The road to Talas

Upon entering the mountain pass between Chui and Talas purple stone walls rise up on either side, patches of blue/green grasses grow where the rock is most friendly. Amongst the grass are a yellow plants that looks sort of like tiny, yellow evergreen trees (Mom, Dad, Adora---think that elf place in WoW). After a while the rockface turns to blue slate, then dark grey and red as the road continues to follow the icy blue river. As the colors change the grass dissapears. After about 30 minutes the road starts snaking up one of the mountains toward the taller snow covered peaks. Once the road is nearing the peak it veers off into a several kilometer long tunnel through the mountain. On the other side is the Jailoo of Talas, a large grassy plain surronded by mountains. In the summer, families from villages all around Talas take their livestock (or send them with a herder) to the Jailoo to feed for the summer. Herders live in yerts and take care of the live stock until fall.

Alright, I'm certainly not a poet so I'll stop there. I think that somewhat descripes the beautiful drive to my new home, Talas. After becoming official Peace Corps volunteers on the 1^st (Yay!) we headed to Bakai Ata and moved in at our final site. After a long night of wonderful sleep, we were surprised to find that our family has already began fixing up a small house on their property for us to live in. We peeked in yesterday and found it is PERFECT. There will be a small mud room/enterance, that enters into a kitchen/dining room. Off of the kitchen are two small rooms, a bedroom and a living room. In the center of the house is a cast iron coal stove that is used for cooking and heat in the winter. The front looks out to the apple orchard and is shaded by a huge apple tree. At this point the walls are being plastered and painting will start soon. Amazing, right?

This weekend, we ate some delicious homemade food with most of the Talas volunteers and enjoyed some cocktails and the game Apples to Apples (Nena, I know your laughing right now). This afternoon we spent about 7 hours at a party with our new extended family (like 60 people). The party was to celebrate one of relatives being pregnant for the first time. We had a huge feast and talked a lot to a group of genuinely interested and interesting people. I even somehow explained how tea grows and the difference between the growing of white, green, and black tea. It was tiring and wonderful. Tomorrow Alex and I both have our first days of work. Wish us luck!

Love you all,

Athena