New Apartment, New Possibilities

The week started out well and ended even better.

Last Sunday I packed up all of my clothes and cleaned my room at my old apartment. I had been searching with three other friends to find a new apartment that was comfortable enough for the four of us. We eventually came upon one which had four bedrooms a large living room and two floors. For the states this may sound relatively easy, but in Bishkek it is quite a bit more complicated as most families live in one or two bedroom apartments. Once we signed the contract, we all moved our things into our new rooms.


It was quite easy to get comfortable in our new home and the freedom that comes with living away from the school campus is quite nice. With that newfound freedom I was even able to go on a date! The week went by quickly and on Saturday we were able to have an incredible “Novoselya” (housewarming) party. Despite a few broken glasses, the party was a success and quite a few people showed up to wish us well.


We are all bracing for the elections coming up. Most of the people I have talked to are expecting some sort of unrest but think it is unlikely to be anywhere near that of April 7th. There are several parties here vying for power. There seem to be three fairly popular groups out of the 29 or so that are running. According to the teachers and taxi drivers that I get the majority of my information from they are: Ata Meken, Ata Zhurt, and SDPK.

Although the elections are going to be happening, I am planning a trip to climb a mountain in the Ala Archa national park called Peak Uchityel which translates to “Teacher.” The mountain is known as a good place for novice mountaineers to get their feet wet.

I have also been learning to play guitar and can now proudly play about 2.5 songs half decently.