянт is also ‘square’, like in a city, but also just learned that аянт can be mathematical area, so similar to English word ‘area’. ча is diminutive for smthg small. сы is possessive case)
August 27, 2024 - neighbor’s apple tree and my host family’s house. (You can see the house over the fence because it’s two stories. There are a few two-story houses in my village but most of them are one)
August 26, 2024 - recently painted gym floor at my school. Even though the entire school is repainted every year (does this happen anywhere else? It seems like a wild waste of time and resources to me..), I’m pretty sure the colorful design on the floor is new
August 25, 2024 - sign of guests at your house
(the future bride of a man living across the street moved into his house yesterday - the guests were here to celebrate the occasion)
August 24, 2024 - this is the place where I usually go to pet Mr. Cow, but it’s temporarily blocked by just-picked potatoes. I can’t believe it’s already potato picking season
(by the way, Mr. Cow is Zoya the calf’s older brother)
August 23, 2024 - my bike! The people who read this blog and actually know me IRL (only a few?) are probably shocked to see this…I finally learned how to ride a bike last year at 27 years old 🙃 the day I got this bike (1 month ago) was the 4th time I ever rode a bike. Now I ride almost every day
August 22, 2024 - picture of the yurt we stayed in at Song-Kul. I had only stayed in yurt once before this, but that yurt did not have beds…there were 5 beds in this yurt, 4 side by side and one in the back. There was also a small stove for heating (not visible here)
August 21, 2024 - I only know about Dr. Rabbit thanks to the meme side of the Internet, and I had never seen him in real life before this, and definitely not in Russian
(but for real though, strawberry flavored toothpaste sounds good?!)
August 20, 2024 - group of people who were playing games on the street. The street is being redone, so it’s closed to all vehicular traffic. There was a race at one point. I assumed the people were renting space at the banquet hall building on the right
