Adjustments

Guess what is new?? A new host family! Suprise. My third host family, since I have moved to Kyrgyzstan. My last family decided they did not want me to live with them anymore, because my host sister decided not to get married. So, I have a new living situation. This time I got to pick. It is with a girl who is my age named Narzina. Her birthday is September 13. (I got really excited when she told me this, I know someone with a birthday close to this day) Narzina is from Kazakstan and her family owns the apartment we are living in. She goes to the university and is studying english. So, we are able to communicate because she knows a little english I know a little Russian. I enjoy hanging out with her. It seems as if we have been inseperatable since I moved in. We have been cooking, going to the bazarre and magazines, going to cafes, watching movies, one night we drank a beer, and tonight we played dress up. So, I am enjoying this living situation more than the previous situations.

I went to my first real banya to bathe yesterday. It was kind of hard washing myself with 10 other people in the room. I have never been exposed to that many naked people at one time. Everyone acted as if it was normal, so I quickly became okay with it. I like the sauna room especially. I go in there to get really sweaty then wash off by pouring water buckets over me. Very relaxing. The water is warm.

I want to travel somewhere, but I cannot make up my mind. I am kind of waiting for later to see if any of my friends/family from America want to meet up. I would rather spend time with others somewhere they want to go than choose to go somewhere and go with noone or people I dont know. But I will try to talk someone into going to India, Russia, or Israel. I will see. . .

Work is going well. We are working on an Aids project for December 1. Also, I am writing a nutrition book for pregnant women from Kyrgyzstan. At the orphanage, I try to fight off the urge to want to adopt all of them. I catch myself thinking about it sometimes. Well, not all of them. . . Then I stop myself with thoughts of going to school, not having money, and needing to be 10 years older for emotional stability, and of course I am not married.

Hope all is well, and please feel free to comment.


Carolyn