Happy New Year!

Today is Wednesday, the 21st of March, a National Holiday, yes the third holiday since I have arrived. It is the Kyrgyzstan (Muslim) New Year. Well, this morning was a day of firsts for me. It was my first Russian lesson and the first time traveling by myself! Yeah, but all I had to do was get on trolley bus #11 and get off just after the University, so it wasn’t too hard- that was good! I met my teacher at her apartment. She is a very nice lady and is a good and patient teacher and I will be meeting with her twice a week. So that is an answer to prayer! Now I will be able to begin to have a normal schedule or routine of things to do. Afterwards, I met with our leader’s wife and a girl from her church who does an English club and would like to have a native speaker to help with it. We went to a café, and it was really nice. We talked a bit about what she does and how maybe I could help her. She also invited me to play baseball on Saturday!!! Yes, I said baseball!! I was pretty excited about that! When we left the café, Ira and I went to the main square because I wanted to see what was going on there due to the holiday. I heard there would be lots of venders and things to see. There was a mass of people walking to and from the square and a ton of people there! They had a large stage set up for a band that will be playing there tonight. They are a Kyrgyz band that has become very popular all over Russia, so the country is very proud of them! Plus there were different venders and places to get you picture taken, and things for kids. It was neat. So after walking around a bit, she walked with me back home. I took some pictures but for some reason I have not been able to post them. Either because they are too big or because of the dial up connection, I still haven’t figured it all out. But when I do you will be able to see some pictures!