days one and two

My first day I arrived at home around 5:00 AM. I woke up around 8:00 and got to meet the rest of my family-Cholpon (my host mom) and Ulaan (host dad), Alehan (their 11 month old son) and Uraan (Ulaan's brother). They took me to the bazaar and then dropped me off at the London school for orientation. I met some great friends-many from Canada and others from Australia and a few from the US. We looked around town and I got my cell phone. I am the only one staying with a host family (that I know of) but it has been a great experience. Then, my host brother picked me up and we went to the pool. It was a little over 100 degrees and there was no wind! So after walking around all day, the pool was awesome. Then he showed me where the marshrutka and autobuses are that I can take to school. Marshrutka's are like 10 passenger vans. This morning I counted 18 people standing and all the seats are of course taken. This does not feel fun when you are already sweating and more people are piling in. Also, it's almost impossible to see where you are going with all the people in front of you.

 Last night I went to bed at 9:00 (I was proud I made it until 9PM) and woke up at 10:00 completely rested. Unfortunately I had many more hours to go. Today (day 2) I woke up at 6:00 because I had to get to the school and take my placement test by 8:00. Then classes began at 8:30-it was exhausting, because the classes are all one-on-one. That means you can't space out for a second and you always have to be prepared to answer the questions. I have four different "classes" so the teachers basically cycle in while I learn grammar, reading, and conversation. Each class is 90 minutes (taught in Russian) and there is a half hour break for lunch. I was exhausted by the end and attempted to take the bus, but went "way" too far, according to the amazing Kyrgyz babooshka's who tried their best to explain it to me in simple Russian. Unfortunately, the apartment is not near a main road and doesn't have very many distinguishing buildings around it.I took a marshrutka back to a central point and walked a few minutes home. While stopping at the center, a very kind man called his daughter (who spoke English) and handed me the phone because he thought I needed help. What a hospitable culture!! I came home and Cholpan's little brother gave me maroshena (ice cream) it was wonderful! I also broke down (and only on day two) and drank tap water, because I literally thought I might die without it..this girl was not built for 100 degrees! Every weekend, we are going on excursions and this weekend is Burana tower.