First Impressions

Now that I have been here for about a week, I want to share my first impressions of the country:

1. I am amazed by how expat friendly Bishkek is in comparison to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Even though Tashkent is almost three times the size of Bishkek, the latter has many more American products and western-style restaurants.

2. As you have seen from my photos of Ala Archa, the country is stunning! Being from Ohio, I am not used to having mountains in plain sight and it really is nice. I’m looking forward to doing more hiking!

3. Tokmok is a nice but sleepy town. Outside of work, it doesn’t look like I will have much going on and plan on going into Bishkek regularly to break up the monotony.

4. It’s hot. Temperatures in Tokmok have been around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which is brutal without a fan. I guess that’s why the kids in the neighborhood are outside all day.

5. I became super type-A in grad school and will have to learn to go with the flow again…