valerie
September 19, 2024 - Last year I didn’t see a single bike at school, so I can’t help but to wonder if I am the cause of the increasing number of bikes at school 😂 because as I have started to ride my bike to school more, I have been seeing more bikes parked near mine. Today I saw 4!
September 18, 2024 - don’t you love when people leave their bags of trash on the side of road?
there aren’t even any houses around here
September 17, 2024 - this past Sunday went on a bike ride and discovered a WHOLE RIVER that no one ever told me about?? And it’s not even that far from my house? It seems like a really nice place to just sit and relax
September 16, 2024 - went to the Kochkor movie theater yesterday with my host family. I don’t know if they do public showings? We just had a small showing room (pictured) for the 6 of us. And it was a pretty homey set up, the movie was loaded from a USB drive (I assume that’s not the norm?)
September 14, 2024 - the horses are home! Here is one handsome horse that was separate from the others. I asked why, and my grandma said something like he doesn’t get along with the herd, I guess because the dominant (and maybe only?) male sees him as a threat. Handsome horse is now gone, tho 😥
September 13, 2024 - random TV appeared in my classroom yesterday 😶 turns out it’s the IT teacher’s old TV. Now we see if anyone thought about how the TV would be used before mounting it on the wall. At least a ‘motivational sign’ in the classroom that I didn’t like has been taken down as a result!
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)
