Hello from Central Asia! We spent most of April in Kyrgyzstan, a landlocked country roughly the size of the state of Kansas. Neighboring countries are Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Eighty percent of Kyrgyzstan is made up of the Tian Shan Mountain range, and is commonly referred to ask the “Switzerland of Central Asia”.
A few things I learned:
- If your asked to sing, do it.
- Blow your nose in private, not public and not at the dinner table
- If you drop a bag of eggs in the grocery store, consider those eggs as purchased.
- Don’t lean up against a building with one foot propped against it.
- Kumyz, mare’s milk, is a favorite national drink.
What did we do?
We taught English classes in the Universities and at a language center as a part of a cultural exchange program. Through this program, we went to Ala-Archa National Park with students, played sports in the park, and played board games. Exploding kittens was a favorite. If you aren’t familiar with the game, it is pretty much how it sounds, you play, if with a special deck of cards and are a kitten, if you explode you lose.
Everyone was very kind. We all felt incredibly loved and accepted by the people of Kyrgyzstan.
If you’d like to hear more comment below and I’ll send you an email.
Much love, Catherine
Can you believe this little cutie bites? Neither could we.
