First days in Bishkek

I finally made it to Kyrgyzstan! I've been in bishkek, the capital, for three days now. Today was the first day that we we allowed to leave the hotel property, though, so i haven't gotten much of a feel for the country yet. After the marathon flight from the US, I arrived in Bishkek at 1:30 Monday morning. Since then, we have been sitting in classes and meetings all day, and trying to adjust all night. The classes are going well. I am learning Kyrgyz language (as opposed to Russian), which I am very excited about. Now, I can pretty much only say the survival "Hello, my name is leslie, I am from south carolina" conversation, but I'm getting the alphabet down, which is important.
This afternoon, we leave bishkek for Kant, where we will meet our host family and leave for their houses. I am very excited and nervous about that. It should be a big deal, with plenty of visitors, family, food, tea, and the necessary vodka. From there, I start the real language and culture classes. My group is about five people, and we'll meet every morning at our teacher's house for lessons all morning, and cultral and technical (ie: how to teach) classes.
The group of people i am with is great. We're starting to separate a little into different little groups, as happens with 63 people, but leaving the hotel for host family houses will change a lot of that.
The hotel we are staying in is a prime example of Soviet architecture at its finest. It is a cement block-type building. Every room has a pretty sizeable balcony, though, which is very nice.
The rooms are pretty low for American standards, but I'm sure we will look back on this as luxoriuos (we even have indoor toilets, shower heads and attempted hot water!). The really cool part of the hotel, however, is behind it. I am not quite sure what it is, but there is a huge statue/sculpture park with towers, yurts, and other sculptures scattered. It seems very ... soviet, but it is really fun to wander around in and climb around on.
We have had all of our meals at the hotel restaurant so far, and I have actually been enjoying them. We have had fresh fruit every day, a lot of vegitables, delicious soups, amazing fruit juice and the necessary meat and potatos. It's all pretty greasy, as expected, but I have been enjoying it. Most of all, we have been having a lot of tea, which is only the beginning, supposedly.
A great part of the training so far has been the fact that they brought in some current volunteers to live with us and answer all of our millions of questions. They are all really enthusiastic and friendly and helpful, which is great.
I am very excited to actually leave our hotel and experience what Kyrgyzstan has to offer. I don't think it has really hit me yet where i am and what i am doing, but that probably will come this evening when I get to my new home.
I hope everybody at home is doing well. I should have more access to internet from now on, depending on where I am and everything, so keep in touch and let me know what is going on.

Cheers!