Marushkas, Lapyoshka, and Plov

When we first told my family that we were pursuing international adoption in Kyrgyzstan, we were surprised to hear that my mom worked at church with a lady who was soon moving back there for the school year to teach English. She had lived there before during her time in the Peace Corps, and she loved the land and the people. My mom put me in contact with Mary, and she's provided us with so much help as we've gotten ready for our trip. Last night, we were able to meet up with her and her Kyrgyz roommate Zinat (who speaks perfect English) and enjoy a traditional Kyrgyz meal.

After walking through a local bazaar and buying some lapyoshka (local bread), we rode a marushka (public transport van) to the town of Kant, where we enjoyed the view from their apartment balcony. Can you see the enormous mountains in the background? Those are huge sheep and a shepherd in the field. We enjoyed the delicious lapyoshka with persimmons and tea, and Zinat told us stories of all sorts of Kyrgyz traditions. It was awesome to hear about the lifestyle and enjoy the food of our boy's native land.

For dinner, Mary and Zinat made the traditional meal of plov. In the United States, we'd call it pilaf. It was rice cooked with onions and carrots and garlic. It was delicious and so flavorful! We ate in the traditional style, with the man (Zack) starting first and sharing the plate. And of course we drank more tea!

After dinner, Mary had us open our boy's Christmas presents. She filled an entire bag with goodies for him! Not to mention the bag she had already given to me full of crafts and toys to use with him at the orphanage. What a lucky little boy! Thank you Mary and Zinat for an incredible evening together!

I wish I could show the pictures of the fun we had with our son yesterday. When we got there, he and all the other kids were on their little potty chairs. Yes, he's potty trained! They have them on such a schedule there that he's trained to go at certain times. He looked up and smiled at us when we came in; I think he recognizes us now. Once we took him to the playroom, he built a big cup tower, played some piano on the nursery rhyme book we bought him, played with a car, colored, and reeeeeally enjoyed "horsey" rides on our knees. He'd run back and forth between Zack and I, never getting tired of another ride, giggling like crazy.

We're about to leave for the the orphanage again this morning. Gotta go!