First week of classes

The first week of classes is now over and it was wonderful. My students are all motivated and caring and so smart! I have already learned so many things from them. We've had interesting debates about globalization, fashion, and Muslims in Europe. Most of the students are in their twenties. They are all very interested in my life and seem to really enjoy coming to class. I'm really glad I brought "The Grammar Book," because there have already been times that I've had to explain grammar concepts and my own explanations weren't good enough.

Last night we went out to an Iranian restaurant and smoked grape hookah. This week we've gone out to dinner every night after work, because I'm so hungry by the time 20:30 rolls around and I'm just not in the mood to cook, especially since most nights the power goes out at 21:00.

Today Mike and I went to Dordoi Bazaar, which is the largest bazaar in Central Asia. There are rows and rows of shipping containers full of shoes, clothes, cosmetics, notebooks, toys, souveniers, etc. You can find everything there, but I was disappointed that the clothes were the same price as semi-expensive clothes at home (for my shopping tastes). There were LOTS of sexy teal boots though, so when winter gets closer we'll go back and I'll have to cave and buy some. Mike bought leather, fur-lined boots for winter. I got some cheap gloves and some Kyrgyz slippers which curl up at the toes like Aladdin! I love them and they were only 7 dollars. I will post pictures of them. I think that we are going to an internet cafe tomorrow that is much faster than the ones close to our apartment, so I will finally be able to put a lot of pictures online.

Tonight we are going to a breakdancing dance-off! There is a team from Texas performing, and their trip here was for some reason sponsored by the State Department. So it will be the US versus Kyrgyzstan. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!