Hi everyone and welcome to "Emily in KGZ"!
This is a blog dedicated to documenting my journey as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kyrgyz Republic. I will be serving as an English Teacher at a public school and will be working along side a local co-teacher for the next 27 months.
At the time I am writing this, I have currently spent two weeks in Kyrgyzstan. Side-note: The official name is Kyrgyz Republic, but it is better known as Kyrgyzstan which is what I'll most likely refer to it as. These have been simultaneously the longest, craziest and hardest 2 weeks of my life. Here's my biggest takeaways so far:
- When they say Kyrgyzstan is the Switzerland of Central Asia, they mean it. The scenery and nature here is gorgeous. Pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few just to give an idea:
- Kyrgyz food is amazing (a post all about food coming soon) I was so concerned coming here that I wouldn't like the food, but I've yet to have a bad meal. And all the Kyrgyz women keep telling me I'm too skinny and always give me more food than I'll ever be able to eat. I need to establish a workout routine ASAP...
- They take their tea drinking very seriously (every single meal, during breaks, just sitting around, etc..) I've drank more tea in these two weeks than I had during my entire 22 years in the USA. Also the tea here is so much better than anything I've ever had so it's not hard to drink a minimum of 5 cups a day.
- The water filter the Peace Corps gives you is actually harder to get working than the entire process it took to actually get into the Peace Corps (it's a long story that still isn't finished)
Those are the biggest things I've learned so far and that is only scratching the surface. I am currently living with a host family for 3 months and have consistent-ish access to Wifi, so my goal is to update this blog as much as possible. I also have an instagram where I post more pictures and candid-ish moments (@emilyinkgz) if you want to follow :)
Stay tuned for more of Emily in Kyrgyzstan and let me know if there's anything specific you want to see/know about.
- Emily
