From hot to cold and from city to rural: Day 2

This lovely building is my new work place,my new school.  I flew into Biskek yesterday and was met by my colleague and driven the three hours straight here.   Most of the journey was along good roads along a wide valley, it was very early and no one else was on the roads, the little fruit stalls along the route, (a bit reminiscent of Senegal) closed still. At times it called to mind roads through France but the folds of mountain in the distance were unlike anything I have seen before like a billiard table cover rucked up. We then turned into the valley where I will live most of the time, hay ricks, and horses, cataract coloured river water rushing by. Shabdan is the village, we have two or three shops, selling the basics, a little clinic, and a small range of sort of smallholding farms and two schools, one state and the other ours. 

  I am being put up in the Ashu guest house and to my surprise other English speaking guests are staying here.  So having thought I was an intrepid pioneer I am nothing of the sort.  The family who run it are the same family who have set up the school.   My host speaks excellent English and when I walked around the village lots of people said hello in English.  The location is very rural. It is hot today and dusty, everyone is pottering around doing work on their houses or out for a ride on their horse.  Really I expect the pace of life to stay similar for the next few weeks then who knows as the cold sets in, but it was an exciting start yesterday, visitors from Russia, a first lovely meal with the staff at the school: rice, carrots, freshly baked bread, and lots of chai.  Then back to my new home to try and make sense of cyrillic and to prepare for school opening.