Postcard 1

Hi friends,
I've been crazy busy for the past month with trips and camps and family goings-on. I'm having trouble constructing it all into a cohesive narrative, so have decided to write a series of 'postcards' instead...

Postcard 1: Crowded beach at Lake Issyk-Kul
I helped out at a camp for Russian orphans in early August. We spent the mornings playing with the group of what might be the cutest kids in Central Asia (save my host siblings, of course) and the afternoons lazing around on the beach. Tough week...
Beaches, as we all know, are ideal spots for people watching. Issyk-Kul is the second biggest alpine lake in the world -- it has a slight salinity that means it never freezes (thus its name, which translates as "Hot Lake"). And come summer, it draws legions of sun-worshippers from Russia, China, and the rest of Central Asia. Generally conservative dress norms go flying out the window. Thongs are a particularly beloved swimwear choice; some choose to hike up their full-coverage bottoms so as to simulate the thong effect. Some beach-goers, however, continue to adhere to certain dress codes, even as they completely disregard others. My favorite example of this phenomenon involved portly middle-aged ladies frolicking about the beach in their bikinis -- and head-scarves.
Some other characters:
- Vendors wandering around the beach selling beer, cotton candy, chips, and smoked fish on sticks
- A so-tan-he's-burnt Russian we dubbed "Napoleon" who literally spent hours, chest puffed up and hands on hips, surveying his kingdom -- with a variety of Josephine-like figures by his side
- Naked children cavolling about
- Temporary tattoo artists, one of whom I, on a dare, contracted to put Monticello on my arm
- A very affectionate couple and their third-wheel friend, who occasionally amused himself by embracing his towel with naked-lady illustration

Life in this country just doesn't get old.