The first week of May in Kyrgyzstan is filled with holidays, so many so that the government often will just declare the entire week a holiday.  This year, because May 1st fell on a Sunday, we had holidays on May 2-5, and again on May 9.  May 2nd was for the observance of May Day, May 5th is Constitution Day, and May 9th is Victory Day.  May 3 and 4th we were given off just because.  So, all of Team Osh came together to head out into the countryside for some hiking, exploring, friend time, and of course, carbs.

Our first stop is always Narodni or Osh Market.  Narodni is a chain of fancy grocery stores that have just about everything that you could reasonably want to buy here, from cheese and yogurt to cakes and even occasionally French Presses.  Osh Market is the “expat grocery store” in Osh that combines the stock of a local store with a bunch of Shop-Rite brand maple syrup, Dr. Pepper, Philly cream cheese, and some other goodies that rotate through depending on the season.  They even have frozen rösti, which delights my Swiss side to no end, and frozen Alaskan pollock, which delights my Alaskan side to no end.  Today, our targets were drinks, snacks, and cake.

Then it was into the taxis out to the village.  The day was spectacular, and the hour or so drive went by without event thanks to stunning vistas like these.

One of our goals was to hike, and hike we did.  In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have worn Toms, but that’s OK, because the “road” wasn’t too rocky and uneven.  But first, we had to partake in tea and the first kymyz of the season.  Kymyz, if you remember from my blogs last summer, is fermented horse milk, one of the national drinks of Kyrgyzstan.  On a hot day, fresh kymyz is one of the most refreshing drinks, but some people’s stomachs are sensitive to it, so it’s best to start with just a taste your first time.

On our hike, we enjoyed a perennial favorite snack, chips and smetana.  Smetana is kind of like sour cream, and is EVERYWHERE here.  You can mix powdered dip mixes from the US into it for your own ranch, french onion dip, or whatever else you desire to acquire obesity from.  It’s really worth it.

Unfortunately, we spilled the smetana.  Luckily, we had a photoshoot to distract us.

And when we made it back to the house, there was a veritable feast waiting for us: dimdama.  Dimdama is a traditional dish here that is basically sheep and potatoes fried in oil.  It’s fantastically delicious (if also pure fat and carbs), and is extremely hearty and filling.

A lot of Kyrgyz food uses a lot of potatoes, bread, and meat, and I think this reflects the amount of physical labor that the typical Kyrgyz nomad would have had to do for much of the history of the Kyrgyz people.  Herders, farmers, and housewives constantly had to tend to their herds and crops, milk the cows, clean the house (house cleanliness is a big focus here), etc, so cheap, easy to prepare, and highly caloric dishes really make a lot of sense in this cultural context.  If any of you come to visit me, remember that no carb will be left behind.

As it was a rest day, we also spent some much-needed time relaxing with each other.  One of my site-mates is finishing her service this month, and so our little outing also served as a congratulations and farewell retreat for her.  She will be the first volunteer to complete a full two years of service in Osh Oblast since 2009 (Osh had no volunteers from 2010-2014), which is a pretty amazing accomplishment, and her work has been a huge help to the rest of us in getting settled and launching our own projects here.

And then after all that, it was back to the city and back to work the next day… if only to get to yet another holiday the following day.