Hello from Kyrgyzstan!!

Hi Kids! 

How are you?  I hope that you are having fun and learning a lot in Rock Hill.  Thank you for sending me to Kyrgyzstan with my friend Dr. Appelgren.  We are having a great time here!

It takes a loooong time to get here on a plane - 2 whole days!  I was so tired!  We even have a different time here!  Since we are on the other side of the earth the sun rises at a different time.  For example, in Rock Hill right now it is 8:30am and you are probably starting your day at school.  Here in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, it is 6:30pm and I am almost ready for dinner!

Thank you for sending such good questions!  Let's see if I can answer some of them for you.  First, Cierra wants to know: do people speak English? 

Well, very few people do.  Most people speak Russian since Russia is close to here, and some also speak a local language called Kyrgyz (you say it like Keer-geez).  Some of the words sound like words in English, but most words sound very different.  They also use a different alphabet from ours.  It is called the Cyrillic Alphabet.  Some of the letters are the same, and some are different.  Some even look the same but make different sounds!  It is very confusing, but Dr. Appelgren and I are trying to learn.  Look at the picture above.  The first word is "cafe"- they use k instead of c to make the first sound because here a c sounds like an "s".  The funny circle with a line through it makes the f sound!  So now you can read the word cafe in Russian!

Next, Jamari wants to know:  Do they have the same cars as our country?

Well, what do you think??  I think that some things about cars are the same, and some are different.  What do you see in the picture that is the same or different?  Where do you think the cars are in this picture? 

By the way, look at the big white sign in the background with blue letters.  It has a funny symbol (looks sort of like a b) and then AHK.  Well, the funny symbol is how they write a "B" and the H sounds like "N."  Can you tell what the sign says??

Well, I'm off to have more adventures.  I'll take more pictures and write again soon!

Your friend,
Flat Stanley