GAH!!!!

I'm back in Osh, and just getting out of a serious cash crunch. Like, a making my RA choose between having dinner and having breakfast cash crunch. But all better now!

I'm in the midst of craziness. I spent last weekend baking mounds of cookies and now am giving them away all over southern Kyrgyzstan. We spent Monday in Aravan raion center, at the family medicine center and visiting some households, today at the Chek Abad Family Group Practice, tomorrow at an Osh FGP, Thursday back to Aravan center, Friday here in town, Saturday morning back to Chek Abad (a village in Aravan raion) for a meeting with the Village Health Committee, Sat night or Sun morning fly back to Bishkek (my nerves couldn't take another 12 hour trip with 7 other people in a station wagon with no seatbelts on icy mountain roads, and at $25 for a seat in said station wagon vs. $50 for a seat on a 45 minute flight, flying won over financial responsibility), Sun sleep, and then Monday start the whole process over out in Panfilovskoe. Which beats Osh because I get to sleep at home, but loses in that it's a two hour multi marshrutka ride away, so I get to huddle in the cold winter wind while it's still dark and then get the sweet smell of marshrutka in the morning all over me.

But, yeah, things are good, can't believe I'm leaving in under three weeks. I'm really excited to see my family and friends again, but most of my fantasies at the moment involve food and my bed. I can't wait to eat something not flavored with mutton fat and then curl up on my wonderful mattress and box spring with a fitted sheet and my gloriously abundant pillows. Which will only happen after I oh, find a place to live and so on, but will indeed happen. I can't decide if its imminence makes my current sleeping conditions more or less bearable.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. Mine involved chili, cornbread, apple pie, and trying to give away all my current possessions, only somewhat successfully.