tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47333698211177320592024-02-08T03:58:07.478+06:00Adventures in KyrgyzstanPKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-75023416613792321592011-09-22T20:55:00.001+06:002011-09-22T20:58:07.891+06:00A Foreigner at Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 665px;"><colgroup><col width="324"></col> <col width="325"></col> </colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="324"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I feel foreign when...</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">I forget to wear my high heels and my long summer dress when we go for a stroll in the park.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">Peter and I hold hands in public. Mothers and Fathers hold their children's hands; couples link arms.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">Cigarette smoke bothers me.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">I am with a large crowd of Americans.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">When I attempt to speak Russian.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">When I only understand one full sentence of Russian.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">I look around and realize that no one looks like me. Strange! (Although, if I upped the dressiness level of my outfit, I could pass for Russian).</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">We buy bacon from the same place we buy homestyle chocolate chip cookies.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">I flinch when a car gets a little too close to me.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </td> <td width="325"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I feel at home when...</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">I chat it up with the girl at the samci stand.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">The woman at the rotisserie chicken stand (next to the little shop we go to to buy American chocolate chip cookies) says, “Ne Vedila Vam Davno” (I haven't seen you in a long time) after summer break.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">When I can say “Well, it is Kyrgyzstan after all” in response to oh so many things – like how cars run the stoplights, how things are always done last minute, how it is hard or impossible to find this or that or the other etc... but would feel defensive if an outsider made the same comment.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">When I understand a full sentence of Russian.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">When I can show the new-hires their way around town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">When I boldly (albeit stupidly) walk across a crosswalk just because everybody else is, not because it is our turn to cross.</span></li>
</ul></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-73354225424042704232011-09-22T20:47:00.000+06:002011-09-22T20:47:02.257+06:00Moments in Bishkek<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is a new statue in town. </span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">We, it must be admitted, liked the old one better. </span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps that makes us old-timers.</span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lDlyJcsa5trmXcL1rcAlWN_Bvp0Fkxocu14yu24jXBJeTu8VHDB_Pxf3zW9N0Y7WqAPh-YUbVl66h8AhNL64q8BZlUPv5CoyNE1wu2oiRmYMp_jwylT5LCrRJZsjwIrccIW-1tFm30k/s1600/2011+09+18_0166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lDlyJcsa5trmXcL1rcAlWN_Bvp0Fkxocu14yu24jXBJeTu8VHDB_Pxf3zW9N0Y7WqAPh-YUbVl66h8AhNL64q8BZlUPv5CoyNE1wu2oiRmYMp_jwylT5LCrRJZsjwIrccIW-1tFm30k/s640/2011+09+18_0166.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Who knew marigolds could grow so tall? </span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Or I could have such a funny look on my face?)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4uT9PinYvmADSJ2ixxcCcPdBXlEIReAbctoh0cc5XgpBuCGmg3fytmSeQoFfR4l85QSsBrLbBSl9X5dtskAt0G1-zKqjYq-MHqKQM_z1ijAZ9q-4ILUiC48-bgz7Emr1zADQVhIoHyU/s1600/2011+09+18_0236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4uT9PinYvmADSJ2ixxcCcPdBXlEIReAbctoh0cc5XgpBuCGmg3fytmSeQoFfR4l85QSsBrLbBSl9X5dtskAt0G1-zKqjYq-MHqKQM_z1ijAZ9q-4ILUiC48-bgz7Emr1zADQVhIoHyU/s400/2011+09+18_0236.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Who says you can't get these items here?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: purple; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineQu0krj_VTwp2Lre52Jj_JM5wUt203Ye5fGD_dpV4FMja-YsfFThSLW-le6OMMzC59QxHuRgLmc6h3NzFfF39OzEpYoSbyfHJJCnANcBDb7SXVuKAZ_nA4L6vXWTolnW6bbIGBNNBsk/s1600/2011+09+22_0321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineQu0krj_VTwp2Lre52Jj_JM5wUt203Ye5fGD_dpV4FMja-YsfFThSLW-le6OMMzC59QxHuRgLmc6h3NzFfF39OzEpYoSbyfHJJCnANcBDb7SXVuKAZ_nA4L6vXWTolnW6bbIGBNNBsk/s640/2011+09+22_0321.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Date of Purchases: Ranch - September 21st </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Brown Sugar (yes, that is Chinese you see on it)- September 22nd. We are on a roll! </span></div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-34916406383132551402011-09-19T15:20:00.000+06:002011-09-19T15:20:00.146+06:00Mandal, Norway.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Alright, the real beauty of this trip to Norway wasn't seeing the sights (although that was beautiful and worth it all by itself). The beauty was seeing Anne again, meeting her husband Geir (for the second time) and getting to know him a bit, and meeting her two kids, Mads and Mina.<br />
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Anne and Geir, thank you so much for having us and showing us around. It was FANTASTIC!<br />
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Here's what we saw:<br />
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The crew.<br />
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Mandal from above.<br />
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The old church in Mandal.<br />
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We went for a drive up to Bjaastad, which is where our (Anne and I) Great-Grandfather was raised. He is buried at this church. We also went to the site of the farm where he lived. Pretty cool.<br />
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My Great-Grandfather, Tobias Bjastad.<br />
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The stairs to the house my ancestors lived in, and the house Grandpa Stanley Gammelgard visited in the summer of '39. The pictures to follow are of the "front yard" of the home site.<br />
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We stopped in to see Olga (Anne's grandmother) on our way back from Bjaastad. (To all you Kingsburg/Mission Springs folks, it might LOOK like Ryan Person was there with us, but that's my 3rd cousin Kristian, visiting his grandma (Olga).<br />
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We delivered a (c. 1865) family heirloom back to Norway where it would be appreciated. Thor Olav is holding here.<br />
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Anne, Geir, Katie and I went out on the North Sea and had a picnic on this island. It was great fun. <br />
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I even took a short swim. I was surprised to learn that, depending on
the weather and water currents, the water here can be much warmer than
Santa Cruz. Lucky for me, it was one of those times, so I didn't turn
all the way blue.<br />
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Pizza dinner with Geir, Anne and Mina. Good times. <br />
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Somehow we needed a picture with the whole family. <br />
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I guess this worked pretty well too.<br />
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We took Gunhild and Thor Olav's bikes for a couple of good rides!<br />
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We went to the southernmost mainland to see the lighthouse there. Lindesnes. Beautiful. <br />
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We had lunch at the wool factory, then rode the bikes back to Mandal. <br />
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Finally, we flew out of Oslo, so we had an evening there to walk around. Fun city, although the hotel was expensive ;o)<br />
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I think that's it for pictures from Norway on this blog. Of course, there are many more and we'd love to share them with you if you're interested... for $1,000,000.00.</div>
PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-54090635429139918522011-09-18T15:19:00.000+06:002011-09-18T15:19:05.825+06:00Preikstolen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We met Anne and Gunhild in Stavanger, walked around, had dinner, then went to sleep. The next day held a nice little hike for us to a place called "Preikstolen." It means pulpit rock, or preacher's rock. It sets nicely above the fjord. Take a look.<br />
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Stavanger Moonrise <br />
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The three ladies<br />
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It was crowded. More crowded than any of us expected. It felt like Yosemite in summer.<br />
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She's like my extra/first sister!<br />
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Then, off to Mandal, a nearly idyllic town in the south of Norway. Absolutely beautiful. A great place live. Thank you Anne for sharing with us!<br />
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PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-88733666638271199112011-09-01T20:27:00.001+06:002011-09-01T20:40:18.478+06:00Norway - The First Days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Norway</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Alright, we get off the plane in Bergen at about noon and we get our luggage and head for the exit. After no passp</span><span style="font-size: large;">ort check or anything, we go through the doors to find the smiling face of my dad's second cousin </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-GB">Bjør</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">g. She and her husband were gracious enough to let us stay with them for two nights before we headed south to see Anne and her family in Mandal, but more of that later.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bergen is Norway's second largest city and has a long history as a trading port between the north or Norway and the rest of Europe. It's really rather beautiful as, much like a lot of Norway's coast, mountains and sea come together. We were somewhat tired from the previous two days worth of whirlwind traveling and I suspect that </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-GB">Bjør</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">g could see that. She said, “why don't you guys take a nap and I'll wake you up at 3:30 and we can go out for a hike and some sight-seeing.” We agreed to her plan. And boy, did we nap!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">After that, it was up and at 'em to find dinner. We wanted to get hiking, so we ended up at McDonald's. Not just any McDonald's, mind you, but a McDonald's where a “meal” (McChicken, fries or salad, and soda) came to a whopping $17. Yes, you read that right, SEVENTEEN DOLLARS!!! And we don't even like McDonald's! In fact, we haven't been to one in years. And yet, there we were, eating our first meal in Norway under the golden arches. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then, off we went to ride a tram to the top of a mountain and we enjoyed a glorious hike down the side of it. That was more our style. It was also great to chat with </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-GB">Bjør</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">g and her husband. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-GB">Bjør</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">g, a believer, spent years with the Navigators in Norway; I (Katie) was part of the Navigators in college. Connections like that are always fun.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's a picture or two:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQh0mdeTMjOszvOEp6hNqXqUi-JuDIDFHcerIJtwB3buwUYwqF1mOhCsLCnpfUNE1KwoZrwG0-m3RpHh_KV_nmQ9-ZsKTpCRpRKNqQj13NM-a4dbMifmlbUM95qL-nZiVuY2NHBiD56Mg/s1600/2011+08+10_8519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQh0mdeTMjOszvOEp6hNqXqUi-JuDIDFHcerIJtwB3buwUYwqF1mOhCsLCnpfUNE1KwoZrwG0-m3RpHh_KV_nmQ9-ZsKTpCRpRKNqQj13NM-a4dbMifmlbUM95qL-nZiVuY2NHBiD56Mg/s400/2011+08+10_8519.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlMPnoW2VoYw_kP6XLFlporfNSgKyzHKMTxR2nlFtgya44Nb-6fJJucFWyrpK_cy5O1D_p1zkxmBdvZ3mVosoRPP4TLhX4_In10rLSa_CQdIq_s0RreZBcrOh06GpiFG8K2Hqm0AObEg/s1600/2011+08+10_8554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlMPnoW2VoYw_kP6XLFlporfNSgKyzHKMTxR2nlFtgya44Nb-6fJJucFWyrpK_cy5O1D_p1zkxmBdvZ3mVosoRPP4TLhX4_In10rLSa_CQdIq_s0RreZBcrOh06GpiFG8K2Hqm0AObEg/s640/2011+08+10_8554.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQ0Fo6dN2in5rCEXH9f8WluvnZDG50D3cSR1aWmyODXo8NFUxOhumEqOHZ3oLTvzxbr6YjbDaMAggYc1eVn0VnvDANZOyPOU_8KR9jsAvrbME5inhXrbnV6P9UPRohnJ77nqy1Iw_TdY/s1600/2011+08+10_8561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQ0Fo6dN2in5rCEXH9f8WluvnZDG50D3cSR1aWmyODXo8NFUxOhumEqOHZ3oLTvzxbr6YjbDaMAggYc1eVn0VnvDANZOyPOU_8KR9jsAvrbME5inhXrbnV6P9UPRohnJ77nqy1Iw_TdY/s640/2011+08+10_8561.jpg" width="426" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The next day we slept in and took a tram ($5) into town. There we faced a couple of dilemmas. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dilemma # 1: We needed to change money, having only 100 kroner left (about $20). In Bishkek this would be no dilemma at all. Walk across the street from our apartment and there are at least 8 different places to change money, all with a competitively high rate. (That is to say, walk in and change $100 to som, then sell the som back into $ and you'd only lose about .75</span><span style="font-size: large;">¢). Now, go to Norway where you could change money at the tourist information venue for a terrible rate of 4.8 (The real exchange rate is about 5.5 kroner per dollar). Or you could go to the bank and get a rate of 5.3. The only hitch was, at the bank there was a fee of 200 kroner. Do the math (or have a husband who does) and you realize that that is a fee of $40. Do the math again and realize that if you change a large sum of money, that fee of $40 is actually less than the amount you would lose at the tourist place. So, we took a number and waited at the bank. (We were reminded again that we were not in Kyrgyzstan where the concept of “take a number and have a seat while you wait”does not exist). We waited. And waited. And found free coffee/hot chocolate. The only thing free in Norway. Then, Peter was called up to the window and asked to show his passport. Um, we didn't need a passport to get out of the Norwegian airport, why the heck would we need it now? So, no, we didn't have the passport. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vOVhb-Ko766bMryhoFc4nQK60WjVJvTLo-e_lXZd168tQs8-JVA9NP_bFBCJFv8aLVU2kNcVAcrQ0KoLYWKm3-eyt1NexvWfvcP-LAUBlsRXqDLJOHGEz1g1qGmWgIdMm_Nrw2PCZb8/s1600/2011+08+11_8459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vOVhb-Ko766bMryhoFc4nQK60WjVJvTLo-e_lXZd168tQs8-JVA9NP_bFBCJFv8aLVU2kNcVAcrQ0KoLYWKm3-eyt1NexvWfvcP-LAUBlsRXqDLJOHGEz1g1qGmWgIdMm_Nrw2PCZb8/s400/2011+08+11_8459.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Okay, now things were getting a little desperate 100 kroner was just enough to get us back to the house and back to town again. And I was hungry. Which brings us to dilemma # 2.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dilemma # 2: How will we eat in Norway? </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Snickers bar costs $3. A measly looking hot dog costs $7. A meal at McDonald's, oh wait, we've covered that one already! If you have a cheap soul and are looking for a way to diet, I suggest you go to Norway – without a lot of money. I am ever so grateful to the families that fed us during our stay there.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our dilemmas were solved when: We wandered around and found a small bank that didn't need our passport and only charged us a $30 fee to change money (only!) and we bought a calzone (~$10) to split from 7-Eleven. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then we were finally off to play in Bergen! We walked around and saw a bunch of the oldest parts of the city...</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrng_PDw3UZY3NcsyZ84JsSwN8dlZhUvKMc-iqfk7ByZYUtdOrjePOVQAhxRJb4R-uWeOSTKOOnMaUviop-ULislciPp7Wn9bFMcpXxjD8Ba7SqAwyc7eURJW2mUSAYO-fu_S0M6cQrQI/s1600/2011+08+11_8436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrng_PDw3UZY3NcsyZ84JsSwN8dlZhUvKMc-iqfk7ByZYUtdOrjePOVQAhxRJb4R-uWeOSTKOOnMaUviop-ULislciPp7Wn9bFMcpXxjD8Ba7SqAwyc7eURJW2mUSAYO-fu_S0M6cQrQI/s640/2011+08+11_8436.jpg" width="426" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikPGI19s6CT0KCn6Y-d9Ej3fhmGQv-MsRniW648jxdiH6OHXq3dBZaoIvCaO3w_HgIszrSQFI2vmR6NKUAY6MKdnI-aWoGIwpHPxFpse9nyUgtvENvzPKOV_13EzOxX48WLS1UPMIkwxg/s1600/2011+08+11_8447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikPGI19s6CT0KCn6Y-d9Ej3fhmGQv-MsRniW648jxdiH6OHXq3dBZaoIvCaO3w_HgIszrSQFI2vmR6NKUAY6MKdnI-aWoGIwpHPxFpse9nyUgtvENvzPKOV_13EzOxX48WLS1UPMIkwxg/s640/2011+08+11_8447.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">We ended up walking up one of the city's seven surrounding hills. On this particular hill, there is a funicular railway which you could take to a restaurant and viewing area. As Katie mentioned above, we wanted some money left when we departed for Bishkek, so walking was our mode of transport; we probably would have walked even if things weren't so expensive, but it has become a joke, so we'll go with it.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTOIrH1Pu6fBLIjUOgxWGRlAivC-UmSOjDQ5zbPPJ6x4DPKfv2etKdvjqYYpOJRjdtQ84_m9tTCuyCoPQlj4ESmR-xGwkR2mMCTyWKwdaiLadECi9GSsB7SC4UqcmOivkuWKvERpwRB8/s1600/2011+08+11_8465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTOIrH1Pu6fBLIjUOgxWGRlAivC-UmSOjDQ5zbPPJ6x4DPKfv2etKdvjqYYpOJRjdtQ84_m9tTCuyCoPQlj4ESmR-xGwkR2mMCTyWKwdaiLadECi9GSsB7SC4UqcmOivkuWKvERpwRB8/s640/2011+08+11_8465.jpg" width="426" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbvnuoK0cVEy9h0W28C0U8sUuj3iaEJNbdR8OF4ps_numfmUj1k3lS9fmEY0USasDovv5rqhf8byKU4ChUnBWM4UQpgw5ouK8rydJ7uOdiSwOOfv5Z1QBPjfhWMzfFzGwAztOiOGufrI/s1600/2011+08+11_8468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbvnuoK0cVEy9h0W28C0U8sUuj3iaEJNbdR8OF4ps_numfmUj1k3lS9fmEY0USasDovv5rqhf8byKU4ChUnBWM4UQpgw5ouK8rydJ7uOdiSwOOfv5Z1QBPjfhWMzfFzGwAztOiOGufrI/s640/2011+08+11_8468.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NoWsXz1CT3KMIwcytU680Y-kxu_sy6biuqiATOjbGZXQ8wRWvZMsCN9MFD2XCBcQgdeeO32TNao6SXHt_TH1wY4h4H1Su_MwjVagy86SMKlPKhWk9EO64RG22MynxaMFjTU5LsbIc7U/s1600/2011+08+11_8469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NoWsXz1CT3KMIwcytU680Y-kxu_sy6biuqiATOjbGZXQ8wRWvZMsCN9MFD2XCBcQgdeeO32TNao6SXHt_TH1wY4h4H1Su_MwjVagy86SMKlPKhWk9EO64RG22MynxaMFjTU5LsbIc7U/s640/2011+08+11_8469.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJvNecUDHslvthAaOE_VzNNvk98BF8GoD91GRoBK4jZHZjUW5rSJEWEHCkHnsByHl7R8rrf0k7RJlH97j3Ic3aXc-67CGMUyg6XfjiXlrYwThKMzcmp6Lba_ZiLkorslM55PH1D88ka8/s1600/2011+08+11_8475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJvNecUDHslvthAaOE_VzNNvk98BF8GoD91GRoBK4jZHZjUW5rSJEWEHCkHnsByHl7R8rrf0k7RJlH97j3Ic3aXc-67CGMUyg6XfjiXlrYwThKMzcmp6Lba_ZiLkorslM55PH1D88ka8/s640/2011+08+11_8475.jpg" width="426" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVVyxqOSbgLn3SK_rc1dOeZ39igEqTtxwAI_-umUpL_psmKtT-mUlvXLqQxQQcR7zF4NKc_jH18h3xD3b5XQtRbbfw3vgaM_iDDJYv2z7MtK9BjbOJ7Auh_FIHSKYBAqmx2xVjN_zjHo/s1600/2011+08+11_8490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVVyxqOSbgLn3SK_rc1dOeZ39igEqTtxwAI_-umUpL_psmKtT-mUlvXLqQxQQcR7zF4NKc_jH18h3xD3b5XQtRbbfw3vgaM_iDDJYv2z7MtK9BjbOJ7Auh_FIHSKYBAqmx2xVjN_zjHo/s640/2011+08+11_8490.jpg" width="426" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaEiWJ38eVdx1XYdgqr52f9TU8lSNltNwwEwxwz58jVwTUCnIKYx0QnMxNtlgbI-UPDXaAKWlT5Og-AdjzTR8_5hEo27toLvJzC59W9zwaahVXs8EOVR00K5yKerR59tdVzGRRJqt57I/s1600/2011+08+11_8496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaEiWJ38eVdx1XYdgqr52f9TU8lSNltNwwEwxwz58jVwTUCnIKYx0QnMxNtlgbI-UPDXaAKWlT5Og-AdjzTR8_5hEo27toLvJzC59W9zwaahVXs8EOVR00K5yKerR59tdVzGRRJqt57I/s640/2011+08+11_8496.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> These buildings are very old and really are as catty-wompus as they look. Very cool.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">We had dinner back at the house, and enjoyed an evening relaxing and chatting with our distant relatives. It was very fun to be in Bergen and to get to know some special people! Thanks!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Next morning, a bus to Stavanger to meet Anne!</span></div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-1578998685139585362011-08-16T20:46:00.000+06:002011-08-16T20:46:19.357+06:00Icelandic Impressions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">First a note about leaving...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> It was harder this year to leave than last year. Perhaps our eagerness to fly away has been traded for an even deeper desire to feel rooted. But the adventure goes on. We have a life to live, students to teach, friendships to build and a great God to follow in Bishkek. I think we'll be okay ;)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Back to Iceland...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> We arrived in the Icelandic airport at 11:50pm, and waited for our hotel pick-up. And we waited. And waited and worried and waited. The worry ceased once we found another couple who was waiting for the same van. Our need for community is deep – as long as I know someone else is in the same boat as I am, then everything is okay (even when it's not)!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> We were picked-up (thank goodness), registered at the hotel, signed up for a tour and fell into bed. We were up and waiting outside by 7:45 for our Golden Circle Tour. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_jgpHpqJZfK24w6nGYmEbjoLhcu0lqtrfHvrfvkFm0brIKSDVffQ6FANG8DitqZQ6QQfrcOe0xwjeqTkjrI_3UhkF3vSlcOFsvimMfOBgMrDLdy3oJJLN-X6EhcLdmM4Wq2bD6actiE/s1600/2011+08+09_8575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_jgpHpqJZfK24w6nGYmEbjoLhcu0lqtrfHvrfvkFm0brIKSDVffQ6FANG8DitqZQ6QQfrcOe0xwjeqTkjrI_3UhkF3vSlcOFsvimMfOBgMrDLdy3oJJLN-X6EhcLdmM4Wq2bD6actiE/s640/2011+08+09_8575.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3DCh1hQHjn_etpfkY-Q4e0b2pl_ssImdTpb_-ZjyQVXDgjw7U8CbundtZOp6lVb2jbUN-giSBJcFycSWndCcYUhrvK8gFKmqmEyZbv9fWfhzlknn7PWVBHaIYz_Mz1UBUoy6SxkJ9Gk/s1600/2011+08+09_8569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3DCh1hQHjn_etpfkY-Q4e0b2pl_ssImdTpb_-ZjyQVXDgjw7U8CbundtZOp6lVb2jbUN-giSBJcFycSWndCcYUhrvK8gFKmqmEyZbv9fWfhzlknn7PWVBHaIYz_Mz1UBUoy6SxkJ9Gk/s640/2011+08+09_8569.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">(Okay, okay, so this isn't actually the vehicle we went in!)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoL9WCK6DWjaRp_FdshulUfVDcjXtegjcDIYjGxm9HA7-nlTimBkpkaUal1g0Jl5cvBTwUJ5kDEHX1nKJiqGG18p6ufNYTMV9C2yh6rhlUgIIl2KvtQEXyX2x9i2MNT6tSw0i6Pr95Xsc/s1600/2011+08+09_8579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoL9WCK6DWjaRp_FdshulUfVDcjXtegjcDIYjGxm9HA7-nlTimBkpkaUal1g0Jl5cvBTwUJ5kDEHX1nKJiqGG18p6ufNYTMV9C2yh6rhlUgIIl2KvtQEXyX2x9i2MNT6tSw0i6Pr95Xsc/s640/2011+08+09_8579.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A note about Iceland - they heat their homes using the readily available geo-thermal heat. Hot water from the ground is piped all over. Waterfalls are used to generate electricity. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We loaded up in a bus with 1/1000<sup>th</sup> of all the other tourists in Iceland at the moment, and off we went. Stop # 1 was a famous church where the first bishops lived. Beautiful!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ab7dqxCpSwS1FRlpeyPOa-6RyCS-qz3D9ba6dZ7crh9yyL31yUnqXvk14CeoD3Fv8cbEOSLIS3hQ1OJeSc95JwJ45BVZ0TDB-jz3nUtYoDQMXtLXeFmuOttuioIL2-knuDO01tks47Y/s1600/2011+08+09_8590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ab7dqxCpSwS1FRlpeyPOa-6RyCS-qz3D9ba6dZ7crh9yyL31yUnqXvk14CeoD3Fv8cbEOSLIS3hQ1OJeSc95JwJ45BVZ0TDB-jz3nUtYoDQMXtLXeFmuOttuioIL2-knuDO01tks47Y/s640/2011+08+09_8590.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicDhfKfMkeXC4CzePCl7HSc4IiuSQdgI8fqkhU4A_0J-2hRTKltBzYR3VNlGUNtiyQd7iI6kcIvWeUumojsgPOHzYUzVuQyPqS1s9ILPEbd6Mr59CjiW0VFnwsz7RmOLqTnrQBPIxbTo/s1600/2011+08+09_8594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicDhfKfMkeXC4CzePCl7HSc4IiuSQdgI8fqkhU4A_0J-2hRTKltBzYR3VNlGUNtiyQd7iI6kcIvWeUumojsgPOHzYUzVuQyPqS1s9ILPEbd6Mr59CjiW0VFnwsz7RmOLqTnrQBPIxbTo/s640/2011+08+09_8594.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5M8dpFUkk4S50Lg9qZFVUEhp0I5VKSzgP0yuyfE28mRJUCpveLitq8KSaYlfxocrpNeP1MDmOJ2UEZljy4PwrisxN8VUzHqcInw_eCz5af-CPYTXm4cH44Gc_weMAUsq9Bx3DC1yCes/s1600/2011+08+09_8596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5M8dpFUkk4S50Lg9qZFVUEhp0I5VKSzgP0yuyfE28mRJUCpveLitq8KSaYlfxocrpNeP1MDmOJ2UEZljy4PwrisxN8VUzHqcInw_eCz5af-CPYTXm4cH44Gc_weMAUsq9Bx3DC1yCes/s640/2011+08+09_8596.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><br />
Of course, Peter and I had to stretch our legs and move around in the countryside a bit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn1EBv7Ye233Jc2_xzkcHr6o8q-uBuQEu23g_Edlcognt-Hlv-A7PvE8JWjJq1uJxhi_IKig4iz-hT4OQi-URmNn4syZ4HxcZu55brm09_acrMLgvRCo5R1zIaTlCFCuX71vOv6ak-ms/s1600/2011+08+09_8602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn1EBv7Ye233Jc2_xzkcHr6o8q-uBuQEu23g_Edlcognt-Hlv-A7PvE8JWjJq1uJxhi_IKig4iz-hT4OQi-URmNn4syZ4HxcZu55brm09_acrMLgvRCo5R1zIaTlCFCuX71vOv6ak-ms/s640/2011+08+09_8602.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Because on the bus sometimes we felt a little crazy...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMyIhtjKn4sLHdZO4OxQ8IslPunDpGVAlaPyNA1a93F2UWfklGG3P0OicTj4_vIN_yBV7_LjG43e1njHEQCYrPmkNUsr1MsvLF5ftSVPjskH_eeedi7Gb1Cbadzv6o8q35QkT-6beeM4/s1600/2011+08+09_8633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMyIhtjKn4sLHdZO4OxQ8IslPunDpGVAlaPyNA1a93F2UWfklGG3P0OicTj4_vIN_yBV7_LjG43e1njHEQCYrPmkNUsr1MsvLF5ftSVPjskH_eeedi7Gb1Cbadzv6o8q35QkT-6beeM4/s640/2011+08+09_8633.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjt70KxUIeDDnnWNDBHqTSqtqkoraLlh_alzWVZS-0D7mG_jK2Cb7qMxa_X91rSOsxurTYT3_2VWdt4HXKxEg-hnPNRamxfM0x0CdLiVTzkzHd-SOWLywKjNTY0VaZWlHd74PZWZOhS8/s1600/2011+08+09_8634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjt70KxUIeDDnnWNDBHqTSqtqkoraLlh_alzWVZS-0D7mG_jK2Cb7qMxa_X91rSOsxurTYT3_2VWdt4HXKxEg-hnPNRamxfM0x0CdLiVTzkzHd-SOWLywKjNTY0VaZWlHd74PZWZOhS8/s640/2011+08+09_8634.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">On our way to stop # 2, we caught a glimpse of the 2<sup>nd</sup> largest glacier in Iceland. It looked like frosting spreading out and oozing down a cupcake. Not at all like the glaciers I think of, which are tucked up between the nooks and crannies of large mountains.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Stop # 2 was at the Gullfoss waterfall. It was different to hike down into a canyon to see waterfalls. We also went into a gift shop and this is where the prices we saw made our jaws begin to drop. My jaw is still down to my collar bone but more about that later. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUPLkch8dhRPFBxfvfdBl6vbUN7Zu56XlICkiYT4S0iEiSk2sW4CZDHoVgb-tY4Ir7rRJM9zQANYXR4lVxTQdh8jLul9pSGlbNxbB0uUHc_XtIffBdqtjh_pareBtLXDbvwhhLT0lsVM/s1600/2011+08+09_8643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUPLkch8dhRPFBxfvfdBl6vbUN7Zu56XlICkiYT4S0iEiSk2sW4CZDHoVgb-tY4Ir7rRJM9zQANYXR4lVxTQdh8jLul9pSGlbNxbB0uUHc_XtIffBdqtjh_pareBtLXDbvwhhLT0lsVM/s640/2011+08+09_8643.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_fQe7ah6oPdfZ7QM7y6bVbuAX9gm96W-2POBfbCy0aKhExo5VyZ4C7-INAuunm_o3T0tzDMz9dol4lxOMzqNlN6QWGfAFRWVwUNWWJoMpF-8yZYvpE5iL6lHQx5kwxxwI2mW_xf97V8/s1600/2011+08+09_8647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_fQe7ah6oPdfZ7QM7y6bVbuAX9gm96W-2POBfbCy0aKhExo5VyZ4C7-INAuunm_o3T0tzDMz9dol4lxOMzqNlN6QWGfAFRWVwUNWWJoMpF-8yZYvpE5iL6lHQx5kwxxwI2mW_xf97V8/s640/2011+08+09_8647.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUw8nPt5lDQAgoM6AZa0-zs4pCJzwxvymfGbPtJpAYS5T6P_2ni5_jb5c4pPLmEL5ko1gWUDrBm9aLr1hFUqwfSxnezZJ6BrNUhFCPK-spYiHHO5HhcfMyPv9aa43BXMmWB6CIvAAG88/s1600/2011+08+09_8657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUw8nPt5lDQAgoM6AZa0-zs4pCJzwxvymfGbPtJpAYS5T6P_2ni5_jb5c4pPLmEL5ko1gWUDrBm9aLr1hFUqwfSxnezZJ6BrNUhFCPK-spYiHHO5HhcfMyPv9aa43BXMmWB6CIvAAG88/s640/2011+08+09_8657.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebJkNwVg4wJBiPSotg4xbQmwea7lFm5LUHREIV0dJkIxMFLQKlZ67EOw2Ne7r1NvFp4Ngqaz6dYsch4SmTc08VYhwzN8ZKspp-3TAkEWf0mXZml79h__mUlr-o6Mp943XkiyydO8ynvc/s1600/2011+08+09_8669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebJkNwVg4wJBiPSotg4xbQmwea7lFm5LUHREIV0dJkIxMFLQKlZ67EOw2Ne7r1NvFp4Ngqaz6dYsch4SmTc08VYhwzN8ZKspp-3TAkEWf0mXZml79h__mUlr-o6Mp943XkiyydO8ynvc/s640/2011+08+09_8669.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Stop # 3 – the miniature Yellowstone in Iceland, with one geyser whose name “Geysir” is where the term geyser comes from! Geysir itself rarely spouts off anymore, but there was one called Strokkur (which means churning) that performs its show once every five minutes. We found the cheapest thing to eat - grilled ham and cheese sandos for $4.00 -yum!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJsTrpo5B-SEjfvdeBKDGLcGKH5DPcpRCPnIXott6R-uqTX9K70CRHkn4_V2JLGouq-CaZPC9xo-ZrTzeiyqCso6UGXDZdygW28-IlblQjG3-ooCPKDuU7oZMYC6r_JCCSXd03pNa-2o/s1600/2011+08+09_8676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJsTrpo5B-SEjfvdeBKDGLcGKH5DPcpRCPnIXott6R-uqTX9K70CRHkn4_V2JLGouq-CaZPC9xo-ZrTzeiyqCso6UGXDZdygW28-IlblQjG3-ooCPKDuU7oZMYC6r_JCCSXd03pNa-2o/s640/2011+08+09_8676.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjna9t-Uz6F03LNMxgcBUArOuP8pZjlKJMpJOXba385iS2mQSzNg8SqLEMFXvX-2LsivIaV-8ItWegRs1VnDXZHFoWFzUch2jhRgJYqDyRcPavm5Dr7L2m8orXg73L0OmVxP96JgSM27C8/s1600/2011+08+09_8697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjna9t-Uz6F03LNMxgcBUArOuP8pZjlKJMpJOXba385iS2mQSzNg8SqLEMFXvX-2LsivIaV-8ItWegRs1VnDXZHFoWFzUch2jhRgJYqDyRcPavm5Dr7L2m8orXg73L0OmVxP96JgSM27C8/s640/2011+08+09_8697.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5GGkoQ4SUplJGJ8q2-kekwRlwvEgblvD-zxwAtwkoPLfYG8w2Cu_bwaF5pB_SBzfWExayg9Wpv9supf9X2tILCkJ6K86t2bsIYw5C4NAseLJV2smaHsx8Zw58CsGxX85cKN8Yqd20Ek/s1600/2011+08+09_8726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5GGkoQ4SUplJGJ8q2-kekwRlwvEgblvD-zxwAtwkoPLfYG8w2Cu_bwaF5pB_SBzfWExayg9Wpv9supf9X2tILCkJ6K86t2bsIYw5C4NAseLJV2smaHsx8Zw58CsGxX85cKN8Yqd20Ek/s640/2011+08+09_8726.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Between stop # 3 and # 4 I took a good nap, unable to hold my eyelids open anymore. The nap continued, and Peter participated in one too after our last stop at Thingvellir. It was here that in 930A.D. the world's first parliament gathered. For the next 300 years people journeyed to this place once a year to elect leaders and argue cases. It was also in this place where I paid the most I ever have paid to use the restroom -the equivalent of $2.00. Ah man.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcukPNYCG5sxaNGnotWg-KRoaCetGRXMRm_es_qxC9vAvvWWA6xRQX8e9hKGjXrizgXK9Vcbe9VWizfx9KrsVAaRhtpw9vpAE_Q6RqefMJX888JdsoPFHoTsagFqEukpe-eO5LABpiaMo/s1600/2011+08+09_8742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcukPNYCG5sxaNGnotWg-KRoaCetGRXMRm_es_qxC9vAvvWWA6xRQX8e9hKGjXrizgXK9Vcbe9VWizfx9KrsVAaRhtpw9vpAE_Q6RqefMJX888JdsoPFHoTsagFqEukpe-eO5LABpiaMo/s640/2011+08+09_8742.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We were dropped off in Reykjavik's city center. We found the tourist information place (ahh, if only Bishkek had one of those!) and figured out how we would get back to our hotel which was located out by the airport later that evening. We wandered around and realized that we are not so good at being tourists since we forgot to worry about changing money until it was after 6pm and all the banks were closed. (Okay, Bishkek wins in terms of the availability of places to change money!). We ate dinner (hamburgers) for a total of $35. Luckily they took U.S. dollars and gave us Icelandic money back as change (At a much more favorable exchange rate than any bank would ever give us... seriously). We wandered some more, bought an ice cone for $5.00 and waited for our bus at 9pm. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUMKMV6EXch9kn-zRn8ymS3bWV0q9Pq6cJx-w4vsL5rmZsrvCt0OIl6cKwErOdBWjxCLXDF26e3CsJu2VAISk1n9ztLfNG6BJwnpAA6U2qM879gxJ4TKfcUrkDib0tNVk50oQqDdcnVk/s1600/2011+08+09_8773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUMKMV6EXch9kn-zRn8ymS3bWV0q9Pq6cJx-w4vsL5rmZsrvCt0OIl6cKwErOdBWjxCLXDF26e3CsJu2VAISk1n9ztLfNG6BJwnpAA6U2qM879gxJ4TKfcUrkDib0tNVk50oQqDdcnVk/s640/2011+08+09_8773.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4FJdiWI4781oGax8za9fpamF22EMbjBnzU_qv5QZJ5UiGKZIgRj2BrxHcIKfSAZZKucGJpgVGvZZf3Lovsp1yPqO3x9vdTVY3Tup4GXzIRQIUDun0EZlaf2iHgw8ZScDPD0vz1KZ_TY/s1600/2011+08+09_8775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4FJdiWI4781oGax8za9fpamF22EMbjBnzU_qv5QZJ5UiGKZIgRj2BrxHcIKfSAZZKucGJpgVGvZZf3Lovsp1yPqO3x9vdTVY3Tup4GXzIRQIUDun0EZlaf2iHgw8ZScDPD0vz1KZ_TY/s640/2011+08+09_8775.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjX3qqv0bNvh7mVbvTZTVRanUEAiXE-woGFYxW2rZnyzJ0z2z0v2nOb9Bqw8NoqMH1K4g_fL2q1ZxEicmPEo1AZmeZpWTasmI_XXnrDWDP1y0NZpM_PAv4pBG2gCYnBUsXzz7C4SOPKlg/s1600/2011+08+09_8760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjX3qqv0bNvh7mVbvTZTVRanUEAiXE-woGFYxW2rZnyzJ0z2z0v2nOb9Bqw8NoqMH1K4g_fL2q1ZxEicmPEo1AZmeZpWTasmI_XXnrDWDP1y0NZpM_PAv4pBG2gCYnBUsXzz7C4SOPKlg/s640/2011+08+09_8760.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> A 30 minute drive back to the hotel meant another nap for Katie! The next morning we were on our way again, back at the airport (which was filled, I mean filled with tourists leaving). We were lucky to get out ;).</div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-67981750405934402582011-06-27T22:28:00.000+06:002011-06-27T22:28:12.092+06:00A Tribute<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Before we write a real blog post about our adventures this weekend at a jailoo (high country pasture), let me first, in true Kyrgyz style, raise a shot of vodka and toast my mother.<br />
<br />
Here's to you, amazing mother of mine, for <br />
<ul><li>Cheerfully going with the flow, even when we had no idea where the current would take us<br />
</li>
<li>Eating strange and unusual things (like sheep's lung filled with milk and your favorite drink made out of fermented mare's milk, kumis) without a word of complaint </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2-HxmJpOz8eQUGHDFniEeL6uKRIdbt0ZumnmUa_Py4GadOrf_lkgZ-VeksfTkvKrw_84Mf02gUIQqHGTbgpvhyStQkPV0MYDa4-ra6Ch0MHvdLqDOBAEbm2cFInbAYPLXiXvXNvMQqEE/s1600/2011+06+25_6234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2-HxmJpOz8eQUGHDFniEeL6uKRIdbt0ZumnmUa_Py4GadOrf_lkgZ-VeksfTkvKrw_84Mf02gUIQqHGTbgpvhyStQkPV0MYDa4-ra6Ch0MHvdLqDOBAEbm2cFInbAYPLXiXvXNvMQqEE/s640/2011+06+25_6234.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNcvCdwfPVO6T6KRFRgF-Yg24-JQI7gE3O7-UZDVrgtHO-8a1jHkH9BuXMO-o-CvbIFvkuEq32Q_pBZjdryI9PqqcnSVI2iz6kTR0QXipSBM2WpnpkXq7FhmuotPnxflAJorIFD4ZuHo/s1600/2011+06+25_6220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNcvCdwfPVO6T6KRFRgF-Yg24-JQI7gE3O7-UZDVrgtHO-8a1jHkH9BuXMO-o-CvbIFvkuEq32Q_pBZjdryI9PqqcnSVI2iz6kTR0QXipSBM2WpnpkXq7FhmuotPnxflAJorIFD4ZuHo/s640/2011+06+25_6220.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Using the outhouse with a half door, two rickety old boards and a squatty potty inside </li>
<li>Becoming good friends with our dear friend and co-worker Chynara</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24gxIxHeByzZ1LFMAX1ztHFBVNft5wWy6PTFZlyth3vuZNXcOv7hAlkvQXyTA6kYunVvy9-4XQAra47lb_tpjL4-d5tc5PcTxr5vZrZJtEB9SKZUGCSVG1btYwAKOSGXfaXbR_h-FiS8/s1600/2011+06+25_6144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24gxIxHeByzZ1LFMAX1ztHFBVNft5wWy6PTFZlyth3vuZNXcOv7hAlkvQXyTA6kYunVvy9-4XQAra47lb_tpjL4-d5tc5PcTxr5vZrZJtEB9SKZUGCSVG1btYwAKOSGXfaXbR_h-FiS8/s640/2011+06+25_6144.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Taking your shoes on and off numerous times</li>
<li>Getting on and off the floor to eat around the short floor tables</li>
<li>Eating food when you weren't hungry!</li>
<li> Squashing into a full car without a word</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5Xe0Qdc9gs_QzF_uY_DPYYITK3uzDdGjYzbPZUmUzAL9FXrxx-7aSzRGuwPcAvSXGr67tGxt6NOU4JYjqV1rg2gWLD1wYHrM8sifKn5Onk26dI9Qi38dJnMmysodgQPfANA8UpvTjf8/s1600/2011+06+25_6071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5Xe0Qdc9gs_QzF_uY_DPYYITK3uzDdGjYzbPZUmUzAL9FXrxx-7aSzRGuwPcAvSXGr67tGxt6NOU4JYjqV1rg2gWLD1wYHrM8sifKn5Onk26dI9Qi38dJnMmysodgQPfANA8UpvTjf8/s320/2011+06+25_6071.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> Traversing "adventurous" terrain by car with no sign of fear (although I suspect some lurked deep inside!)</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfm-UQVCS4gUIyZiQrvC2DpBUNsa00zipOhj2dlOLiT_RKliOLWVOlWcryQvN-y5DayrsrBIa0Zqa9TF4ugrqUcauU6aYd3J-4h38ufSVoFSKIo2XOAIsWdkQ7NprOIPYLE6tXz2qnKg/s1600/2011+06+25_6198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfm-UQVCS4gUIyZiQrvC2DpBUNsa00zipOhj2dlOLiT_RKliOLWVOlWcryQvN-y5DayrsrBIa0Zqa9TF4ugrqUcauU6aYd3J-4h38ufSVoFSKIo2XOAIsWdkQ7NprOIPYLE6tXz2qnKg/s320/2011+06+25_6198.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Doing your best to speak the language</li>
</ul><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Dealing with no running water quite well </li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKX12jQTRGJQ70df9bn6B89RK_frNsEgQgV6rD1fGotQU_ykXQ3EI489Kop_Fc_AKqtCTLYWoFNSvbjuLoDcQmzxkZSAmrreyaib-IV-Paq0lUq1VQtb_7yQxEIBX2fBld7KKWrE_4PI/s1600/2011+06+25_6226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKX12jQTRGJQ70df9bn6B89RK_frNsEgQgV6rD1fGotQU_ykXQ3EI489Kop_Fc_AKqtCTLYWoFNSvbjuLoDcQmzxkZSAmrreyaib-IV-Paq0lUq1VQtb_7yQxEIBX2fBld7KKWrE_4PI/s400/2011+06+25_6226.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Playing with the children at the yurt</li>
<li>Sleeping in the yurt with 8 other people :)</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdr7Ew_XV3JFFuyHiga8DKgT8uE34QVWrqTjnb45hCsuFe16hKJftoLC_CUXEsdnvJjjXScM0GJAVBIeUTtVGMqZFefFRZCoO9MTXJDBXnwJiG6EuuH5vV6SYRHpnPMxRXvSVwuAJn7Q/s1600/2011+06+25_6216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdr7Ew_XV3JFFuyHiga8DKgT8uE34QVWrqTjnb45hCsuFe16hKJftoLC_CUXEsdnvJjjXScM0GJAVBIeUTtVGMqZFefFRZCoO9MTXJDBXnwJiG6EuuH5vV6SYRHpnPMxRXvSVwuAJn7Q/s640/2011+06+25_6216.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYgp-qxQOkLig4Un3gVQgZ_TfFYNqgfP3p5y1THAtVy34uireUq3UB0PsCQtfbA1DGJXVMIUsKBRlGgPce90Yh308EGEst70M9Val2It84p2OBbo5Q6uPS7I_PxZK-Sm_OFLPty_MFiI/s1600/2011+06+26_5806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYgp-qxQOkLig4Un3gVQgZ_TfFYNqgfP3p5y1THAtVy34uireUq3UB0PsCQtfbA1DGJXVMIUsKBRlGgPce90Yh308EGEst70M9Val2It84p2OBbo5Q6uPS7I_PxZK-Sm_OFLPty_MFiI/s400/2011+06+26_5806.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cuddling and holding sleeping Daniel for that hour and a half in the crowded, warm car </li>
<li>Being way out of your comfort zone for so long!</li>
<li>And most of all, for laughing, smiling and eagerly learning about everything!<br />
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</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlUzVuYU4q6gfRwJq-IGKwPoc7e1FykqFhm8qwfnok5paSpnCWalEFx5n2cM_yp8dvPqGP9yZBxVTEhGkZOEtCXAQ0zOOAxcrweARUNZiHW75NlphduxGfB2u0MDY_vuazec60gAhULU/s1600/2011+06+25_6088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlUzVuYU4q6gfRwJq-IGKwPoc7e1FykqFhm8qwfnok5paSpnCWalEFx5n2cM_yp8dvPqGP9yZBxVTEhGkZOEtCXAQ0zOOAxcrweARUNZiHW75NlphduxGfB2u0MDY_vuazec60gAhULU/s640/2011+06+25_6088.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">You are the best! Cheers to you! </span></div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-72932484062152324722011-06-15T21:50:00.000+06:002011-06-15T21:50:16.863+06:00Kel-Tor Lake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Yes, another day of hiking. (It was wonderful.)<br />
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This past Saturday we woke at 6:15, got ready to go, and left the apartment by 7:00. We met at the <a href="http://www.tuk.kg/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=english">Trekking Union Of Kyrgyzstan</a> and were on our way by about 7:45. It was a bit of a drive, but a nice one. We started hiking by 9:45.<br />
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We walked along this beautiful river, past some horses, through fields of wildflowers and groves of trees. We also walked up steep hills.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4eAz1hsVznUPOwMfYEZxkOIn2m68BzvFhGoMM__fZKa7LFJu85hp8feyT5qEB7QKDy6ypTcw6rVa4WQsBOIKS4K00ctEY-zIZdD7VHejjT5hsJkc9RKVZnDF2QOCdjIA8MBftp7cj2U/s1600/2011+06+11_5492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4eAz1hsVznUPOwMfYEZxkOIn2m68BzvFhGoMM__fZKa7LFJu85hp8feyT5qEB7QKDy6ypTcw6rVa4WQsBOIKS4K00ctEY-zIZdD7VHejjT5hsJkc9RKVZnDF2QOCdjIA8MBftp7cj2U/s640/2011+06+11_5492.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oEVEPm0Bquxhw_SWMdpcaiQLKSllWkbftMwW-cnjNXkmtmvYZH2X-Q666yghtfAATuvtfts5lDSIv6Lf7uufkONUVyoCCeSssMxgzPSr40e1pa-fTk4dcMYMrvws13K1G8E8FkMtdc0/s1600/2011+06+11_5497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oEVEPm0Bquxhw_SWMdpcaiQLKSllWkbftMwW-cnjNXkmtmvYZH2X-Q666yghtfAATuvtfts5lDSIv6Lf7uufkONUVyoCCeSssMxgzPSr40e1pa-fTk4dcMYMrvws13K1G8E8FkMtdc0/s640/2011+06+11_5497.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiss_RhkT2NdkrMnC-EBhf8-j5PSUMPJuIAOqpQCo0EIxQHqw7kRIGE-f-2r9B8Sw5nRHFaaObzkoPAurO5gC4SG6u5Yufk-GfugacNpisrnQBWZB6J8NnVP7OXmtuuFUMtHNPGjBz5ygQ/s1600/2011+06+11_5508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiss_RhkT2NdkrMnC-EBhf8-j5PSUMPJuIAOqpQCo0EIxQHqw7kRIGE-f-2r9B8Sw5nRHFaaObzkoPAurO5gC4SG6u5Yufk-GfugacNpisrnQBWZB6J8NnVP7OXmtuuFUMtHNPGjBz5ygQ/s640/2011+06+11_5508.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFPNW0pia8OXHupoGAhsRI9bQXkShR8Lw5BMUB8i3awhpEeVx7bxWLs2DkS_apMrKsBLvGLPiQNTfZPLib5Kd6NCEMJKs3qzr5bCg8hadEuyZxAGM-cAnbN9DUyUcPxI4ioBidpSEUjA/s1600/2011+06+11_5542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFPNW0pia8OXHupoGAhsRI9bQXkShR8Lw5BMUB8i3awhpEeVx7bxWLs2DkS_apMrKsBLvGLPiQNTfZPLib5Kd6NCEMJKs3qzr5bCg8hadEuyZxAGM-cAnbN9DUyUcPxI4ioBidpSEUjA/s640/2011+06+11_5542.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwf8hFaGeoorG_WdshFK07bKIWN1L0LnoI5BE8sdRXTLUXo6PBHK01efHg-FpL_Pc0c6AALrmcQZuxe8s0DVgola5WtUZGxR6xXp_pehtTKLHEWHivmKlJ7cU0F3gOQaeF_94i9oaA4mw/s1600/2011+06+11_5513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwf8hFaGeoorG_WdshFK07bKIWN1L0LnoI5BE8sdRXTLUXo6PBHK01efHg-FpL_Pc0c6AALrmcQZuxe8s0DVgola5WtUZGxR6xXp_pehtTKLHEWHivmKlJ7cU0F3gOQaeF_94i9oaA4mw/s640/2011+06+11_5513.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
About half of the way to the lake was this whimsical meadow. It made Katie feel whimsical anyway...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG97sYegkCHzE3Gasp5c480LaCU5Tl112IeOn3sBIxb1ZG4xBOw8Ij_A0UEFVs4o-Kwy8o_ihYm48CBOoZ5HM5GsAltECcfCKHXC0_x70ts7H-P8KjAVYvyK48L4NhrRE60CT2lQohuGc/s1600/2011+06+11_5562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG97sYegkCHzE3Gasp5c480LaCU5Tl112IeOn3sBIxb1ZG4xBOw8Ij_A0UEFVs4o-Kwy8o_ihYm48CBOoZ5HM5GsAltECcfCKHXC0_x70ts7H-P8KjAVYvyK48L4NhrRE60CT2lQohuGc/s640/2011+06+11_5562.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit96ATwuZESrGCI2xjfHrHIe9LwCKeCjuN4rSf8_1hyphenhyphen3SwXenKdR8ya_LZ4HvrBxep0Poa_OYhrV2u7BnWY5xqHCFvyODBNd4waXm8UhAXhZDqLkz3f5iHYoXkuofRkdo3U5nmoB5DTh4/s1600/2011+06+11_5558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit96ATwuZESrGCI2xjfHrHIe9LwCKeCjuN4rSf8_1hyphenhyphen3SwXenKdR8ya_LZ4HvrBxep0Poa_OYhrV2u7BnWY5xqHCFvyODBNd4waXm8UhAXhZDqLkz3f5iHYoXkuofRkdo3U5nmoB5DTh4/s640/2011+06+11_5558.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
I, on the other hand, did not succumb to whimsey...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oALwHL_lU8rccA4DJf_wZ7kA4wZ9Qv7TeEptzDjfavrwF1GRP2tkCcMtksP6Y1lxDMEBPFqYWb7h2gJF0WvBLLbsy_Zr8QoSsLYdSLpvX4ISsPKiPTB3fKn1x9kqKKFSlG4tMskR4lc/s1600/2011+06+11_5554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oALwHL_lU8rccA4DJf_wZ7kA4wZ9Qv7TeEptzDjfavrwF1GRP2tkCcMtksP6Y1lxDMEBPFqYWb7h2gJF0WvBLLbsy_Zr8QoSsLYdSLpvX4ISsPKiPTB3fKn1x9kqKKFSlG4tMskR4lc/s640/2011+06+11_5554.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Alright, back to hiking. Up some more steep terrain and we came upon this (no editing of photos done here, it's the glacial silt that gives the lake this color):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD1vbtAlNo5-m-kDasG3YLRgdtkpTHeXM3e2DwQlXUgFAZDHbhwA2ykVKzbxN4MaOgptUqneD98qxECeE6NcczMSO8dNROkCobPD1jWhgFh0zgjySruTRMNkbtTyWa_oLLZqYLulM_y0/s1600/2011+06+11_5591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD1vbtAlNo5-m-kDasG3YLRgdtkpTHeXM3e2DwQlXUgFAZDHbhwA2ykVKzbxN4MaOgptUqneD98qxECeE6NcczMSO8dNROkCobPD1jWhgFh0zgjySruTRMNkbtTyWa_oLLZqYLulM_y0/s640/2011+06+11_5591.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
We had lunch, got rained on, hailed on and generally enjoyed the time immensely. I walked around the lake just because I could. The creek was a trick to cross on the other side, but the flowers were fantastic, as was the whole scene. Clouds hanging on the mountains in the background, rushing creek, teal water, what's not to like?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6dYP-OAcBl1Bhie2KPBah2s9ui11PvdFWhQdi0Its7edy5iHY191tPzNUAWAwrWu-Y9wyhvJ51Nbl_UMsRv0w1VTcL67auS5CUtU3JO0FIY8Tf1WQXonTly2t7hTsS1o9ea_cYDOF4A/s1600/2011+06+11_5603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6dYP-OAcBl1Bhie2KPBah2s9ui11PvdFWhQdi0Its7edy5iHY191tPzNUAWAwrWu-Y9wyhvJ51Nbl_UMsRv0w1VTcL67auS5CUtU3JO0FIY8Tf1WQXonTly2t7hTsS1o9ea_cYDOF4A/s640/2011+06+11_5603.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK71CA58cWVtz5v8TAEX4ELEdP-IdRaa2R5VptOVDrp5iwqc_FaXtSp-yRNwv_OiBi-lpaLSx7P_YkpPm9IF20yIxOQ4ajAZZ4ygvz_Wi-JOj45NtK6Iy1z5HsCYtxHXRz9OzuwrBNqCo/s1600/2011+06+11_5630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK71CA58cWVtz5v8TAEX4ELEdP-IdRaa2R5VptOVDrp5iwqc_FaXtSp-yRNwv_OiBi-lpaLSx7P_YkpPm9IF20yIxOQ4ajAZZ4ygvz_Wi-JOj45NtK6Iy1z5HsCYtxHXRz9OzuwrBNqCo/s640/2011+06+11_5630.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxWzndwHHRlDLsSAMlll8sTbgeF15dEQApfvMZTBSSxWSpECudXQ5n_xXkUcQzthQzEed4To-s0E6Tl-CwZKZnmpjyrdbCtC_6Scf3xXa3inFrmX0TkxYLUZctq1N7VZ-uSysM_Xww5I/s1600/2011+06+11_5645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxWzndwHHRlDLsSAMlll8sTbgeF15dEQApfvMZTBSSxWSpECudXQ5n_xXkUcQzthQzEed4To-s0E6Tl-CwZKZnmpjyrdbCtC_6Scf3xXa3inFrmX0TkxYLUZctq1N7VZ-uSysM_Xww5I/s640/2011+06+11_5645.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I returned to the lunch spot and most everyone had left already. I walked nearly alone through the flowers and trees until, at last, I spotted people I knew. I promptly joined them for the rest of the trip back to the vans. A good day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wQYifYmyQwIce7dEEG53CGUyjYKJavtI0JUnwnaD22mvfu6mpoUKI43gxkZHZrAZ39OFiczKnDCM7G5WfsFZQIxsRAy3YzTVHnTpEnX1xDS3iF9Ipt1DKosUWDWDhfE5C0oJIGUqtWs/s1600/2011+06+11_5661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wQYifYmyQwIce7dEEG53CGUyjYKJavtI0JUnwnaD22mvfu6mpoUKI43gxkZHZrAZ39OFiczKnDCM7G5WfsFZQIxsRAy3YzTVHnTpEnX1xDS3iF9Ipt1DKosUWDWDhfE5C0oJIGUqtWs/s640/2011+06+11_5661.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5qGDHUrCdlJJA5aLeIdzHMpcA4_UlsVN6APc7XbfyveXKy5isD51X2ecGyy8fncr2esmjkcML38JEFyxG5AwQEC0J6KdO7P54hs-gyAQw2wyO5KUve3cxguTIVEdFYnJScWvsXcq4k4/s1600/2011+06+11_5698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5qGDHUrCdlJJA5aLeIdzHMpcA4_UlsVN6APc7XbfyveXKy5isD51X2ecGyy8fncr2esmjkcML38JEFyxG5AwQEC0J6KdO7P54hs-gyAQw2wyO5KUve3cxguTIVEdFYnJScWvsXcq4k4/s640/2011+06+11_5698.jpg" width="426" /></a></div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-49853638297190807382011-06-15T21:23:00.000+06:002011-06-15T21:23:24.851+06:00Bam!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MbeHrCU8rNzVverFFppuz8Qw6kqAMOOiW3sy4t6zytvAVAms20bjan-OIo3hL-NPxBTTbNaFOsGV-z5j-L95bNiFyjy6iKX70FN_jgdVk8Y6K0pT699uvj99Zq94uFth-qYMmIHHdtI/s1600/2011+05+17_4926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MbeHrCU8rNzVverFFppuz8Qw6kqAMOOiW3sy4t6zytvAVAms20bjan-OIo3hL-NPxBTTbNaFOsGV-z5j-L95bNiFyjy6iKX70FN_jgdVk8Y6K0pT699uvj99Zq94uFth-qYMmIHHdtI/s1600/2011+05+17_4926.jpg" /></a></div>View from our window during a light show. Much better than the occasional fireworks.</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-9062003279851246222011-06-03T20:57:00.001+06:002011-06-03T20:57:00.405+06:00Carting!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Alright, so I went out to go for a walk and take pictures of roses (see below). What did I find? Some serious cart races going on on Chui (the big avenue through downtown Bishkek). It was pretty fun to watch the races and the people gathered in the square.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QDDUTLpW6ZHfwXWymQ64zfiAg1MdffAEHtn_wCJca0UGXFL56NzdmN37Jo05Lfhi5I1Yuts5vOquuu3T7b3a9NwTeerz3xjAcyYNcVJ88p9KaBP-bmJKxCQu7IzZLPEF5Qsps76TTng/s1600/2011+05+29_5191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QDDUTLpW6ZHfwXWymQ64zfiAg1MdffAEHtn_wCJca0UGXFL56NzdmN37Jo05Lfhi5I1Yuts5vOquuu3T7b3a9NwTeerz3xjAcyYNcVJ88p9KaBP-bmJKxCQu7IzZLPEF5Qsps76TTng/s1600/2011+05+29_5191.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Alex, this one's for you... <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQ0BDlVAbyWafZ8t6rDat3_PJX89U1DNKesku30eosXx3sjEvlO6e5X_GsYLRsGKTdN7p0cZpbMwxDeouQiV6mK_6HarrkGTkdOhoHIq4zYusUmRIKVGYzpgDnfKt30NHXtMd3w84pn8/s1600/2011+05+29_5188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQ0BDlVAbyWafZ8t6rDat3_PJX89U1DNKesku30eosXx3sjEvlO6e5X_GsYLRsGKTdN7p0cZpbMwxDeouQiV6mK_6HarrkGTkdOhoHIq4zYusUmRIKVGYzpgDnfKt30NHXtMd3w84pn8/s1600/2011+05+29_5188.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLttqqEg3DuiuiTrIH72MRBV57kelbu7_pQMd3joG2LN-u4ebK4qeUys22gY2JQ_OxzhIeaNQakEIF59tTZ21jKaqgXxliHSRvvR84JNET8hbqAJytyF_xT8GhskZbTGXijFMZTiQvnN4/s1600/2011+05+29_5159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLttqqEg3DuiuiTrIH72MRBV57kelbu7_pQMd3joG2LN-u4ebK4qeUys22gY2JQ_OxzhIeaNQakEIF59tTZ21jKaqgXxliHSRvvR84JNET8hbqAJytyF_xT8GhskZbTGXijFMZTiQvnN4/s1600/2011+05+29_5159.jpg" /></a></div><br />
And, since you've all been so patient with me lately and you've come this far (unless you just skip to the end to see how it ends up), I'll give you a couple more pictures from last weekend.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACHBPu0s8S3t933xEApk2Ds41Isp3Kr3jZ8m2O_l1cAKxj4_ZhLmKfDez6vE8Q6mTXpM_LVSUys7ZAPMtuuFioTYeT-j5eQgF0H6OuW9V-JM5pxxJYuWZQs05RCHIIv5N4vAakRpE5YE/s1600/2011+05+29_5036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACHBPu0s8S3t933xEApk2Ds41Isp3Kr3jZ8m2O_l1cAKxj4_ZhLmKfDez6vE8Q6mTXpM_LVSUys7ZAPMtuuFioTYeT-j5eQgF0H6OuW9V-JM5pxxJYuWZQs05RCHIIv5N4vAakRpE5YE/s1600/2011+05+29_5036.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIyCv0nI8cEkdogJtFr3H0zeas6PK2wJKJ6PLh-SaXHTRyqoeWV7vDCIRf0lIKF6tFnk4Kl6mINDsn0dce1NILVUtg8Xw5cbAR-6_ovtzjUxAv0vOls64qqlKFIzr4i0ekD2Ml4dwMxQ/s1600/2011+05+29_5470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIyCv0nI8cEkdogJtFr3H0zeas6PK2wJKJ6PLh-SaXHTRyqoeWV7vDCIRf0lIKF6tFnk4Kl6mINDsn0dce1NILVUtg8Xw5cbAR-6_ovtzjUxAv0vOls64qqlKFIzr4i0ekD2Ml4dwMxQ/s1600/2011+05+29_5470.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-42810878996875110652011-06-02T20:42:00.003+06:002011-06-02T20:42:00.593+06:00Bishkek Buds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Roses, people, ROSES! (They're all over the place here.)<br />
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I went out for a walk through our beautiful city and took pictures of roses. Seriously, some gas stations have rose gardens in front! There are roses in the public squares. You'll find roses at our school. Roses can be seen in people's yards. Roses even are for sale at florists!<br />
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Here's a small taste of a short walk through Bishkek this time of year:<br />
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Okay, and back to the title of the post. This is also found along the streets around here. This variety is worthless as a narcotic and no one even gives it a second look:<br />
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</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-18265125378445637622011-06-01T20:39:00.001+06:002011-06-01T20:40:48.975+06:00Birthday in Bishkek<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Alright, so I spent most of my waking hours during my birthday out of Bishkek, but it started and ended in Bishkek.<br />
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We went hiking in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ala_Archa_National_Park">Ala Archa gorge</a>. It's simply beautiful, and it was a pleasure to spend some time in the mountains. Enough with the words... on to the pictures.<br />
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This bridge is in pretty good shape. It goes from one side of the river to the other. :o) <br />
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As you can see, some bridges don't go from one side of the river to the other. In this case, the log was slippery as snot, so we ended up walking down stream, taking our boots off and dipping our feet into water that was surely frozen only hours prior. It was cold. Ediza lake cold. <br />
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</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-27556570776122886792011-06-01T20:23:00.001+06:002011-06-01T20:30:06.557+06:00Hiking in May<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, for whatever reason, we seem to have found a bit more time in our lives. This has meant that we don't go to school on Saturdays like we used to. So, what to do with extra time on the weekends? Go hiking!<br />
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May 9th was wet and cloudy, but still a great day for a hike. We ventured to a place Victor had taken us to previously and planned to just explore. This place is on one of the marshrutka routes, so it's easy to get there. We start hiking at a Soviet-era sanatorium. This one seems to be out of use, but it has the same feeling as all the others we've been to... take a look:<br />
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Once you walk through the grounds, you start up a creek and into the foothills. Like I said, it was a gray day; a great one, but a gray one all the same:<br />
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We found a tractor and plenty of fresh green plants along the way.<br />
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The water was running kinda high and I eventually went in the drink (almost up to me knees), so we turned back when (a) we couldn't cross the creek to continue any further and (b) I didn't want to keep trying to cross the creek since it felt like most of the creek was in my boots.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another Day Hiking...</span><br />
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So, about a week later, we returned to the same creek to go hiking with some friends we've met through church. The weather was much drier, and the creek was crossable in more places ;o)<br />
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Alright, thanks for coming a long so far. I feel like we're catching up on the last month worth of activities. More to come...</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-78385728140486771922011-06-01T20:11:00.000+06:002011-06-01T20:11:05.525+06:00It's been a while... Sorry about that.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Let's see, first things first. My observations of the weather/climate.<br />
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We have some beautiful mountains directly south of us here in Bishkek. The highest point in this part of the larger range (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tien_Shan">Tien Shan Mountains</a>) reaches to a bit more than 16,000 feet. There are serious glaciers in this swack of mountains. That being said, we took the secondary students to Ala Archa gorge (about 7,200 feet, which is the same as Donner Summit) on April 18th and found only a small patch of snow left from the winter. This amazed me.<br />
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Here's the view from our apartment on April 20th.<br />
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And here's the same view on May 3rd (14 days later).<br />
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Where did all the snow go!!??!! I guess I remain accustomed to a much more maritime climate. More to come, on different topics, soon... </div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-81935672009418238902011-05-05T20:13:00.002+06:002011-05-05T20:27:15.306+06:00Prague - Day 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, even though we've been through parts of Kazakhstan recently, we thought we'd take you back to Prague to finish out our stay there.<br />
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We had but one full day left, and we decided to take advantage of the rail system and get out of the city. We had been given a recommendation to hit up one of two Czech castles in the countryside, so we decided to visit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konopi%C5%A1t%C4%9B">Konopiště</a>. This Castle has quite a history, but I think the most interesting was that fact that Franz Ferdinand lived there until his assassination (in Sarajevo) in 1914, which started WWII.<br />
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Okay, so we left on the train from one of Prague's train stations. Round-trip tickets for both of us (+/- an hour each way) ran about $12.00. Not bad. Not bad at all. The train was pretty quiet, and the country side was nice.<br />
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We got off the train in a small town named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene%C5%A1ov">Benesov</a>, looked at a map on the wall at the train station (took a picture of it) and started walking towards the castle. After walking through a field, and then finding a walking path, we found this about 45 minutes later:<br />
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Really, quite a good looking structure, with well-kept grounds. It is currently owned by the Czech Republic and it sounds like the tourism money that it brings covers the costs of keeping the place looking tip-top. The grounds were a great spot to walk around and eventually have a picnic lunch in the rose garden.<br />
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There was a peacock:<br />
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Then we took a long walk around the grounds, along a lake, through the woods, through some meadows, and headed back to Benesov to catch a train back in to Prague.<br />
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That evening, I couldn't help but go see some more blossoms and then watch the light fade on the city and turn to night.<br />
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Alright, time for bed before the airport in the morning... I don' think we'll make a post about our last morning in Prague. Let's just say that a latte in Old Town Square was a great way to bid farewell to our wonderful city, and the only coffee I had while we were there (Katie preferred the more expensive drinks... like water!)<br />
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</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-65441918538145133612011-05-03T21:36:00.000+06:002011-05-03T21:36:51.155+06:00Heroic Men<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I grew up with a father who said (once I was of an age), "Men are only after one thing" and a youth adviser who played a prominent role in my upbringing who would always say, "Men are pigs". Fortunately for me, the first time I ever encountered a completely pig-like man happened at the age of 31. Here is the story...<br />
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Last weekend in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Peter and I had the opportunity to be join up with Peter's good friend from college, Sam and another American, John. The two of them, with teammates that had already left, had just finished teaching a week-long course on ethical business entrepreneurship at a local university. Three university students were gracious enough to give us a tour of the city on Saturday.<br />
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We went first to a place where you can ride a gondola from the base of a good-sized hill to its top. It was on this gondola that we first met The Guy. <br />
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On the ride up, squished together like sardines with a few missing, this guy begins joining in on our English conversation. (I later found out that while on the gondola, Sam had asked him if he was in Almaty alone. He responded, "Yes, unless I get lucky.") At the time, he just seemed like super friendly American.<br />
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Only, he was too friendly and once we disembarked from the gondola, he did not leave our group alone. He was particularly conversant with one of the local girls with us. At one point, we were standing in a circle, looking into the mountains and chatting. Peter was standing beside me, until he left, walked to a far away trashcan and when he came back he butted himself back into the circle in between the guy and the local girl. (I, being a bit oblivious, only thought Peter had lost his usually great sense of social norms...). <br />
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The guy used a pretty slick line - he asked the girl if there was horseback riding in Almaty and if he could get her contact info so that the next time he was in Almaty she could arrange it for him. At this point, Sam and Peter turned so the guy couldn't see but the girl could and said "No, don't give him your number". It was seriously like a bad movie. We kept moving locations, he kept tagging along. Of course, he was super friendly and talkative, but somehow he kept ending up next to the girl and Sam and Peter kept having to run interference. Did I mention that the guy was at least 55 years old? And the local girl, about 21?<br />
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Finally, we had completed a loop and our group was going to go do a small rollercoaster on the mountain and the guy, having obtained a fake number from the girl, left to ride the gondola back down. Or so we thought. <br />
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Suddenly, as we are waiting to pay for the rollercoaster, there he was again. Not funny. <br />
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Then, the girl and another university student go up to the window to pay. And guess what? The guy butts himself in between the two students and says, "Let me pay for you". At which point, Peter had had it. Peter says, "Okay, you know what? Thanks but no thanks. We are all hanging out here....etc..." and I don't even know what else was said. (Why don't I know? Because this loving, ever supportive wife suddenly found that her feet had transported her 10 feet away, and she was hiding behind another part of our group. Hmm.. can we say conflict-avoidance issues?) I do know that voices were raised, then the guy left and got on the rollercoaster. Luckily the roller coaster cars were separate and by the time we finished the roller coaster, the guy was gone.<br />
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May the Lord redeem his soul. Soon.<br />
<br />
Perhaps men no longer stand guard with the shotguns outside of a circle of wagons, perhaps we womenfolk no longer need them to be the breadwinners, perhaps the horizons are bigger and broader for both genders these days, but I'll tell you what, I feel more protected and safe because their are men like Sam and Peter (and so many others I know) in the world.</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-10011394214307457122011-05-01T21:04:00.001+06:002011-05-01T21:16:29.467+06:00Choose Your Own Kazakh Adventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Adventure #1</u></span></b><br />
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You have already traveled 5 hours by taxi and crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan into Kazakhstan. Night is falling. You have entered the city of Almaty. Somewhere in this grand city lies your destination: Sanatorium <a href="http://almaty-hotels.org/en/altynkurgaly">Altin Kargaly</a>. You have in your possession an address (Zdasinova 204), a map printed off of the hotel website, a phone number, two cell phones that don't work in Kazakhstan and a limited knowledge of Russian. You have now been driving around in circles in the city for about a half an hour. Your taxi driver, a jolly older man, has turned not so jolly. He has told you that you should have shown him the phone number earlier in the drive. You show it to him now. A minute later, he pushes it away and says he has never seen this kind of number and that it is not right. You know the number works, it worked for the wonderful school secretary who called it for you. You decide not to argue with him and the three of you keep driving, peering out of the windows in hope and despair. Your taxi driver has stopped and asked people where the hotel is a couple of times. You have figured out on the map where you think you are. You show this to the taxi driver. He pushes it away and says that there is not enough light. You suspect that he does not like maps. At this point do you:<br />
<br />
A: Sit back and allow your taxi driver to continue to drive a few blocks and stop and ask people, hoping that every time he comes back he will know where to go. If so, turn to page 5.<br />
B: Take control and start using your limited Russian to say "Turn right, turn left and go straight..." etc.. If so, turn to page 105.<br />
C. Hyperventilate and pass out, hoping you will wake up at Hotel Altin Kargaly. If so, turn to page 25.<br />
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Option A, page 5: At one point you are left in the car for 15 minutes. A group of men standing outside seem to be eyeing your car. You lock the doors and decide that when your taxi driver returns, you will try option B. Turn to page 105.<br />
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Option B, page 105: You tell him to turn right off of the main street. Then you tell him to turn right at the first street you come across. There is an intersection like a Y, with a street off to the right. The street looks narrow and unused. You decide to keep going straight. Suddenly your husband (who is looking at the map) says, "Um, the street doesn't turn like this on the map". You feel like you have failed, you are probably not on the street you thought you were on. Your driver pulls over and asks people at a little store. One woman seems to know the answer. You drive back to the Y intersection and turn onto the unused street. And there, not in the same place as it was on your map, is your hotel. All three of you end up laughing with the driver. You pay him a little extra and enter the hotel complex.<br />
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Option C, page 25: You return to consciousness only to find yourself still lost in a foreign city. You decide to try one of the other options.</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-47643449248076456132011-04-24T18:04:00.001+06:002011-04-24T18:37:42.853+06:00Day 3 - Prague<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, we woke up early (for Prague anyway) and went for a run on those beautiful paths we walked through yesterday (see below). Then, we had breakfast, and went out on the town... again. <br />
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We headed for the Jewish Quarter of Prague for day three. Although most cities in Europe have extensive Jewish history (not very much of it being altogether rosy), Prague has a somewhat unique story, especially with regards to WWII. <a href="http://www.jewishmuseum.cz/aindex.php">The story goes like this</a>: Although German troops occupied Prague, and could have demolished the Jewish section of the city, they planned to keep it (and other Jewish artifacts from other parts of Europe) intact in order to establish an "exotic museum of an extinct race." (That's the short version).<br />
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Anyway, the Jewish Museum of Prague is made up of several historical buildings and the Jewish cemetery, all of which are fascinating and well worth the time we spent there.<br />
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First, though, we had to get there, which meant walking over the Charles Bridge, and then through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town,_Prague">Old Town Square</a> (the location of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Astronomical_Clock">astronomical clock</a>).<br />
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Not more than a couple of blocks to the north, and you are in the Jewish Quarter. There are several synagogues, one of which is called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Synagogue,_Prague">Old New Synagogue</a> (Completed in 1270, so "New" is a relative term) which is the oldest active synagogue in Europe:<br />
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Then, on to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Jewish_Cemetery_%28Prague%29">Old Jewish Cemetery</a>. This place was incredible. The small space meant that eventually the graves had to be placed on top of each other. This meant removing the existing headstone, making a new grave above the old, then replacing both headstones, repeating as needed. Over centuries, this meant that a small space ended up being the final resting place to (perhaps, about) 100,000 people. There are about 12,000 headstones present. It is beautiful in a somber and somewhat weird way.<br />
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After the Jewish Quarter, we headed south towards a cathedral we had seen during our run in the morning. It stands out, so we figured we'd just walk there. It was a longer walk than we expected, but it was worth it.<br />
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This place is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vy%C5%A1ehrad">Vyšehrad Castle</a> and dates to the 10th century, so it is somewhat older than you and I. It was built not too long after Prague Castle was built and, being on the opposite bank of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vltava_River">Vltava River</a>, it really was influential over a different part of what would eventually become Prague. On the grounds of the castle are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Saint_Paul_and_Peter">Basilica of St Peter and St Paul</a>, as well as the <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vy%C5%A1ehrad_cemetery">Vyšehrad cemetery</a>. It is a very beautiful spot, with fantastic views of the city and river.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I got this shot of Katie as we left the grounds and headed back to our hotel:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNagXo-aNhyphenhyphenwzTde8kOyzFahfmjev_wIC13W8K4Qtf4wRg1kM336znH4vdOiRb-eafFkwyWpMb9zo3MqFxxZJlZ-YArx-bd6Xw3t71Hl2y6koEalc4QUu_SSvIGz7ODNnCqpPbgQW6Wk/s1600/2011+04+06_3244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNagXo-aNhyphenhyphenwzTde8kOyzFahfmjev_wIC13W8K4Qtf4wRg1kM336znH4vdOiRb-eafFkwyWpMb9zo3MqFxxZJlZ-YArx-bd6Xw3t71Hl2y6koEalc4QUu_SSvIGz7ODNnCqpPbgQW6Wk/s640/2011+04+06_3244.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><span style="color: black;"><br />
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<span style="color: black;">It was a long day, but a good one. We should go have dinner with our new friends...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG-09BNxxMpy4wyIAaKYdNKgPqE7Ti8HmrPWbg3ZumpDjyykkR5_oElCHb9GJaqFmJMriFO7rEVJ_MIkBek10rDy16pLoqdx8MUy1-BskfDiyvgEL6r1hhlpgec1tTz90eMdcr6d59mo/s1600/2011+04+06_3579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG-09BNxxMpy4wyIAaKYdNKgPqE7Ti8HmrPWbg3ZumpDjyykkR5_oElCHb9GJaqFmJMriFO7rEVJ_MIkBek10rDy16pLoqdx8MUy1-BskfDiyvgEL6r1hhlpgec1tTz90eMdcr6d59mo/s640/2011+04+06_3579.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimy9bOg1cQ0KE87JGVhTyc2y0RGbTQm41pHTGtLkW4dkV2pux2ue4d4zd6awgkLE2kO17KGCBzrnGjxMWZcMEQWDsMjzQ08UjSKCXpB3Y01dZh1SgbnuPCRIsoKiP_OUk87vdlvY0zkW4/s1600/2011+04+06_3581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimy9bOg1cQ0KE87JGVhTyc2y0RGbTQm41pHTGtLkW4dkV2pux2ue4d4zd6awgkLE2kO17KGCBzrnGjxMWZcMEQWDsMjzQ08UjSKCXpB3Y01dZh1SgbnuPCRIsoKiP_OUk87vdlvY0zkW4/s640/2011+04+06_3581.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-87546524215576199782011-04-19T21:10:00.000+06:002011-04-19T21:10:50.443+06:00Prague - Day 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Alright, the first day was great, but by this time, we had gained a better understanding of the city, and the forecast was great. First thing in the morning...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9I1j20v9cqtudRJepfrVG-1AWe4g4U8Rhc4vxD4523JpKOEtpFn5RiVRm0aMkY3whfILOhV_sdemBSwmQek6frG226qbGt98zWiCVZ7fjqCnGoLtCsjSW11VZDU_AikVKCl_S4cLpqk/s1600/2011+04+05_3280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9I1j20v9cqtudRJepfrVG-1AWe4g4U8Rhc4vxD4523JpKOEtpFn5RiVRm0aMkY3whfILOhV_sdemBSwmQek6frG226qbGt98zWiCVZ7fjqCnGoLtCsjSW11VZDU_AikVKCl_S4cLpqk/s640/2011+04+05_3280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
We hopped on to tram #22:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8RO-e2ZKbh51ofdeZMcOKupgfJ8apXY0GNa6xNVO1xkaZE_p17RSgKgrlwntdh9iAMhAYthpwmYbEPyF3OdLBBVYygqnCPAi-YS4NvRnJ35XA970EfIxFJvS6f5yKrfI9yaFA2KbQOo/s1600/2011+04+05_3298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8RO-e2ZKbh51ofdeZMcOKupgfJ8apXY0GNa6xNVO1xkaZE_p17RSgKgrlwntdh9iAMhAYthpwmYbEPyF3OdLBBVYygqnCPAi-YS4NvRnJ35XA970EfIxFJvS6f5yKrfI9yaFA2KbQOo/s640/2011+04+05_3298.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
It took us up the hill to the area where Prague Castle is. We got off at what seemed an appropriate place, and started walking. The map showed some small streets to the west of the castle, so we thought we'd head that way first. We're glad we did. This is an old part of an old city, and the streets were very cool. Narrow, cobbled paths with small side walks and buildings with lots of character. I good place to poke around.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjciJ-rMtFpXO1mnTKrhWyBQVPNrJU7QaKtYjZEaI7MrWgOqHdpdJaF9i3h9Ejiqgw_hyphenhyphenm9726QTbu_CsaZNg-Z7uRRcAuGki_qJGOEWzMPdweybjoiqMM_y77VyYoY2OS9Bwm7H1_he8/s1600/2011+04+05_3282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjciJ-rMtFpXO1mnTKrhWyBQVPNrJU7QaKtYjZEaI7MrWgOqHdpdJaF9i3h9Ejiqgw_hyphenhyphenm9726QTbu_CsaZNg-Z7uRRcAuGki_qJGOEWzMPdweybjoiqMM_y77VyYoY2OS9Bwm7H1_he8/s640/2011+04+05_3282.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHL5u2qqbzWLw_D0FVmtxEKutRZxRAeabzyEQnsmQSo_SSKOoIXZoReQwQhuhkTHGnxK7ql0zalLXz5PeyPsLwmjA9E7p2v5wMCzOsc1FYoknDDHtXneFBdVA0a9XYdt9KWvly757Hd-M/s1600/2011+04+05_3281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHL5u2qqbzWLw_D0FVmtxEKutRZxRAeabzyEQnsmQSo_SSKOoIXZoReQwQhuhkTHGnxK7ql0zalLXz5PeyPsLwmjA9E7p2v5wMCzOsc1FYoknDDHtXneFBdVA0a9XYdt9KWvly757Hd-M/s640/2011+04+05_3281.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
We wandered through this area for a while, generally making our way towards the castle...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKGvjE1809mDHeYYpyJfWqHfsBIL-ywDt_mAZQ_23i5alUyMIev0m8ylT3mTtw_HphWMCuGWZjNoNm04kN3NZWUzXpY5WZPNlelEJfx-NHOuB3rbnogCVAxBO1ueo-2bD1cB5EYdS0oM/s1600/2011+04+05_3305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKGvjE1809mDHeYYpyJfWqHfsBIL-ywDt_mAZQ_23i5alUyMIev0m8ylT3mTtw_HphWMCuGWZjNoNm04kN3NZWUzXpY5WZPNlelEJfx-NHOuB3rbnogCVAxBO1ueo-2bD1cB5EYdS0oM/s640/2011+04+05_3305.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMRUioghnH-IxH7NrodJ_EGUkNNMBn82GAfurXeKdn8VvzGBcZhyphenhyphenDTEwy4A4Hly9-wAKZH4NZbtgWfcbFk_hdGivXPq1A89dNtXiib51pmrDInfm9JZ5PNodTT5EPBg7lrZ_o70VZqVs/s1600/2011+04+05_3332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMRUioghnH-IxH7NrodJ_EGUkNNMBn82GAfurXeKdn8VvzGBcZhyphenhyphenDTEwy4A4Hly9-wAKZH4NZbtgWfcbFk_hdGivXPq1A89dNtXiib51pmrDInfm9JZ5PNodTT5EPBg7lrZ_o70VZqVs/s640/2011+04+05_3332.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvFOt_Kk_02yHT6DzWLHFB3xjgEZbtFN2Zp00BSTFcq5Fiphc1s11OY1gisf3IcXsU-eOyfQ8B0zszWOXDaPqKCADOQhH7JOvpXTOmNlSckYAx9MLobc3Pdi6Qoh-UUF1L4_9tMnbDFY/s1600/2011+04+05_3308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvFOt_Kk_02yHT6DzWLHFB3xjgEZbtFN2Zp00BSTFcq5Fiphc1s11OY1gisf3IcXsU-eOyfQ8B0zszWOXDaPqKCADOQhH7JOvpXTOmNlSckYAx9MLobc3Pdi6Qoh-UUF1L4_9tMnbDFY/s640/2011+04+05_3308.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEB7xFrK-M6FWdoC73zqSWRK84JdDLxvcCtzYWAvtXMfLsJCJHNZLMqbE8pgBpmc1zP-mJvETCbKOkbs72nXDuDWMJDl3srvCyklTXXDIuGFGzMQB3FmhnmjHnqFyHKQGAvljiX6ilQA/s1600/2011+04+05_3313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEB7xFrK-M6FWdoC73zqSWRK84JdDLxvcCtzYWAvtXMfLsJCJHNZLMqbE8pgBpmc1zP-mJvETCbKOkbs72nXDuDWMJDl3srvCyklTXXDIuGFGzMQB3FmhnmjHnqFyHKQGAvljiX6ilQA/s640/2011+04+05_3313.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5yvsquDuseMd00kavsTyxX-Fwg-erx8CmQZAtRejaOyVy4IK8tAUQP4DRB-dyPVVfQdwLyoORKh30aUUcZcshlMeCyYx6Swvl8cpK5Qicf0wSm_k5qedz1c2GLJakBj96nv_6QQydyg/s1600/2011+04+05_3412.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5yvsquDuseMd00kavsTyxX-Fwg-erx8CmQZAtRejaOyVy4IK8tAUQP4DRB-dyPVVfQdwLyoORKh30aUUcZcshlMeCyYx6Swvl8cpK5Qicf0wSm_k5qedz1c2GLJakBj96nv_6QQydyg/s1600/2011+04+05_3412.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5yvsquDuseMd00kavsTyxX-Fwg-erx8CmQZAtRejaOyVy4IK8tAUQP4DRB-dyPVVfQdwLyoORKh30aUUcZcshlMeCyYx6Swvl8cpK5Qicf0wSm_k5qedz1c2GLJakBj96nv_6QQydyg/s640/2011+04+05_3412.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And, we made it back to where we had gone the day before. The weather was a bit more cooperative as far as spending time outside was concerned. The "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Castle">castle</a>" is really a conglomeration of several buildings of varying ages, built by successive rulers, and the centerpiece is (as far as I'm concerned) the Cathedral: St. Vitus.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZjseLtJJy-PmEdqt3j67sG8EYHx8CgelGi8Gst4Fv5xs96IXEDdxJjNuJoKD6c-J03nefmxr1z3eW4SgbPlWyb-gI-v18vd_JvOVRLRPJoMvONT_y1n-GReW8F9vfquvRsjS6VmLQ5o/s1600/2011+04+05_3337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZjseLtJJy-PmEdqt3j67sG8EYHx8CgelGi8Gst4Fv5xs96IXEDdxJjNuJoKD6c-J03nefmxr1z3eW4SgbPlWyb-gI-v18vd_JvOVRLRPJoMvONT_y1n-GReW8F9vfquvRsjS6VmLQ5o/s640/2011+04+05_3337.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyWbPWG5bpIDxgOK_YCS4simdrEUYaAAXFz-2wXXkjSKVUawroXRQXxtGujlVDxjZZQU_dZyq3CdcauwietijzF3NQWIWTHcMZazp_3sg1STVQG-vYHPnPkTA-m0xdWcifUNCZ77v18Y/s1600/2011+04+05_3377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyWbPWG5bpIDxgOK_YCS4simdrEUYaAAXFz-2wXXkjSKVUawroXRQXxtGujlVDxjZZQU_dZyq3CdcauwietijzF3NQWIWTHcMZazp_3sg1STVQG-vYHPnPkTA-m0xdWcifUNCZ77v18Y/s640/2011+04+05_3377.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScm4HSDBAm5bJee9R20XF_NBQ9s1OQBRzvCCsTWT5vx0DW4_QKRAfnZuGvm1Xfo4VV1f87S4ZLwc7jg-_pYAtrgjeFzBlIQJCzcI6VbJw8AtsC_jb8BlWKnsKjxapZjTqP-Y-_BOQ8S0/s1600/2011+04+05_3380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScm4HSDBAm5bJee9R20XF_NBQ9s1OQBRzvCCsTWT5vx0DW4_QKRAfnZuGvm1Xfo4VV1f87S4ZLwc7jg-_pYAtrgjeFzBlIQJCzcI6VbJw8AtsC_jb8BlWKnsKjxapZjTqP-Y-_BOQ8S0/s640/2011+04+05_3380.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
After St. Vitus', we walked through castle grounds and then moseyed on down towards the city. This eventually will take you to some great views of the city and, if you walk far enough, back to the river "downtown." <br />
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As part of our circuitous return to the hotel, we wandered through some beautiful orchards in full bloom. Views of the city and castle came and went.<br />
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Well, it was a busy day. I think it's time for to retire to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner... see you later.<br />
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</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-69522582330855899762011-04-11T21:35:00.002+06:002011-04-12T17:19:02.442+06:00Czech List - The First 24 Hours<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, we got off the plane on Sunday evening and found our new friend Radka standing there, in a green T-shirt, all smiles and super-excited to meet us. She helped us through the public transportation system in Prague to our hotel. (The public transportation in Prague is great. It's efficient, thorough, and easy to navigate.) A big thanks to Radka for taking the time to help us! </span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;">We arrived at our hotel, checked in, and went to sleep in short order. Although it was only about 10:30 local time, we were operating on Kyrgyzstan time, making it 2:30 am the next morning. (Aren't time zones rad?)</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;">Monday morning: We woke up, had a great, complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and started walking. Turns out, our hotel was in a great location. Of course, we tried to get a hotel in a great location, but not knowing the city, there was a bit of luck involved. We were a five-minute walk to the Charles Bridge (Karlov Most), which Charles IV began the construction of in 1357 (9th of July, actually, at 5:31am. Czech it: Makes a palindrome 135797531... my kinda dude). Amazingly, this bridge pre-dates the Golden Gate bridge by several years. At 8:00 in the morning, there were very few people on the bridge. We learned later in the day that a nearly vacant Charles Bridge only happens in the morning.</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-4_8Cvr83ZMFPON8WRfZtNlqcOrfPpy0btkHhj7P9CGy3d30FYa4299igkvG7hsOw47O2RbdjrDk4dbuGw9RTAtNxW72uhYqDVvS2aeZTLN_vBVGiXfb1y90-IVnp_aH5Ec_FgyyFQVQ/s1600/2011+04+04_3531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-4_8Cvr83ZMFPON8WRfZtNlqcOrfPpy0btkHhj7P9CGy3d30FYa4299igkvG7hsOw47O2RbdjrDk4dbuGw9RTAtNxW72uhYqDVvS2aeZTLN_vBVGiXfb1y90-IVnp_aH5Ec_FgyyFQVQ/s640/2011+04+04_3531.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;">We crossed the river and promptly got lost in “Old Prague.” An overcast sky, narrow streets, and night-time arrival in a city we've never seen before does not for good directional consistency make. No worries though, as we found out where we were soon enough, and arranged for a bus tour of the city. (This was recommended to us by some co-workers, and in hind-sight, could have been better, but it worked out just fine.)</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO172hk8scO4kZAOcZNOohoYPXoahnwlnD80O0NfgDj7Mb2HtuLYgQHIdkFcmqvkujGqdPTYtvnU79i6vpaQ9-aOTcO-IMA0kTECch8SuwiZSFD82-P8Q7EkoiN6nG6ypfoE1rbJBgP8/s1600/2011+04+04_3533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO172hk8scO4kZAOcZNOohoYPXoahnwlnD80O0NfgDj7Mb2HtuLYgQHIdkFcmqvkujGqdPTYtvnU79i6vpaQ9-aOTcO-IMA0kTECch8SuwiZSFD82-P8Q7EkoiN6nG6ypfoE1rbJBgP8/s640/2011+04+04_3533.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceTiU6_Ih6p2cB6JtCpTufRdUGLhHKBK5TZYXiLfa-BbzVyr_btBXZsUrNHCNTtYeV5y9qTWi_SfzB3-2Pdu_DzPADigXHYwxtkyD0DXlbLro2XFJOi1ra7DaSlAQsHNpUrDHm_sVr3w/s1600/2011+04+04_3537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceTiU6_Ih6p2cB6JtCpTufRdUGLhHKBK5TZYXiLfa-BbzVyr_btBXZsUrNHCNTtYeV5y9qTWi_SfzB3-2Pdu_DzPADigXHYwxtkyD0DXlbLro2XFJOi1ra7DaSlAQsHNpUrDHm_sVr3w/s640/2011+04+04_3537.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHDR9GSeQW0It8M8Tkmgs4jpdc2kjf0NTbV2qttZtpdbBtLIuhyA53iMHW7ZGg4zvL3Y9gPXMqxcClzqIqLjcbtBpMlvaU3ly08aZUd5bARKmrKkxuhyphenhyphenzVisZKNOnW986qywaGIanAKU/s1600/2011+04+04_3546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHDR9GSeQW0It8M8Tkmgs4jpdc2kjf0NTbV2qttZtpdbBtLIuhyA53iMHW7ZGg4zvL3Y9gPXMqxcClzqIqLjcbtBpMlvaU3ly08aZUd5bARKmrKkxuhyphenhyphenzVisZKNOnW986qywaGIanAKU/s640/2011+04+04_3546.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;">We boarded the bus just as the overcast sky was turning to precipitation. During the +/- 2 hours on the tour (including a visit to Prague Castle), it rained pretty hard. By the time we finished the bus tour, it had lightened in intensity, and after finding lunch, it had just about quit raining. So, the bus was a great location to get out of the rain, and it provided us both with a better sense of the layout of Prague.</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeOOhFM3QzVaJX6UGlXscQy2R3_UKptnS4k73pLHvNuV0KTS6wfTDyUUO3DituUToIWOqys-laBjLd49kHQ_CitzMZQstLzh36rwx9QaVRGS-nf2f_UrPS-onBUD134mvwtO6L-7g3IM/s1600/2011+04+04_3557.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeOOhFM3QzVaJX6UGlXscQy2R3_UKptnS4k73pLHvNuV0KTS6wfTDyUUO3DituUToIWOqys-laBjLd49kHQ_CitzMZQstLzh36rwx9QaVRGS-nf2f_UrPS-onBUD134mvwtO6L-7g3IM/s640/2011+04+04_3557.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhtbls-XWpqQHmHzkSvzB8JV7k1hG0UR4JKQsNshiEyhSm3N7QGZ2KU5inbYkUzOIncGZpTdPEGZUUeaWwtnyPqMbtro9_QZFNsv5e04-QZ6B_28iBTAeoqgt-QP_gPJ-9ZNh7jpP8ws/s1600/2011+04+04_3560.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhtbls-XWpqQHmHzkSvzB8JV7k1hG0UR4JKQsNshiEyhSm3N7QGZ2KU5inbYkUzOIncGZpTdPEGZUUeaWwtnyPqMbtro9_QZFNsv5e04-QZ6B_28iBTAeoqgt-QP_gPJ-9ZNh7jpP8ws/s640/2011+04+04_3560.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Tz4oiYDSHH2f4dREZRl3auT2k3gZLlp5-l2LOF-u7fcsO2Sr3ioFBcktUlf8ofNzUD8XJpqkoP1l7EWSD0KSxG4xjWVRDOIyeExK0pPvwPcAWfbbPh1MCdhMCpdinHQwSabQL7dKCdM/s1600/2011+04+04_3565.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Tz4oiYDSHH2f4dREZRl3auT2k3gZLlp5-l2LOF-u7fcsO2Sr3ioFBcktUlf8ofNzUD8XJpqkoP1l7EWSD0KSxG4xjWVRDOIyeExK0pPvwPcAWfbbPh1MCdhMCpdinHQwSabQL7dKCdM/s640/2011+04+04_3565.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;">That afternoon we continued to just wander through the streets of Prague. It was fantastic. We ate some traditional Czech food. Katie had goulash with bread dumplings, and I had pork with bread dumplings and cabbage. First Czech beer: <a href="http://www.kozel.cz/en/products/dark.html">Velkopopovický Kozel Dark</a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XZbjh7ZgHiubBjQyVJ9tgmLK8x-b4TyTqeU7gllwYHxmyl4aXPdsHKqeqJrQBtWKd1aEvhdcFY1-LxM5fndQjJI8_yV5kMDrzcqVNR6SJ7AnAe0URo1oOhk5tQYfZjFKSRn8gyaz9ts/s1600/2011+04+04_3603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XZbjh7ZgHiubBjQyVJ9tgmLK8x-b4TyTqeU7gllwYHxmyl4aXPdsHKqeqJrQBtWKd1aEvhdcFY1-LxM5fndQjJI8_yV5kMDrzcqVNR6SJ7AnAe0URo1oOhk5tQYfZjFKSRn8gyaz9ts/s640/2011+04+04_3603.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UfM-ESs8qbLx0Ognh97BAHMRoP8vKlIB1NOTe9-sNyigOe4idvG37l3Dcrq2gTZNwPaKlyDydBRfQt9QGlci1C4tViCVFbDZlzGp8LWrXVFVflDwn0HjzCUS4dFAbyFP-yBxVXdrMHI/s1600/2011+04+04_3608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UfM-ESs8qbLx0Ognh97BAHMRoP8vKlIB1NOTe9-sNyigOe4idvG37l3Dcrq2gTZNwPaKlyDydBRfQt9QGlci1C4tViCVFbDZlzGp8LWrXVFVflDwn0HjzCUS4dFAbyFP-yBxVXdrMHI/s640/2011+04+04_3608.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF6MkJyXVYEB-pXlSM7h5TcbSE5hO9I7igwHjJYiEvYNzHbz0AXa4BCHGbHq_4-SVit2ss0i9752g5VCWs0JPbHzXdBu3OeLO4u-JnE1_EhhFix4ocVu0J8UhQkqb7tfS7bkGUCLUjq5Q/s1600/2011+04+04_3610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF6MkJyXVYEB-pXlSM7h5TcbSE5hO9I7igwHjJYiEvYNzHbz0AXa4BCHGbHq_4-SVit2ss0i9752g5VCWs0JPbHzXdBu3OeLO4u-JnE1_EhhFix4ocVu0J8UhQkqb7tfS7bkGUCLUjq5Q/s640/2011+04+04_3610.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;">That evening, I went out to get some pictures of the city at night. (I don't want to know what they spend to illuminate the castle, the bridge, and just about every other old structure in town, but it sure is pretty.)</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwTuoO-4DGu7nohxjlZRJOReEDiVOq5fmIDFT4iSBLVduJbQJxjrjSjzCdqtLZunzpwf_PZhK3Euqd5uxn5oG4Yqdrx7LtPZC3EZPY5HsODBmtwT7aJoQQHiY9DZ5kLF3vUOGNJS3gC0/s1600/2011+04+05_3261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwTuoO-4DGu7nohxjlZRJOReEDiVOq5fmIDFT4iSBLVduJbQJxjrjSjzCdqtLZunzpwf_PZhK3Euqd5uxn5oG4Yqdrx7LtPZC3EZPY5HsODBmtwT7aJoQQHiY9DZ5kLF3vUOGNJS3gC0/s640/2011+04+05_3261.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITshumdWhoc0MVYbzdusBTpTOyTrFJKJfnyruxVBXSUcTk9hfxTdcnfnLhb0cb5V0lMjtoNesU4eTivTs9IKrmDspd1qINT8RdRVEdziWWG89zksJBzW442llNxJxqlMUgD_AHapYniY/s1600/2011+04+05_3249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITshumdWhoc0MVYbzdusBTpTOyTrFJKJfnyruxVBXSUcTk9hfxTdcnfnLhb0cb5V0lMjtoNesU4eTivTs9IKrmDspd1qINT8RdRVEdziWWG89zksJBzW442llNxJxqlMUgD_AHapYniY/s640/2011+04+05_3249.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcL1gPnYtBd_R3YkTVc2BPn7hC7mqGQftRhFPMZX2DIr9ngYGS9kQ7EIu_cKNyZD_yn78Ob5d0ITqJ8eXvn7A8oHxIV0I0Yr1kLg3hy4xQdslij69CPOBl8wVbfMpG5rAl2oKxNtFoduw/s1600/2011+04+05_3278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcL1gPnYtBd_R3YkTVc2BPn7hC7mqGQftRhFPMZX2DIr9ngYGS9kQ7EIu_cKNyZD_yn78Ob5d0ITqJ8eXvn7A8oHxIV0I0Yr1kLg3hy4xQdslij69CPOBl8wVbfMpG5rAl2oKxNtFoduw/s640/2011+04+05_3278.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvX2toFao3xV3iB_hZVCbk51kJYLPSII4I9tRN0AFN5zC2isJeDCsFGKdP6xPFgl0hHNNvncrk0ntl8zwx-1px365OzHQXvTlGNo0avAM0MANpoRkq5OPtOWGqY2A-gALHd3R8nlEUfE/s1600/2011+04+05_3270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvX2toFao3xV3iB_hZVCbk51kJYLPSII4I9tRN0AFN5zC2isJeDCsFGKdP6xPFgl0hHNNvncrk0ntl8zwx-1px365OzHQXvTlGNo0avAM0MANpoRkq5OPtOWGqY2A-gALHd3R8nlEUfE/s640/2011+04+05_3270.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-27756901977672184792011-03-25T20:01:00.000+06:002011-03-25T20:01:14.242+06:00A Space for Grief<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today we learned about the ceremonies and rituals that surround the loss of a loved one here in Kyrgyzstan. I wish, especially for the friend and co-worker of ours who lost her father last week, that we never would have had to learn about them in a real-life situation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today the school hired a marshuka to take some of the staff to Elnura's home. And there, sitting around a table loaded with salads, dried fruit, horse meat, fried chicken, tea cups, sugar, bread, sweets, with plov to follow, Peter and I learned of the customs. Here is what we learned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The burial occurs 3 days after the death. During those three days, a yurt is constructed outside the home. The body lies in the yurt for three days. The yurt is filled continuously by wailing daughters, wives, sisters, female friends. Men sit outside of the yurt. On the third day, men take the body to be buried. Every man present adds a shovelful of dirt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are several death anniversaries that are observed- 3 days after death, 7 days after death, 40 days after death and one year after death. In some places, it is traditional that every Thursday for an entire year the family hosts a gathering where people come and talk about life. At this time, people are invited to gather with the family, who provide tables full of food, like the one we sat at today. When people gather, the eldest man puts on a Kulpak (a traditional Kyrgz hat - tall, like the ones we brought home) and reads or recites a specific passage from the Koran. At one point during the reading you hold your hands together, palm up and open in front of you. Then when the reading ends you "wash" your hands over your face and they end in a position of prayer. The same thing occurs at the end of the gathering. For at least a week after the death, the family hosts a number of gatherings, all with lots of food. A horse is slaughtered out of tradition, and also because it provides a good amount of meat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Those who come to the burial or the gatherings traditionally bring money to the family. Many families are very careful to write down how much they were given by whom. The family then seeks to, or is expected to, give that same amount back on a similar occasion (or a more joyful one).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All in all, I am intrigued by these customs. The death anniversaries and the Thursday gatherings seem to me to be a healthy way of recognizing that life is different, and always will be. It provides a reason for the community to get together and remember or support the family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the other hand, at our gathering today, Elnura and her sister were so busy serving us it didn't feel like we were there to support them in any way. They had to work hard all day to prepare the food for us, and then would have a lot of work to do after we left! While we were there, they were giving us new plates when we needed them, refilling our tea cups etc... It was not a time to sit and ask them how they were doing. I felt like I should've been the one making the food!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The sitting in the yurt and wailing is intriguing too. In many parts of the U.S. those attending funerals are afraid of showing too much emotion. Showing sadness is not condemned, yet we all try not to show too much. On the other hand, we have heard that wailing here is not optional for the female relatives, and the louder one wails, the more one loved the deceased. That too could seem a little forced at times. I suppose it would be best if, no matter which culture one is in, that one could feel the freedom to grieve as one would like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All these customs have made me realize how much we Americans tend to try to ignore death as much as possible. We are told (at least my family was), not to watch as the guys from Hooper and Weaver come and take the body away. And Hooper and Weaver come within hours: Death is unpleasant, so we push it away. On the west coast, we plan the timing of the funeral for when all the family can arrive: Death is unpleasant, so we try to make it convenient (okay, and some people have to come from quite a distance away). We don't have established death anniversaries: Death is unpleasant, so we try to pretend it didn't happen. Life goes on in our motto, even though a part of us is dead.</span></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-18396324941882497572011-03-13T20:35:00.001+06:002011-03-13T20:55:40.280+06:00Humble Beauty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">According to Charlotte in Charlotte's Web, one definition of humble is "close to the ground". It was this sort of beauty that we discovered today. Beauty that is easily overlooked, easily trod upon. Beauty that can be seen only if one seeks to see it, if one can take the time to discover it. It's the kind of beauty that only whispers, "psst."<br />
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Today, Peter and I stopped to smell the flowers, so to speak. Actually, as the city has not planted flowers yet, there are none to stop and smell, so Peter and I <i>went</i> to smell the flowers. We went in search of crocuses today.<br />
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We hopped on Marshuka # 172 and, after enduring a rather crowded ride, we disembarked at end of it's route, south out of town a little ways, close to the foothills. <br />
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First we wandered through some open, low-lying land that felt like a strange mix between an orchard and a trash-dumping site.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-hsTiLwT6vbZZwQFxGw0NkPAuXjbMgeOSbRgKvVg9nDn89zYMq8V6acHqV9VrL4cqiLNWoZkP7J5WXHj3mMwFJFr-Aoi7CCj6vaPSrcjWMCnVWyWdfUJ3pOOlP16n1xvd7IhpCa-X-E/s1600/2011+03+13_2990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-hsTiLwT6vbZZwQFxGw0NkPAuXjbMgeOSbRgKvVg9nDn89zYMq8V6acHqV9VrL4cqiLNWoZkP7J5WXHj3mMwFJFr-Aoi7CCj6vaPSrcjWMCnVWyWdfUJ3pOOlP16n1xvd7IhpCa-X-E/s640/2011+03+13_2990.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br />
As we traveled upward into the hills we left most of the trash behind.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaK3nAOYuWE8AaMWwAplEwawbO4C5BGTOohy1uUrEd5fU50sYwgFySLS1dDt4J_ir-VEJDyhqKtj1zoQwu4-801Uoi80PG8kyu6uUzWfbMvkIz4JuIAbXwdrn_Dqmxf2R3W4jPtQNlfM/s1600/2011+03+13_2850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaK3nAOYuWE8AaMWwAplEwawbO4C5BGTOohy1uUrEd5fU50sYwgFySLS1dDt4J_ir-VEJDyhqKtj1zoQwu4-801Uoi80PG8kyu6uUzWfbMvkIz4JuIAbXwdrn_Dqmxf2R3W4jPtQNlfM/s640/2011+03+13_2850.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Up and up we went, through more orchards on terraced land. And then we found it!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatSdp73r6ZQC1No_A1B1kjFArnztVmshpMsdagDdt-Vyc5hqD6-vEawIIv434VbQZJtq5CDMcaJ8EgUrcucF2BGJwIAjs1SmmIhTh24qNV8gE3Nn41-xlVukcpykVMVEaPc6Cf4I7ecw/s1600/2011+03+13_2844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatSdp73r6ZQC1No_A1B1kjFArnztVmshpMsdagDdt-Vyc5hqD6-vEawIIv434VbQZJtq5CDMcaJ8EgUrcucF2BGJwIAjs1SmmIhTh24qNV8gE3Nn41-xlVukcpykVMVEaPc6Cf4I7ecw/s640/2011+03+13_2844.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
We walked higher and higher, until we could soon see a view of Bishkek to the north, and the mountains to the south.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEb5IXCPyT7MjXSZM6aayPLuojxL2RQ3vhAngX_s-kTHNGKj4orh7IF6Xi3XlA5FR6uuiXNV3Om9sV8f_G4_AoqA8KGMlTLT4O3M__hbWolPDOeqt2h4GzNnjOYwn2BxmaixnYkPvQVJo/s1600/2011+03+13_2860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEb5IXCPyT7MjXSZM6aayPLuojxL2RQ3vhAngX_s-kTHNGKj4orh7IF6Xi3XlA5FR6uuiXNV3Om9sV8f_G4_AoqA8KGMlTLT4O3M__hbWolPDOeqt2h4GzNnjOYwn2BxmaixnYkPvQVJo/s640/2011+03+13_2860.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimw_KOfk4ZterWKr51GLY71sroqdKU_VZiF2-Cnm6AOV1HfYqWgW9fd_gzLxNnf06AFlQi9DGz8KXmG0uIvGqd-qydXuwCy08XXDEt9KYJTQX28xZqgtxHWk_VIXWafsovBpfyyNWZJmU/s1600/2011+03+13_2883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimw_KOfk4ZterWKr51GLY71sroqdKU_VZiF2-Cnm6AOV1HfYqWgW9fd_gzLxNnf06AFlQi9DGz8KXmG0uIvGqd-qydXuwCy08XXDEt9KYJTQX28xZqgtxHWk_VIXWafsovBpfyyNWZJmU/s640/2011+03+13_2883.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGyAA-XIIsL4Ggen8UlafL8FnFaJz7h0F93Zo3hw0w4et7tB3SiXkiXgNPn4VbzmDLW6_PCpUSpJTsbGhO7vrmB97i-n_YurtA8YPlj8zvZ_hR_-8SsdHKD-smdz_LTEJi-zZN6c_BoU/s1600/2011+03+13_2874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGyAA-XIIsL4Ggen8UlafL8FnFaJz7h0F93Zo3hw0w4et7tB3SiXkiXgNPn4VbzmDLW6_PCpUSpJTsbGhO7vrmB97i-n_YurtA8YPlj8zvZ_hR_-8SsdHKD-smdz_LTEJi-zZN6c_BoU/s640/2011+03+13_2874.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
And now, for the glimpses of beauty we found....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdFWERHU5ulABNUGcmkz_oFCaiPVGZhW45IDvz2UK4pSs6yV2JSEacQ_mNrl4RKG4NXEFzjZ7lMPRdDW0fe_RQIqOV8JIZmTyKSQiXXgZ8RA-Zjel5rvVWnkiKc9EkPjKTn3tCnb5y-I/s1600/2011+03+13_2848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdFWERHU5ulABNUGcmkz_oFCaiPVGZhW45IDvz2UK4pSs6yV2JSEacQ_mNrl4RKG4NXEFzjZ7lMPRdDW0fe_RQIqOV8JIZmTyKSQiXXgZ8RA-Zjel5rvVWnkiKc9EkPjKTn3tCnb5y-I/s640/2011+03+13_2848.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpwq3m2MgNm14Sa2q-Tn6UiHl3VaGww_8imORiGWfq1WCVhol9rzQCTAZ-dxa0_WuZTcK0SbyPGHtu91BxPX_1iJatlMPlP8Av_CODmATVzPzalWtHZorWfxx5o8u96IsgNw84SMMY4o/s1600/2011+03+13_2857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpwq3m2MgNm14Sa2q-Tn6UiHl3VaGww_8imORiGWfq1WCVhol9rzQCTAZ-dxa0_WuZTcK0SbyPGHtu91BxPX_1iJatlMPlP8Av_CODmATVzPzalWtHZorWfxx5o8u96IsgNw84SMMY4o/s640/2011+03+13_2857.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDYaK6wXHGoKsfR-gl9UKqpUrm-uj_SdxGzNP8QKi8Jysu9O5xOkDL08lQx401pMfSb-kc2UlFUKWi57iNLgJdw4Zv4YK8Sg2NsW0M69_kpq-XiuP2war1HQF0-x69hsqgx6l6iRecTM/s1600/2011+03+13_2880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDYaK6wXHGoKsfR-gl9UKqpUrm-uj_SdxGzNP8QKi8Jysu9O5xOkDL08lQx401pMfSb-kc2UlFUKWi57iNLgJdw4Zv4YK8Sg2NsW0M69_kpq-XiuP2war1HQF0-x69hsqgx6l6iRecTM/s640/2011+03+13_2880.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDNzb9SEblzSEGauF2OuTnirrmN8mex7ChaYQPJdX2rQ4iuTJba9RGS1GSThthxu_MKVgBYLxdOgPqm07c8DUsCmIgs5LHtuPyzX0WzO9CYT97LEPnplRoJ88J-EX8CT7meCe3ypRUeQ/s1600/2011+03+13_2898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDNzb9SEblzSEGauF2OuTnirrmN8mex7ChaYQPJdX2rQ4iuTJba9RGS1GSThthxu_MKVgBYLxdOgPqm07c8DUsCmIgs5LHtuPyzX0WzO9CYT97LEPnplRoJ88J-EX8CT7meCe3ypRUeQ/s640/2011+03+13_2898.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqzedE7UDBdC-DPRCBuM-ODMzQq06PLPpzIuqNqiFrgBqXbaTgkryh1I7rzDzNy0kJpjjS91oSqeIcm7qIVedZan-IorNoCpYT2oJgZOjBZU4yV_WRMQ7be8dORd83tHNRVscVxuU5Bc/s1600/2011+03+13_2941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqzedE7UDBdC-DPRCBuM-ODMzQq06PLPpzIuqNqiFrgBqXbaTgkryh1I7rzDzNy0kJpjjS91oSqeIcm7qIVedZan-IorNoCpYT2oJgZOjBZU4yV_WRMQ7be8dORd83tHNRVscVxuU5Bc/s640/2011+03+13_2941.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvfc79_GMpFKS4gT0lJRlbiuQneK3pOyx8js8AiR5R6Xg4F0lwoCGMwqH7bOmT6ZXdHTgkBvFuoDFOcXeBd3QPPCWMjP_8spjmkM3rSbK2taLPnjKfvZ8LC0ewxUoNzRxinEWb20nWp0/s1600/2011+03+13_2930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvfc79_GMpFKS4gT0lJRlbiuQneK3pOyx8js8AiR5R6Xg4F0lwoCGMwqH7bOmT6ZXdHTgkBvFuoDFOcXeBd3QPPCWMjP_8spjmkM3rSbK2taLPnjKfvZ8LC0ewxUoNzRxinEWb20nWp0/s640/2011+03+13_2930.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XFiz_e0zwTBptvAmfKwD7Mt7aOTFf4clq-9wuJGX43Gq3YJGm643Wo-J6S7fsd5nwniuwsbnp-81GYUXQOQ2w1dnGm47myYX5RLCMB0W5MvYz-eu3yAqP_-aHfWdePsD1-tSyF9YYMs/s1600/2011+03+13_2982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XFiz_e0zwTBptvAmfKwD7Mt7aOTFf4clq-9wuJGX43Gq3YJGm643Wo-J6S7fsd5nwniuwsbnp-81GYUXQOQ2w1dnGm47myYX5RLCMB0W5MvYz-eu3yAqP_-aHfWdePsD1-tSyF9YYMs/s640/2011+03+13_2982.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Congrats for looking this far. There are only a few more photos. There are times when you find that you just must take a picture of poop. (Or you are surprised to catch a sighting of something cool in the midst of the mundane business of life). Today was one of those times:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB4-ubVLIDo0Z1ghZdm8EfUcdSCjQbT4kvQ1Mp0m-TxLBtduJPEPwPpvxdFtz5QiU8XS43jrmS45V3kmp1DoBfy9WFH1lE1apiB1DrIYEvQn3qn9bLU53xyIFiouOOGa4fA4_T54IXIg/s1600/2011+03+13_2961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB4-ubVLIDo0Z1ghZdm8EfUcdSCjQbT4kvQ1Mp0m-TxLBtduJPEPwPpvxdFtz5QiU8XS43jrmS45V3kmp1DoBfy9WFH1lE1apiB1DrIYEvQn3qn9bLU53xyIFiouOOGa4fA4_T54IXIg/s640/2011+03+13_2961.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
And, the lines in this photo are just too fun to not publish:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LnHH4_B2-JBS-wx3MvrtJWsWj9Lwuj3Fad5BGuxK-8yAHgni2FQvFh25-5VfG3dr-FOXEomshE1BOMIK9r12h7Rz4y132Bw11AWSVvcZoWh2scxoewIPTCjv8xGEZAKQlIw2kodMbrA/s1600/2011+03+13_2965+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LnHH4_B2-JBS-wx3MvrtJWsWj9Lwuj3Fad5BGuxK-8yAHgni2FQvFh25-5VfG3dr-FOXEomshE1BOMIK9r12h7Rz4y132Bw11AWSVvcZoWh2scxoewIPTCjv8xGEZAKQlIw2kodMbrA/s640/2011+03+13_2965+edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
So, two more shots... this one Iris might have stolen the show:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyJuQj2QL0jQihIJUo-PSLlTE7J5j3n-jovVAEoXZisC0fDyWQqtOx0NVUSwMWeFgIV9TVfdoq8kwPG8FQU0E9pvG93LFAQLeANygLKlo612v5rRakCjvOHRxTFuG2kR9yEeATkyA0G8/s1600/2011+03+13_2957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyJuQj2QL0jQihIJUo-PSLlTE7J5j3n-jovVAEoXZisC0fDyWQqtOx0NVUSwMWeFgIV9TVfdoq8kwPG8FQU0E9pvG93LFAQLeANygLKlo612v5rRakCjvOHRxTFuG2kR9yEeATkyA0G8/s640/2011+03+13_2957.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwA5lajDmPYksCEy0i8RrR5uJP2rY0bCoKzn3ApQIk77nx7JXAa4yU62tFa8USEDGsKn22rQMMozXNhKWmMOg52L0R9cboGJgoxSWDBWdMKB7313RzyHQuiEUJ4_hN45ReXZSbZ_hPKt8/s1600/2011+03+13_2952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwA5lajDmPYksCEy0i8RrR5uJP2rY0bCoKzn3ApQIk77nx7JXAa4yU62tFa8USEDGsKn22rQMMozXNhKWmMOg52L0R9cboGJgoxSWDBWdMKB7313RzyHQuiEUJ4_hN45ReXZSbZ_hPKt8/s640/2011+03+13_2952.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What a great day. We escaped the city for a bit, and are thrilled to know that we can easily do so on a regular basis (no offense Bishkek).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">May you too catch glimpses of humble beauty around you!</div></div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-23112878225681521032011-03-06T20:58:00.001+06:002011-03-06T21:10:48.500+06:00Story book snowflakes and other miscellaneous items<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Here are a few random pictures with commentary! Enjoy!<br />
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First off, we forgot to blog about the ice-lake. On the way back from our skiing trip at the end of January, we stopped at a lake that was frozen over. Very cool.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsAp8My7K8kvGHt4HrAHE3x32mQHCSQRY13uc7kSe4K9Y2myoTZ_SzfF7Rd8SD9twt0HHnjxzHi5tzyzM0WHrfehQom_jsk9ixTx2NBXVU7auUfNqh5LcKm4q3PH5XBAKAlimlpvH5dPg/s1600/2011+01+30_2532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsAp8My7K8kvGHt4HrAHE3x32mQHCSQRY13uc7kSe4K9Y2myoTZ_SzfF7Rd8SD9twt0HHnjxzHi5tzyzM0WHrfehQom_jsk9ixTx2NBXVU7auUfNqh5LcKm4q3PH5XBAKAlimlpvH5dPg/s640/2011+01+30_2532.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TrjS87bW2Gca6XUP50UDEuJGC2D7m2B3C-heJdDUCwUEeDe05W6LEbvG0212KlMZID7YvRsuXvGyzhKslL50v62rp5y2l4OdX1UGMbfUy4xdfwZM4IkWdOmWgPyF_6mIopeqj0rMqrY/s1600/2011+01+30_2537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TrjS87bW2Gca6XUP50UDEuJGC2D7m2B3C-heJdDUCwUEeDe05W6LEbvG0212KlMZID7YvRsuXvGyzhKslL50v62rp5y2l4OdX1UGMbfUy4xdfwZM4IkWdOmWgPyF_6mIopeqj0rMqrY/s640/2011+01+30_2537.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwfQLdLqJdCgYaWiVLG5dB_WCwQX3KO744f8QqQoHkdtsrc0hoqgqyP-CNTrk4YeHEawD04SmAXlQJXdOnrDn7wv1JoJDhEezDG8UbZpvviywnH4yPjBa90L4tV-_AcNkZVWEXGTOf1c/s1600/2011+01+30_2539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwfQLdLqJdCgYaWiVLG5dB_WCwQX3KO744f8QqQoHkdtsrc0hoqgqyP-CNTrk4YeHEawD04SmAXlQJXdOnrDn7wv1JoJDhEezDG8UbZpvviywnH4yPjBa90L4tV-_AcNkZVWEXGTOf1c/s640/2011+01+30_2539.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<br />
We're in the money! When we exchanged money last time, we got this bill for the first time! It's worth about 100 buckaroos. Guess we shouldn't keep this one as a keepsake!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV86dlTtx1LCV0AyLr4HOArpAXzEmCq-5gmzJVndAVJT3l8wpEumenb_y_D3thvRAOmFrH-oQ3rI7UcX48DY16zSHg5Ze369Vc3xMOOg8A93g8LVrycnLmiuxFIKbwJh1jvKQIc48tENA/s1600/2011+02+03_2743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV86dlTtx1LCV0AyLr4HOArpAXzEmCq-5gmzJVndAVJT3l8wpEumenb_y_D3thvRAOmFrH-oQ3rI7UcX48DY16zSHg5Ze369Vc3xMOOg8A93g8LVrycnLmiuxFIKbwJh1jvKQIc48tENA/s400/2011+02+03_2743.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
A serious statue and the moon. Between the guy's face and his musical instrument (it's not a gun people!), is the waxing gibbous.<br />
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Last week, when it was bitterly cold, it snowed. I have never seen such beautiful snowflakes in my life. They were truly the story book snowflakes, the kind you make out of paper and hang on the windows in the winter. Light, fluffy, perfect. Peter says he's seen them on the slopes.... I think the trouble is, when I'm on the slopes I'm much more concerned with the snow below me than the snow that is falling above me. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3_EwI4UO8P-uDIFKZP1gPsP0DDlUClKfr1pYkkda7Zi5YMIRKzV5CHF4qJexJerjirM48GNdE8nWk2mlrwvGv6DhHnuYw7cfK-nzxeIXaYgyqjQF6qURpdfWmlq7xqF7JAsNGVeNuko/s1600/2011+02+23_2696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3_EwI4UO8P-uDIFKZP1gPsP0DDlUClKfr1pYkkda7Zi5YMIRKzV5CHF4qJexJerjirM48GNdE8nWk2mlrwvGv6DhHnuYw7cfK-nzxeIXaYgyqjQF6qURpdfWmlq7xqF7JAsNGVeNuko/s320/2011+02+23_2696.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Hmmm... Peter - want to take this bus? No? Why not?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwetId7Ti9wnvL0YX8JjIR8SWF-IOnx3zgQg9Ze1wyZP_oAISwHjW9csr_8o0V3Q94bw0JH3a9Hxzvf7kg6WbnSVJcZHUWEkGNY8yCyM4W9mhIrFqOiX_n6C-ntHIWwwNm6VkVE8jmFW4/s1600/2011+02+25_2718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwetId7Ti9wnvL0YX8JjIR8SWF-IOnx3zgQg9Ze1wyZP_oAISwHjW9csr_8o0V3Q94bw0JH3a9Hxzvf7kg6WbnSVJcZHUWEkGNY8yCyM4W9mhIrFqOiX_n6C-ntHIWwwNm6VkVE8jmFW4/s640/2011+02+25_2718.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2z6npiaPuqsfQPvrIfhO15qNtKLgQAJKD69zSUJffWPsfVVFy3dmE_ENeCWCNuhD7XvoXA0i352a7KUeqaC5SouhHgpDp_YKvNgDbQCHEVvh-CbfjNBGWbhK0ge8yXTGM3Ooaj2jYAo/s1600/2011+03+06_2770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2z6npiaPuqsfQPvrIfhO15qNtKLgQAJKD69zSUJffWPsfVVFy3dmE_ENeCWCNuhD7XvoXA0i352a7KUeqaC5SouhHgpDp_YKvNgDbQCHEVvh-CbfjNBGWbhK0ge8yXTGM3Ooaj2jYAo/s640/2011+03+06_2770.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>February 23rd was Men's Day. It began a long time ago as a chance to celebrate those in the military. It morphed into a celebration of all of the male gender. Women's Day is on March 8th. You should see the flower stands around here! We, as of Friday, get to have Women's Day off! This is what the women at the school pooled their money to buy all the men. <br />
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These are a few pics from our walk this evening. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjmkOBwvbWgYcc3IWyzegQjH2PO41fE7aqK9bG4FmmnMaWndIpLbjPhID0-3ySl8hNXSZNN6-Fcz9cIRGI0RiiS4quJ6T5aamPxpSXf4uIkkLXCjP56FaZmmCBGf-nZhu3ki_wf7tGoI/s1600/2011+03+06_2746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjmkOBwvbWgYcc3IWyzegQjH2PO41fE7aqK9bG4FmmnMaWndIpLbjPhID0-3ySl8hNXSZNN6-Fcz9cIRGI0RiiS4quJ6T5aamPxpSXf4uIkkLXCjP56FaZmmCBGf-nZhu3ki_wf7tGoI/s640/2011+03+06_2746.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> The snow has mostly melted, leaving a muddy mess. Temperatures in the 40s means children are out again on the playgrounds.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9KoqHpb6HXxi5ODX4cCHRSES6WzuE8oW1_PwzjuOOth6Ywk4jijkc32W47lZG3zVnKakG6PkH6SF8lezCFCaXDycMDZ9nN1XFTqdzMYb0_Y3awdsLe4Xa4DtjoFOq61HM9HMP_moOAk/s1600/2011+03+06_2752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9KoqHpb6HXxi5ODX4cCHRSES6WzuE8oW1_PwzjuOOth6Ywk4jijkc32W47lZG3zVnKakG6PkH6SF8lezCFCaXDycMDZ9nN1XFTqdzMYb0_Y3awdsLe4Xa4DtjoFOq61HM9HMP_moOAk/s640/2011+03+06_2752.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kyrgyzstan, eh?</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8ziVtmm0hExikWefknPbemHWer4o1ymVdB1QF8mwDjs_t1K9tbb_99ib-iTCcpgepsoDS2seeUMepKoWsEHpcXjr0FSH4CL6tmaPQoRMcVq_9_cRNnIy3vs28apu_ydv45ibJu1STug/s1600/2011+03+06_2768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8ziVtmm0hExikWefknPbemHWer4o1ymVdB1QF8mwDjs_t1K9tbb_99ib-iTCcpgepsoDS2seeUMepKoWsEHpcXjr0FSH4CL6tmaPQoRMcVq_9_cRNnIy3vs28apu_ydv45ibJu1STug/s640/2011+03+06_2768.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Looks like I just pummeled Peter in the stomach, doesn't it? I didn't.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobkBdxIDBifUGGloLd34gDQR9n6l6RWWnpU70qex5iEVH0iYQBvLxlsz-58qj9OZm_cDAveApKoI8vkuUntmgROCaG8fbLpQZSSEC169LtI66DR0Jv64EhJX7TwEdidTcwsxh7NeCMH0/s1600/2011+03+06_2769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobkBdxIDBifUGGloLd34gDQR9n6l6RWWnpU70qex5iEVH0iYQBvLxlsz-58qj9OZm_cDAveApKoI8vkuUntmgROCaG8fbLpQZSSEC169LtI66DR0Jv64EhJX7TwEdidTcwsxh7NeCMH0/s640/2011+03+06_2769.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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And finally, a link to a song that shows a fairly accurate portrayal of what many apartment complexes look like around here.<br />
http://www.practicerussian.com/Materials/SongPage.aspx?id=5&genre=0&sort=0<br />
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Accurate details:<br />
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The playground<br />
Paint halfway up the walls in the staircases<br />
The doorbells<br />
The occasional graffiti<br />
The heat radiators<br />
The doors<br />
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Not accurate details:<br />
There aren't too many Doberman Pincers around!<br />
The outside of the buildings do not look Soviet enough (not enough concrete dressings)<br />
Animated, love-struck young women aren't a common sight <br />
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</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-69765590333706850812011-02-27T12:43:00.000+06:002011-02-27T12:43:39.993+06:00Well....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, we didn't make it to church today and here is our story.<br />
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We left the apartment at 10am, scurried down to the bus stop across the street to wait for bus number 8. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. It is always interesting to observe the fluidity of a bus stop, people and buses and marshukas coming and going, a constant flow of many streams. But this morning it was cold. And the wait was long. And it was cold. When we'd been there about 25 minutes and our toes were growing numb, we decided to walk up to the corner where the sun was. We would still be able to see oncoming buses and it would get the blood moving. <br />
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Well, we walked up to the corner and pretty much straight up to a policeman who had been standing there for a little while. This man hadn't bothered us when we were at the bus stop about 20 feet away, but when we walked up to him, we were fair game. <br />
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First he asked Peter for his passport. (We carry a copy of our passport and work visa around with us. We've been advised that its safer to leave the originals at home). Peter gave him his copy. He looks at it and asks him, "rabotaesh? Gde zshvesh?" (Do you work? Where do you live?). Peter looks at me for translation and all I do is shake my head and say, "Play dumb". So we just stared blankly at the officer. Then he asked for my passport. I gave him my copy. He looked at it and looked at it. He said, "Tourist?" "No, we work." I replied. "Where work?" I pointed in the general direction. <br />
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Next to us, another policeman stopped two Russian looking young adults and asked for their documents. The guys said they are at home. Next thing we know, Peter and I are following our officer as he walks down a quieter street. Behind us the other officer is leading the other two. Hmm... what will happen next? Now we will miss the bus for sure. And in fact, I turn and see number 8 go by....alas, alas, alas!<br />
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I see one of the Russian guys head off by himself, ahead of us and then across the street. He returns a little while later and gives his policeman a pack of cigarettes. All three men shake hands, and the the two Russians are free to leave.<br />
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We, on the other hand, are standing near our policeman's car. He's pulled out some paperwork from the car. He still has the copies of our passports. He is asking to see the original passports. We decide it is time to call up our dear, beloved, life-saver Anna from the school who does everything for us. <br />
Peter: "Anna, can you speak to these policemen who have the copies of our passports?"<br />
Anna: "Yeah, sure!"<br />
-------------Conversation with Anna and the policeman-----------<br />
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As the policemen discuss the phone call, we catch that Anna must have told them that our original passports are at the Kazakhstan embassy awaiting visas to Kazakhstan. Not true- but quite probable. The men stand there. We stand there. My toes are even colder. One guy says, "chai budesh?" Will you give us tea? "Coffee budesh?" How about coffee? We play oh so dumb. "Coke budesh?" We stare at him blankly. Finally, he pulls out our passport copies from his pocket. Peter motions towards them and says, "Eta harasho?" "This good?" I chuckle inside. The guy gives them back and we say goodbye.<br />
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Alas, our fingers, our toes, our innards were too cold to warrant waiting another 25 minutes for another bus (needless to say church would've been almost over) and a very disappointed Katie walked home, her chance to worship in another language, and her one language-learning opportunity a week gone because of some policemen who wanted tea. Such is life. </div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4733369821117732059.post-70214922280996887202011-02-21T19:27:00.001+06:002011-02-22T21:31:33.850+06:00A Visit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">(Note: We meant to post this on Saturday).<br />
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Yesterday, Elnura, my right hand in the classroom, said, "Ms. Katie, are you and Mr. Peter busy tomorrow night? We would like to invite you to our house." A very fun, surprise invitation!<br />
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So today, Peter and I did our usually Saturday gig - got up, went for a run, and went to school. Only today we went to school at 1pm instead of 11am so that we could go straight to Elnura's house at 4pm. (Someday we hope not to need to go in on Saturdays...maybe next year...). Before catching a taxi at the corner, we made the necessary Narodini stop (Narodinis are a store chain) to pick up a cake. If we had been thoroughly culturally sensitive we would've brought vodka or champagne too. We grabbed a taxi. Taking a taxi still makes me nervous as it requires more language skills than a bus or marshruka, but I am getting better at it.<br />
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Anyway, we arrived at Elnura's house and found a table FULL of a variety of salads, fruit, dried fruit and bread. Elnua and her husband and their two boys live in the house of Nurbek (Elnura's husband)'s mom. In the Kyrgz culture the youngest son and his wife live with the son's parents. They take care of them in their old age. The daughter-in-law carries the majority of this responsibility by cooking for her in-laws, cleaning the house, etc... Apparently there are traditional ways to serve your in-laws food and greet them. You must always show the utmost respect towards them. I believe there are variations when it comes to how in-laws treat the daughter-in-law, but Elnura has never been given a present by her mother-in-law (imagine all the stuff Peter and I wouldn't have!) In this culture, people are always, always taken care of as they grow old. I've been told it is good to have children young so that you might be able to live a carefree life sooner. It is a different mentality than what we are used to!<br />
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But I digress. Back to the salads. Well, we don't actually know what was in them but here is a guess. Salad #1 had some sort of meat (similar to ham, but not ham), peas, hard-boiled egg, cheese and other filler stuff all mixed up with an egg-based-mayo-consistency-without-the-mayo-taste sauce. Salad # 2 had the same sauce with olives, chopped up lettuce, chicken and ....? Salad # 3 was a bowl full of long, stringy, seaweed (sea cabbage?). And it tasted just like something you would pull out of the ocean. It is quite healthy though.<br />
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After the salads came a whole chicken. It was delicious. Then we took a break from eating and saw their house. I helped Elnura get the rice ready for plov. (More food?? oh my gosh!). It was pretty cute, Elnura and I were in the kitchen and we had left the boys to fend for themselves in the realm of communicating with each other. Not too long after Nurbek comes wandering into the kitchen and Peter follows shortly after. Nurbek doesn't speak English and Peter doesn't speak Russian....so they had managed to talk about about how Nurbek has an old jeep (here "jeep" means off-road vehicle and has no reference to any brand of car) he takes hunting :)<br />
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Next, Elnura's cousin showed up and joined us. Then it was time to eat again. Food, food and more food! Oh my goodness. The cousin was able to say what she didn't want to eat, or that she had had enough and didn't need cake - maybe someday we will have that same relationship with Elnura! Maybe someday :)<br />
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Quotes from this evening:<br />
"Why don't you guys drink? Life is boring." -- Elnura's cousin<br />
"You guys are young. You should dance and drink." --Elnura<br />
"I'm afraid we are boring people." --Me<br />
Pointing to the jeep out the window "russian, russian, russian" hand motions like going up a mountain. Hand motion like shooting "russian numbers" hand motion writing the numbers, hand motion to show him wrenching on it. (all told, he takes his 1954 jeep hunting and works on it himself) -- Nurbek to Peter<br />
"We are modern. There are lots of traditions, and we do them, but we don't know why." -- Elnura and Cousin (I had asked a question about a water-in-bowl wedding tradition).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0w9k88AhJ8G2eiiWl9kTIH0m5fJjpZcTIThJNRa5kTH1w21SAltnyBKagPDMlA5EyLErz14Y8qEdbhiT97y9GYGYbW9cpKkaabNuTK9pyoB5wNTzKdObZ1BztFaBPk9ydHGS36SZgYwk/s1600/2011+02+19_2670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0w9k88AhJ8G2eiiWl9kTIH0m5fJjpZcTIThJNRa5kTH1w21SAltnyBKagPDMlA5EyLErz14Y8qEdbhiT97y9GYGYbW9cpKkaabNuTK9pyoB5wNTzKdObZ1BztFaBPk9ydHGS36SZgYwk/s400/2011+02+19_2670.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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It was a pleasure and an honor to have been invited to their home. My head is tired from Russian and my belly full from delicious food!<br />
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</div>PKGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13304417695717263890noreply@blogger.com1