Capital

Night on the town

Livin large

All packed up!

At the end of June, we packed up for a short trip to the capital. Taylor was flying out that Thursday, as her 6 weeks were up. Being in the capital was a fun experience. It's much bigger than our town and has a lot more foreigners. We got to enjoy many things for the first time in six weeks: wearing jeans and tennis shoes, not being stared at all the time, great ice cream, and an American coffee shop! (it wasn't Mama Carmen's, but I'll take what I can get) The boys loved getting to hang out and play at the house we stayed at. It was a nice change of scenery for them. We also got to visit the botanical gardens which were beautiful and do a little shopping. It was nice to get away for a week and take a little vacation...I was sad to see my roomie leave though! We had so much fun and learned so much in the time she was here. I'm so glad we got the chance to get to know each other! We spent the week just hanging out and enjoying the city. Thursday morning at 3 she left for the airport the looooong trip back to Arkansas.

Botanical Gardens

Are we there yet?

Reppin Fayettechill

They have exercise equipment in the park! Terrible equipment though. Probably why they don't exercise.

Fun in the park

The clouds were awesome. It's a long drive, but so beautiful!

Taking a break from playing at the botanical gardens

Nathan

7 Lakes

 The weekend of June 16 we all went to 7 lakes. It was SO unbelievably beautiful. Taylor got some amazing pictures...but even the pictures don't do it justice! Oh and all of the pictures on here are Taylor's...she did a great job of documenting her time here. Mac, Sarah, Nathan, Duncan, Jenny, Austin and their 4, Taylor, and I, as well as three college guys that were here for 6 weeks all drove down there for a fun day. We stopped at the third lake, which was a great spot. We had a picnic and just enjoyed being together. There weren't any locals there, so we (the girls) had a little bit more freedom to splash around and play in the water. It was COLD. They are glacier lakes, fresh melted from the gorgeous mountains that surround them. But it was definitely hot enough to at least get your feet wet. Of course I couldn't resist taking a polar dip and getting all the way in, or pass up an opportunity to race one of the guys. Who I totally smoked by the way! Just sayin:) It was definitely a new experience wearing central asian swimwear...I'm used to swimming in a bathing suit, not a knee-length dress and cotton pants. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but I was so pumped that we got an opportunity to swim. I'm a pool rat in the summer, so it's weird to not be able to go swimming every other day. Needless to say, I really enjoyed our time there.

The guys relaxing in the shade

Ethan making a bad choice...

Ethan paying for bad choice

...

Such a breathtaking view

My shoe floated away...I had to cross the FRIGID second lake for it

Victorious!

Vanessa and I

I still can't get over how beautiful it is

Sarah and sweet Elli

The guys

Nathan

Two Months Already?

What a crazy couple of weeks! The last month and a half has been full of lots of friends, fun, and new experiences. I've wanted to update several time, and though I have lots of free time, there's always something that needs to be done so I never make it to actually posting. Here's a few of the highlights from the last several weeks.

The weekend of June 9th there was a huge culture festival in our valley. I say huge...huge for here at least. Our town is pretty small and really doesn't see much tourism, so even having a few tourists here to learn about our town's history is a big deal. There were several events put on to showcase culture. Thursday night there was a big production at the stadium where girls all wearing the national print (a beautiful pattern called 'atlas') sang and danced traditional dances. It was packed, so Mac played the guest card to get us in. Sometimes being American goes a long way. Saturday morning down at the lake there were tons of booths set up selling handmade products. There were so many sweet ladies we met and beautiful crafts to buy. They dressed Taylor and I up like new brides and got a kick out of doing the 'thumbs up' for pictures.

Taylor was right at home with the musicians. Note: they ask you to take their picture yet refuse to smile.

We finally got them to smile! Dressed up like a new bride.

The next week, Vanessa's sister came for a visit. We threw her a party and invited some local friends to come meet her. The goal of setting the table is having little to no empty space...I think we did a pretty good job. For once we got to be the ones saying, "take, take!" to the guests:)

Our party spread...for 12 people

Vanessa and her sister

Elli and I loving a sweet baby

Tahmina (Taylor) and I finally got an excuse to wear our fancy dresses