I typed this out about a week ago, and have just been able to use the internet. A little outdated, but just ignore the incorrect use of future tense.

I’m sitting in my (soon-to-be) permanent host-family’s gorgeous living room typing this out on a brand new Pentium IV computer next to a really nice TV that’s actually hooked up to cable. Yeah…it’s going to be pretty sweet once I finally move in here for good! Kizul-Adyr is also incredible! Everything I said about it before turned out to be absolutely true, and then some! The town is huge by Kyrgyz standards. It’s got numerous cafés (with working beer taps—I forgot how good those really are!), a ton of really big super-market-type (again, by Kyrgyz standards here folks) shops that carry anything I might need and my future school is amazing! More on that later though…Kizul-Adyr also hosts a huge park right in the center off from a giant bazaar selling tons of fresh fruit, vegetables, marked-up personal products, and beans…lots of beans. Talas is known as the “bean-capital” of Kyrgyzstan, and Kizul-Adyr doesn’t do much to diminish that reputation at all. I have honestly never seen so many of the little tasty buggars! As I mentioned at the start of this paragraph, my host family’s house is absolutely beautiful! Do I need to mention that we’re dealing with Kyrgyz standards again? I hope not…but with that said, it really is a very nice house that I’m going to be living in for the next two years. Aside from the aforementioned niceties they also have a great fridge with freezer, nice kitchen and a huge yard! My mom would love it because this yard has cows, two sheep, and 12 chickens…she’s got a bit of a chicken fetish—don’t ask. At any rate, it is a very nice place. They have a sun-shower like my current temporary host-family but they also have a working banya! I think I might have mentioned this ingenious device in a previous posting, but for a quick refresher the banya is basically like a low-grade sauna that you wash your self in as well as ‘cleanse’…like a sauna. All of my friends that have tried one rave about it, so I really can’t wait to get in there! Plus, in the winter if you don’t have one you really don’t have any opportunity to wash yourself at all—I’m going to be getting plenty use out of it this winter for sure!

Now on to my school. The opening day ceremony was yesterday (September 2), and I’ve really never seen anything quite like it! All of the kids came dressed in little French-maid dresses for the girls and the guys in their finest two-sizes-too-big suits. As soon as I’m able to post pictures you’ll be amazed! The younger classes all brought flowers for their teachers and all of the teachers were treated to a feast of sandwiches and vodka by the parents of the newest class (equivalent of kindergarten). Following this party we had a teachers meeting at which my counter-part held her own despite the morning (yes, vodka at roughly 10am) activity…honestly I think that vodka should be a requirement for any meeting—it just makes things so much more entertaining! Following this we went to my counter-part’s house (my counter-part is the Kyrgyz English teacher that I’m paired up with to ‘team teach’) with my director (principal) and three other teachers. There we had another feast and quite a bit more vodka (it’s about noon at this time, so the guilt is less than before, but by now I’m a little drunk…) following this we went to the ‘main party’ at a local café. This party was hosted by the parents of the newest class again, but in style. They had a DJ, a huge feast (honestly I couldn’t even see the table under all of the food, vodka and champagne) and we danced, ate and drank until about 9pm. I finally got home around 9:30 and promptly passed out. That is not before Colya (my host-family’s dog-fighting champion that weighs about 150lbs.) accosted me outside the front gate and ate all of the food I brought home for my family from the feast. He’s really a very sweet dog, but doesn’t have much humor when it comes to food—then again, what dog does? Yes, he’s a ‘dog-fighting’ champion according to my host-father and has raked in about $1000 this year alone for my host family. Could that be the reason they’re so wealthy? Eh, I don’t trouble myself with the details, and as long as I’m on Colya’s good side I think I’ll be okay.

Today Im heading to Talas City today to meet up with all of the current volunteers and my fellow Talas K-16’s to go on the huge water slide, hang out in the park and party before heading back to Bishkek tomorrow. Once I get to Bishkek I’m heading straight to Beta Café which has the best cheeseburger and French fry combo in town. It’s not much, but we are dealing with Kyrgyz standards, remember? Then it’s back to Station Ivanovka where I shall remain before I’m sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer at the end of the month. If the next two years of my service are anything like the last two days in Kizul-Adyr have been I think I’m in for one hell of a time!