From Bishkek with Love

Well… I’m back…. barely. I should probably preface this blog entry by saying I am not an outdoorsy type of gal. I was born and raised in the city and I like it that way. I have been camping a total of 3 times in my life: 1) 8th grade mandatory wilderness trip. I jumped a waterfall and broke my wrist. 2) Genesis Kids Easter camp-out. I swam across the entire lake to show off and came back with my first boyfriend : ) 3) TAMU Liberal Arts Student Council retreat- I was forced to go because I was an officer. I slept in my car and volunteered to take home the 5am whiners. With that knowledge in mind, I offer you the adventure of the yurting…

Friday morning I was all packed up and headed to the CBT headquarters. I was sooooooooo proud of myself because I felt like I had packed economically and appropriately for a weekend in the woods. I only had my backpack- water, pretzels and fruitsnacks, 3 pairs of socks, a change of pants, 3 pairs of underwear, my swimsuit, 2 more shirts, my pullover, my rainjacket, contact solution and case, flashlight, bug spray, sunscreen, ipod, phone, camera. My driver picked me up in my 1980s BMW and we were off. It’s a four hour drive to the city of Kochkor but it was a really pretty drive.

We pulled into Kochkor about 1130 and headed to a cafe for lunch. What you should know about Kochkor is that when I told Nari and Aika that is where I was going, they laughed and referred to it as the Wild Wild West, no civilization…. now if THEY were calling it that, I was a little alarmed. The CITY of Kochkor was about the size of sorority row in College Station. You could walk end to end in about 10 minutes and the cafe we ate at, well that was the only cafe and it was the back of some people’s house…I tried to eat the manti but it was pretty nasty.

After lunch we went to CBT headquarters for my itinerary and “taxi” to the mountain start point. When someone tells you taxi, don’t you think little yellow car and a foreign driver… ok if you were thinking car, you were wrong. Me and my pack were thrown on top of a donkey and taken about 2 miles up a hill to the start point. Ok people, donkey is not a taxi!!!

At the top of the hill Mihailbek (ps- i’m going to spell names phonetically here on out so you can at least know how they sound cuz if i spelled them the russian way you’d never get them) and my horse were waiting for me. My guide asked me if I had ever ridden a horse and I had to admit that its been like 10 years… Surprisingly I was able to hop right up onto my saddle that was probably made in 1800! He handed me my stick to use as a whip and we were off!

I was under the impression that we were going on a 2 hour leisurely stroll through the moutains to my yurt. WRONG!!!! Try a 4 hour seriously dangerous trek. I asked my guide what my horse’s name was and he told me his name was horse but that I could name him if I wanted (ps- every conversation I had from here on out was a mix of Russian, Kyrgyz and hand gestures because nobody spoke English out there…). I chose to name my horse Old Fart because he was a) old, b) had TERRIBLE gas and c) had a bad leg and he stumbled alot. The ride started out pretty easy and the weather was nice, but that was just a trick. About an hour in we started going on really narrow cliffs, climbing over rocks and boulders and fording rivers waist deep on the horses.

I had to laugh to myself because all of a sudden it hit me, I was living the computer game we were obsessed with when I was a kid…. Oregon Trail! If you think about everything else I describe about my yurt adventure you will realize how true it is. We got within about an hour of the yurt when it started raining, not just a usual rain, like freezing rain, and then came the snow…They yurt was right on a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and glaciers, but it was kind of hard to enjoy when I was soaked and freezing.

I was invited into the yurt and met the family.. the mother Aidai, father Asilbek, 16 year old daughter Miriam, 15 year old son Malcheek, 13 year old daughter Iperia, 12 year old daughter Nika and 4 year old son Ursultan. They were all pretty friendly. There were also 2 Swedish tourists who had wandered into the mountains and staying there. The girl had hurt her leg so they were stuck in the yurt for awhile.

Within about 5 minutes of being at the yurt I put on every piece of clothing I brought. For the next 3 days I did not remove a single article of clothing and I kinda resembled the michelin man… I had on: 3 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of underwear and my swimsuit, my denim capris with my jeans on top of them, my white long sleeve undershirt, 3 tshirts, my hoodie jacket, my kappa delta rain coat and then a wool jacket they gave me…. AND, I was still cold!!!!!

We sat in the yurt and drank tea and chatted while it stopped raining/snowing then went down to the lake to catch some fish for dinner. We then fried them and ate them….. they still had their eyes and everything, we had to pick thru them with our fingers between the bones and guts and stuff and pick out the meat and eat them. Ifyou know me, you know that I don’t even like fish so that was REALLY hard.

After dinner, well, there was nothing to do so we went to bed…..at 8 oclock!!! I was so tired it was actually pretty nice but since the Swedes were there we had to share the blankets so it was FREEZING. I seriously cried for about an hour before finally drifting off. I woke up about every hour to pull the blanket back over my head and listen to the dogs yap and round up the sheep and cattle. It was a long night….

We got up in the morning and ate this really nasty porridge and drank Kumus (fermented mare’s milk). I don’t even drink regular milk… ever… so getting that down was a challenge. After breakfast I was supposed to get to go on a horse-ride up to the glacier lake which is supposed to be beautiful. Well we did ride our horses, about 20 minutes before before us loomed this HUGE cliff with rocks and a waterfall. My guide then told me we were proceeding on foot. Ok, that was not in the itinerary but I really wanted to see the lake and figured how hard could the hike be….

HARD!!!! When you are up 3500 above sea level and then start hiking, its a tad difficult on the lungs. Plus my legs were sore from the horse ride. We made it about halfway before I had to stop and suck wind. Also. since I thought it was just a horse trek the only thing I brought was my camera… no water… remember that. At the top of the first cliff I then saw another cliff just as high… We continued but I had to stop about every 50 feet to catch my breath. My legs were shaking soooooo bad I started getting worried. At the top of that cliff there was yet even ANOTHER that was even higher and completely made of rocks. I started to sit down to rest when my guide grabbed my hand and literally dragged me up. I think he was mad at how slow I was going, but ya know what, I’m not Kyrgyz, I’m not a freaking mountain goat who does this everyday. Texas is flat… give me a break!!!

Finally, at the top, we found the lake. It was pretty, surrounded by glaciers, and so peaceful. Part of what really made the whole yurt trip so amazing was that everything was so pure, completely untouched or altered or tourized, it was just there, the way it had been forever. It was pretty cool. We sat up at the lake about 20 minutes, there were also some french hikers up there and then we all headed down. Again, I was going too slow so my guide dragged me down. I must add a add a tag of how thankful I am for Dr. Chaim and my physical therapist Serge… if I hadn’t had my 2 ankle surgeries (as bad as they sucked) there would be NO WAY I could have made it up and down those mountains.

By the time we got to the horses and back to the yurt I was wiped. I drank an entire liter of water. Lunch was the leftover fish… yumm… then we spent the afternoon hanging out. The Swedes were gone so it was just me and the family. They kids had a travel checkers that was clearly a gift from past travelers so we played… except they had strange rules but I figured them out pretty quick. In three days I was completely undefeated which made them mad but they were REALLY bad… even when I tried to lose they still found a way for me to beat them. Dinner… well…. more fish from the lake and then we stayed and played checkers until it got dark. They only had a few candles so when it gets dark, you just sit in darkness. It did hail for over 2 hours which was cool cuz the ground was white, but other than that, uneventful.

For those of you who dont know what a yurt it, its essentially a round teepee made out of wool. The top has a whole in it and it has a flap door. Inside are blankets to sit on and everything is stored in the ties on the side. They have a stove of sorts… the type of thing the quakers once had… where they burn cow patties for heat and bake bread on the metal surface. It is WAY old school.

Saturday night was a little better sleeping because the Swedes were gone so I got their blanket. I used it to wrap up my feet and only woke up 5 times I think. Sunday we got up early and ate the same nasty porridge before getting ready to leave. It was raining again and sooooooo cold. A side note- I only got like 10 pictures and none of the ones I really wanted because it was soooooo cold it drained all of my batteries within 24 hours. My cell phone, my ipod, my camera- they were all dead. I was pretty mad. I did get one good pic of me with the family to enjoy and remember. I took a TAMU flag with me for a fun pic, but it was snowing when I tried to take it and the kids dropped it and it flew into the lake…. well, I guess TAMU will forever be in Kyrgyzstan now, even though I didn’t get my pic : (

Sunday morning was a weird mix because I wanted to leave and get back to the sun but I also didn’t want to go in that weather. Old Fart’s leg was still bad and since the trek was dangerous enough BEFORE all the terrible weather, I got a new horse. Within about 5 minutes I was already crying it was so cold. I had to take my feet out of the stirrups because a) the metal was so cold I could feel it through my socks and shoes and b) the horses had a rough time and if he was going down, I was not going down with him. I should also mention a HUGE thank you at this point for my gran taking us to horseback riding lessons when I was kid. I may not have remembered everything, but definitely enough to stay on my horse and get him to do what I wanted (my guide said I was a natural : )

I should also mention that on Saturday I had some horrible allergy attack and my eyes started oozing and being nasty- the yurt people thought I had the flu haha. I got them under control but they started up again on the ride back AND my nose was running out of control so by the time we got to the bottom I looked TERRIBLE! I was dirty, muddy, sick, wind-burned (like you would not believe- I look like rudolph, seriously!) I was so frozen that my legs barely worked when I got off my horse.

My driver picked me up and asked if I wanted to go back to the cafe for lunch- I assured him NO, we are going straight back to bishkek. I ate the last of my pretzels that I brought with me and one last pack of fruit snacks. I had given the rest to the yurt children. When I got home and walked back to the house (still in all my layers of clothes) Aika just about died laughing. I went inside and as I started pulling off all my layers I started realizing how terrible I smelled… AND I had rubbed a hole thru my jeans, thru my denim capris and straight through the skin of my behind and had a terrible raw spot. It hurts so bad.

Olya made my favorite soup and we laughed about my adventures eating the soup, coke and lepyoshka (Kyrgyz bread- it is DELICIOUS). I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in my room and in the store with Aika. Which I have been meaning to mention the strangeness of the family store- can you imagine walking into an Albertsons, ripping open a pack of gum and asking to buy the one piece? How bout half of a snickers? One cigarette out of a packet? One tea bag? Opening a bottle of coke and asking for one glass of it? It is so strange to me, but these people can’t even afford entire things so they have to buy it like that… its strange.

Anyways, after sleeping off my yurting experience. I am windburned and sore from the horse, but I am back in Bishkek.. at least for today. Tomorrow morning Aika, Nari, Maksaat and I are headed to Issyk-Kul lake for 3 days or so. It is SUPPOSED to be hot there, kind of like the beach, so it should be a fun mini-vacation. I’ll update with stories from the lake and pics from the lake and the mountains when I get back. Enjoy your week!!!!!!!

Howdy! Do not worry when I do not update the blog for a few days. Tomorrow I am going on an excursion to the Naryn countryside where I am leaving Kochor village and riding a horse 3000 above sea level and spending 2 days living in a yurt with nomadic shepherd people. It’s gunna be a GREAT adventure. I get back on Sunday and I will try to put up pictures from the yurt.

PS- Yesterday Aika dubbed me a true Kyrgyz girl. I was sitting in the store with her and I actually caught a fly with one hand out of the air. I have true magical talents…. it was great!!!!

Everyone enjoy your weekend and remember me on my great yurt adventure!

ok, sry ive been a total blog slacker. Things were pretty hard in Kiev. My hotel was the DUMPS!!!! If you are ever in Kiev, don’t stay in the hotel Express and don’t believe anything on their website… they are liars! i was even more frustrated because the library was closed while I was there so I couldn’t get any new research done. It was really frustrating because had I known they were going to be closed I wouldn’t even have gone to Kiev! So my time in Kiev was extremely frustrating, plus knowing that my siblings were at camp/mission trip and my parents were in Florida at my cousin’s wedding made me feel even lonelier than I already was. Bottomline, Kiev was miserable and I pretty much moped the entire time I was there.

Monday morning I checked out of the hotel and waited on a taxi to take me to the airport. I read online that the airport was pretty nice and had a few restaurants so I figured it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to hang out there for 3-4 hours. WRONG!!!! I think Ukrainians are just liars in general. Once again, that airport was the pits. It may have been the worst airport I’ve ever been in in my life. There were soooooooooo many people and everyone is forced to sit in this tiny, dirty area and wait for their gate to be posted. There wasn’t even floor space or room outside for me to sit so I stood and just hung out for like 3 hours. Finally they posted my flight to Moscow so I got through security where they actually were able to book my bag all the way through to Bishkek although the girl asked me 3 times if I was really going to Bishkek. I know I don’t like Kyrygz and I must be crazy for giong there but yes, that was my final destination.

My flight to Moscow was only 2 hours long and not bad. They fed us a snack and then we were pretty much there. I must say though, Sheremetyvo airport has seriously built up since the last time I was tehre. Last time there was literally NOTHING to eat, it was like the dumps! Now they have pubs, restaurants, shops, cafes. It was great! I stopped at a little “cafe express” where they advertised having “Kroks” aka the French sandwich croque-monsieur. I don’tknow if I was just that hungry or what but it was delicious! About 10 o’clock I went through security and hung out at my gate. My flight was supposed to leave at 10:50 but we didn’t even board until 11:30. If you were guessing, how many people would you say fly overnight on a Monday from Moscow-Bishkek…well I’ll tell you its ALOT. My flight was totally packed and had at least 10 children under age 3. When I boarded I was sitting on the aisle in the very last row (which meant my seat would not recline), I was next to the lavatory and i was sitting next to a lesbian couple…..

Between the children SCREAMING, the millions of people who went to the bathroom, and the cuddly lesbians, I didn’t sleep AT ALL on the flight. When we landed in Bishkek at 5 am I was totally wiped out. I got through customs pretty fast and got my bags and then…. my host family wasn’t there to pick me up! I called Aika and she explained that they thought I was coming yesterday and they waited for me for 4 hours at the airport and gave up and came home. So I hopped a taxi that cost about $12 which I then shared with a prostitute that we picked up on the side of the road and drove to the city. He dropped me at the bus stop which meant I got to drag my bag down the dirt and rock road which was an adventure.

When I got inside Aika fed me manci and coke. It felt sooooooooooo nice just to be home! I just wanted to go upstairs and sleep with my cat. When I couldn’t find him I asked Aika where he was and she said he had been so much trouble and made their mom so angry they had to send him away. I don’t know if I was just so tired or what but I burst into tears. I loved that cat! I think it made them feel bad and they tried to get him back but couldn’t. O well. I unpacked and laid down and then did not wake up until lunch-time today. I was practically in a coma I was so tired and so happy to be back in my bed. When I got up today I reazlied that while I was gone they had actually carpeted my room with the traditional Kyrgyz wool rugs which are BEAUTIFUL!!! When I went down to lunch I also saw that the mother had brought home a refrigerator from China. It’s small and old-school, but it is a refrigerator. While I was eating at least 5 families came in just to look at it- I feel like I’m living in the 20s or something!

The mother has already gone back to China so its back to normal. Olya quit working in the shop so now Aika has to work there all day long.  Nari needed extra money so he now uses his car to taxi people from Bishkek to Almaty. Maksaat is still in the Naryn. Other than that, thigns are back to normal. I’m still trying to work out exactly how to get to Isyk-Kul and/or the Naryn to stay in a yurt…. its tricky and more expensive than I would have imagined. O well. I hope everyone is enjyoing this last stretch of summer!!!

Sorry I’ve been a blog slacker. Things got a bit crazy for a few days. I forgot how much I love that city. Riding the metro, blending in with the people, its great fun! Research on the other hand…. I am NOT a big fan. It’s so hard and so exhausting!!!

 

After a rather unsuccessful day at the library and some advice from my professor I gave up on the real library and headed out to the newspaper library. To get to that library you have to ride the metro to the very last stop at the end of the green line (an hour from my hotel) and then find bus #344J and ride it out to the library. Sounds easy enough, right? Right… well the metro was no problem. I figured, how many buses could there be? Well since mine was already in the 300s, you can imagine. It was like the major bus stop at the end of the Northern part of the city to take you anywhere else you needed. I chose the wimpy way out and just started wandering down the miles of buses and calling out “biblioteka” which means library in Russian. Eventually a man said yes and let me on his bus.

 

Next problem, buses don’t tell you what stop they are at and this “library” looked more like an apartment building than a library. I went too far and ended up having to ask directions and walking a mile back… BUT, I found it! Outside of the city is actually pretty nice- its calm, clean, and feels like the 80s. There are parts of Moscow that really make me feel like I’m living in the musical Rent and walking down the street to that newspaper library definitely fit in that category.

 

The library was really low key which was nice compared to the other one. I wandered up to the 2^nd floor where they kept most of the newspapers I was looking through. I found a friendly librarian who helped me find what I was looking for. Then came the hard part…

 

Sitting in a library without AC flipping through hundreds and hundreds of pages of newspapers while your fingers turn black is exhausting. The first day I tried to take notes and copy down the stories but I was getting nowhere fast and stressing myself to the point of a headache. The only good thing was that I was at least finding information I needed.

 

I left the library early because I was meeting my Aggie friend Paige who was also doing research downtown at my favorite Italian restaurant. It was sooooooooooooo nice to see someone who a) spoke english b) was from a&m and therefore friendly and c) going through the exact same thing as me. She was just as stressed about the research which made me feel better. We sat there for a few hours talking about Moscow , research and our favorite history professor : )  It was a nice relaxing evening. We also both decided to give up on taking notes since we were running out of time and decided to resort to illegally taking pictures of the sources we needed haha.

 

When I got home I got an email from Bank of America that there had been unusual activity on my debit card. I was immediately frustrated because I JUST got my new card from the unusual activity they found on it when I was in China . I called the customer support desk and they said, “someone in Russia is using your debit card.” My response, “you’re right, ME!” So I demanded (as kindly as possible) that they turn my card back on immediately. I don’t know how many times they have to write in my file that I’m abroad but apparently it’s a ton!

 

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday back out at the newspaper library illegally snapping pictures of stories. It was hard because there were more people there on those days but I still got quite a few. It was frustrating because I couldn’t possibly get through all of the newspapers I wanted to and all the years I wanted to search but I feel like I did get at least a good groundwork.

 

Wednesday was a tricky day. I had to checkout by noon but my train didn’t leave til 11:30 pm. I got the hotel to hold my luggage and spent my last day at the library until it closed. Then I stopped by my Italian restaurant 1 last time : ) and enjoyed a pepperoni pizza. I still had about 3 hours until I needed to leave for the airport so I went to the movies and watched Hancock in Russian. It was actually better than I thought it would be! When I came out of the movies I got an ice cream cone and went to walk outside to go back to the hotel and get my luggage and it was POURING. I mean, we are talking torrential downpour and lightening store. SOOOO I went back into the mall and bought the cheapest umbrella I could find to get me back to the hotel.

 

Of course as soon as I got my luggage it started raining even harder… I was asking the front desk how much a taxi to the train station would cost (because it’s a good 20 minute walk to the metro in good weather and I knew I’d never make it with my backpack and luggage) when a friendly English business-man who was checking in said he had a car taking him to the metro in 10 minutes and he would take me. Of course I jumped on that offer.

 

When we got in his car he introduced himself to me as Jimmy (this man was at least 55) and explained that he owned some factories just north of Moscow . We had some small talk while sitting in traffic and when I explained that I was researching Putin, he told me that he had met him!!!! When his factory had opened, Putin had attended its opening. He said that he was not a very nice person, but I’m still going to choose to believe otherwise : )

 

We parted ways at the metro. I had about a 30 minute ride on the green line and then a switch to the brown ring line. Going both up and down several flights of stairs with my luggage really made me appreciate/miss Caleb and my dad. I never really want to travel like that alone again. Russians aren’t quite as courteous as Americans so when I tripped, lost my shoes and my bag fell down a few stairs I got cursed at for blocking the way instead of people helping me up. O well.

 

The train station was pretty easy. I got there just about the time that they opened up the train. I was the first in my cabin, followed by a Ukrainian woman, a Russian man and then another Ukrainian man. The girls slept on the beds on the bottom and the boys on the top.

 

You know those things in life that you romanticize in your head and then they turn out to not be so great? Well riding trains in Russia does not fall in the category. I LOVE THEM! I enjoyed our overnight to St. Petersburg a few years ago and overall enjoyed this one too. There is something so enjoyable about curling up in your bunk, watching the city of Moscow slowly fade away into the mist and then falling asleep to the rocking of the train along the Russian countryside.

 

The only unfortunate incidents of the train incident. About 3 am we got woken up by the Russian border control opening our cabin door and flipping on the lights. My documents were second and he took a really long time looking through them before asking me to step outside. Apparently I don’t look like my passport picture when being jerked awake at 3 am on a train, my bad? There was also an error in my exit paperwork. When I arrived at the airport, I wrote that I was leaving Russia on the 16^th not realizing that the border patrol would come on the train at 3am on the 17^th so I had to get that cleared up. I crawled back in my bunk about 330 and drifted off when at 4:15 the Ukrainian border patrol entered the train and woke us up again. Not only did they check out paperwork but made us get out of bed and pull of the beds so they could see that we weren’t illegally transporting hideaways under there. FINALLY about 4:45 I got to go back to sleep until 7:45 when they woke us up to tell us we were coming into Kiev .

 

Kiev reminds me of a mix of San Francisco, Hot Springs Arkansas and Paris . I know those are a strange combination. It’s REALLY hilly here. I’m getting a major workout walking around. It’s also really foresty and covered with parks and trees. It’s also rather difficult to navigate because the streets aren’t linear, they twist and curve off each other just like Paris .

 

I took a taxi to my hotel which is downtown and got there about 8:45. Problem, check in was not until 1 and they couldn’t hold my bags… SO, I sat in the lobby watching beerfest in Ukrainian on their tv until they took pity on my around noon and finally just let me check in. Unlike the lobby which was actually pretty nice, my room is the dumps! I’m calling it my jail cell.

 

I essentially have a cot, a desk, a tv nailed to the wall, and my bathroom is the tiny and the shower has hot water for 5 minutes. O well, it was relatively cheap. I was soooooooo tired from the train that I slept for a few hours. Then I hopped the metro to go in search of food. I found the TGI Fridays in Kiev and enjoyed some tomato basil soup and a cheeseburger. After my lunch I wandered around downtown seeing the city. For dinner, I actually found a place called Tequila House and was supposed to serve Mexican food! Granted, the waitresses were dressed like Swedish milkmaids but the food was decent. They had queso which I will give an A for effort on although they tried to talk me out of it because it was so spicy. It was easily the blandest queso I’ve ever eaten, but still, queso! The enchiladas were not so good, I’m not really sure what they were made out of, but not really enchiladas. O well, it was better than most eveyrhting I’ve eaten in Kyrgyzstan !!! I came home and checked my email in the lobby (with the super expensive WI-FI that you can’t get in your room)

 

This morning I woke up and headed out to the library. I got there and there was  a sign that said closed…. I am REALLY hoping that was just for today because their website said nothing about it being closed…. So I ended up going to the movies and watching Get Smart in Ukrainian. I don’t know Ukrainian but it was still pretty entertaining!! I realized today that in the last 2 months I have seen movies in 4 different countries and languages and none of them are America/English….

 

This evening I am going to attempt to get a pizza delivered to me despite the fact that I don’t speak Ukrainian… if that fails, there is an Irish pub down the street that I may hit up. As much as I love to travel and be abroad, I am starting to wear thin. I can only eat in so many restaurants by myself and go so many days without having someone to talk to. At least in 4 days I’ll be back in Bishkek with my family : )

 

Well I better go get back to trying to get that pizza…. I hope everyone has a great weekend and my early congrats to my cousin Holly who gets married tomorrow!!!! I’m so sad I can’t be there but I know its going to be a beautiful wedding!!! Love you all!

Sorry I haven’t updated. RESEARCH IS HARD… and EXHAUSTING!!!!!

I made it to Ukraine (With many adventures along the way). I don’t have internet time to update tonight but look for an update of ALL my Moscow and train adventures tomorrow!!

I made it!!!! Sorry I haven’t updated sooner. Being sick has slowed me down and I’ve been running around Moscow like a crazy person!!! I didn’t have any problems getting thru the Bishkek airport this time… learning a few basic Kyrgyz words really helped me out. Right before I left town my host mother came back from China with a TON of goods to sell. She was sad I was leaving but promised that when I got back we would go to Issyk-Kul (the lake). I almost cried when I had to say goodbye to my kitten. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to say good-bye to him for real and come to the states. 

Ok Aeroflot…. ridiculous. When I boarded everything was black and orange which made for a pleasant Halloween feeling. The seats were rather flimsy and the leg room didn’t exist. I sat indian style the entire way (a 4.5 hour flight). Also, I don’t know if its some sort of cultural thing but everyone took their shoes off when we got on board creating a lovely stench AND the AC didn’t work…. it was great. I can usually sleep on planes but I felt so bad I couldn’t get comfortable and just listened to my ipod.

You know those things in life that you know you should do but the temptation is so great you just can’t help yourself? Well, they served us a meal on our flight. I knew that Aeroflot is way sketchy and I probably shouldn’t eat it, but when they set that chicken cordon bleu in front of me I just couldn’t help myself! I ate the entire thing, the roasted potatoes, the piece of cheese, the bread and the corn out of my salad. It was delicious….. at least until the flight ended and my stomach was not too enthused with that meal. I hoped to get thru customs quick and get to my hotel because it was already 8 oclock.

2 and a half hours later……. i finally got through customs. It was RIDICULOUS. There were hundreds of people in line (and cutting in line) and only 2 people working the desk. AHHHHH it was like torture to stand there and I felt HORRIBLE. To top it off there was a large chinese tour group ahead of me and they decided to spread out between the two lines and then whoever hit the front first they all just cut in line with their group. it made me so mad!!!! needless to say, at 10:30 when I got through customs I was in a really foul mood.

I went to the taxi desk. I knew it was going to be expensive, I asked the hotel and they said probably about $75. I spoke to them in Russian because I knew as soon as I spoke English they’d jack up the price. He told me it would be $150 to take me to my hotel. When I responded in Russian “that’s ridiculous. why is it so expensive” he then responded in russian “welcome to moscow little american girl.” It was all I could do not to rear back and punch him. But I used my self-control and just walked away. I talked to the unofficial taxis and they also ranged between $125-150. I went so far as going to the rent-a-car stand but I don’t know how to drive a stick so that crushed that idea real quick. I finally got a guy to agree to $100 to take me. At that point I just wanted to get to a bed so I agreed. It was an hour and a half drive to my hotel….

I ended up checking in about 12:15 in the morning. Luckily my hotel is really nice. It’s in a quiet part of town and there are lots of restaurants around (McDonalds, Rostiks, Sbarro, and some local restaurants) and its located close to the metro. The only problem and thing that I forgot was that Moscow is a rip off. There is a reason its the most expensive city in the world. Here are a few examples: To launder 1 tshirt…..$8, 1 can of pepsi from the mini bar $6.50, 1 can of pepsi off the street $2.00, WiFi in the hotel for 1 hour…..$25, to use a portapotty on the street….$1.25!!!!!!

As soon as I got up to my room I didn’t bother to shower or anything, I completely crashed out…. which turned out to be a mistake. I knew I was dirty but I was reminded just how dirty when I woke up and the sheets and pillow case were a nasty grey-ish black color. I immediately took an EXTREMELY long shower and tried to clean up. After the shower I was still in a pretty bad mood so I headed up to Red Square and down an alley is my favorite Italian Restaurant here. I got a pepperoni pizza and coke and then walked along to Kremlin. It’s funny how that cheered me up. Then I walked down to the libary where I’m doing my research.

I was so proud of myself because my Russian actually pulled me through! I was able to explain who I was and what I was doing there and get myself registered and get a library card!!!! It was great. I then spent a few hours perusing the library trying to figure it out. Wow that library is confusing!!!! It’s like an ancient building and when you go in you go thru 2 sets of security and up some stairs where there are thousands upon thousands of catalogue boxes. From what I can gather, you go through the boxes and right down the information for the books you would like, then you take it to your assigned desk and about 24 hours later they produce the books for you. My problem is… in those thousands of card boxes, how do you find what you are looking for? I tried talking to a consultant librarian but she was really mean and talked a little too fast for me so I gave up for the day.

It was about 5 o’clock when I left and one thing I didn’t do when I was in Moscow before was walk down the old Arabat street so I took a stroll. It was fun to see all the vendors and tourists. AND I couldn’t believe it…. there was Starbucks…2 of them!!!!! I’m definitely going to have to visit that sometime this week!!!

At the end of the street I stopped in a grocery store and picked up food for the week: bread, cheese, salami, bannannas, cashews, bottled water and cans of pepsi, and bubble bath : ) Then I stopped at an anteka and picked up some cold/flu medicine and headed back to the hotel. After unloading all my stuff I had a skype date with my parents.

It’s funny, my dad asked me how it felt to be back in my old stomping ground. I never really thought about it that way but its true. When that taxi drove me thru town the other night I was filled with this strange feeling of joy and excitement and familiarity. I recognized stuff and felt strangely like I was coming home in a way. I’ve jumped right back into Russian life with no problems. I remember the metro, I remember the layout of the city, I love it! AND this time my Russian is better so its easier to get around. At the same time, me and Moscow have a love-hate relationship. The cost of this city is RIDICULOUS (especially for a student : )   ) and some of there stuff drives me crazy…. like the drunks sleeping on the metro, the people who spit at you when they figure out you are an American, etc.

Anyways, after my date with my parents I ran down the street and got a big mac, fries and a vanilla milkshake. I didn’t actually know how to say milkshake but I could say milk and then make the shaking sign with my hands. The girl at the register laughed so hard that she gave me my milkshake for free AND taught me the word for milkshake which when translated into English literally means a cocktail of milk haha. Either way it was delicious. I also got to have a skype date with Caleb which was so nice. They were my first skype dates since Beijing which seems like AGES ago. About 1030 I decided I absolutely HAD to do laundry. When I totalled up how much it would cost to do all my laundry it was about $150 so I decided to do it “Moscow style” in my bathtub. It really wasn’t that bad except it was exhausting for a sick person to ring out all my clothes and hang it all over my room to dry. O well, clean clothes is worth it : )

After my clothes I decided to take a bubble bath. After weeks of not bathing and constantly wearing dirty clothes and just being dirty in general it felt nice to clean up and actually feel like a girl again!!! It was a tad disturbing to watch the water literally turn black as the weeks of dirt came off, o well. I also have to confess…. I’m going bald!!!! I don’t know if its the lack of bathing, the lack of vitamins in my diet or what but my hair is falling out and at a RIDICULOUS rate. Like I’m seriously afraid of going bald. My hair is thinning out and quick….. its kind of depressing. Anyways, after that I crashed out

Today was my freebie day in Moscow since the library was closed. First I ventured across the city to the Kievskaya Train station to pick up my train ticket. On Wed. night I am taking the overnight train from Moscow to Kiev and I needed to pick up my ticket ahead of time and I figured it would be a good idea to scout out the station which was actually ALOT nicer than the one that me and my friends used on the overnight train from Moscow-St. Petersburg a few years ago. Across the street from the station was this ENORMOUS 7 story mall…. it put that Beijing mall to shame. It had EVERYTHING you could ever want in it…. nail salons, grocery store, 2 movie theaters, food court, ice rink, hallmark store, claires, millions of stores… it was amazing! i strolled around for a few hours just to check it out. After that I headed back out to Izmailovsky park (the souvenir park) and picked up a few things I wanted to get for people.

For dinner I was DYING for some American food so I headed back to the infamous TGI Fridays. Chicken fettucine Alfredo has never tasted better even though I think I was the only American in there and my waitress defintely did not speak English. The Fridays in Beijing was better quality. Either way, it was great! Now I’m back home catching up on emails, skyping and trying to get past being sick. Today I haven’t been as congested but I CANNOT stop sneezing or get my nose to stop running and the coughing. People on the metro were staring but I don’t care, I actually saw them drag what appearaed to be the dead body of a homeless person off there this morning.

Tomorrow the hard work begins. I am planning on being at the library when it opens at 7 and not leaving (except for lunch) until it closes at 7. I’m excited but nervous. It’s one of those things where I know they have what I need its just a matter of using every last drop of my Russian skills to get it out of them. I have to search the library, explain to them what I need, wait to get it delivered to me, read through it and analyze it….. (in a language other than English) and document it all to bring back to the states. I am trying to decide the best way to approach it. Is it better to read and make notes on it now while I’m thinking about it or just read it and collect as much as possible and translate later. I don’t know, I guess I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Sorry for the delayed update, I’ll be sure to update again tomorrow after my adventures in the library!!!

Last day in Kyrgzystan!!! I think I’m all together and ready to go to Moscow and Kiev. I ended up sleeping in this morning which actually made me feel alot better. i’ve found that 2 dayquil and a zyrtec taken together will pretty much knock you out and make you feel alot better for about 12-ish hours. I slept so hard last night I didnt even notice my kitten chewing my hair into a knot (very pleasant to wake up to let me tell ya).

Last night when I got home from my internship all I wanted to do was crawl in my bed but Olya was busy holding the shop togetherso I had to help Aika peel like 800,00000000000 potatoes! Fried potatoes for 25 people is alot. AND they don’t have potato peelesr so we were using old rusty knives which made it take longer. I knwe when I was walking home we were going to have another of what I call “sahara desert” storms where it feelsl ike a sand tornado. I’ve learned that trouble is coming when I walk home and I cannot even see the mountains, its like they have all disintigrated and the dust, dirt and sand that remains is coming full force at you. Let me tell ya, blowing sand hurts!!!! I made it home in time to escape the wrath of the storm but I did get stuck with the potatoes…

O well. We had a pretty good conversation. Me, Aika and the Kyrgyz businessman border all ate together pretty early. He has one of those phones that plays music and since he doesn’t understand English he enjoys playing the songs, having me describe to Aika in Russglish (what I am calling the language we speak in my host family cuz its a weird mix of Russian, English and occasionally I can chime in with the few Kyrgyz words and phrases I’ve picked up) and then Aika describes it to him in Kyrgyz. Have you ever listened to over an hour of Michael Jackson songs and tried to explain what they mean…. sounds easy, try it… its harder than you think. Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean…. it was exhausting and pretty entertaining. I still dont know what the obsession is with him over here. O, but the businessman did tell a story about seeing Michael Jackson live in Tokyo years ago but all he could really remember was that 3 young female admirors threw themselves from the stadium because of their insane love for him and died…..

After dinner, we sat around and he put on the eagles. I had another one of those moments last night. Sitting in silence around the table, completely filled with fried potatoes and sipping tea, watching the sunset (which is beautiful after the sandstorms) listening to the eaglse…. it was strangely peaceful. Something about Hotel California just relaxes you and puts you in this strange melancholy and meditative mood. I enjoyed it BUT I do have to ask cuz I was born a few generations too late…. what the heck is the meaning of that song? I mean I can make guesses but trying to explain the overall meaning to the businessman, I was at a loss. I’ve attached the lyrics if anyone would like to take a crack at it for me : )

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
‘This could be Heaven or this could be Hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say…

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she
got the Mercedes Benz
She got a lot of pretty, pretty
boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
‘Please bring me my wine’
He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit
here since nineteen sixty nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say…

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They’re livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ‘We are all just
prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!

That last verse really got me cuz I don’t know the total meaning of the song, but it fits Kyrgyzstan perfectly. All of these people are desperately trying to get out of here. They don’t call it the failed “stan” for nothing. It’s like they are stuck here, they look back on the Soviet Union as a time of prosperity and happiness. They know they can’t go back, but the future is bleak for them. They have nothing and there is no incentive for anyone else in this world to offer them anything. Its a wasteland, like the poem. It’s a beautiful land full of virtues and kindness I’ve never come across before, and yet it is a black hole, sucking everyone and everythng down. Everything here is bewildering and contradictory. They are going hungry, don’t have things like guaranteed electricity, showers, sanitation, more than 2 pairs of clothes a person and yet… they all have the most high-tech cell phones, the clothes they do have say things like armani and dolce and gabana on them. It’s strange, very very stange.

Anyways enough of my reflection for today, I didn’t end up getting to go to the bazaar today. The missions kids called me to let me know one of them actually did get malaria and the rest of them had pretty much been locked up until they could get checked out. I took the morning to sleep in and take my Kyrgyz visa to registration. They jsut passed some new law for Americans getting visas that have to be registered. I dunno, I just do as I’m told. Well I better get going. I still have to finish a story on a controversial water reservoir being built in Kazahkstan before I can go home and pack!!!! Pray for me tomorrow as I travel- I’m still not feeling good but I promised Sarah Kain I wouldn’t barf on the plane…. although apparently I can smoke on it if I’d like…. somehow that just doesn’t seem safe to me. O well, its Russians, what ya gunna do  : )

Before I forget, my brother is going with my old youth group on a mission trip to Chicago tomorrow. Here is the link to the site that will offer updates and prayer requests and such during the week. Feel free to check it out and please keep them in your prayers while they are gone this week: http://www.prestonwoodstudentworship.org/chicago

I’ll update again when I make it to Moscow!!!!

PS- Happy 18 month anniversary Caleb!!!!! *muah*

Well… I believe its official… i got the flu : (        I lasted longer than anyone else in my family but starting last night I just started feeling TERRIBLE, that my entire body hurts and if only I had a hammer to beat in my brain so it would stop throbbing feeling. Ugh, its terrible. I’ve been experimenting with combos of tylenol, sudafed, dayquil and zyrtec to make myself feel better. Luckily I go to Moscow on Friday where I can shower and sleep in a clean bed away from the flu-infested village of Bishkek… well, thats if I survive my Aeroflot flight : )

The economy is continuing to get worse here. The beggars and homeless are multiplying everyday. Today i saw my first dead child here. It appeared to be an Indian woman with about a 2 year old child in her arms. She was rocking back and forth and weeping. It breaks my heart to walk down the streets. The old women selling all their possessions, including their houseplants, the clothes off their backs and their wedding rings just to make enough money for dinner. I know its selfish but I’m hoping for an economic miracle if only for the reason of these people not being on the streets anymore. I try and give them all the lose change money I have on me but I know its not helping which is heartbreaking.

On a more positive note, I GOT MY RUSSIAN VISA!!!!!!!!! Yesterday I sat outside the embassy about 3 hours before swarming the gate with all the old grandmothers, I waved my paper in my hand and cried out “visa visa” in Russian long enough the guard finally let me in : ) It was an interesting experience but it worked!!! Now I’m all set to head out on Friday! I got an email from my Aggie friend who is doing her research with my same professor. She arrived on Monday and wanted to let me know that the weather was dreary but she was hoping the sun would come out soon! I didn’t want to break it to her that Moscow itself was dreary and to expect anything else was foolish, but I’ll let her figure it out on her own! : )

I tried to get online yesterday but about 5 minutes in that part of the city lost power so I decided to head home. Aika bough a a treat that made me laugh because pronounced it sounds like “rock chock…” yes like the jayhawk. It’s basically a Kyrgyz rice krispie treat. It’s noodles that have been friend and then stuck together with honey and cut into squares. Not bad actually! We had my favorite soup for dinner last night but then I got struck down by the plague of death. I laid in bed and watched my pirated copy of You’ve Got Mail (dubbed in Chinese haha) and crashed out with the cats.

Well, I guess that is all I have to update today. Tomrorow I’m supposed to skip school to go to the Osh bazaar with my missions friends. None of them speak Russian or Kyrgyz and I have a working knowledge of both now so I can be their guide and personal haggler. BUT thats only if I feel better. Chances are I’ll be stuck at home trying to get myself together for Moscow. It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten emails from all my blog-followers so feel free to drop me a line: stephmartin86@gmail.com    Love you!!

The rest of my sunday was normal. After the internet cafe I walked down Chui to catch the mashrutka and ran into an American expat restaurant so I stopped in. It had a burrito on the menu, I knew it probably wasn’t a burrito but i had to try it. Tell me if you would qualify this as a burrito: tortilla filled with tomatoes, kyrgyz beef, cheese, peppers, and kidney beans, served with mayonaise and in a bowl of milk….. it was strange but I was so hungry I enjoyed it. After that i caught the mashrutka down sovietskaya to erica’s birthday party. she lives in an appt alot like the one I lived in, in Moscow. And on the 5th floor here it was ROASTING!!!!!! Her family only spoke Kyrgyz and not Russian so it was a bit awkward for me. I stayed and ate some plof (ah the plof) and then headed home. I had about enough time at home to change clothes before headnig back across town to meet up with my Christian friensd from the 4th of July for evening church. It was a little strange and awkward but still nice to be able to at least hear some worship music for the first time in 2 months. They had to turn in early before a full week of work so I went back home and hung out. I bought some dvds off the street in Beijing and they actually worked in my dvd player so last night I watched “my best friend’s wedding.” Aika watched part of it with me and seemed to enjoy it.

For dinner we had this weird chicken “macaroni”…. I wouldn’t qualify it as either chicken OR as macaroni, but it was alright. We stayed up and talked until late. I should have known this was coming but it still upset me. Aika asked me if she could ask me an “inpolite” question…. I was gearing up for her to tell me I smelled really bad or that I wasn’t keeping my room clean enough. Basically, she told me that I was “her only chance” and wanted to know if I could help get her out of Kyrgyzstan, that she just had to get away and that she was single at 21 and terrified of bride-kidnaping or that her mother would sell her to a man. What do you say to someone in that situation? I had to explain to her that individual citizens could not get invitation letters for foreigners but that I would look into seeing what her options were for possibly coming to the states. Does anyone know anything about this? I don’t really know what to do or to say…..

On a lighter and weirder note, I don’t know what Vlad is going to do when I go home, he has TOTALLY fallen in love with me. He plays in my room (even while I’m gone), he takes naps with me, he sleeps curled up to me at night, he sits in my lap while I eat my meals, and he even follows me out to the gate when I leave. He LOVES me…. the only negative is that as a sign of his love for me, he has started catching live birds and bringing them to me in his mouth. It’s very sweet but incredibly gross, especially since they are still alive and fly away when I finalyl get him to let go of them. O well, its nice to have a friend. Well I better get back to work. I have a ton of stuff to get done before I leave for Moscow on Friday!!!! : )

The 4TH of July was by far my favorite day in Kyrgyzstan. I got my chocolates at work and sent home early for the holidays. I spent over 2 hours chatting with Caleb on gmail and then I headed out to the US embassy. The only hitch in getting out there was that I didnt know quite how (as you know by my last blog entry). So I wandered down Manas street about 30 minutes until magically the mashrutka I needed (the 295) appeared. So I hopped on and rode it down to the embassy.When I got there I followed a group of people through security. I got through and a guy said “welcome to the US embassy and Happy 4th of July!”  I don’t think I can describe to you the feeling of joy that rushed through my heart, I felt like I had temporarily stepped into my home. The teenage girl in front of me expressed my joy by doing a cartweel in the grass. And by grass, I do mean the only real grass in the country of Kyrgyzstan.

When I walked around the corner there was a swing-set and a patio setting with some grills and lots of people and a band. Before I knew what was happening THE MOST AMAZING THING happened. A marine said “happy forth of july” and put none other than an ice cold can of dr pepper in my hand. At this point i thought I was going to cry. I sat down with my dp (which I pretty much downed in one gulp) and waited for the food. While I was waiting I saw a large group of kids about my age all doing the same with the DPs. I’m sorry about how vague my description of them is but you’ll understand in a few mins. As I talked to them they told me they were reprenting a pretty large american athletic corportation. I really wasnt buying it cuz I seriously doubt those people would care one bit about Bishkek Kyrgyzstan, but they claimed they were here to teach kids sports.

They were really nice and were from all over the states. In particular I got to be really good friends with a girl from Michian (unnamed to protect her), a guy from Arizona, a girl from Uzbekistan and a girl from California. Then food was served. Don’t make fun, but I was so glad to see American food I went a tad overboard. In 2 hours I ate: 3 hot dogs, 1 hamburger, some buffalo wings, bbq beef, potato salad (which i dont even like in the states), baked beans, a brownie, a donut, a cookie, some popcorn, 3 dps and a klondike ice cream. Don’t worry, I wasn’t the only one, after a while everyone started getting REALLY sick cuz our systems weren’t used to getting food like that. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat, it was amazing. While we ate the band played songs like “don’t worry be happy,” “takin it to the street” “god bless the usa” etc. It was amazing. For the 3 hours or so that I was there I really forgot that I was in Kyrgyzstan, it truly felt like I was at a cook out in the states.

There were a few random things like the Kyrgyz dance troup that did salsa dances for us….. AND a British pub owner who was there and kept stealing the microphone and telling people to drink more…. AND the marines were in charge of providing drinks and they ran out of all non=alcoholic drinks in about an hour which was a small problem.

After the bbq I was invited to go back with my new friends to the place where they were staying. As we stood on the side of the road waiting for the mashrutka they finally fessed up that while they were sports oriented, they were in fact here on mission work. It made a lot more sense but I must admit they hid it REALLY well which is good. When we got back to their dorm we all hung out waiting for the others to get back (there is about 25 in total) and they taught me how to play Kyrgyz poker. It’s not really poker but its a real fun game. After everyone got back we went into the tv room and all squished together on blankets and pillows and watched Beaches. Has anyone ever seen that before? It’s an old Bette Midler movie. It was really funny until the very end was like totally heart-wrenching and we all cried. I had the best time, for awhile I forgot that I was here alone and felt like I was actually on a Prestonwood Mission Trip. I LOVED it.

The only problem was that it was so late by the time the movie was over that I had to take a taxi home, which was no problem, I jsut gave directions and went home BUT when I got there, I realized I had lost my cell phone. I figured I’d left it with my friends so I called it, but I’d left it in the cab so I had to wait for the cab to bring my phone back. It was an adventure to say the least.

Yesterday I went to the Frunze museum on an excursion with the school. As always, I was disappointed by the museum here but I went with a new girl. She is a anthropological linguistic student at the University of Michigan and we got along REALLY good. She didnt know how to get around the city so we then spent the next 7 hours wandering from bazaar to beta stores, down chui street and everywhere in between. We had a great time. In fact, as soon as I finish updating this blog I’m going to her birthday party!

Last night my whole family decided to go to the club but I was wiped out after a long day so I agreed to watch the cats and the house and go to bed early. I finished watching Little Women while eating my leftover 4th of July chocolates. I do love that movie. AND now I’ve been inspired to write my own book so if anyone has any suggestions about what I should write about or how to start, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Well I better get going if I’m going to make it across town in time for the bday party. I’ll update again tomorrow!!!