Captions: A fellow PCVT on our street, my host mother's dog "Marta", My host sister milking the cow and the rolling hills of Kazakstan (as viewed from our Kyrgyz village)

This evening completes my first official week of living at my pre-service training site. So far, my stomach has been cooperating with the new diet: lots of potatoes, noodles, rice, bread, tea, some meat and fresh vegetable salads. I’m quickly becoming the next Pillsbury Doughboy. Seriously, though, as long as I can keep my health in-check, I’m content!

I’m pretty sure Google Earth doesn’t cover my village, so allow me to paint a picture. The general layout is 4 parallel roads, lined with family farms. My family owns cows, chickens and sheep….some of the neighbors also have horses. The farm smells are pretty familiar, but the outhouse is in a league of its own. I was invited to try milking a cow a few days ago, but I still need to work up the courage to help around the kitchen. There’s a very good chance I could become domesticated here. Another example would be the laundry experience.

I shower in a banya (just go along with my phonetic spelling). Fortunately, I’m able to shower every day…and now for the explanation. A banya is a little enclosed building were Kyrgyz people bathe. Basically, I undress in the first room and enter the second room, where I mix a tub of water, taking cold water from a ground faucet and warm water from a water basin that is heated with fuel. I’ve got no complaints – but I’m leery of any communal banyas that the future may hold.

As far as the weather goes, it gets pretty hot during the day. I thought rain was rare, but we were assaulted by some misty rain on our walk to the internet café today. I’ve got a week of Kyrgyz under my belt, but I still sound like a two-year-old. This week should bring some more interesting news!