The End of Bishkek!

Tomorrow morning Mike, Evan and I are getting a taxi to Jalalabad, where we'll stay a night in a dorm at the Turkish high school there with a friend of one of my students, and then Evan will go to China for 2-3 months and Mike and I will head north to Arslanbob, home of the world's largest walnut grove. A few days there, and then we'll head into Tajikistan for the real start of our summer travels!

The last weeks here have FLOWN by- the weather has gotten super hot (more than 30 Celsius) and my classroom was unbearable. Last week Mike and I went to lunch with one of his students. We drove out into the mountains where her parents spend the summer in a yurt, so we had the real Kyrgyz experience. We drank Kyrgyz National "Fire" tea, which is tea, oil, milk, and salt heated together.. pretty good. I also finally drank Kymyz, fermented mare's milk. It was even worse than I'd imagined. It tasted like horrible moldy cheese made into liquid. Then we had Beshbarmak, the Kyrgyz national food made of noodles and horse meat, but it was MUCH better than beshbarmak I've had in restaurants here. It was actually really good, except for the horse intestines full of horse fat. I couldn't really handle that part. It was great to see real Kyrgyz life, and to spend time with Sabira's family. They were so welcoming- it was a glimpse of the Kyrgyz hospitality that Kyrgyz people brag so much about.

Mike got a haircut 2 weeks ago! It was a big big change but I've gotten used to it. It will be

My favorite class threw me a party on Friday and brought in a cake. I have two teenage boy students who talk to me more than my other students, and I think I'm going to miss them the most! One of them might end up going to uni in Istanbul, so maybe he'll be my student again in the future.

On Saturday there was a London School trip to Ala Archa National Park. We went along and spent some time with some students, but most of my students weren't able to attend. Mike and I walked into the mountains and saw a Mountaineer's Cemetery, which was really peaceful and beautiful. Pictures are on facebook. It was really hot in the morning, but started hailing in the afternoon. Luckily we'd made it back to the bus before the downpour started.

I'm not sure if there's any internet for most of the Pamir Highway, but I'll update when I can. If our trip down south involves more dead people, I will make sure to post about that when I get to Osh.

Our itinerary is as follows:

Jalalabad June 1-2
Arslanbob June 2-5
Osh June 5-6
Tajikistan June 6-24?
Uzbekistan June 24?-July 9
Istanbul July 9-16
Bratislava July 16
Vienna July 16-17
Salzburg July 17-31
Budapest, Bucharest, Bulgarian Black Sea? (still not sure, we'll see how much money we have) August

Then hopefully getting a job in Istanbul with accomodation provided! Woohoo!

Happy Summer :)