Salut and à Bientôt

Salut! Yay…. summer is finally here in Kyrgyzstan… :/. So not a slay. It’s daily here 90-95 degrees or up, sometimes 100, and no AC. Being able to go to Bishkek has been a dream, and the city is indeed fun. I’ve been three times, and a blend of so much, truly, and bigger than I originally thought. I spotted a Hogwarts Cafe (haven’t gone in yet), and we found a Sierra Cafe, a coffee shop with deep Peace Corps roots, so I’ve been told. Peace Corps volunteers have been going to the cafe for decades, and a member of its corporate board is a former Kyrgyz PCV who has stayed in Bishkek for a long time (I think he was in K-15 or something- the K-# refers to what number cohort you are of the PC time in Kyrgyzstan, I am K-29, ie the 29th cohort or 29th year of PC in Kyrgyzstan, last years’ is K-28).  They often say in Peace Corps that you’re part of something big, and that when you leave, you may create something or continue something you never get to see. What is a legacy? As Hamilton says...

Salut,  I think the second week and the third is where you start to notice things you didn’t notice the first, your eyes are too overwhelmed during the first to register absolutely anything. The last two weeks have been kind of a blur, but a lot happens, but time still meanders, days very long but weeks gone in the blink of an eye. On our second Sunday, we went to Santi’s place to celebrate his birthday. It was very fun; I taught them all my favorite card games, “Slimehead”, alternatively called “Palace” or “Shithead” (Pardon my French). We had what we call “green Shirley Temple”, a nonalcoholic green chaser. I can’t remember what we ate but the vibes were amazing. We got to celebrate Eid (or Ait in Kyrgyz). For Eid, it means LOTS of guesting. From 11 am, after two hours of classes, we guested to eight different houses. I had to pace my food a lot. I went home extremely full, extremely exhausted, only to find my host apa hosting even more people at the house. One family was entirel...