Jessa's Journal

Roadside Premier

2012-01-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

Looking for our next adventure!

We drove around one day with a local guide looking for roadside features we could hike to and jump off of! Super fun day! We found some avalanche barriers and a small bank with bamboo growing out of it.

Hucking off a bank over some bamboo!

Avalanche barriers!

The guide that took us out had been with a camera crew and professional skiers a few days before doing the same thing we were doing! Made us feel like pros!

A little photoshop trick.

Annupuri

2012-01-31T18:21:00.000-08:00

Here we are hiking up a mountain called Chis-annupuri. In the indigenous language, annupuri, means mountain and most places have two names, one Japanese and one indigenous. This can get very, very confusing.

This was about a 2 hr hike and an amazing ride down. The weather changes even quicker here than in Montana, and we had about 10 minutes of blue sky and then a small system would move in and snow a few centimeters in a 30 minutes or less!

This is on the ski hill on one of our first days.

I think I fell after this! There was just so much snow, it was an insane work out but since the powder was so light it could have been much worse! Good thing there were natural hot springs to soak in every night.

Mt. Yotei, which is the Japanese name. I forget the other name for it, but it is pretty much a slightly smaller version of Mt. Fuji! Apparently you can hike to the peak in 6 hrs, ski the crater in the middle, hike out and ski down in a day!

Last day on the hill and it was the clearest it had been all week! This was our first glimpse at the peak of Mt. Yotei. Despite how clear and mild the weather looks, apparently the winds on Mt. Yotei peak on a day like this are still +80 mph!

Hirafu

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

Down town Hirafu is treacherous. Build on a slope angling up to Niseko United ski hill, 1/3 of reported injuries are thanks to these streets. Thirty minutes into our first day both me and Brandon had multiple close calls, but I'm proud to say we didn't join the statistics. Somehow my trusty Vanns shoes and his Uggs got us through unscathed.

I feel like this picture could only be taken in Scandinavia or Japan, look at the symmetry!

How many Japanese are shoveling snow? Answer at bottom of page.

There were countless Après-ski houses in town...

The ski hill is open 8:20 am to 8pm... this is the only street light in Hirafu.

Answer: 6

2012-01-31T06:43:00.000-08:00

Jam Cafe was a happening place! Super cozy with a surfer/skier feel. They are hardcore in Japan and even though they can't ski year round they can surf all year! This is Sho, an amazing surfer who is taking a cold surfing season off in Japan and heading south after this winter.

Best meal in Hirafu, fried noodles with flakes of smoked fish. It came sizzling on this iron plate and the fish was waving back and forth from the heat!

Our first of many ramen meals... so satisfying after a cold day skiing!

I went for the pork chop ramen, a favorite anywhere :)

Jam Hostel and Cafe!

2012-01-31T04:39:00.000-08:00

Our amazing dinner of sheep sizzled on a Hokkaido-style bbq!

Itsumi, our amazing hostel mother!

The quaint dinning room...

Down at the Jam Cafe, the bar Itsumi's son owns and cooks for.

Playing darts, I have the Ted-Linford-concentration going on!

Hong Kong Sunday

2012-01-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

We took a stroll around Hong Kong when we got back a few weeks back. The sun light was so pretty streaming between the buildings and filtering through the pollution, ha, you got to take what you can get around here.

Christmas Hockey!

2012-01-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

Kiteboarding Lessons!

2012-01-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Super fun, went kiteboarding and learned how to fly a ginormous kite. Got dragged around in the water a lot, but definitely worth getting half drowned for!

Hiking in November

2012-01-18T18:16:00.001-08:00

We took a little over an hour hike to a more remote beach in Hong Kong last November. Beautiful scenery, great people and some sun!

Thailand!

2011-09-14T18:42:00.001-07:00

We lit a chinese lantern the last night, it was super clear and the full moon was beautiful.

Well, we forgot to check the weather, but apparently it is the monsoon season. O0ps! This day was crazy! Every two hours a huge storm would roll in for about 30 minutes and then it would be gorgeous again!

This is the main bar strip in Patong the small, but bustling city right by our hotel.

We rode this old girl to the top of the hill right by our hotel! She is 40 and still looking great!

U.S.A.!!!!!!!!

2011-08-22T00:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to the Hong Kong Grand Prix Volleyball game U.S. vs. Italy and Kazakhstan vs. China!!! It was awesome! Great competition on both sides, even though you could tell the U.S/Italy game was just a different level of the game. U.S. cruised to a 3-0 victory while China won 3-1 over Kazakhstan. The China game was the later one and the crowd was on their feet! Kazakhstan put up a great fight though... hope you enjoy the pics!

P.S. the one with the girl hitting it was just a taste of the fury she brought! I think she hit everyone of the Italians in the face! They didn't know what was coming!

We are super excited to go to the games! Riding on the 100 year old tram to boot! It felt like it too, that rickety old thing almost hurled us from our seats a few times!

Street Fashion

2011-08-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I took some photos for Sassy Hong Kong in hopes of getting a blog posting on their website. Here are the photos! I heard back from the editor, and she was pleased with some of them but wasn't into the indie fashion. She wanted glitz and glamour... I don't know where I'm going to find that on the streets of Hong Kong. In between the fried-fishball stands? Or near the open meat market? Well, I told her I think those girls are at the clubs at night, but I would keep trying. Hope you like them at least!

New Apartment

2011-08-17T20:31:00.001-07:00

Just got all moved in and finished the six loads of laundry we had built up from last week and the weekend! It takes a lot longer when you only have one machine to do all the work! The little guy is a champ though. Here are the pictures of the apartment, you can also look at them a bit bigger on my Facebook. (But that doesn't help much, it is still small ;) It is on the fifth floor, so a bit of a hike, but so worth it! It is quiet and we don't have anyone bothering us! Well, not yet at least. (Who wants to hike up to the fifth floor but us loonies anyway!)

At first we had some problems with the appliances, but in expat style we had the maintenance man come and he fixed everything in 5 minutes. Wifi not working, oh maybe just unplug and replug it back in?? Preposterous! Dishwasher not working? Turn the water on under the sink??? My father would not be proud.

Oh and I forgot to tell you we got a new car. You see the white one outside the apartment, yeah the one the guy in the orange shirt thinks he owns. Yeah, that one ;)

Junk Boat Ride

2011-08-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

So when they say Junk boat, I pictured an old rickety 1880 wooden boat with oriental sails and maybe a pirate or two... not the case. It was more like a mini yacht! Ok we didn't have the nicest one at the dock, but it held its own. We headed out of the harbor north and after about an hour, arrived at a nice little beach in the middle of nowhere! Apparently it was well known because there was about 15 other boats, but when you have your own yacht, who cares!

Homeward bound...

2009-07-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

So my stay in Kyrgyzstan is coming to an end in a few days. I have experienced more than I could have imagined and hopefully captured the essence of Kyrgyzstan from the highest of mountain valleys to the green streets of Bishkek.

I have been putting off this post because I don't like farewells. Who does? I have never heard someone say they love goodbyes. I am no different.

I want to thank everyone who has been keeping up with me on my travels, apologize for the lack of post in the last two weeks.

2009-06-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night I had dinner with a Jon Washington, very nice chap that is here visiting his girlfriend. We were supposed to meet at a Turkish restaurant very close to IWPR but right as I was leaving a torrential rain storm attacked Bishkek. I spent the next 30 minutes wandering the streets peeking under my umbrella and ducking under store fronts trying to find the place. I of course wore white shoes that are now brown but nothing a good bleaching can't fix.

Dinner was very pleasant and we chatted about his job, which is awesome! He writes software for texting in Kyrgyz and Kazak because right now there are no cellphones that have T-9 software for those languages. He is freelancing and therefore can work strait from Kyrgyzstan and be with his girl and soon to be fiancee. They are getting married back in the states as soon as the U.S. excepts her visa.

We then walked to the square where a summer dance was being held for the seniors of all the high schools in Bishkek. It looked like prom! After the rain everything smelled clean and fresh, perfect for a night of dancing under the stars.

2009-06-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

Down Town

2009-06-22T00:11:00.001-07:00

Naryn and Issyk Kul

Happy Fathers DAY!!

2009-06-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

I know this is an hour late but I hope it still counts! Love you dad :)

Sun!

2009-06-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday and Sunday were filled with sunshine and hot sticky car rides! On the last day in Naryn I hiked up a very steep path to the top of the hills over looking the city. It was great to get out and take my time walking through the hills. At first glance the hills look like they are covered in lush green grass, but actually it is sage! The sweet smell was rising up in the heat and the hills looked so soft you could pet them. I laid down and felt like I was getting a spa treatment, and apparently a sunburn.

That night we took a 4 hour taxi to Issykul and stayed with Aida's in-laws. All day Sunday we just hung out on the beach and then ate some plof before heading back to Bishkek. The car ride was a bit long, especially with my sunburn, but made it back and crashed hard.

2009-06-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Naryn…
is the longest skinniest town I have ever seen. It has one main street that runs about 20 blocks long with a river and high red rock hills on one side and steep green ones on the other. Both are at the foot of snow caped mountains that look like only a days hike away. The air here is quite refreshing in between gusts of dust stirred up by speeding cars. The main street is lined with huge mature trees that look like acorn or some nut tree. Everywhere in Kyrgyzstan they paint the lower six feet of the trunks with white limestone paint, it gives a neat and tidiness to the otherwise quite erratic-looking streets (it also protects the trees from cows that run around much like I would expect they do in India)

Naryn Day 1

2009-06-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday was pretty laid back day. I slept in until 8 and had some coffee contemplating whether I was in the mood to just throw on some clothes still get to work early or not. I wasn’t. Therefore I read a little, wrote in my journal and organized my room. At 15 till 9 I headed off to work feeling very put together and walked into the office at 9 o’clock sharp. Perfect timing.
We are to set off to Naryn today around 3ish and so I have nothing to do but sort my photos from Osh and then skip down the street to get in a little hoops around noon. I find my self cutting it close trying to export all my photos at once and still get to the gym a little early, but then Abahkon informs me that he won’t need the photos until Monday. Snap! I shut my computer and run off to play some ball.
Not odd at all, I miss understand the only girl who speaks an inkling of English at the gym and show up 45 minutes early. All the better because I can get up a good 30 minutes of jumpers before people start filing in. We shoot around more and I miss understood completely that it was the older team practicing as well, not the younger group. Fortunately the coach has no real agenda for the day and we do about ten minutes of fast break layups before they pair off for more jumpers. I’ve had enough of them and it is time for me to go home and pack for the trip anyhow. I say my good byes to Vika, the only girl who speaks English, and unfortunately is sick and returning to Kazakhstan while I am in Naryn.
The road to Naryn isn’t so bad until the last hour there seems to be potholes everywhere! Worse, our driver is dodging them like land mines! I may have whiplash, none the less we make it around ten and settle in after some soup and tea at the café downstairs. My bed sounds like it my die and collapse on me during the night, but I lay very still and somehow drift off to sleep.

Basketball found!!

2009-06-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

So I have been on a basketball hiatus for the past few weeks and it is so good to be back! Unfortunately there isn't much selection in the sport area therefore my choices were slim. I either can play with about 30 high schoolers and for about a hour and a half we run around playing 1 on 1 or 3 on 3 or I can play with the Bishkek city team. I would rather play with the older girls, who in some ways resemble a middle road college team, but they are really concentrating on plays this time of the year. Therefore I would be more of a hindrance than anything and wouldn't get anything out of it myself.

Playing with the younger girls does have it's advantages, they are nicer for one. Also they have endless energy and if nothing else it will keep my in shape! The coach is a bear of a man, who barks at the girls and has been know to throw a flip flop or two. He reminds my of a larger Mr. Gordon with a handle bar mustache paired with a tank top and mesh shorts, a little lacking in length for my taste.

All the same, he is more than willing to have me whenever I can make it.

I'm off to Narin, a high mountain town today so I may be out of service again for the weekend. It supposedly harbors the most pure Kyrgyz linguistically because of it's remoteness. I won't be able to tell sadly, but they also live a life that is the closest to their nomadic ancestors that I hope to capture on camera up close.

Bishkek to Osh

2009-06-17T04:45:00.001-07:00

Bishkek to Osh

Osh Bazaar

2009-06-17T04:16:00.000-07:00

Karasho

12 hours later

2009-06-17T03:56:00.000-07:00

So I don’t know what mindset I had about this ‘little’ weekend trip to Osh, but I was definitely not mentally prepared. 12 hours is a long ways, and especially when you stop every few hours for pictures, snacks and bathroom breaks. Of course I was prepared in the food department in which Timur, a friend of Aida’s brother and now practically my personal guide, thought I had packed enough food for lunch and dinner for both of us! I only the essentials: apples, bananas, sprite, water (bubbly because I couldn’t read the dang label), cookies, gum, dry cereal, and even some sausage.
So we wove our way through the mountain passes and I was amazed on each switch back a higher mountain would appear. I realized about half way through that this was comparable to a road trip from Montana to California. We passed high mountain peaks, valleys full of horses, rolling crop land, red rock canyons, more high mountains (with the tallest, straightest alpines I have ever seen) wide valleys with reservoirs and then around Osh it is hot and dry.
We were stopped by the police because for speeding and our taxi driver had to forfeit almost half of his earnings from us to bribe off the man. We almost hit countless cows and horses, passed hundreds of little roadside stands selling sour cheese balls in the high mountain passes and then honey in the alpine forests.
For lunch we stopped at a little café around four in the afternoon and were served the typical road meal of bread, tea and meat. They were butchering the cow behind the shop and I’m not sure if the man could really see that clearly because there were chunks of black skin left on some parts of the meat. I found out later that is normal, they aren’t so worried about skinning their meat as I am used to. I’m glad I decided on chicken and the skin is actually edible, even though my stomach still doesn’t really agree with anything I eat. I try to convince it, ‘this is only chicken, don’t have a tantrum like you did yesterday!’ Then BAM, it acts like I have been only ingesting gasoline!
Right when I started to get really road weary the driver starts tell some ridiculous jokes that Timur can’t even translate because he is laughing so hard. I wave him off as I turn up Dave Mathews Band on my ipod and some how catch some shuteye amid squawks of laughter. After coming in and out of a DMB coma for a good hour I give up and try to get my bearings. Apparently I missed the black clouds rolling in and now we have front seats to a terrific lightning show!
Finally we arrive in Osh around midnight and I somehow force a few bites of this huge meal Timur’s family has prepared. I’m really going to have to get better at refusing food. Then I crash on his couch for a good 10 hours.

Today was a Birthday.

2009-06-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

Naturally the only thing to do is buy Cognac and a three pound bag of cherries to share with the entire staff of IWPR.

Most of whom don't even know this Russian bloke, which I say with endearment but have oddly been picking up British slang here, so he announced that today was his birthday and would everyone please join him in the staff refreshment room to have a toast. He said this all in Russian and until I had a shot of cognac shoved in my hand I had no idea what was going on.

We all clinked glasses threw down some spirits and then chatted over cherries for the next five minutes. They told me that this would help my stomach, which has been in knots ever since my village visit. It will help Natasha concentrate on her article, it will even help Abahkon, our director, who has a headache. Cognac the cure-all.

I slipped out of the room and they chatted a bit longer in Russian but I still had a great time. So did the happy birthday boy who continued to throw back another two shots of his cognac! I don't judge him at all though. I think a few shots in the work place is extremely overlooked and could really loosen up some of the people I've worked with in the past!

Hit up the market...

2009-06-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we grabbed some fresh veggies from the market and picked up fruit that Aida's parents sent us from Osh. It is a 12 hour drive for a taxi and it only cost 2 dollars to send it! Here are some random pics...

2009-06-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Clearing some things up...

2009-06-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

So the article that I edited is written by Aziza Nasirova, and it is under Reporting Central Asia the Human Rights Reporting Project...
Tajikistan: HIV Carriers Fear Hostility From Doctors

Hopefully that helps.

Here is the address as well...

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=rca&s=f&o=353088&apc_state=henh

2009-06-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

Vacilica

2009-06-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the countryside with Aida’s sister, Nargiza, and her family. We piled into the front row of a cargo-ish van. It was stock full of supplies for the four small markets that they owned and his family managed. Her husband dropped us off at the main store that was attached to the oldest brother’s house, and then went on to stock the other stores.

Southern Kyrgyz are very hospitable, and tea and sweets are always provided when there are guests. After a quick 15 minute set up of the spread, we sat down to fresh yogurt, which is the part of the meal that is supposed to be very refreshing, tea and a large assortment of sweets. They snacked on fresh bread and date or strawberry jam to dip it in.

This family just recently became very well off, thanks their son’s entrepreneurial streak (Nargiza’s husband). They are very religious and so Nargiza changed into long stockings under a dress and put on a head scarf in the car. Her husband isn’t as religious and thinks his family is old fashion. It is odd how people think they are becoming more modern. They have stopped stitching their beautiful and tradition blankets and pillows for their dowries. They use processed white flour, which they think is better because it is more expensive than their organic home grown flour. They have replaced all their hand-tied wool rugs with rugs from China. At the same time, men and women can’t eat together, women should never travel with out their husbands and women should cover their legs and head and where long sleeve dresses even in the sweltering heat.

Despite all this they still cook everything at home and every meal should be prepared fresh, no leftovers! So we proceeded to fry mini-pieces of herb infused bread over an open fire in a caldron. They slapped six big pizza shaped bread to cook on the inside of a dome-shaped oven. We cut up carrots and onions for the plof, which is a pilaf with everything in it. Then there was the salad to make, usually of tomatoes, onions and cucumbers. It was quite hot out so they made a refreshing one of just cucumbers, fresh yogurt, cilantro and dill. This took a good four hours to prepare because they have all day anyway and they do everything from scratch. By dark all the men were home from the markets around town. Nargiza’s husband was heading back to town to get a new load of supplies to brink up tomorrow so we scarffed down our food and headed off. Nargiza and her daughter, Idi, stayed the night.

On the way home he pointed out anything he could say in his broken English, from the crazy croaking frogs to the policemen getting bribed by a car that was speeding. We started playing a game of trying to name things and the other say it in the other language, he killed me in counting to ten, me in Russian and him in English, but I came back when I knew what the name for puddle was! He was pretty impressed.

Then randomly he showed me the college he attended in Bishkek, The National University of Kyrgyzstan. I called it his alma mater and he got really pumped for the Latin phrase. Then he dropped me off, I thanked him, “spasiba,” and said in English, good night. With a quick wave he corrected me with, “spakoni nochi!”

One article down! Who knows how many to come!

2009-06-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

So today an article I edited was published. When I was told that I would be editing articles here after they were translated, I had no idea I would be practically re-writing them.

They are in Russian first, and edited and then translated to English which totally butchers the good writing. So as an English editor fresh from translation you have to re-write the whole thing so it actually makes sense. I have to recheck all the sources and usually have the Russian translator ask the reporter a good five to ten questions about ambiguous details. Then I usually re-write those parts again and send it off to the head honcho in London!

So this is a slightly revised version of mine, but Aida says it was published really fast therefore he thought it was really good and didn't need a lot of time to fix things!

Check it out... http://www.iwpr.net/?p=rca&s=f&o=353088&apc_state=henh

Blisters... and bad directions.

2009-06-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

Oh it's just five blocks down that street and about two blocks up that street.

So where in 'about' is it that I somehow miss the massive train station of Bishkek by literally a half a block.

Then I proceeded to walk eight blocks the wrong direction. Even though the freeway was a sight to behold, blisters were not. Ok the freeway wasn't worth it either but it was the mountains framing it.

On the walk back home a man asked me if I was American and then when I confirmed this he just busted up laughing. I am never sure how to respond to this, should I laugh as well? Am I laughing with him or at me? Or at him? I am surprised at how stereotypical people are here, but I guess I can't judge on a few happen encounters on the street.

2009-06-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

2009-06-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

Farm to Market

2009-06-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended an exhibition that was aimed to help small farmers aquire technology to modernize thier farms. Right now Kyrgyz farms are very inefficeint. There were representatives for the farmers to talk to in all the stages of aquiring these machines, from the banks that would give loans to the people shipping it to them. There was about a hundred people and a lot of media. The Minister of Agriculture was there but he mostly just stood around and then gave quotes at the end.

U.S. Kyrgyz Farming Show

2009-06-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

Burnt Meat and Boiled Milk

2009-06-03T22:45:00.001-07:00

Today I cooked steak. Then I burnt it.

The last step was not on my own accord, but for health reasons it is apparently necessary. I cooked up a big ol’ steak and was about to dive into it when Aida asked why I was preparing my meat in such an odd way? I paused, and asked for her to explain. She then asked why I would cook it half way and then cut it to boil the microbes out of it? An excellent question, I had not even thought about boiling the microbes out of my meat. Now I make a habit of cutting my steak into small strips and burning it. It feels horrible, but then I remember that I want to survive this trip and make it home for a real steak someday.

Yesterday I drank cold milk. Should have boiled it.

Had some delicious cold cereal and fermented mare’s milk. Actually it was regular milk, but for some reason, I don’t know if it is just me imagining it, but everything here has a hint of mare’s milk to it. Even non-dairy products sometimes. I informed Aida that I had this and she was shocked to here that I didn’t drink my milk boiled. I told here no one did unless they have a stomach ache. She told me that they boil their milk for taste and good reason. Apparently the same microbes in my steak live in the milk as well. I may not make it back alive.

Hail?

2009-06-03T22:15:00.002-07:00

Today it hailed. A lot. Everyone was freaking out because I guess it never hails. I wasn't aware of this and after it was done they asked if I got some good pictures. No, because I've seen hail before, and rain, and snow.

Poppies and such…

2009-06-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

Today I ate horse after riding a horse. It felt soo wrong. In my defense I wasn’t aware I was eating horse sausage until after and I asked what meat it was they called their traditional sausage. That is how my day ended. It started much better.

We took a 20 minute mini-bus ride (if you forget, they are the 12 passenger vans that swarm the city and use as public transportation) to the out skirts of town only to hop in with a man (taxi) heading to the restaurant we are going to. It is a birthday party for Aida’s friend’s son who is turning 2, just a year younger than Bermit, and she is very excited.

On arriving I notice a field of poppies across the road and tell Aida I will be gone for a bit to take pictures. These things last hours so I won’t be missing much venturing out for a quick jaunt. I wasn’t aware that stepping across this windy mountain road would take me away from the party for 2 hours.

First the poppy field engulfed me and I didn’t want to leave. The poppies were so bright orange against the lush green fields it was intoxicating. It was even more breathtaking with the daunting mountains framing them from the background. Then I some how communicated with some field workers and snapped a picture of them tilling.

After this I noticed a small cemetery on a small hill about a half mile away. All the graves had small metal or wood fences around them, and sometimes there was up to three graves in each. They also had faces on the tomb stones of the deceased. The graves looked new but the photo’s were taken in black and white and they look old, soviet era times. Most of the faces also had the most peculiar expressions, surprised, pursed lipped or furrowed brows. After wondering through the grave sites I noticed about a mile away and noticed some livestock speckling a hill side and thought why not go have a look.

Turns out there were some herders there as well and I asked for their picture. After struggling through hello and claiming I was from New York one of them offered to take my picture on his horse. Of course I obliged and jumped on a docile speckled gray. He was quite sweet for a leathered skinned herders ride. Then the man gestured to give me a ride up and over the mountains to who knows where. I told him, or mainly gestured, that I didn’t have the time and must walk back. He then gestured he would take me to this particularly dense poppy field, that I had been meaning to walk to anyway, and then back to the restaurant. How could I turn that offer down, and the next thing I new we were trotting down the hill and about 2 miles to the bright orange oasis!

Once surrounded by poppies it was amazing and the colors just made me literally burst into laughter, they danced and swayed, and my feet were dragging through them. (The horse being a little on the smaller side, and my legs on the longer side.) It was picturesque, almost felt like a dream and then I woke up and realized that Aida must be worried sick! We trotted back quickly, I thanked the man a million times and then ran the rest of the way down the little road. My white pants are now brown and I don’t think my feet will ever be clean again, but I don’t regret a thing.

Oh the rest of the party was boring and all in Russian, and I ate way too much to keep my mouth busy.

Russian? English? Spanish? French?

2009-06-03T22:14:00.001-07:00

Today I went back to the main park. I had all afternoon to kill and so I was determined to get some good photos of the square the huge statues. Most of the photos are pretty strait forward because I’m still struggling with taking action shots and portraits. It is hard for me to get a feeling for the people because the language barrier is so much. I am getting better though. I now know how to say, ‘excuse me,’ ‘photo, please?’, ‘thank you’, and ‘I don’t understand.’ That is the extent though of my Russian.

The funny thing about expecting to here one language is you prepare yourself for the struggle. I sat down on a bench to read my book, Chocolat, and this girl came and sat down next to me. There is no such thing as personal bubble here. She saw what I was reading, assuming I was French, she immediately started talking to me in it. I was too busy hanging on every syllable trying to catch a few words I new in Russian to realize she wasn’t even talking in it! Finally I mumbled something that I didn’t even understand in English and she got the cue that I wasn’t French. Then just to throw her off more, when I left I said by in French. She said bye in English and we both chuckled.

Also I sneezed at the office and the boy next to me, Aziz, blessed me in German. I come to learn he is fluent and studied a year over there. I am so language illiterate. I do sometimes fall into Spanish when I can’t explain myself in English. I have to give my self a little credit for knowing at least one more language other than English. Obviously that doesn’t get me far, even though Aida’s husband’s brother speaks Spanish. But again I am trumped because he even speaks it better than me.

Tuesdays and Walking

2009-06-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

Apparently walking everyday, everywhere takes this special muscle that I haven't developed yet in the back of my calf. It is really surprising to me because I thought that with the size of my small heifers, I was using them to my full advantage. I think my calves are like ears and noses, they will keep growing my whole life.
Also the idea that I am a giant is universal. Everyone asks me if my heritage is a viking.

Chatted with two of Nurgazi's friends, Nurgazi and Cheno, last night till the wee hours. Favorite tompics were Obama and economics. Heavy subjects for just meeting the fellows, but very invigorating. They think that Obama is the new JFK and hope he doesn't get assassinated. I had to agree. They also had a lot of interesting conspiracies about our government and how it is controlled by four families that own the Federal Reserve, Rockefeller is one of them.

Ping Pong in the Park

2009-06-03T22:11:00.004-07:00

Stopped in at the office yesterday around eleven and spoke with the director of the Central Asian Department for IWPR, Abakhon. Spoke briefly about what I'll be doing here as an intern and what I could get payed for and such. Apparently I will be payed for my photo's I take and also for each article that I edit after it is translated from Russian to English.
After I was free to go and I had the whole day to tour around Bishkek. On my walk back to the house I actually passed Nurgazi, he was headed to a friends, and he said he would meet me back at the house in an hour or two. I found my way home and Nurgazi returned with a friend, Timur.
Timur offered to take me around Bishkek because Nurgazi had a birthday party he said he would go to and we parted ways after grabbing a quick snack from one of the roadside stands. Pasties. Yum.

This was the start of a trek! We walked for about thirty minutes until we got to the middle of town. He showed me the capital building, their equivalent to the White House, his university and about four others. In Kyrgyzstan, universities don't have campuses. They are just one or two huge buildings and they are quite specific to majors. I lost count at about ten, when Tim was naming off the different ones. It would almost be impossible to fit all those schools in Bishkek if they did have campuses! The buildings though make up for the loss of landscape! They all have huge front displays of either long elegant windows or massive columns, always with a large set of steps leading up to the front doors.

Past the university district there seemed to be two main parks. One was close to the government buildings and another adjacent one, Tim described as their Central Park. The first was a long rectangle with parallel paths and lots of random old structures that looked like they used to be government buildings. In the middle there was a hundred yards of path dedicated to a long row of ping pong tables! It was really busy and we had to wait thirty minutes to get on one of them, but it was so worth it. We played for the world champion ship, US versus KG. Unfortunately I shamed the great country of America and lost in a best out of three tournament, but I demanded one more game and walked away with a win. So I see it as a tie really, he may have thought differently.

Also today was national high school graduation day. Everyone was really dressed up, but in these funny costumes. The girls wore a school girl outfit of tall white socks, a black skirt and red shirt. They all had their hair up in these massive pigtails and each one had huge puffy lace hair ties. Really funny. The boys were wearing read sashes and had on suits or a nice shirt and tie.
After ping pong we strolled back through the square and hit up one of the main ice cream shops and also got the national drink. It tastes like fermented goats milk. I think it is actually. Not for me, but I had to do it. He gulped it down and called it Gatorade. I almost spit it out when he said that. Ha.

Made it home before dark, and cooked up some beans and eggs for dinner. Wasn't aware you had to check for rocks in the beans and about lost my front tooth! I think I'm staying away from goats milk and beans for the rest of the trip, but all in all great day.

Market

2009-06-03T22:11:00.003-07:00

Sunday was market day.

We were at a loss of what to make for dinner so we decided to hit up the market and see what sounded good. I thought I was ready for this, until everything that I thought was good was quickly put down by Nurgazi.

Dirty carrots are better than clean looking ones. The clean ones are washed with the bazaar water which is not filtered and runs through a garbage ridden canal close to the street, not good.

Fish is expensive and so is beef therefore we eat chicken.

Also the farther you walk into the bazaar the better, the food is cleaner and is not dirty from the cars and streets.

We walked down narrow paths with tables set up on either side. In front of those, even more people sat on the ground displaying their products. On the outsides there are covered booths that mainly sell clothes and shoes. Men are running around pushing low, flat bed carts, and yelling at people to move. I almost lost my toes because it is so loud in the market and I coudn't disinguish between people just talking at the runners telling me to get out of the way!

We decided on lentils, chicken, onions, carrots, and then made a traditional Kyrgyz salad. It is quite similar to a greek salad minus the dressing.

Also got the internet up and running in the house, for 200 com or about 5 bucks you can get about a weeks worth of internet. It is based on usage though so the more you check email or upload the faster it goes.

Bana

2009-06-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

The banas were everything I could dream of and more. Except I left my money with Nurgazi therefore I couldn’t pay for a massage, must remember that next week. We took a mini-bus to the banas, which was a twelve passenger van with seats only on the outside and a small walk way in the middle. Except there was about 15 people in the van and I was definitely not standard size. It was quick and cheap though, 8 som, which is about 20 cents.

We walked to one of the many malls, Nurgazi pointed out three on the trip over, and bought a cell phone. It was all together $35 dollars for a phone and 170 credits, which you can use for texts or minutes. I doubt I’ll come close to that since I have three numbers in my phone, Nurgazi, Aida, and a co-worker, Kaarman.

Waiting for the mini-bus home, Nurgazi registered in Bishkek so he could vote in the up coming presidential election. We both signed our names on this huge white board that was advertising people that were going to vote. I wanted to write in huge letters CHANGE, but thought not of it.

Took another amazing nap, but only till 5 and then chatted with Nurgazi as he made soup for his ill sister in the hospital. It was his version of chicken noodle soup but he said it wasn’t that good because he didn’t use the whole chicken just the leg. I was happy because I actually wanted to eat it and didn’t know if I could stomach a soup that had a whole chicken in it.

After dinner he took a container of soup to his sister, who I getting much better from some sort of infection, and I ran across the street to the internet café. I tried to ask when the place closed and they kept exiting out of my browser for me. It was actually quite hilarious, until I found the word for close and tonight, we sorted things out pretty quick.

I’m going to try and stay up late tonight so I don’t wake up at four in the morning again. That was not very fun lying around the house for six hours before Nurgazi even stirred.

Day 1

2009-06-03T22:09:00.003-07:00

Arrived in Bishkek at 17:05. Made it through passport control at 18:05. I was third in line for about 45 minutes, then second in line for the last 15. They kept ushering people in front of us with children and people from the other lines, and it took them forever to check their documents. I started to really worry about my measly little passport when they were producing two or three full sheets of papers. Then I handed my passport to the official he looked at it, looked at his computer, clicked about three times, hesitated, stamped my passport with force and handed it back. It literally took 45 seconds, rough estimate.

Nurgazi, whom I’m supposed to call Nick because I’m a stupid American, picked me up and we took a taxi back to the flat. He is my editor’s little brother, whom I am staying with. They have a nice little 2 bedroom place, with a living room and small kitchen.

I wasn’t aware, but in the month of June this summer all the hot water was shut off for repairs on the central heating system, really great timing on my part. The good thing about this is there is an amazing excuse to go use the banas. There are multiple establishments around the city that you pay five bucks for two hours of bliss. There are showers, tubs, hot tubs, wash rooms, saunas, massage rooms, and a lounge with huge plush chairs. Usually you go once a week and then warm buckets of water to wash your hair and such the other days.

I attempted to stay up all day but after I visited the office in the morning I came back around two in the afternoon and crashed until seven. Nurgazi thought this was hilarious but I didn’t mind because I took his joke through mouthfuls of a hearty meal of potatoes, rice and chicken that he cooked.

An hour later I was asleep in bed, only to wake up at 5:30 in the morning.

Mother Russia

2009-06-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

The flight across the big pond was far less scary than my imagination tried to dream up. I sat next to a very pleasant fellow that does something with computers in Brooklyn. He is originally from Russia and his family moved to Israel with the collapse of the Soviet Union. I some how got his card and if I’m ever in Brooklyn I’m supposed to look him up, very nice to chat to but after I was lights out.
Arriving at the airport I was a little apprehensive because my seat buddy, Arcady, informed me there were two airports with the name the code SVO. The other one was only a ten minute shuttle but you had to leave the transit terminal and I didn’t have a Russian visa. Luckily I checked with a very helpful attendant, once off the plane, and my flight was leaving from this airport and she could transfer my luggage (good thing for once in my life I didn’t throw away those little baggage tags!)
Now I’m on my third cup of horribly expensive Russian coffee and 8 hours into my ten hour layover. I think the airport employees think I’m here to stay.
Also I don’t want to be stereotypical, but all the boys under 25 have metro mullets and techno is even playing at the Irish themed bar. Arcady informed me also that Russia has more beautiful women than America, 10 to 1. I dismissed this until wandering the airport for hours and I have seen more tall, skinny, and exotic looking women in 8 hours than in my whole life. Seriously they are everywhere!

Missoula and Beyond

2009-06-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Started out the trip strait j-style and completely at ease. That is code for complete disregard to time and missing some key articles of clothing, which my sister kindly reminded me of when I arrived in Salt Lake. The time management was smoothed over when I was personally escorted out the back door and down to the plane. The clothes fix on the other hand is going to be a bit more delayed, since shipping half way across the world on a college students budget, nonexistent at this point, takes a tad short of forever. Hopefully I get them before I come home! The rest of my flights went smoothly leaving the country.

visa recieved... leaving in the morning

2009-06-03T22:07:00.003-07:00

I finally received my visa Saturday morning. That was a little scare. I fly out tomorrow and spend a good 24 hours traveling to Bishkek since they only have a red eye into the city. I missed the one on the 21 by half a day... bummer. Except now I get to spend a whole day in the international area of Moscow's airport! Hope the officials don't stop me!

Visa

2009-06-03T22:07:00.001-07:00

Apparently applying for a visa 15 days before actually leaving the country is a bad idea.
There are several reasons.
One: Never trust the United States Postal Service when they say it will arrive in 2-3 days. Seriously they are full of it.
Two: When the package does arrive it is costume to sometimes not put it on record that it came. It's good enough it made it.
Third: When you do call and ask where the heck your visa is... they have no record of it, and after you here them shuffling through their desk papers(I imagine are strew all across a large mahogany table) they are obviously not going to find it in the amount of time it takes me to hyperventilate and nearly pass out.
Four: When they do call back and I regain conscience, they say they found it and it will be here tomorrow.

It has been three days.

Hail?

2009-06-03T22:06:00.001-07:00