We've now reached 4 full months here in Kyrgyzstan. I know I say this every month, but this month definitely has gone by the fastest. It's actually been closer to 4.5 months at this point, but it has been so busy I barely even noticed we reached this milestone! Anyways, here's a brief recap on the whirlwind that was month 4.
- I've attended approximately 8 different parties
- Fall in Kyrgyzstan is the time for all the parties (or Тойс/"tois")
- With this, there's what feels like dozens of different types of tois
- Some I've been to include: 1 wedding, a joint circumcision/housewarming party, and several memorials (don't worry if you read circumcision party and want to know more...a full post on Toi season is in the works)
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| A Common Toi Set up |
- It's official walnut and pumpkin season
- Jalal Abad is known for their walnuts (we even have the world's oldest walnut forest - Arslanbob) and there are walnut trees everywhere
- Everywhere I go there are walnuts and students are constantly bringing them to me convinced that I have never eaten a walnut before (I also pretend every single time that I haven't)
- With pumpkins becoming available, it means two things: pumpkin samsa and pumpkin manti (equivalent of dumplings)
- Basically just 2 foods I can't get enough of now that I know I love pumpkin
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| The Pumpkin Samsa I'm in Love With |
- I'm learning how to crochet!
- Spoiler: I'm not good at it nor do I know what I'm doing
- It's also been 3 weeks and I've made nothing
- We celebrated Teacher's Day!
- This is a holiday meant to acknowledge/appreciate all the teachers and each school does it a little differently
- For me, it included one day full of performances and gifts from students. The rest of the week, students would bring flowers and little notes for teachers
- The week ended at a celebration at a nearby cafe for all of the teachers. We played games, danced, ate, and I tried to avoid being dragged into the middle of the dance circle
- We judged a spelling bee
- Myself along with the other volunteers in Jalal Abad were invited to judge the Spelling Bee hosted at our local university by the American Center (a program run by the US Embassy to promote English)
- If you're wondering what makes me qualified to judge a spelling bee, the answer is "I'm Not." Don't worry though I don't think I messed anything up and my biggest contribution was telling the students that I ate horse sausage.
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| The Other Volunteers and I at the Spelling Bee |
- My first English Club started!
- I've started an English Club for my 8th-11th grade students. We meet twice a week and it's mostly just a chance for them to practice conversation and work on topics they don't go over in class
- I've also made it my unofficial goal to make them like all the music I listen to, so every lesson we listen to one English song.
- Their current fav: "Nice To Meet Ya" by Niall Horan played after we talked about greetings. (this post is dedicated to them and their love for this song <3)
