Let's Go to Hawaii

    My host mom said to me on the first day: "One day, we will go to Hawaii together." I thought this meant that one day we would go to the U.S. state of Hawaii, which made sense to me because Kyrgyzstan is the most landlocked country in the world so dreaming of the beach seemed fitting. However, I was wrong. A few weeks later, after I had returned home for the day, she told me to get in the car because we were going to Hawaii. Although I had no idea what was going on (typical nowadays), I got in the car, equally nervous and excited to see what was next.

Hawaii 

    After driving for thirty minutes, during which we drove along the Kazakhstan border, we arrived at Hawaii. It turns out Hawaii is a tiny resort area in one of the cities near where I am living. Upon initial glance, it was a lake with a restaurant and hotel next to it. As we walked further in, I found out why it was called Hawaii: there's a giant "I love Hawaii" sign. Along the lake area, there were also statues and fountains including one of a mermaid, tiger, dragon, and dolphin. Several other highlights included old-timey cars and a replica of a Kyrgyz helicopter from World War II.  I also noticed that in the lake there were several floating tables where you could eat dinner. We also witnessed a wedding proposal which was fun to see (my host mom later told me that this was a popular spot for young couples to go on dates to). 

The "I Heart Hawaii" sign

    Once we walked around the entire lake, we then turned down a path and it turns out they also have a zoo. It was quite different from an American zoo, to say the least... Some of the most memorable exhibits included 2 foxes, ostriches, peacocks, a raccoon, and my favorite exhibit: guinea pigs. At one point, I was asked if I had ever seen a raccoon before, and although it was a simple question, it reminded me of just how different life can be around the world. What is commonplace in one place is nonexistent in another and worthy of a zoo exhibit, it reminds you to never take anything you see/do for granted or assume everyone has the same. 

Foxes at the zoo

    After the trip to the zoo, we left Hawaii and headed into the nearby city (there is a distinction between if a town is called a village "ayel" or city "shaar"). We stopped at one of the cafes nearby to have dinner. We ended up eating hamburgers. Although it has the same name as American hamburgers, it was not exactly the same. The meat instead of a patty was shish kebab meat, and it also had coleslaw, french fries and cucumbers on it. Although it is not exactly what I was expecting, it still tasted really good (moral of the story: I've yet to have a bad meal here in close to 2 months). 

The old-timey cars 

    On the way home, the rest of my host family fell asleep, except for my host dad who was driving. He ended up telling me the name of every village that we passed through on the way home, and teaching me the Kyrgyz name for every single plant we passed, along with how to grow them and when they are ready to harvest (the area I'm in right now has plenty of corn that will be ready in the fall). One of my family's favorite games to play is "point at things and ask me to say what they are in Kyrgyz", and it actually has really helped me grow my vocabulary! Also, as someone who has a thumb that's tinted green and wants to get more into growing plants, I've really enjoyed learning about farming and all of the different plants here. My host family grows cucumbers, tomatoes, and raspberries right now, and I'm hoping to learn enough to hopefully one day be able to grow my own. 

    That's the end of my Hawaii trip, although, I hopefully plan to go there again in the near future. The city we were in seemed like it had many things to do and places to explore, so going to Hawaii was just the beginning. Stay tuned for my next adventure: the Peace Corps tradition known as Culture Day.