At 11:30 a.m. I met with the Kenje, the director of The London School, the location where our students will be taking classes. Wow, she is one smart cookie: not only is she intellectually on the ball in regards to language and teaching methodology, but she is also thoughtful in regards to dealing with local corruption, pro-active in terms of overcoming old the Soviet mindset relative to the workplace, and she has maintained the ability to be a kind human being amidst it all. I'm quite impressed with her.

She kind took me to lunch at Supaŕа, a restaurant and entertainment complex on the edge of town that offers traditional KG dishes in a unique setting: the tables are housed in traditional buildings which are surrounded by ponds and waterfalls and other features that produce a pleasant background noise. We went on an atypical day of the week at an atypical time, so it wasn't crowded at all.

My first requirement was to wash my hands: the waitress held a copper pitcher in one hand, from which she poured water onto mine, and she supported a beautiful copper basin in the other, into which the used water flowed. Then Kenje and I sat down to lunch. Our conversation was incredibly broad ranging: pedagogy, politics, family, cross-cultural issues. I even managed to brag about my niece and nephew, to which she responded with gratifying admiration. That, incidentally, is exactly the proper response to someone who is bragging about his niece and nephew.

Of course, our meal started with tea; the Kyrgyz can't even blink their eyes without accompanying it with tea. And of course there had to be bread, this time in the form of borsok (борсок), small bits of fried dough that we dipped in raspberry jam and sour cream, although I suspect that the latter two sauces are not quite traditional.

Then we shared a Greek salad...

and a salad called Зов дракона (Call of the Dragon), with tender squares, not cubes, of beef soaked in a spicy soy sauce and accompanied by marinated red peppers and cucumbers.

Kendje had уй тилинен шорпо, a mildly spicy soup of beef tongue, potatoes and carrots...

and for my main dish I had braised veal with potatoes and onions.

It was all wonderful, and there was so much I couldn't finish it all.