Bubbles and Mountains

It was a beautiful, sunny day today, so we spent part of our time with our son outside at the orphanage. He liked popping the bubbles we blew and walking around in the snow. However, there was a stray dog trotting around, and anytime we got too close to it, he started crying. We'll have some work to do to get him to like our dog Molly! He recognized us again when we arrived and came right over to us. In the playroom, he was a bit all over the place today, playing with a little bit of everything. Our time with him went by way too quickly. Luckily, our flight doesn't leave until 5:30pm on Monday, so we get to visit him for an extra day. That's good, because it means tomorrow is not our last day with him!

After we left the orphanage, our coordinator and her husband took us through the mountains. The other two couples are gone now (they came earlier than us and already finished their ten days), so it's just us in town. It was a gorgeous drive. Cows, horses, and sheep walked alongside (and sometimes across) the road, little kids were riding on real sleds with runners, and there were small villages with amazing views. Sometimes we felt like we were back in Colorado. It's incredible to think that just six months ago we didn't know this country existed, but now we're here falling in love with our son and the mountains of his homeland.

In this picture, you can see some people in the distance playing Kok-Boru, a traditional game played on horses. One team tries to get a headless goat carcass into the other team's goal. There were dogs running around as well. Behind them, you can see a Muslim cemetery. The Kyrgyz are officially Muslim, but their religion is heavily influenced by nomadic/animistic/nature-related spirituality and beliefs.

We loved our time in the mountains, and we stopped by another fabulous Kyrgyz restaurant for lunch on the way back to the hotel. We ate delicious shashlik (kebobs)...beef, lamb, and liver. Well, Zack tried the liver one (and liked it). I was afraid to gag in front of our coordinator! We also had fish and the usual bread and tea. It was another wonderful day in Kyrgyzstan!