It’s the end of the month, and as a part of a new blogging and photography goal I’ve set for myself with BloggingAbroad, I’ve been taking photos based on prompts (and just from life in general), and I wanted to share a few with you!  Take a look, read about it, and click to enlarge if you want to see more closely.

#1 This Little Munchkin

My parents and I had a fantastic time at Song-Kul, and this little munchkin was part of our host family.

#2 Learning Toguz Korgool

Technically this photo is from the Ministry of Sport of the Kyrgyz Republic, but it’s the only photo I actually have of me playing Toguz Korgool during the World Nomad Games, in a match against a young man from Turkmenistan who beat me handily (in what was only my third-ever match of the game).

#3 Team USA

OK, so I’m cheating again a little bit since this is an official US Embassy photograph, but it’s one of the best photos from the World Nomad Games.

#4 Team Toguz Korgool

My colleagues and I took our competition as Team Toguz Korgool very seriously.

#5 International Friendship

Probably one of the coolest parts of the World Nomad Games was getting to meet athletes from all over the world.  If you know me well, then you probably can guess that one of the first things I did was find the teams from Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and basically every other country that the US doesn’t always officially get along with and say hello, shake their hand, wish them best of luck (in their own language if I could), and take a selfie.  The spirit of sport and friendly competition was EVERYWHERE, and if I can change some minds by taking a selfie with a massive “USA” on my head with some really cool guys from Tehran, then I’m all for it.  Let’s celebrate our shared humanity.

I also kind of love that the girl from Iceland won a medal.

#6 Eagle Hunter

I finally got a photo of me with a trained Golden Eagle, and it was everything.

#7 Old Tashkent

This house tucked away in the back alleys of Tashkent has been around for over 100 years, surviving the famous earthquake that leveled most of the city during the Soviet era.  I loved the feel of the back alleys, which are swept every morning before sunrise.  It is said that back in the day, the imam, on his way to the mosque to make the morning call to prayer, would notice who had and hadn’t swept, and would call them out on it.  So, the women of Tashkent and many Uzbek towns got in the habit of getting up 20 minutes before the imam might walk by to clean the sidewalks outside their houses.

#8 School’s Out

It was only the first week of school when we were in Tashkent, but this young man was already headed home.  Definitely one of the more beautiful walks home from school in the world.

#9 Khiva

These are my three favorite photos from Khiva: the unfinished minaret, the gate to the palace, and the same minaret and the madrasa that doubled as my hotel.  Khiva is a time capsule of historical architecture perfectly preserved and restored.  These photos do it no justice.

#10 Hard Bargains

My mom and I had a lot of fun shopping in Bukhara especially.  Bukhara is very unique in that 90% of citizens speak Tajik as a first language, and it’s the street language in the city. So, I often stood silently as shopkeepers would cite a price to my mom, before chiming in in Uzbek, “So that’s the English price.  What about the price for people who speak Uzbek?”  That always elicited a laugh and a smile, and once they would give a price, I would continue further, “And what about if I speak to you in Tajik?”  We didn’t get too far with discounts, but we definitely made a few new friends who appreciated my efforts.

#11 Domes And Arches

Another of my favorite photos from Uzbekistan, this is a little peek a boo of one of the domes at the Friday Mosque in Bukhara.  The mosque is adorned with calligraphy both in mosaic form and literally in the form of the bricks used to build the complex.

#12 Where Is Chor Minor?

I’ve been using the Lonely Planet Central Asia guide for two editions now, and the current edition features Bukhara’s Chor Minor (literally, “four minarets”) on its cover.  It’s become a tourist staple to take a photo with the book at the building, but I couldn’t resist adding a little math lady to the mix.

#13 Tiles And Sky

I got this photo by placing my camera against the tiles and pointing up on one of the mausoleums at Shahi Zinda (literally “the king lives yet”), a massive necropolis complex in stunning Samarkand, Uzbekistan.  There are probably 30 buildings like this, equally spectacularly adorned with blue, turquoise, lapis, cerulean…

#14 Afternoon Walk to Bibi-Khanym

Our tour guide in Samarkand was a fascinating and brilliant woman who actually has masters degrees in history and stuff, but guides because she genuinely enjoys it.  Here, you can see us walking down Tashkent Street in Samarkand to Bibi-Khanym mosque, with locals and schoolchildren alike surrounding us.  It’s a wonderful candid moment that captures a lot of what made the trip so wonderful for me.

#15 Registan Square

This photo needs no explanation.  The Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is easily one of the most spectacular and unique public squares in the world.

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