a Peace Corps adventure...: Election Day

Kyrgyzstan is holding a constitutional referendum today. I'm not supposed to say much about it, so I won't. But I am safe. No one knows what will happen over the next weeks or months but we're all hoping that things continue to stay calm and that Peace Corps will not have to evacuate.

Since I have internet access, here are some more pictures from the last few months:

A calf was born at the beginning of May which means we’ve had fresh milk and/or homemade yogurt every day since then. For breakfast I usually walk outside sleepily, find the milk bucket my host mom has just filled, boil some for myself, and eat it with granola or oatmeal. Isn't this little guy so cute? I went over to look at it the day it was born and my little sister was on the ground hugging it.

I'm on the far left, with other PCVs at a reservoir – we had our mini-van taxi stop here so we could take a picture en route to an organization that sells locally made shyrdaks (see below).

Shyrdaks (thick felt rugs) are one of the most popular traditional Kyrgyz crafts. You can see them in better detail at http://www.altyn-kol.com/. They’re really beautiful and all handmade.

These are called tushkies and they hang on the wall. So pretty! I want to buy every one I see.

Homemade samsas (Kyrgyz version of samosas) filled with mutton, onions and potatoes. I made these with my sister Nurjan.

Cyrillic script continues to baffle me. This word is pronounced mee-ma.

(?!)

Two kids on donkeys. This is a typical view out the car window when you're going.... well, pretty much anywhere.

Making lion puppets with siblings and neighbors.

Here I am at my little sister’s 9^th birthday party.

Everyone at my school spent half a day digging holes all over the back garden of the school for 50 or so apricot trees which were supposed to be delivered the next day. Unfortunately, the trees never came.

Fellow PCV Alex came from another town to give health lessons at my school. These first graders are trying to figure out which foods they should eat most often.

I went guesting in another village on the north shore of the lake to visit another English teacher, Medina (my host family’s relative). I met some of her students at school and they had prepared all sorts of questions for me: Do you drink coffee or tea? How many friends do you have? Do you like America or Kyrgyzstan? Then I had a meal with Medina and some neighbors. The wall tapestry behind us depicts Manas, the great Kyrygz warrior hero. Typically when you go guesting there will be SO much food: different salads, fruit, a few kinds of bread, cookies, jams, candy and a main course. And at least 5 cups of tea.

Guests at my neighbor Zarina’s 10^th birthday party. I wish I could post the video I took of them breaking it down to Akon.

The trash dump behind some friends’ apartments. The trash is set on fire once a week but first the cows and dogs dig through it. It didn’t take long after moving here to realize how much I always took trash disposal for granted. Set it out on the curb and it magically disappears to a landfill I will never see? Not so much.

The Kazakh national cycling team trained along the north shore of our lake all summer but they always rode by so quick that it was tough to get a picture. It was pretty funny to see them riding through our quaint village with their gear on. They looked like aliens. During Soviet times, many athletes from all over the USSR came to the north shore of our lake to train.

These kids will be in 1^st grade next year, so they came to school a few times for orientation. First lesson: squatting. One of them saw me taking this photo from a window and screamed “KAREN-EJAY!” (Ms. Karen!)

Some more pictures from the last day of school. On my left is Jaidarkul, my partner teacher for 6^th grade. These are her beautiful sisters and nephews.