Thanks for all the support

I would like to take the time to thank all the support in various forms (care packages, e-mails, photos, phone-calls, skype dates, reading my blog and many more) from all my family and friends. Thank you for taking the time to keep up with my experiences at KG. It has already been 11 months since I left my home country and started leaving my footprints in a foreign country. I miss each and everyone of you. I look back at all the pictures that we've taken and think about all those good times that we've had. Some were as recent as the week before I left back in May... and some were back as far as to when I was in high school. : )

To those that have had e-mail/skype communication with me may have noticed that my English is a bit rusty. I hope that it doesn't make me become weird thou. Sometimes, I simply just forgot the English word that I want to say. But the funny part is that I may know a Russian replacement of that word.

The road conditions are rough here and I feel like I am walking on snow/ice 85% of the time. When it first started to snow, I questioned why people didn't sprinkle salt on the ground like we do in the states... now I know why. I think the problem was that the temperature was too cold and it snows too often. The salt won't really do much and plus it is expensive. Trying not to slip and fall is kinda tricky. Thankfully Peace Corps provided Yak-tracks to use so that we won't go slipping as often. But still got to walk slow and steady.

A brief mentioning of dogs. Did I mention to some of you that I wanted to have a dog in the states? I think it might be a part of the American dream to eventually own a dog for many individuals. So the situation here is that you don't need to go to the SPCA, the pound, nor the breeders to adopt/purchase one. They are quite available here...sadly on the streets thou. It hurts me to see the stray dogs in the cold in the winter. But this is apparently a part of the culture and how things are done here. Dogs on the street are normal. Dogs inside the house are not normal. Man’s best friend gets kept outside rather than next to you in the house.

My internet connection is not the best here so I apologize if I don't get to your e-mails in a timely manner. The other reason is because work has been busy lately and I am tired by the end of the day. I will try to respond sooner : ) G

 Pictures:

-a huge dog that I encountered on my journey to Talas. HUGE.

- A little dog that I met in the village

- Summer festival photo from my friends organization