Hunger strikers protest against the President in Bishkek Our office is closed until further notice. Hunger strikers in Aloo Ata Square, just a block from the office, are demanding President Bakiyev's resignation. The protestors accuse Baliyev of cronyism and corruption. The police and the army are out in force. We are keeping a low profile. Some stores are closed, their windows shuttered or screened-the furniture store on the ground floor of our building has black plastic taped up inside all the windows-and roadside stalls abandoned for the duration. It's hard to know what will happen. The previous demonstration in November last year brought ahout a promise by Bakiyev for changes but he has since reneged on these. So, a quiet few days at home perhaps for us, sitting in the garden in the sun under the cherry blossom.

Happy Easter Easter is not a holiday in Kyrgyzstan so Good Friday and today, Easter Monday, are working days. But Rodney made hot cross buns and the sun shone. On Easter Sunday we sat in the garden enjoying the daffodils and almond blossom.

Packing is underway for our departure at the end of the month and the pile for the jumble sale is growing. We won't have a lot to ship this time round thank goodness.

The latest news about the University of Central Asia, just brought from headquarters, is that the three campuses in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will now be completed at the earliest by 2015. Then the graduate and undergraduate programmes will begin and the first students will complete their studies nearly 20 years after the university was established in 2000. It's quite a different philosophy to the Emirates where the educational programme in the colleges started immediately and only when these were established were permanent facilities built.

Signs of spring

First the crocuses, then the snowdrops and violets pushed their way through the snow. Now daffodils and almond blossom bloom in our garden. The grass seed we sowed in November has come up and promises to make a reasonable lawn. Spring seems more tentative here, creeping up slowly rather than bursting upon us. Forsythia bushes splash yellow here and there along the streets. But the Celestial Mountains glimpsed through the clouds are still heavy with snow and cold winds make us reluctant to abandon our thermals just yet. The rare sunny days are welcome and have us sitting out in our sheltered garden for coffee and bring the people of Bishkek out to the streets and parks.

Bordailo cortijo I haven't posted for a while but there have been exciting happenings in our life! First, we found a cortijo, and second, we've finalised a date for leaving Bishkek and heading to Spain. High in the Alpujarras, at 1,200 metres with spectacular views to the Mediterranean, this is our cortijo. It's about an hour's drive from the apartment in Salobrena. Half an hour up the motorway to Granada, turning off to the spa town of Lanjarron, then about another half hour up a mountain road. The lights are powered by a solar panel on the roof. Water comes from an azecia and the fridge, cooker and hot water run on bottled gas. A septic tank deals with waste water. Chestnut, almond, cherry trees and vines grow on the terraces above and below the cortijo. The land runs to about a quarter of a hectare in all. I spent January in Spain at the apartment cortijo-hunting. Rodney joined me at the end of the month to view short-listed properties. Before returning to Bishkek at the end of January we signed the purchase agreement and will finalise the purchase - all being well - at the end of June. We're heading for Spain 30 April, and counting the days. Sprucing up the apartment will keep us busy for a while, then we'll start on the cortijo. Right now we're researching solar and wind power options.

Snow on snow - Christmas in Bishkek 2006 For the first time in our experience, far from friends and family, we’ve felt rather lonesome at Christmas. Sadly, in the work here at UCA, all friends and colleagues with whom we might have shared the festive season have despaired and quit. The highlight of the season has been the offerings at the Bishkek Opera and Ballet – Swan Lake, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, La Traviata.

The pastry cook

With no patty tins to hand, mince pies took on pasty shapes this year

(Fake) Christmas tree from the underpass on Chuy

On the way to work, Christmas morning In Kyrgyzstan, New Year falls before the Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated in January. The festive season holidays, this year include the Eid Al Adha holiday and are from 31 December to 7 January.

The chicken that thought it was a turkey was delicious.

The Christmas spread. We hunted down all the needfuls for a great meal - cranberry sauce, apricot stuffing, roast potatoes and pumpkin and brussel sprouts.

Oops! Watch those fingers.

Snow on snow. View from the office window on Boxing Day morning.

The first snow of winter Winter has come to Bishkek. It snowed, then the temperature dropped. I heard someone say that it went down to minus 16C. Last week’s snow is still on the ground. The temperature hovers around freezing during the day and drops below zero as soon as the sun starts to go down. The washing froze as soon as we hung it out on the line on Saturday morning. It's definitely time for thermals, gloves, boots and other winter wear. These last few days the sun has been shining – very crisp and cold – quite beautiful, but getting around is rather hazardous. The main roads did seem to have some kind of grit the day after the snow, but the pavements and side roads are still icy. Noone uses snow tyres or chains. I met a Lada coming sideways down our street and saw a Mercedes making futile attempts to turn out of a side road into the main road – it just kept sliding back.

Thanksgiving celebration Sunday November 26 Nazir volunteered his apartment and kitchen and two colleagues from UCA volunteered to cook. They bought a goose and turkey at the bazaar and these, together with contributions from all the guests, made a huge spread. The chefs' helper at work The Thanksgiving spread Enjoying