Day 2 in Osh

It's just after lunch here, and I've been able to interview both the Jalalabad and Batken branch managers. I am so pleased. One of the senior loan officers interpreted for me and did a great job. I was so grateful and apologized to him after the interviews for taking so much of his morning. He replied that he loves to learn new things and to interact with people of other cultures, so there was no need to apologize. It was very gracious.

I went to lunch with the branch manager of Osh, who is such a clever and thoughtful woman. She speaks English beautifully and somehow manages to take good care of me (remember that I haven't eaten, see that I have a translater, ensure that I have afternoon activities when the interviews are over, etc.) while running her whole branch office.

Well! I just came back from the Osh Bazaar, and wow! It was huge, and I am thoroughly boiled. Hot, hot. But I had such a good time. The driver who took me around was young and gracious. He didn't speak much English, and I speak hardly any Russian, so we did a lot of pointing and smiling and nodding, which worked fine. I am soooooooo pleased with the gifts I bought!!! Woo hoo! I found something really cute for Liberty and Myra; can't wait to get home! In fact, I have gifts for many family members now, even Tony, who can be hard to buy for if you're not looking in Best Buy or GameStop. Still need to get mom's, Randy's, and grandpa's, but I know what I want to get each of them. I'll have to ask people in the Bishkek office to help me locate their--oops!--their surprises. :) It's Heidi who has me completely stumped. Feel free to post suggestions...

Oh, it is hard to keep typing without listing all the great things I got, but I do want the gifts to be surprises, and I have it from reliable sources that many family members are reading this blog. :)

It's about 4:30 p.m. here now, and the branch manager said that she will be mine at 5 p.m. Not sure what we will do, if she means for an interview or if she means for dinner, but either way, I'm game. I will be here all day tomorrow, so we can interview then if necessary. I'd also like to speak with one of the senior loan officers about my MIS modules when he has a moment. I've completed almost all of them now and am feeling good about it. I'll be curious whether management is pleased with them. Hope so! I've tried to send drafts and have meetings enough that there shouldn't be any big surprises... Okay, enough rambling. I don't think I'm saying anything interesting now, so I'll sign off and write more tomorrow.