New Year's Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain
The holidays have come and gone and i just don't know why they have to pass so quickly! I wasn't planning on making any New Year's resolution this year but one of my best friends decided to make one for me, "Don't get fat in Crackistan." No that is not even close to how you say or spell Kyrgyzstan but she refuses to call it by any other name (that's you ash). But being the great friend that she is, she has also taken to reading as much info as she can about my future home/adventure. And we read that women tend to gain around 20 pounds, hence her resolution for me. I say, bring on the fried bread, butter, and lambs head. Better to keep me warm come those winter months!
I didn't really plan on blogging about the future aventure until it actually got closer but OMG it's getting closer! We've hit the 78 days left mark and while it seems like alot of days, I know it'll fly by. Half the time I still feel like I'm not actually going. The process for me seemed to take so long and there is so much waiting, it seems like i'm still not sure if it's all going to happen...but it is, and thankgoodness! So now that the holidays are over most of my focus will be on getting ready. I've bought a couple books, have been researching online, attemping and faililng to learn the cyrillic alphabet, and been reading other PCV blogs. I'm not sure all this reading is a good or bad thing...it's certainly helping me to feel more prepared but I also don't want it to spring any expectations...but now i'm addicted to the information and I can't just quit cold turkey!
So here are some interesting facts I've found about K-Stan...
1)Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD describe the early Kyrgyz as red-haired with white skin and blue eyes...this is no longer the case but could you imagine if it were?! Mom wouldn't have to worry so much about me sticking out, hellloooo redheads!! <3
2)Illegal, but still practiced, is the tradition of bride kidnapping...yikes!
3)The 40-rayed yellow sun in the center of the flag represents 40 warriors of the mythical hero Manas...go trivia question!
4)Very popular, as in all of Central Asia, is Ulak Tartysh, a team game resembling a cross between polo and rugby in which two teams of riders wrestle for possession of the headless carcass of a goat, which they attempt to deliver across the opposition's goal line, or into the opposition's goal: a big tub or a circle marked on the ground.....while this makes my animal loving heart just cry, I still hope I get to see this. I mean we are suppose to fully experience the culture right? RIGHT?
Is it March yet?!?
