Kyrgyzstan Pt. 1

Taking off and landing four times in a row in a 36 hour period never quite gives you the satisfaction of successfully entering a recuperative dream-state. That’s OK, because in time you become so sleep deprived that reality becomes a dream-state. Lights flash by in blurs, conversations are muffled and their contents are forgotten. When, at four a.m. on Monday morning, I arrived at my new residence in Bishkek, I claimed to the fine people who had been sent to pick me up that I was going to wake up around eight or nine a.m., and begin the process of fighting my jet lag. I promptly fell into bed and did not wake up until one o’clock that afternoon.

In my sleep I did not stir or move. When I finally woke it felt like I had been thawed out after being frozen for years. I stretched my limbs and felt the space and atmosphere of my new living quarters. The ceiling was larger than any apartment I had experienced in Russia, and I had slept on an actual bed rather than a futon. I took a moment to absorb the feel and smell of the room. It didn’t feel foreign but I guess the more one travels, the more that feeling becomes a commodity.

I needed a shower, as my body felt like it had spent the past 9 hours sweating out a fever, and it smelled that way too. I shuffled to the bathroom with my toiletries and began performing my maintenance for the day. The shower was surprisingly well pressurized and the water was warm. I washed off my travels, dressed, and headed to the school office next to my building.

The administration let me know that everything was set for me to start classes on the 6th of September. This came as a surprise to me as I had sent ahead and requested to start shortly after my arrival on the 16th of August. With the new starting date, I was at liberty to plan a trip to a few places around the country.

It’s been about a week since I arrived and I have two weeks left before I start classes. There are little busses called “Marshrootkas” which go between every city in this country. Next week, if everything goes well, I will hop on one of them and start looking for the sites this place is famous for. I’ll let you know how it goes.


Also I have discovered that Arpa, the local Kyrgyz beer, is quite good!