monday

it is another lovely day here in bishkek. for the past week, the temperature has been in the low 80s during the day and in the 60s at night. absolutely wonderful. the skies have been amazingly clear and blue since we arrived (almost) a month ago and it is nice to live someplace lacking in smog.

matt (our couch surfer), jennifer and myself went to a sports bar located next door to our apartment (it is built over the river) last night in hope of watching some american football. our plan was to watch houston vs pittsburg and use their "wifi" to skype home and talk to my dad (who was watching the game back home). unfortunately the only game they could pick up on satellite was tampa vs new orleans. so we ambled back home after sharing a basket of fries. it would have made for a late night anyway as there is a 13 hour time difference between central asia and the central usa.

there is an open house at the school this evening so we will be stuck here all afternoon. we have a break from 400pm until 630pm and instead of running home, i believe that we are going to head over to a new restaurant called "damack" that serves pretty much the best lebanese food east of beirut.

matt... our couch surfer departs today (or maybe tomorrow) to continue his two year bike ride around the world. he has been delayed here in bishkek for the past ten days awaiting his visa into china. we've enjoyed his company and wish him well on his journey.

couchsurfing.com has been a pretty cool site. jen and i have been amazed at the number of request we get from people asking to crash at our place. while on one hand we are suprised that bishkek has so many visitors (being off the beaten path and all), we can understand the appeal for people to come and visit as the city is a good, good place.

we are feeling pretty blessed to be here.

one of our goals for the week is to take photos of our classrooms, our apartment, and of our daily routine so our loyal readers (all three of you!) can get a better idea of our life.