Kyrgyzstan is HOT HOT HOT!

18:30 31 July 2008

As I mentioned in my email, I got my official Peace Corps ID. This is a very exciting for a variety of reasons. During Pre Service Training, PCTs are on a fairly short leash, and our mobility is severely restricted. This is because of safety and security concerns and because we are still learning the language and they want us to err on the side of overbearing. There is a law in Kyrgyzstan that allows any policeman (militiaman here) to stop you and check your documents. Peace Corps still has our passports so for the past three weeks we have been walking around relatively undocumented (we were given a copy of our passport in case we were stopped but it wasn’t a problem). Now that we have our PCIDs, which are issued in conjunction with the government, we shouldn’t have any problems if we are stopped arbitrarily. They are also cool because of the way they look. It’s a wallet fold reminiscent of an FBI or KGB adgent badge. Who knew that Peace Corps could be so B.A.?

The last two days (today especially) have been hot. Really hot. It was over 40 degrees Celsius today (over 105 Fahrenheit) and my room, a cool spot for me, was a balmy 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Sheesh! While it certainly nice that the heat here is dry, the sun is extraordinarily strong (very few clouds) and when it is over 40 degrees, dry heat is still REALLY hot. For some reason which I may never understand, the Kyrgyz drink hot beverages regardless of the weather. This is one of the largest cultural differences I have had to deal with. Drinking a thousand cups of tea a day, despite the fact that I am sweating and could fry an egg on a car hood, is a big difference for Americans accustomed to ice in their water (even in the middle of winter).