Jessie Questions...

Which of the many places to eat you mentioned in your blog is your favorite, and why? Will you be bringing home any recipes with you? How is the weather different there? Are there any friendly natives there, or are all the friends you've made from other countries? What will you miss (if anything) when you come back home? - Jessie

My favorite place to eat here.... Well, the choices are very few, but I'm so glad we have been able to find a couple of places to go when you just need a meal out. My ultimate favorite would have to be the Italian place, Borgo Antico, but we don't go there too often because it's way overpriced. However, it is delicious, so when we go, it's money well-spent. The more reasonable-priced Italian place is Pomodoro, which is also so yummy, but not as fancy. The chef is Italian and is so nice. His bean and tuna salad is amazing. That is something I will be trying to recreate back in the US.

As far as recipes to bring home? Not really. I would like to know how to make the Uzbek dish, Lagmon, but I've only had it in restaurants, so I haven't had anyone's homemade version yet. If I do, I'll ask for it. But something tells me, I wouldn't get it from them! I should research and see if I can find a recipe online. The one thing that would probably be difficult to find in the US for the dish is the noodles. You can get them here in the frozen section for very cheap.

The weather: Well, we were told the winter was going to be absolutely horrendous: 6 foot high walls of snow around the city, -30 degree weather for weeks on end, just miserable.

It turns out, we caught the big K during an uncharacteristically warm winter. It really has been a lot like Colorado, minus the ability to have temperatures that rise 40 degrees in one day. We've had a few nice snowfalls of several inches, and the winter temps have been in the 20's-30's. There have been a few days in the teens, but nothing shockingly cold. Spring is definitely arriving now and it's beautiful! It's been rainy this week and should continue to be through the weekend, but I don't mind. By the time we leave at the end of June, it should be pretty warm, around the low 90's. Last July and August, there were several weeks of above 100 days. It was hot, but a dry hot, so still not horrible.

I kind of answered the one about the local vs. ex-pat friends before.

What will I miss when we come back home? I will definitely miss the people we have met. We have made friends with other teachers, people from church, and we knew our friends, Matt & Jonna would be here when we got here. Maybe we'll be able to come back and visit someday and see those people, if they're still here. This place is constantly changing ~ so many people coming and going, even locals will leave the country to go to school. Ex-pats typically stay for maybe a few years and then move on to another assignment. Even if we did stay for the three years that we originally planned, we would probably have to say good-bye to a lot of the people we know now, anyway.

Thankfully, it is not too difficult to stay in touch these days!

Good questions, Jessie!

Last night, I was exhausted after work, so we stayed home and I made chicken bake. Which reminds me, I'm going to tell you how to make that, but I left my camera with a picture of it on the dining room table, so it'll have to wait. Chicken bake is one of the best comfort foods, ever, so I hope you'll try it and love it.