valerie
August 18, 2024 - purchased from a store in Bishkek with Chinese snacks. Even though okra is advertised on the bag, there was only one inside 😭 which made me sad because okra is generally not available in Kyrgyzstan. Otherwise, the bag was like other fruit/vegetable chips that I’ve had before, good!
August 16, 2024 - a student invited me to eat lunch at her house yesterday. her mom was very chatty but very sweet. they also have a kitten! the student said the kitten likes to play, but it was hard to believe when she was crashed out like this! it was really hot yesterday afternoon, though 😥
August 15, 2024 - memorial to a hero named Olzhobolot uulu Andash (Andash, son of Olzhobolot) at Lake Song Kul. the plaque on the memorial says he helped fight against Kazakhs, but I can’t seem to find any other info about him in the internet. (it’s entirely possible that I didn’t try hard enough)
August 14, 2024 - honey with sea buckthorn that I bought in Issyk-Kul 🙂 there’s a lot of wild sea buckthorn that grows in Issyk-Kul and Naryn, maybe other regions of Kyrgyzstan too
August 11, 2024 - the highest point on our hike to Lake Song-Kul at 3400 meters / 11,150 feet. We drove part of the way from Kyzart village on flat roads, and then got out to hike the uphill part. I think it was around a 13 km hike (one way)
August 5, 2024 - the inside toilets at my school are finished and they look really nice! Here’s to hoping we will actually be able to use them..
(also, remember that picture of the window that I used to climb in and out of the school? …yeah, it’s this bathroom’s window 😅)
August 4, 2024 - saw this bird on my walk yesterday. I was able to get pretty close to it, which seemed weird. I don’t know if it was injured? or if its home was nearby so it was just chilling? Unfortunately, I only had my work phone (which has a crappy camera) at the time
August 3, 2024 - Went to school for a club. Passed some teachers outside the front of the school eating ice cream, including the director. Go to my classroom, sit, no students come. Oh well, time to go. That’s when I realized I got locked in my school 🙄 pictured is the window I climbed out from
August 2, 2024 - looks like my school already bought coal for winter 😳 feels ironic because yesterday was one of the hottest days we’ve had in my village (29-30°C)
August 1, 2024 - returned to my host family’s house yesterday afternoon. My mom and sister were making mashed potatoes, and they used an old glass bottle to mash them 😁
July 30, 2024 - hot spring pools in Cholpon Ata. Each pool had a slightly different temperature, ranging from extremely cold to extremely hot
July 27, 2024 - back of the guesthouse hotel where I am staying for the next few days! Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyzstan
