Today, I returned to the Justice Ministry’s office on Moldo Gvardia and paid the 12 KGS fee for the paper work they did for me. It turns out that the stamped copy they gave me yesterday was the paper I need for the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Service. I took a taxi in the late afternoon since they had said that I needed to return around 2 pm. It took longer to ride across town than it did to pay the fee. So I walked down to Kiev street and found a taxi for the return to my apartment.

The taxi was driven by a young man named Kak who spoke good English and was from Talas, a city on the Western edge of the country which I have never visited. I am hoping to go there this year in the late spring or early summer. He told me I should visit there because there are things to see about the hero Manas and the Manas Epic. The trip is quite a journey from Bishkek because one must cross through the mountain passes to get there without going through Kazakhstan which would require a tourist visa.

Back home, I began to try to figure out how I would get the next pieces of the puzzle for the visa application.

February 4, 2012 Saturday, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Off to the store this morning after I managed to wakeup. I have been sleeping later and later, often not arising until after 8 am. Part of that is attributable to my general habit of waking as the sun rises wherever I am. Dawn is beginning to break now around 7:45 am in Bishkek and that is about when I wake up. I don’t get out of the house until about 10 am because the temperatures outside are still quite chilly before that. Once the sun has had a chance to warm us for a couple of hours, I find that most days I can manage with a layer of t-shirt, shirt, sweater, and my windbreaker. Add in the gloves and some sort of hat and I seem to be able to tolerate the sub-freezing temperatures pretty well. If it is really cold, or snowing, I throw on my big coat and a scarf.

At the Vefa Center Beta Store today, I found a nice green broccoli head, a small red cabbage, some tomatoes and cucumbers. Also located the popcorn and some oat, buckwheat, and one other grain cereal I have yet to identify in order to have hot cereal on these really frosty mornings.

Back home to read and watch some television. Needed a nap about 3 pm. Made a vegetable soup for dinner. I was ready for an early night and hit the sack around 9:30 pm.

February 5, 2012 Sunday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

It is -17 degrees Celsius this morning in Bishkek. I had thought I might try to get out today, but the fact that even my apartment is feeling a little chilly may be reason to rethink today’s plans. I think I will try to make do with what is on hand in the apartment.

Today became a reading and writing day. There was a steady snowfall of small flakes throughout the day. I worked some on the request for the Labor ministry for a work permit, even though, technically I don’t need one because I am not compensated for my volunteer efforts on behalf of the foundation. But I think it is important to have some of these things on hand when we begin the conversations. I am also looking to find a lawyer who speaks English to help me create a power of attorney and tell me what I need to do to get a document from the tax office that says our foundation owes no taxes because we are tax exempt. Feeling a little cabin fever late today.

February 6, 2012 Monday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Often, I am writing these blog entries after the fact. Like several days later. I find I can often use my FaceBook postings to jog my memory about what I was doing on a particular day. But I just looked at my FB timeline and discovered that I did not post anything between Feb 5 and Feb 10. Not even anything about the weather. So there is kind of a hole in my reporting and writing.

I think I was a little depressed as I tried to figure out the next step in the process of getting my visa renewed. I have not yet found an attorney and I am not sure what to do next. Everyone I know who has been of help in the past appears to have the flux right now. So people are not communicating very well.

February 7, 2012 Tuesday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I spent the day reading articles of interest on the internet, LA Times, NY Times, HuffPost, CultureMap Houston. I heard yesterday from a high school friend that she is coming through Kyrgyzstan in the late Spring or early Summer. What fun it will be to see Patsy when she comes to Central Asia. Apparently she is doing a Silk Road excursion with a travel group. Can’t wait to find out more details about her visit to this part of the world.

Another day of reading and writing. Watching television in the evening. My cable provider has added a channel called FoxCrime that seems to get a lot of my time. I love police procedurals and this channel has a number of them including Law and Order episodes, some Brit crime dramas, and other such things. Helps to fill the evening hours when I don’t get out to some event or for dinner.

February 8, 2012 Wednesday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

This was a very non-productive day. I did not feel very well. Slept until nearly 9 am. Managed to make some coffee and some of the hot three grain cereal. Then fell back asleep for the morning. Up again around 12 noon. But still sluggish. Nose is running, head is hurting. Pills, Assam hot tea with honey and lemon and a touch of brandy. Some reading on the Kindle. But sleep seems to be in high demand.

February 9, 2012 Thursday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I felt a little better this morning. Up at around 8 am. Coffee, cheese toast for breakfast. Decided to wash some clothes. I have a lovely Bosh automatic washer that has a 30 minute wash cycle which makes washing clothes really easy. Drying clothes is another issue. I have a line outside my apartment that works really well in Spring and Summer, but the Winter is so cold that the clothes will freeze if they are hung outside this time of year. So, I have rigged up a line inside the balcony area of the apartment. But it is also very cold out there and the clothes can take two three days to dry out there. So the procedure is to hang the clothes on the balcony but place the heavier items on the radiators in the living area, the bedroom, and the bathroom. The whole process can still take awhile. As the radiator hung items dry, they are replaced with the items from the balcony line. Over a couple of days, everything gets dry.

No real excitement or things of high interest. No excursions to new areas or new places this week.

Ala-Tv called early in the morning and two technicians showed up around 9 a.m. to do the installation. I had paid for everything in advance. The two quickly connected me up, handed me the remote and had me sign a receipt for them. Once they were gone, I paged through the non-digital channels, then tried to switch over to the digital signals. But the remote would not work. I had one of those quick thoughts about how I am always doing this here in Kyrgyzstan. I think I understand and don’t quite follow through to get complete instructions in a way I fully understand. Then I have to figure it all out myself.

I suppose I should be glad that I have been given a fairly analytical mind and some training in logic that can help me through such circumstances. But I am always a little frustrated by my failure to demand clear answers from people. When I returned home to the apartment, the hallway light was not working. I thought maybe the bulb had burned out, but I changed the bulb and it still did not work. Later, I realized that people were not ringing the doorbell and were knocking on the door, which I can barely hear and it is hard to determine if someone is knocking on my door or one of my three neighbors. Finally, today, a light dawned for me. I went outside and checked the power supply and found one switch had been tripped. Turned it back on and suddenly I had a working door bell and hallway light.

So, I have some television but nothing in English. I need to put my mind to work on the problem, but I have another entertainment or two to keep me busy. There is the continuing reading of Catherine by Massie and there are some podcasts to listen to from NPR and American Public Radio, and PRI.

I left Houston a week ago, but it already seems to be a longtime. It is certainly a long distance. I am having a little homesickness for Houston and the things that can be done so easily there, like going to the movies, that are much more difficult here. Or finding a good quality aluminum foil and a high quality plastic wrap. Things that we take for granted as Americans, but which are just not a part of everyday life in a developing country like Kyrgyzstan.

Jan 27, 2012 Friday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

So, I woke up with a clear head and the determination to get the cable working properly so I could see the news, find the Australian open to watch Nadal and Federer, and maybe even watch my first GOP debate as the principals meet in Florida. I realized that there was probably some sort of input selection on the television set itself that allowed me to see the digital channels. A few minutes of exploring and I had the digital channels visible and working. Many of the digital channels have two language choices, especially the Discovery Channel options like TLC, Explorer, History, Animal Planet, and the news channels from CNN, DW, EuroNews and EuroSport. So, I sorted through those channels and selected the English language feed.

After that minor accomplishment, I headed out to the grocery to pick up more supplies. A new snow fell last night so we are dressed in a beautiful new dress of white. Some light flakes were still falling this morning when I went out to go to the Narodny (People’s) Market, which is one of the supermarket chains here. I need some tissues, more potatoes and tomatoes, and some more cookies. Narodny is about two blocks away and with the new snow on the ground it takes me awhile to walk to it. The one closest to me is a small neighborhood store. There is another about five blocks away that is a much bigger store with more options, but I usually need to take a taxi back home from there because I over-spend. I have brought a reusuable bag to carry to the markets here, hoping it will reduce my purchases to what I can easily carry. I have a couple more of the bags I bought waiting to be sent to me in Houston. I ended up with the one from the Lucky Market in California. It is just about the right size. The walk to the store was pleasant, though cold. I have been layering up. T-shirt, shirt, sweater, windbreaker, scarf, hat or cap seem to provide enough protection when we are enjoying temperatures between 15 and 32 degrees F.

I came back home with a new little salami, some whole wheat bread, flour, sugar, ginger cookies, tomatoes, potatoes. That will keep me able to make some vegetable soup and a sandwich for awhile. I am a little tight on funds because I will need to come up with the payment for my new visa at the beginning of February, so I am trying to be a bit careful about what I am buying and trying only to purchase necessities.

Watched the third episode of Downton Abbey from the first season last night since there was not much to see on television. It is a remarkable series. I have to pace myself so that I do not just watch all of the episodes in one sitting.

January 28, 2012 Saturday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I woke up feeling a little under the weather this morning. Not really sick but my nose was stuffy and I was aching a little in my joints. Part of that is the adjustment to these winter weather patterns. I decided to just stay home, rest and do very little.

I finished reading Catherine and am reading some fluff as a break. It is one of those cheap books fro Amazon Kindle titled “The Dirty Parts of the Bible.” A coming of age story that takes place around Glenn Rose, Texas. I have to admit that I really enjoy its treatment of scriptural issues of Fundamentalism and more liberal interpretations.

Watched the Women’s Final of the Australian Open in the afternoon. Was disappointed that Maria Sharipova did not play better.

Made a new vegetable soup with a little more of a tomato base. Watched an Australian cop show on FoxCrime channel. City Homicide, which is set in Melbourne. Three episodes in a row. Then it was off to bed, a little early.

Jan 29, 2012 Sunday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I woke early today. Made a quick cup of Starbucks Via instant coffee, checked email, Facebook, and some news reports on line. Then made real coffee and some breakfast around 8 a.m. My egg pan appears to be sticking. I think someone must have used it while I was away to cook meat. I hate it when my over easy egg becomes unintentionally scrambled. I paired the egg with some tomato slices, a little salami, some cheese and some buttered toast. I am wishing I had some of the fabulous rasberry or strawberry jam I had here when I left. I made need to pick up some frozen berries and make my own. There are some good German an Turkish ones at the Beta Store. Perhas I will drop by there tomorrow. I have to go make a fee payment at a bank downtown so that I can apply for my visa renewal on Tuesday. That will take me close to the Beta Store on Chuy Prospect.

About 10 a.m. My young friend Timurland rang the doorbell. With him were the young woman, Aijan, who will be cleaning my apartment once a week and two workers who had come to repair the drapery rail in the living area. It was quite a project and made quite a mess, but has now been replaced with a stronger one that will hold up the shears and the heavier gold colored ones. The old rail gave way under the weight of the heavier drapes and was falling out of the ceiling.

Aijan did a great job of cleaning the apartment. I am really glad to have someone who will be coming once a week. Timka (Timur’s nickname) and I spent some time talking about various things. He is now at Ata Turk Ala Too University where he is studying banking. He returns to classes tomorrow. He acted today as my translator and I learn some new Russian words, for screwdriver, saw, drill, broom, mop, rag and more. I am sure I need to write down those words later to try to remember them for next week and other occasions to come.

I had some lunch of the vegetable soup at around 2:00 p.m. Timka turned down my offer of sharpo, so I ate alone. I made some fresh Assam tea. Then everybody was finished, just in time for me to see the Nadal/Djokavich final of the Australian open. I made sure Timka and Aijan had marshutka fare and wished them jokshe bar (goodbye in Kyrgyz if you are staying put) as they headed off. I settled down to watch the tennis match.

Jan 30, 2012 Monday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
The tennis match was incredible. Six hours of really well played tennis. I am always disappointed when Rafael Nadal loses, but Djokavich played really well. As a result of staying up rather late, today has been a very slow day for me. I find I am sleeping later each day. Today, I returned to Ala-TV to exchange controllers. I also went to pay an application fee for my new visa at the RCK Bank. I also went to Vis-a-Vis restaurant for a light lunch of split pea soup and a couple of hours of WiFi downloads and connections for my iPod and my Kindle. Back home I took a mid-day nap. I worked on the necessary paperwork for my visa. Then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the wonders of cable television in a foreign land.

Jan 31, 2012 Tuesday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Up fairly early this morning so that I could organize the visa application stuff. Dressed warmly because the snowfall predicted for yesterday is here this morning. Caught a taxi about 9 am and went across town to the Foreign Ministry’s Consular office. The windows are supposed to open around 9:30 a.m. So I had a small wait. I was third in line.

The consular official came to the desk about 9:45 a.m. The first person in line apparently had a complicated issue. The second person went quickly. I handed over the stuff, but was informed by the young woman that there were new requirements. I asked if there was a list in English of what was required. She asked me to wait for a few minutes. Finally, she gave me a two page list of new requirements. The list includes a number of items from other offices, including the tax office and the Ministry of Labor. I also will need an official copy of our non-profit charter from the Ministry of Justice. I think I am going to need some assistance with some of this.

I returned home a little depressed at the new obstacles that have been thrown up to my staying in Kyrgyzstan to do the charitable work I hope to do. But, I decide that the only way to get past the issues is to start with the Ministry of Justice tomorrow.

Feb 1, 2012 Wednesday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
I have some of the materials I need and needed to find a notary. Luckily, there was a notary just up the street on Bokonbaeva about a block from my apartent. They helped me with the copying an notarization of a couple of things, and the location of the Justice Ministry office. So, I came home and laid out a plan to go there on Thursday.

Feb 2, 2012 Thursday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
The earliest I could get someone to go with me to the Justice Ministry was around 1:30 in the afternoon. The Ministry is located on Moldo Gvardia close to the intersection of Toktogula. We found it rather quickly and thanks to having Marat with me, we located the right office to inquire about getting another official copy of the charter of Orozbay Fund which was needed for the visa application. The young woman was very helpful, but spoke little English. But there was a young man, Bullot, who helped me compose a letter in Russian to request an official copy. We took that back to the girl, who then took a copy I had of a previously notarized document. She disappeared for about ten minutes, came back, stamped my copy, and returned it. She told us to return on Friday around the same time to pay the 12 Soms fee. So we departed and returned home.

I began trying to figure out how to get the rest of the things the Consular service needs. A form from the Labor Ministry, a power of attorney document, and a form from the tax office saying we owe no taxes. It is all just a little overwhelming. But, I will keep working on the issues.

I am writing this entry at one of Moscow’s airports, Shemeryetevo, having cappuccino at a new coffee bar in terminal E. My Aeroflot Airbus 330-300 landed at Terminal D and I have to make my way to the farthest terminal, of course. I am still trying to figure out why it is that when I fly my gates are always the furthest away from where I enter the airport, Domestic and international.

I left Houston just before noon on Thursday on board a Delta Connection flight to New York’s JFK. A small little Canada Regional Jet 9000 only about half full. Nice seats and good leg room even in Economy Class. No food service. Limited beverage service. But I had some cookies with me and was fine. I would recommend carrying a sandwich or salad aboard.

While lining up for the TSA security check one is always struck by how we seem to have lost the romance of flying. Now we are herded like sheep or cattle through lines and are forced into the indignity of taking of our shoes, our belts, exposing our cash holdings, and having people x-ray bags full of underwear and books. I am carrying two laptops, two pieces of hand luggage, a big coat to ward off the cold in NY, Moscow and Bishkek. It takes awhile to get it all in the bins and get through the magnetometer. But I head down toward my gate and find the Duncan Donuts shop. Apple fritter, black coffee help the process. I meet some people headed back to Kansas, we talk about grocery shopping. I mention that my friend Michael C. no longer goes to the grocery store. He orders everything online from Amazon Prime from Gain and Bounty Towels to soups and vegetables. Later I explain about Orozbay Fund and what we are doing in Kyrgyzstan. As one of the group leaves I receive a donation for the charity. Nice. I head to the gate and hear my name echoing. I was the last person to board my flight.

In NY we deplane down a set of narrow stairs on to the tarmac. Did I say something about the romance of flying? Thirty-two degrees F, a wind blowing in from Long Island Sound. I was glad to have the big coat. From the Delta Connection terminal it was quite a hike to get to the AirTrain to go to Terminal 1. From baggage claim pushing a SmartCart across a couple of streets out doors, up a long ramp, then another ¼ block to the hidden entrance to the elevators. Way-finding in this area of JFK could be improved. AirTrain comes every five minutes. One stop and I was at Terminal 1. A smallish slow elevator took me down to the departures level. Then the search for the Aeroflot Check-in counter began. It might as well be a hidden counter. No logo on the walls, no signage. Lift heavy bags on to the scales. Young man tags them and then gives them back to me to take to baggage drop-off to be scanned. And, of course, not the baggage drop-off closest to their counter but one in another area all together. Finally get rid of the two pieces. I head for TSA Security check which is back close to the Aeroflot counter.

I get to the front of a long line and a tough little Filipino TSA employee tells me I should go to a line where there are no bins. I need about five bins because I have two coats, two laptops, shoes, and three personal carry-ons. Then she tells me shoes have to go on the table not in a bin. Houston they had to go in a bin. Oakland they had to go in a bin. NY is making up its own rules? So I get everything headed through the machine and go through the magnetometer. Beep. Again. Beep. Then I am selected for a scan of my palms. My stuff meanwhile is creating a jam on the belt of the scanner. Finally they figure out that I am sweating because the airport is over heated for a Texan and I am worrying about the stuff on the belt, and that I am not a drug dealer or a dangerous 69 year old terrorist. I get to put my shoes and belt back on, pack up the laptops, put on one coat, rig up the two carry-on bags together, hang the big coat on my arm and head to my gate. Guess what? It’s the next to last gate on the terminal wing. I had to have food and something to drink. Found a bar close by with panini sandwiches and v&t. Time to board the flight comes relatively quickly and about 8 hours later here I am in Moscow at 1:00 pm on Friday. Waiting till 10:00 pm for my flight to Bishkek.

Jan 21, 2012-Friday

Slowly but surely I have seen in the years since 2008 a number of improvements in Shemeryetevo’s facilities and it actually not a bad place to spend a long lay-over, now. There are any number of good coffee shops, a few decent restaurants with food that is edible, if not haute cuisine. My favorite is the addition of TGI Friday’s. A pricey cheeseburger or other American style delights in the Moscow airport may be a way to forget all that anti-soviet rhetoric that lingers in the minds of most Americans of my cold-war generation. My bank card with the Master Card logo bought me a nice cup of cappuccino as I moved from Terminal F to Terminal D where my flight to Bishkek would be leaving from later. I stopped in a coffee shop in Terminal E, to break the up the trip. It is quite a hike and the expectation is that you will go on foot. It took me about 20 minutes, with about 20 for the coffee. I was flattered when given a Russian language menu, but an English one was available. The coffee was about $5.00 and was very well made. The barista and my waitress both spoke English. Refueled, I headed on down to Terminal D, to do some people watching and reading. I brought Lipstick Jihad in book form to finish since I had about a chapter to go in it, but I also had been reading a new James Lee Burke, Feast Day of Fools, which I had borrowed from the Montrose Branch of the Houston Public Library. Since I was only about half-way through it, I bought the Kindle edition before leaving Houston. I found it was great travel reading while waiting and flying.

I am really happy with the Kindle purchase, even though Amazon Whisper-net does not extend to the Kyrgyzstan sky, I think I will be able to download books from my internet and local wifi hubs which are numerous. I sat and read, watched groups of twenty something Central Asian boys tease and laugh with one another. Noticed the amazing variety of stylish boots women have to wear who live in Moscow and the Central Asian Republics. I met a Korean gentleman and his wife who were also traveling to Bishkek from NY. Paul Synn is getting ready to start another University in Kyrgyzstan, northeast of Bishkek in a village near Kant and Tokmok. We have made plans to call and meet to talk about what is happening later. I became a little sleepy, so I was able to nod off for a few winks. I had decided to use my Priority Pass at the Amber Lounge for only one 3 hour period this trip. So I broke up the wait with a visit to the lounge which is down a flight and a half of stairs. I have used the lounge in the past and know what to expect. There is good wifi, good coffee, Pepsi, little sandwiches, pastries, vodka, cognac, television, and comfortable club chairs and tables. I had downloaded last season’s episodes of Downton Abbey from i-Tunes so after handling the email and a Facebook post or two, I watched Episode 1. Then I got in another short nap. I left the lounge about 9:30 pm, found my gate which had finally been posted and read some more. We boarded about 10 of 10 pm. Again I somehow was in a full aisle, so I just moved to the aisle ahead which was the exit row and had the row to myself with exceptional leg room. We managed to go wheels-up about 10:30 pm and the final leg of the trip was underway.

Jan 21, 2012 Saturday

During the flight, I read and slept. Actually, I fell asleep right after take-off and was awakened later when the flight attendant began service. I wanted coffee but on Aeroflot coffee is only available after the meal. I was able to get a cup of hot water, though, and to make myself a cup of Starbucks Via instant. I was really glad I had brought some in my carry-on bag. After meal service, I read a little more then fell asleep again. I woke when I heard a strange vocal cry, like a yelp, from female passenger who was being reseated in the aisle seat of my row. Apparently ill in someway, her movement to my row by the attendants was followed by a recorded announcement asking for someone with medical training to come forward. A couple of people, one man and a woman showed up. The man took charge to take a blood pressure and try to communicate in Russian with the lady who was dressed in a traditional Central Asian headscarf worn by married women. The cabin crew broke out the medical kit. The doctor took her pulse, blood pressure, listened to her chest and heart with a stethoscope and then broke an ampule of ammonia to try to revive her since it appeared that she had had a fainting spell or a panic attack. Eventually, she was revived and returned to her own seat. I felt somewhat helpless in the situation. I was unable to help because of language issues. One of the flight crew advised me later that the woman was okay when I inquired about her.

Awake again, I read for a little while and was able to finish the James Lee Burke on the Kindle and as I did, the captain announced that we were beginning out descent into Bishkek and that we needed to turn off all the electronica. My watch said it was 4:25 am Moscow time, and therefore 5:25 am Bishkek time. I took my time getting off the aircraft since I knew it would be awhile before the baggage would be unloaded. Thanked the crew in Russian and headed down the jetway. The path to the baggage claim area leads you to a set of stairs that go to the first floor and along a solid glass wall that was very little protection from -25 degree Celsius on the runways outside. I was glad again to be wearing my big coat and wishing I had been smart enough to put my wool cap in the carry-on bag with my computer.

Passport control was a breeze thanks to my Business Visa with multiple entry note. I stopped before hand to use the toilet, so when I came out there were almost no people in line. As I arrived in baggage claim, I picked up a cart, then waited few minutes. One of the problem areas for me with people crowding in to be first to pickup anything is the jostling effect of those who fail to respect my space. So, I waited as the bags began to come out and people pushed and shoved. In a short time the area became a little less crowded, my bags were among those on the belt and easily identifiable thanks to some black and white tassels I bought at Michael’s before leaving Houston. I loaded them up and breezed through the exit to find Emil’s father, mother, and cousin waiting outside.

I was to go with Farouh. He was taking me and another woman to town. Emil’s mother and father were waiting for someone on a flight from Turkey due shortly after ours. Farouh took the cart and off we went passed the parking lot out across the street to new paid parking area. The two others moved much quicker on the icy roadway than I did. I walk very cautiously on ice and snow. But I caught up with them and loaded up into his Skoda diesel sedan. We head down the highway, only to lose power after a short while. We pull to the side of the road. Farouh explains that because it diesel powered, it is too cold. Soon another car stops, Farouh gets a tow-line out, hooks it to the front hook and we are underway again. Farouh pops the clutch and the car turns over. We disconnect from the tow and head down the road again for a distance and the engine stops again. Once more we get a tow from a passing car, we get the engine started again and off we go. But not far this time. We are stopped again.

Finally, we call Emil’s father. They have picked up their passenger and stop to help. We are transferred to the big Nissan with luggage. The Skoda is hooked up and towed into the city. It is now about 7:30 am. All passengers are dropped off and I am the last to get home. I get out of the car and realize that I don’t know where my house keys were packed. I thought they were in the laptop bag in a zippered pocket, but they were not there. After some low level panic, I remembered where we had put them and was able to get into the apartment. I was rather tired and spent most of the day reading and sleeping and drinking coffee. I had some beans in the cabinet, so I started the beans on boil and soak process, so that I could make a little three bean chili for dinner.
In the early evening, I had visitors. My landlord and her family came by. We settled up what was owed on the rent, she handed me the current pile of bills to pay, told me I was going to have someone come, if I was okay with it, to help keep the place clean for only about 2000 KGS, or $50 a month. I agreed to once a week on Sundays. It will be good to have some help. After they left, the brother of Emil’s wife came by to pick up a laptop I had brought for him. And then, visiting hours were over and I watched the second program of Downton Abbey from the first season. The bean chili was finally ready with the addition of some tomato sauce. I had bowl of it and I was then ready to call it a day. Nice to sleep in my own space again.

Jan 22, 2012 Sunday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I had a fitful night of sleep. I assume it is just part of the jet-lag of a 12-hour time shift from Houston to Bishkek. I have been reading on my Kindle, a lot. One of my Kindle purchases was the new biography of Catherine, the Great by Robert Massie. I had read Nicholas and Alexandria many years ago and felt that this new book of his would help my understanding of the Russian soul and influence in Kyrgyzstan. It is a wonderful book. I do not want to put it down to do other things. But, I needed things in the kitchen, like food. So, I braved the -21 degree Celsius temperature and headed out in my big coat to the Vefa Center, where I could do a money exchange and visit the Turkish owned grocery store, Beta Store. I picked up some essentials. Some tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, a green pepper, potatoes, eggs, a 250 gram of ground beef, some salami and some nice cheese, Coca-Cola, Sprite, a loaf of bread, some sunflower cooking oil, some butter, a bottle of dish soap (yes, we wash dishes and pots by hand), and a box of mixed flavor juice. I like to use the Sprite and the juice to make a little non-alcoholic cocktail punch. I also carried my laptop, stopped in one of the coffee shops in the mall (there are two of them) that serves a locally roasted coffee. Had an Americano black and connected to the Vefa WiFi service. Checked email, looked at Facebook, read some news. I stopped by the MegaCom office at the center to get my phone turned back on. With a small payment they restored my service. That will help with communication. Then I packed up and headed back to the apartment by cab.

Before leaving Houston, I stopped by Whole Earth Provision on S. Shepherd to see if they had some cramp-on devices for walking on snow and ice. They did not have any, but the shoe sales person directed my attention to a sale table where there was a NorthFace Snow Boot that claimed its new technology of TNF Winter Grip® outsole with IcePick® lugs would help me keep my footing on ice and snow. At $60, I had to try them. So, wearing the new boots, I was able to walk safely on the icy walkways. I am really happy with the purchase and the way they are working out. I also had purchased a new wool overcoat from J.C. Penny which has provided spectacular warmth here. I wore it on a couple of cold days in Houston, but it has proved its worth here already.

With groceries, I was able to fix myself a cheese and salami sandwich for lunch. Then for dinner I made a lovely vegetable soup with potato, carrot, onion, green pepper and used a Knorr vegetable bullion cube as my stock. While it was cooking, I also took the potato, carrot, and onion peel to create more vegetable stock to use later. I realized then that I did not get any garlic and needed to make a list of other things I could get nearby on my foray out tomorrow. The soup, by the way, turned out to be very good and I have some left for another meal.

Jan 23, 2012 Monday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

The sun does not show it’s face to us until after 8 am in the morning during the winter in Bishkek. I find I am rising around 6 am and using the time until the sun makes an appearance for reading and writing. I need to restore the cable television and today I will have to solve the telephone problem. The problem is caused by the fact that I decided to sell my Samsung Galaxy Vibrant I to my landlord to satisfy part of my rent. Emil is going to get me a new smart phone in February, so in the meantime, I need something to use here. I also need a few more things that will take me out of the house today. I need mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, tomato paste, garlic and a few more herbs and spices. While it is possible for a Texan to live on chili as his only spice on the rack, there are some things that might benefit from a bay leaf, some basil, ground pepper, and other things that were used up in my pantry while I was gone.

I managed to get out of the house around 10 am. Took a taxi to the TZUM, where the entire first floor is full of vendors of various stripes selling mobile phones. After looking around some, I found a little Nokia Model 101 with the ability to have dual SIM cards that was at a price I was willing to pay, 1500 Kyrgyz Soms or about $32 at current exchange rate. I also added a micro memory card that was another $5.00. So, I have phone service and can give the Samsung to my landlord. I went upstairs in the TZUM to look at some Kyrgyz house slippers and some things for the kitchen. Some of the items I had here have disappeared in my absence, so I am going to need to buy another little tea pot, and I really need some better pots and pans. I know there are sets I can buy, so I am shopping first doing some pricing. Probably, I will need to go to Osh Bazaar to get the best price on that sort of stuff.

After looking around, I left with only my new phone purchase. Caught a taxi again and went to the Moscova Street Bazaar. There I visited Stolichnaya shop where they sell cookies and other things. And I learned that they were now carrying the Bishkek roasted coffees from Sierra Coffee. I picked up some almond biscotti, some oatmeal and raisin cookies, some more cheese and was on my way again. I walked home the four blocks to my apartment slowly and carefully.

Spent the afternoon reading and sleeping. Created a kind of ground beef stew with potatoes, onions, green pepper, turnip, and tomato for dinner. Went to bed early as darkness fell around 7 pm.

Jan 24, 2012 Tuesday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

This morning I located the bag with the connectors and wires that would allow me to reconnect my Apple MacBook Air to the internet. I managed to get everything hooked-up properly, but needed to make a payment to get the connection working. So, I went to the nearest payment terminal, made a payment sufficient to keep me running for awhile. The terminal is located about a block away in a small store, so I was able to pickup some mayonnaise and some Earl Grey tea bags, as well. I came back to the mini-Bazaar closest to my apartment to pick up some ground pepper, rice, garlic, a little head of cabbage, some napkins and toilet paper, then came back to the apartment.

I worked with the FastNet tech types to get the internet working and was successful after a few minutes getting the connection to work. It is nice to be back in touch with the rest of the world. About 2 pm I had some more of the vegetable soup for lunch. Then felt really sleepy, so I took a nap. During the day my apartment is very quite. I live on the second floor of the building. My windows look toward the rear of the building. There is some noise when people are going up and down the stairs, but mostly it is quite. Except for my upstairs neighbor who apparently works evenings and comes home between two and three a.m. She has the heaviest footsteps and it often sounds as if they are moving furniture at that time of night. So, most nights I am awakened around 2 or 3 when she returns. My sleep is beginning to return to normal, but I still seem to be needing to resolve the jet lag.

Jan 25, 2012 Wednesday Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I got up this morning, caught up with my email and took a look at Facebook to see what is happening among my friends around the world. I am always amazed at how social media allows me to stay in touch with people in such far flung places and allows my friends to be aware of my circumstances.

I rearranged some of the kitchen cabinets to suit my use of them. Am still looking for some items that seem to have disappeared in my absence, like plates, the little stainless steel pot from Germany that I cooked in most often, etc. I will pull out a chair and see if they have been stored up in some cubbies that are above the doorway tomorrow.

I managed today to get to AlaTv to get the cable television reinstalled and to the pharmacy to pick up an anti-histamine and some anti-itch cream. I developed a little rash on my lower legs that is probably a food allergy. Now I have to figure out what it was that created the problem. But the cream and the anti-histamine have helped. Ala TV will come in the morning. It will be nice to have some television news.

I also discovered that the Islamic bank that moved in last September next to my post office is doing currency exchange, so I was able to change some more dollars into Kyrgyz Soms. I picked up some more Coca-Cola and returned home to read more of Catherine on my Kindle. I am really enjoying reading about this period of Russian history in the Robert Massie biography.

In the evening my young friend Marat dropped by and we had dinner together. I created a cabbage, carrot, onion and ground beef stew for him which I served over rice. We talked and worked on his English together and worked a little on my Kyrgyz and Russian. Later we both used the computer to check on the internet. I finally called for bedtime at about 10 p.m. Marat spent the night here since it was late. I have a little extra room for guests since I do not sleep in the bedroom, but in the living room.

Tomorrow will mark one week since I left to return to Bishkek. I find I am quite content to be back. There are still resettlement issues that need to be dealt with, but overall I am happy to be in my apartment here in the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic with snow on the ground and a prediction for more for tomorrow and Friday.

The flag of the Kyrgyz Republic

The protest marchers were met by police and the special guard of the president. Shots were fired and the protesters then overwhelmed the military and police. The police were ineffective and in many cases weapons were taken from them. I heard about the event first on Twitter, then You Tube amateur videos showed what was happening, and postings on Facebook. I stayed connected to the events in Houston through new media for the next few days. Businesses of friends were ravaged by looters. People in Bishkek stayed behind closed doors as the police became unable to maintain order for about a week. Building were burned. People were injured in the chaos that followed. When the smoke cleared 83 people had been killed at the protest near the White House.

Yesterday, ceremonies were held in Bishkek. I went to Ala-Too Square in downtown to observe and to take some photos of the events. The mood was somber and fitting to the occasion. There were some speeches, traditional music, flags of the political parties, and flags of Kyrgyzstan. The national anthem was sung. Then groups formed to pay respects to those who died by placing flowers at a memorial along Chui Prospect, and at the plaques that are on the White House fence that honor the fallen and the revolutionary event. The president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was deposed, ran for cover to his family compound near Jalalabad in Southern Kyrgyzstan. The following week the stories from Twitter, Facebook, and the media mostly reported on the attempts of Bakiyev to regain control. Eventually he escaped capture and sought refuge in another country.

Memorial flowers

Things are changing slowly in this mountainous country. There are still divisions that were brought to light by the removal of the Bakiyev cronies and creation of an interim government. In June there were inter-ethnic clashes in Osh, the biggest city in the south of the country. Kyrgyz and Uzbek citizens of Kyrgyzstan engaged in bloody battles; Uzbek enclaves were burned out, people were killed. The issues of ethnic tolerance and understanding are a constant source of conflict, still.

The interim president of Kyrgyzstan is Roza Otunbayeva. She has had a steady hand on the tiller of state since assuming the position. She has also supervised two election processes in July and October of 2010 that brought a new constitution and a new legislative parliament. The new constitution reduces the power of the presidency and invests more in the parliament. Otunbayeva recently was quoted in a news article as saying that the government of Bakiyev was overthrown because of its failure to meet the expectations of the electorate.

The country appears to have moved forward in many ways. Government has become more responsive to the queries and question raised by citizen groups. Community activists and small-groups have formed to address many local issues throughout the country. But inflation has raised its ugly head here. Food costs are rising, the standard of living is declining, businesses are finding the investment climate too uncertain.

In the past few weeks, I have seen signs of the effects of inflation and a touch-and-go economy begin to affect my life in Bishkek. Just the other day, I went to a small indoor market near my apartment close to Bokonbaeva and Pravda to discover that some of the vendors had just disappeared. A young man who was selling personal products like shaving cream, razors, hand and face creams, and detergent from a small shop at the market had shut down and the little store was empty. Inside, entire sections were empty where only a week before there were stocked shelves. At the small blue container store in front of the apartment block stock has been reduced significantly. It has been the place that I bought Coca-Cola, Sprite, juice, and chocolate. But all the Coca-Cola was gone the other day and it has not been restocked. It is as if they are preparing for the end of their operation.

The cost of flour, sugar, and other staple food stuff has been rising at a rate of about 20% during the time I have been in Kyrgyzstan. I saw the effect of that when the price of soft drinks rose over a weekend from 30 soms to about 38 soms for a 1.5 liter bottle of Coca-Cola. Small businesses are working on such small margins that any further inflationary pressure can cause their failure.

The government is cracking down on corruption by petty officials and that is a positive thing. They also have addressed some of the inter-ethnic tension issues. But under the surface tensions are still exerting pressures on the government. A presidential election is scheduled for the fall.

The current coalition government also seems to be a fragile construction. On April 1st there was a fist fight in the parliament between opposing factions. There were a number of bloody noses and black-eyes. American University of Central Asia political scientist Azamat Temirkulov has said that the progress of the government “has been somewhat less successful in the the socio-economic sphere. But for such a short time, given our political instability, this government’s work can be called satisfactory.”
He continued saying “…among the negative changes, you can include the emotional stress that society suffered from April to June 2010.” The economy was damaged when investors and working people fled the country. But the greatest harm may have been the loss of harmony in Kyrgyz society, according to Temirkulov.

But hope springs eternal. The arrival of Spring, despite a couple of snowfalls, seems to be putting people in better spirits. It will be interesting to see if this better weather increases the number of protest marches in the street and whether the coalition government will be able to address the economic and social issues facing the country.

As for me, I continue to teach English at SECOM Language School to groups of youngsters and to college age students. I am the English Speaking teacher and have to come up with things to talk about that we can share.

This past week I spent time with each class discussing the 50th Anniversary of manned space flight. It was 50 years ago on April 12th that Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union made his historic flight. In orbit for 108 minutes and returning safely to earth. I remember where I was when Sputnik was announced in 1959 in the fall of my senior year at A.N. McCallum High School in Austin, Texas. I told my students about the reaction in America to this achievement. Then the first dog in space occurred in 1960, Laika died in the flight. But then Belka and Strelka (Squirrel and Arrow) became the first animals to go to space and return safely. Gherman Titov became the second Cosmonaut. Talking about space with my youngest students, the ten year olds, brought us to a discussion of the solar system. They knew a great deal of information about the Russian space program, the planets and their orbital paths. The group also knew a lot of information about the International Space Station. There has been a Kyrgyz Cosmonaut at the space station. He is Salijan Saripov, who came from Uzgen. His story is on Wikipedia at this link.

We also talked this week about the Anniversary of the Revolution with the older students. I asked them to recall where they were and what they were doing at the beginning of the event. I also asked how they found out what was happening. Most were in their classes and received either text messages or phone calls from friends. When I asked what they did after getting the news that a revolution appeared to be underway, they mostly reported that they went home quickly.

The anniversary of this revolution is not a national holiday. But the revolution of six years ago, called the Tulip Revolution, which brought Bakiyev to power, is a holiday on March 24th. Some of my students suggested it should be eliminated and that the more recent event should be made a holiday. I now understand why so many schools were closed from just before March 21st, Narooz holiday, past the 24th.

There were a number of Norooz celebrations around the city. There was a large gathering at the Persian restaurant. I celebrated with a group of friends from the InterNations group. We met and had dinner together at a nice Italian restaurant on the west side of town. It was good to meet some new friends in the city.

The young clown in the closing number

Another snowfall hit us on April 4th. I also went on April 4th to a circus performance by a small Moscow-based circus with some of the InterNations folks. We saw acrobats, jugglers, tight-rope walkers, horse, monkey, parrot and cockatil, aerialists, bears, leopards and more. About two hours of single ring activity. The clowns were interesting. One of them looked to be no older than 13 or 14.

The exciting circus poster

And yesterday, I went to the commemorative events downtown. It has been an interesting period and I am glad that the weather is turning warmer and that sunshine has become our daily diet of weather. It is cool at night, but in the upper 50′s and lower 60′s these days. Light jacket, short-sleeves, new kaki cap are enough for me. And I am able to walk much more easily these days with no ice and snow build up.

The sun woke me this morning about 7:30 am. The skies were absolutely blue and clear. Managed to get out of the house and take a walk, just to take a walk. Sidewalks are free of ice and snow. I was able to wear regular shoes and not my boots today. After perpetual snow on the ground since December it is interesting to see what has happened to the ground beneath it. Bishkek is not as beautiful after the snow melts as it is when dressed in white. I think that may be the reason she refuses to give up winter. I stopped by the small bazaar near the house and picked up a couple of things I needed. The rest of the day was spent at home working on teaching projects for my ESL classes at the SECOM Language School. I really enjoy putting together new lesson ideas for the classes.

Monday, March 8, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

On my way to my 9:30 am class at SECOM, I noticed that the traffic was lighter than usual and checked my watch to make sure I was not going to school too early. As I neared Mektep 67, I realized that there were no children milling about as usual, and that the gate was locked. So, no regular school today. SECOM was open and I had about half the students I normally have for the Monday morning class. I went home had some lunch, came back at 2:30 pm to find that there were no students for that class. I came back home after telling the regular teacher of the 4 pm class that I would not come back since I did not believe we would have students. I did go and teach the 6 pm class because I was pretty sure they would show up. We had good class and everybody was actually speaking English. Found out that schools were closed today because of International Women’s Day on Tuesday. It is a four-day weekend in Kyrgyzstan so people can return home to visit mothers, grandmothers, sisters, etc. Nice idea.

Tuesday, March 9, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

It’s International Women’s Day in Kyrgyzstan and in most of the world. A UN designated day to celebrate the contributions of women to society and the world. No classes to teach. I stuck close to home, continued to read, tried to write a little. It was another beautiful Spring day in Bishkek. Bright sunshine, temperatures in the mid-afternoon were in the low 50′s. People were actually shedding their heavy coats and jackets. I was able to shed the boots again and wear a pair of regular shoes. Almost everything was shut down today for the Women’s Day holiday. Though there were some vendors still selling last-minute gifts along the Pravda corridor. There were some house plants for sale along with the usual gift sets and small figurines, and individual roses and carnations. I walked in the afternoon just to get in some exercise. Created a couple of things to put on Facebook to celebrate the women I know. Found a great piece of poetry online that I will try to use next year in any classes I am teaching at the time.

I come in many shapes and colors. I am soft and delicate, but nothing to play with.  I stand on my own two feet, I depend on one.

I am Woman, I am strong, beautiful, unique, a fighter and survivor. I am Woman, irresistible, seductive, sexy, and voluptuous. Yes I am

I play many roles, Mother, Aunt, Sister and Grandmother. I’m bad and loving it. Looking good like a woman should, I stand out like a skyscraper and stand strong like a house build with bricks.

I get a kick out of challenges, nothing holds me down. I’m always ready for the next round. I do need love from a good man, a man that’s not afraid to really be what a man should.

I am Woman seducing you with the swing of my hips, temptation at its best. My soft curves and my beautiful tresses are longing for your soft caress. I am defined by my mind not my beauty. One look in my eyes and you are mesmerize by my strength, my dedication and strive to survive.

I’m a proud lover and achiever letting no one astray me from my ambition. I’m more sensitive then the opposite sex, but I fight my battles and have won many wars. I hold it down like no other, protecting my children from life’s evil. Molding them into their best physically and morally and I must say I look pretty good doing it.

Woman to Woman we go through a lot struggling to be to be treated as equal in society and in relationships. We love hard with disregard of how we are sometimes treated. We deserve the best and never the less we will always be Queens of our throne.

I am proud of my womanhood, I am proud of who I am. Independent, strong willed, provider, nurturing and flamboyant of my style. I love driving men wild.

Loving who I am every part of me, I’m not perfected but I am a site to see.
I am Woman

Lorna Darden
I am woman

Wednesday, March 10, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

So, Ash Wednesday has returned and Lent has begun. Without a community of fellow believers in Bishkek, I find that I mark these moments on the liturgical calendar by reading the Book of Common Prayer and meditating on the meaning of the cycle of our lives. I have now lived more than 6 months in Bishkek. For the most part, living more simply than I did in Houston. I have found an activity that I can participate in teaching English. I have time to write and think. I am eating more simply. Less beef, less meat in general. I have managed to lose some weight in that time, but need to lose more. Decided today that I need to exercise more and find more interesting recipes for vegetable meals, or meals using other protein sources than meat. Have decided that as an added spiritual discipline for Lent that I will read more Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. A friend has given me a book that is a part of Nursi’s Risale-i Nur Collection . This one is the 19th Letter, and is Nursi’s explication of the Prophet Muhammad and His Miracles. Nursi is not always easy to read because the work is dense and seems to be written in a late 19th or early 20th Century style of religious meditation. But I have read other selections from the Risale-i Nur. When I was in Kyrgyzstan in 2009 for the summer, I brought some Nursi with me and read it each morning. So I will do the same with this each morning during Lent. Don’t be surprised if some of it leaks into the journal.

Thursday, March 10, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Woke up this morning feeling that I have just not accomplished enough in the last few weeks. Feeling that there needs to be more resolve on my part and more real exercise of my will. Part of this is that February is often a period of dormancy in my life. It is almost like I need the downtime in February to recharge my batteries. It may be a kind of Seasonal Affective Disorder, but whatever it is, I know that traditionally my activity levels nearly grind to a halt every February throughout my life. Now that March is fully here, and the weather is improving in Bishkek, I seem to be feeling an increase of energy and desire to accomplish. No classes on Thursday. Out and about to see what is new and what is happening. Internet cafe to print some material for my Friday class. I have printed a reading exercise, readied a listening exercise, and hope my students will feel good enough to record their Speaking Response as preparation for the IBT TOEFL exam. Had some other items to print, but apparently had some problems with the files when I downloaded them. I will have to go back to the printer after re-down loading. I can do it this weekend.

Friday, March 11, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

The weather has taken a turn for the worse. This morning I woke up to find that it had been raining overnight and that it was still raining. I use the morning’s to catch up on my email and to check out what my friends are posting to Facebook. Email is mostly commercial stuff from places I have shopped online, or information sites like NY Times and LA Times, Houston’s CultureMap and others. Facebook is how I manage to still feel connected to my friends from church, my high school, former workplaces and other groups. I also am able to keep up with some of my friends here in Kyrgyzstan who are using it. I was working so hard on preparing for my class that I did not realize that the weather had gotten worse by 5:30 pm. As I headed out to teach my class, the snow was falling and accumulating on the ground and on the automobiles. By the time I got to school it was really falling. Big wet flakes. And the rain was turning to mushy ice in puddles about 6 inches deep in places. My students refused to follow directions, would not take notes on the reading or listening passages, and as a result could not do the Speaking exercise. I demonstrated how to take notes using two words, then wrote out a speaking response so they could see what you need to do. I showed them another reading, listening passage from their textbooks and demonstrated again what the speaking part should look like. They just refused to record their own voices. I was very frustrated. I only see them once a week and I think I will only see them one or two more times. After class one of my students from another class walked me home so that I would be safe. The snow was still falling, though it had let up some. The sidewalks were covered in the slushy ice and about 10 cm of snow had built up while we were in class. One wonders if the winter will actually give way to spring soon.

Saturday, March 12, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I woke this morning, turned on the television to the news channels and watch the latest information about the horrible earthquake in Japan and the resulting Tsunami. The videos are unbelievable. I have a friend from high school who lives and works in Japan. I was able to see that he had posted to Facebook saying he was okay, but that a daughter’s home had been flooded. I cannot believe the level of destruction that I am seeing as a result of the water. I also am not feeling very well. I have a bit of a cold, stopped up nose, a little cough. I have managed to escape any serious illnesses this winter and have been very well. I am having little chills though and some breathing difficulty because my nose is all stopped up. I have pills and sprays that helped. About 2 pm, one of my students showed up at the door. I am afraid I was not much of a conversationalist for him today. He is one of the students who is preparing for a work-travel program that will take him to the US for three summer months. I have not been able to find out much about it, but SECOM is the sponsor. They have an interview with the US Embassy consul to get their visas. Three of my students are anxious about the interview, so I am working with them to develop some answers to the kind of questions the consul would ask. I ask him to come back on Sunday. Hopefully, I will feel better by then. I watched a little NCAA basketball and slept off and on the rest of the day. I ate some ramen noodles with shrimp for dinner. Was in bed by 9 pm.

Awoke this morning to sunshine streaming in the windows on the east side of the apartment. It is the first time in about week that the solar orb has made a bright morning appearance. It is still quite cold in Bishkek at this time of the year, but the sun does take us up the scale on the thermometer and some of the ice and snow on the sidewalks begins to become slushy. The problem, of course, is that overnight the temperature drops back below freezing for several hours and the slush freezes again. That makes for careful walking when I have early morning lessons. I stayed close to home today and did not do very much. I have been working on learning a little Russian to help me communicate better. And I am trying to read a book on the Gulen Movement written by Professor Muhammed Cetin, whom I met while working at the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. It is very interesting but I cannot read it quickly because it is a densely written work about the growth, structure, and work of this remarkable group who do good things like building and operating schools, language centers, and interfaith dialogue promotion.

Monday, Feb 28, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I managed to get up early this morning to watch the Academy Awards telecast. My cable operator carried it thanks to a Hong Kong broadcast group called Star, whose Star Movies channel broadcast the Oscars live from Hollywood and Hong Kong. Could not help but remember that last year at this time I had just been to the Independent Spirit Awards and was in LA for the Oscars with Ed Brandon, as we celebrated the nomination of Zero Bridge and Tariq Tapa at the Spirit Awards. This year, I was drinking coffee and eating cookies, while preparing for a 9:30 am class teaching Kyrgyz children English. Last year I was sitting with Ed in a downtown LA Hotel with a group of fun people following every action on a big screen TV in a lobby bar. This year one of the people I encouraged to follow a career in film, Lars Hermann, was involved thanks to the Danish Film Institute in winning an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. So I had reason to celebrate again. Now, I just need for Kyle Henry and Tariq Tapa to both make more films. I managed to see a rerun of the Oscars in the evening on Monday and to see the rest of the top awards. My Kyrgyz students were not even aware of the Academy Awards.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I had a light teaching day today, only a 9:30 am and a 2:30 pm class. After the first class I went to exchange some dollars for soms over on Sovietskaya St. and picked up some items at the small bazaar on Moskova St. It is an indoor bazaar with a lot of different vendors selling a lot of the same stuff. Produce, bread, etc. But there is a cookie and candy store I love. It has everything I like and I seem to be making a weekly appearance there to refresh the cookie and chocolate supply for the apartment. There is also a woman who sells frozen seafood. She has salmon, shrimp and other items I like. Right now the produce people who usually sell close to my apartment are not setting up their outdoor shop, so I also am buying produce at the Moskova bazaar. Stopped by the meat market near my house to purchase some beef for a dinner I am having tonight with a couple of students. Found a nice Porterhouse. Cut the sirloin off the bone, split it and had two nice sirloin strips to grill. Served some potatoes and turnips for vegetables, and made a nice mixed salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green bell peppers, green onions, and feta cheese. Nice meal and good conversation with the students about life in Kyrgyzstan.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

More sunshine, temperature in the upper 20′s this morning warmed to above freezing by mid-afternoon. Maybe my students were right about March 1st being the beginning of Spring in Kyrgyzstan. Nice day, I got to walk around some. Two classes at SECOM School both in the afternoon. I went to Vefa Center this morning and ran into a piece of produce that I could not identify. But thanks to my friends on Facebook I have learned that it is the fruit of a columnar cactus called Dragon Fruit that is native to Southeast Asian countries, like Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Dragonfruit at the supermarket

Thursday, March 3, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Today is Children’s Day and National Kalpak Day in Bishkek. There was not a lot of fuss being made for Children’s Day, but that is because every day is children’s day. Children are spoiled for the first 4 to 5 years of their lives here. Then when they go to school they are socialized and taught how to behave properly with others. But they are the center of their families lives. Not much different than in the US. I was encouraged by my older students to wear my Kalpak, a pointed white hat with black designs, and a tassel on top made of boiled wool, today. I did, thinking it would be a little like Go Texan Day in Houston. You know, hat, boots, buckles on Rodeo Friday. But I seemed to be the only one wearing one.

My kalpak for national kalpak day

Friday, March 4, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Woke up this morning to a lot of noise around 5:30 am in the stairwell. It is always surprising to me how noisy some of my neighbors can be as they leave the building. This morning was especially loud and seemed to involve carrying lots of stuff down the stairs. I managed to get back to sleep for a little while. Having really interesting dreams involving some of my former colleagues. In the dream, we were working in non-profit radio holding a large event in Houston that was taking place in multiple park and university locations around town. It also involved more than one radio station. Dr. Jill Carroll was running one of the programs, Kym King was running another, and I was moving from place to place doing remotes back to both of them in the studio. It seemed we were teaching people how to be happy! Amazing dream.

My RadioDaze Partners Kym King and Jill Carroll

After my 6 pm TOEFL speaking class at SECOM Language School, I joined a group of my students who are college aged and we had a Friday Night Plov Party at one of their apartments. The apartment was on the 9th floor of a block of apartments located about a half mile East of my apartment block. Plov is a Central Asian dish consisting of meat, rice and shredded carrots which takes about two hours to cook. You brown thinly cut pieces of stew meat with some finely chopped onion and garlic, then add water to boil the meat down for about one and a half hour, add rice and wait. It is always made in quantity in large pots. The result is very flavorful and the dish is a favorite of many of my students when I ask what their favorite national food is. There were about seven of us for dinner. After dinner my student Ermek played the guitar and sang.

Ermek sings for the party

Nan, Iran, Carrot Salad, and Plov

Saturday, March 5, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Up around 7 am. Email, Facebook perusal and posting of videos and photos of last night’s Plov Party. Video is of Ermek singing. I will also upload it to YouTube, I think, after I do some editing and creating of a b-roll from some still pictures I took. Met for breakfast with my friend Aftandil at the Aussie restaurant for a big American breakfast with meat, eggs, potato cakes, buttered toast and jam. It was really too much. I felt bloated for the rest of the day. But there was something really decadent about it that I could not resist. The bacon they serve is like Canadian Bacon but with the fat not trimmed. Aftandil and I talked about his new project to plant new trees in Ata-Turk Park. The parkland is being encroached by people who are building big houses along its border illegally but with the apparent knowledge of officials who look the other way, or who are complicit via corruption. Aftandil and others have formed a group to rescue the park and to seek legal remedies for the problem. I donated $100 from Orozbay Foundation to help buy some trees that will be planted Saturday, March 19th and agreed to be there. I also consulted with him on some ways to raise money locally for the project. Don’t be surprised if you get an email from me asking you to send a check for $10 to my friend Emil for the park project, who can then use MoneyGram to forward the money to me here in Bishkek. I will send more information and will be taking photos at the March 19th event.

After breakfast I went shopping for batteries. A number of my gadgets have lost their power and have to be brought back up. Found some in the underground bazaar that is beneath Chuy and Sovietskaya. It is also a place to buy school and office supplies. I also have bought socks from a vendor there that were very good. Batteries in hand, I headed to the ZUM department store to look for gifts for Emil’s Mother and his sisters. Tuesday, March 8, is Women’s Day, another holiday (no classes) in Kyrgyzstan. I settled on scent as the right gift. And a lovely Russian woman who spoke English helped me find a really nice fresh, light choice from Moschino called Funny. I really liked it and gave it to each of them. The woman even gave me little gift bags. I delivered the gifts to their workplaces in Vefa Center since I will not be able to do it on Monday, and they will be having holidays on Tuesday. Left them for them to find in the offices of the shops.

Returned home after picking up some bread and juice at the Beta Store at Vefa. Watched some televised college basketball. Feel asleep in front of the TV. Finally stirred back to life around 3 pm. Heated up some left-over vegetable and noodles from the Indian Village, and added cooked chicken for a late lunch, early dinner. Wrote some. Read some. And was in bed by about 8:30 pm. Tomorrow I have to meet a student around noon, create some new teaching aids for my English classes and finish up this week’s blog.

Tuesday, Feb 22, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
The weather turned gloomy overnight. Clouds and some light rain most of the day today. Gloomy is the best description, almost a light fog as I came home from my afternoon class around 4 pm. Usually, that foggy condition means it will snow, sleet, or rain overnight. The female teachers at Secom brought each of the male teachers a present for Kyrgyzstan’s Men’s Day which will be tomorrow. In honor of Men’s Day, there will be no classes tomorrow. Schools are closed, many offices are closed, etc. My special project student, Ernist, came to the house around 5:45 pm and we talked together to help improve his English. We are meeting about an hour twice a week to give him more practice. It is really interesting to work one on one with people to help improve their speaking ability. I think I need to develop some activities for the two of us that will help him use the vocabulary he has already acquired. He is very bright, about 22 years old. His family has a business distributing electrical equipment and lighting fixtures from three Turkish companies. He is planning on joining a work and travel program that will take him to the US for about three months this summer. We need to get his English improved by April. After he left, I tried to watch a little television, but kept falling asleep.

Wednesday, Feb 23, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Men’s Day in Kyrgyzstan. An annual holiday that actually developed here during the Soviet period. The Soviet Army was created in Moscow and in St. Petersburg (then Petrograd) on this day about 93 years ago. The connection is that men are valued for their ability to provide protection and defense. In Moscow and St. Petersburg there will be military parades, but here women give gifts to men to mark the day and the schools are closed. There are cards for Men’s Day that feature weapons like swords, so the connection to the old Soviet Army Day is honored in the forms of the celebration. Gifts usually are shaving sets, socks, handkerchiefs, lighters, knives. I ventured out this morning for about 20 minutes just to get a bit of a walk in, but it was too cold and too wet to stay out very long. By noon the snow flurries had begun. I spent the day reading and napping. Created a roasted chicken and rice dish for lunch. Went to sleep about 8:30 pm with the snow still falling.

One of the Men's Day Cards

Thursday, Feb 24, 2011—Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

There is a part of me that would like to escape today from the snow and cold. There is a substantial accumulation of snow outside this morning. The snow on top of the branches of the trees is about two inches deep, the temperature is 5 degrees F and feels even colder. I think I will do the laundry this morning, wait to venture outside until later. The sun is shining and it will warm up to about 15 degrees F by the afternoon. I may have to wear the big puffy coat. I will try to get a picture taken of me in it. I have only worn it once since Emil brought it to me on his trip in October. Usually I find I am comfortable with a couple of layers under a windbreaker nylon jacket with a scarf and wool cap. Boots and thick socks seem to keep my feet warm enough. This is actually the coldest it has been since I arrived in September. I managed to stay home all day and not go outside. I grilled some beef chunks with onion under the broiler on the stove and created a tomato, olive and picked mushroom salad for dinner. Had a short visit with Ernist, the student who is planning to go to America this summer for a work and travel program. Then I watched some television and finally fell asleep early Friday morning.

Friday, Feb 25, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
I woke up about 7 am, but did not get up until about 8 am. I have two classes today in the afternoon and at 6 pm. I have some errands that need to be run even though the temperature is not expected to get above 18 degrees F today. I will try to get everything done in a fell swoop between 4 and 6 pm. I prepared a number of news stories today to use with my classes. I am rewriting news stories into simple English. Worked also on getting myself better prepared for teaching the TOEFL preparation group I see once a week. Got a call to let me know that there was no class at 2:30 pm, which was fine. Got ready to go to work around 5 pm, planning a stop at the Internet Cafe to print a couple of items I had prepared for the class. Pulled the big puffy coat out of the closet, but when I went to put it on, the zipper got stuck in the up position. I had to go to out in the usual windbreaker, sweater, shirt, scarf outfit. It was okay heading to class, but coming home my gloves were not able to keep out the cold on my hands. This is the coldest it has been since I arrived here in September of 2010. I picked up some soft drinks and chocolate bars at my favorite little kiosk out front and headed as quickly as I could to the apartment. Even the apartment felt a little cool when I came in. Had a tuna salad on rye bread for dinner. One of the chocolate bars, some cola. Watched television, but fell asleep. Finally went to bed about 10 pm.

Saturday, Feb 26, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
I woke up this morning about 7:30. The skies are gray, the cold continues to bite, radiators circulating hot water are having trouble keeping up. The apartment, which often feels warm, has a little chill to it this morning. I slept well last night, but it is still taking some effort to get moving. I need to do some shopping, make a bank run, and pickup a few things at one of the nearby little bazaars. Upon looking at the Kyrgyz cash on hand, I realized that I would need to get to a money exchange office before I did very much. I was able to change one large bill at the pharmacy where I needed to pick up a couple of things. That gave me money for a taxi that got me to Vefa Center, where I was able to exchange some dollars I had for soms. I found some new gloves, sports ski type, upstairs at one of the clothing stores. I am sure I overpaid, but they will do a better job of keeping my hands warm on these frigid days and nights when I am walking back and forth to the language school. I noticed there is a new coffee bar on the first floor of the center. I will have to try it out soon. One of the Beta Store supermarkets is located in Vefa Center. I picked up the other things I needed there spending about $40 US then caught a taxi back to the apartment. I cooked a nice three bean soup and had that for a late lunch. Spent some more time reading a book on the Gulen Movement, then watched some soccer on television and some winter sports. I love watching the ski jumping. There is something really intriguing about watching people fly off the end of the platform and gliding through the air, then landing safely on the snow after traveling 140 meters or more. There is more ski jumping to watch on Sunday, as well. It is being broadcast from Oslo on Eurosport TV. Tried to watch some of the American Idol broadcast which we get after midnight on a channel from India, managed to see most of the group performances, but got really bored as they began telling people whether they were in the top 24 or not. Turned off the TV and hit the sack around 2 am.

Well, it only took four weeks for me to have a breakdown in the writing everyday resolution.
The last time I have written in this journal was on January 28th. That means that I have not been writing for almost three weeks now.

I am not sure what causes the breakdown in the writing pattern. I know that the only way to do this is to do it in a disciplined way. For me it is always best to write before noon. And the best of the writing comes with the first cup of coffee. I think part of the issue right now is that I seem to be sleeping later in the mornings and when I teach I am only giving myself time for a cup, a perusal of email and Facebook, and then shower, shave and out the door.

One could, of course, blame a kind of writer’s block that descended in February, but it would only be an excuse. The fact of the matter is February is always a low or non-productive time for me. It has been this way for as long as I can remember. I just don’t do very much and as a result not much gets done. I always think that some things will change with a location change, but my non-productive February’s have followed me to Bishkek.

I feel that I should try to catch you up on what has been going on here since the end of January. So here is a quick review.

Saturday, Jan 29th, I went to Osh Bazaar with a friend to pickup more dried beans and popcorn. We wandered around some to see what else was available. I managed to resist the cookies and the chocolates wrapped in foil. There was quite a crowd at the front gate on Kievskaya. When I asked Aftandil what was going on he told me that people were selling cell phones. There is a big after market in mobile phones here. At least two people I know had their phones stolen in the last month. It appears you can go buy another one, maybe even yours, at the front of Osh Bazaar.

I also loved all the prepared food you can find at the Osh Bazaar. There were a number of stands selling pickles and a large variety of slaws made with carrots and cabbage as primary ingredients. I am told that they have Korean origins but have become popular in Kyrgyzstan.

Prepared Salads at Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Sunday, Jan 30th, was a stay at home day. The weather was going downhill all day. It has gotten colder and it feels like it will snow again. Just before every snow the humidity goes up and a ground fog seems to come over Bishkek. Gloomy weather. It was a great day for just staying inside reading and resting.

Monday, Jan 31st, had an early morning class at 8:00 and then came back home for breakfast and more coffee. Weather description from the forecasters was “freezing fog.” I had never heard of it before so I was not sure how to prepare for the 3 block trek to the school. But it turned out okay. Really careful on the slippery walkways though.

Tuesday, Feb 1st, early class, back home for a ramen noodle lunch. Temperatures warmed up and began melting the snow and ice. Sunshine broke through the cloud cover about 11 am. My robotic life continued. Teach, come home, teach, come home during the week days. Reading Orhan Pamuk’s “Snow” and loving it. Find myself needing to read more of it and unable to put it down.

Wednesday. Feb 2nd, warm temperatures continued with rain falling in the mornings. We were up to about 44 degrees. The warm temps and the rain have helped wash away the ice and snow, but what a mess it makes. Boots and shoes must be cleaned and wiped after every outing. Actually, one of the things I have noticed again here is this business of shoes. Almost everybody has well shined shoes. All of the students, teachers, people on the streets. There is almost an obsession with keeping one’s shoes looking nice. And it is not an easy task in the winter because the snow, slush, mud and rain are working against you all the time. At the door of your house, where shoes are removed, you keep a shoe horn, a shoe cleaning cloth, some polish, and one of those silicone buffers. Before leaving you top up the shine. When I was here in the summer of 2008 and again in 2009, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a pair of gray colored shoes because of the dust levels.

Thursday, Feb 3rd, I returned to the Foreign Ministry office in the morning to be told that they would give me another visa for 3 months, went to pay the $90 fee, and then returned in the late afternoon and retrieved my passport with a new visa in it. So I am good to stay here until the beginning of May. I will, of course, apply for a new visa at the end of April, hoping this time that it can be for 6 months. I will ask SECOM Language School to help with a letter for that one. Hopefully, by that time I will be valuable enough to them that it will be okay.

Friday, Feb 4th, I have the day off from teaching. I had lunch with Aftandil and a colleague of his from the Foreign Ministry at a lovely little cafeteria near their offices, just behind the American University of Central Asia (AUCA). I had a really nice fried fish with rice. I will have to go again.

Saturday, Feb 5th, I awoke to new snow falling on Bishkek. It always starts in the early morning, it seems, and today it continued for most of the morning. I don’t like going out in it, so I stayed home and continued to read the Pamuk book. I did get out for a minute and was able to take a photo of the snow that I really like. I also went to the Poshta (post office) and paid some household bills, and picked up a couple of things at the small bazaar next to the apartments. A new woman has begun selling pickles, a hot tomato sauce that reminds me of Mexico, and other prepared foods. So glad I decided to go in there. Stayed up very late watching television.

Sunday, Feb 6th, woke up quite late for me. Nearly 10 am before I was fully awake and taking nourishment from a cup of black coffee. Continued the reading of “Snow”, I will finish it soon, then begin looking for more to read.

Monday, Feb 7th, had a 9:30 am class to teach. Still having to work very hard to get the Elementary level students to talk, but beginning to make some breakthroughs. Friends were throwing a Super Bowl party, but I did not make it. It was going to be about 5 am our time. Just no energy for NFL football. I’ll read about it online.

Tuesday, Feb 8th, no classes on Tuesday. A small break from the early morning routines. Did not do much though. Read, watched TV.

Wednesday, Feb 9th, two classes at the language school. An 8 am and a 2:30 pm. Taught, came home, viewed the email and Facebook, ate lunch, went back to teach. Back home for a nap. Dinner of soup, television viewing, sleep.

Thursday, Feb 10th, found me watching the situation in Egypt live on CNN International, BBC, Euronews, and Deutsch-Welt, switching from channel to channel. Emails to Victoria Harper and Nabil in Cairo. This revolutionary process has been remarkable. I check back on it on television at least once an hour.

Friday, Feb 11th, I had one English class today and taught about Valentine’s Day and idioms in English about love. Ever notice how many of them are about falling and losing you mind? I picked up some Russian valentine cards I saw from a street vendor and used them as visual aids. We also listened to music about love, both positive and negative. Lionel Richey and Diana Ross with Endless Love. Almost made me cry. Rhiana and Eminem helped demonstrate that love can go bad with “Love the way you lie.” Great class.

Valentine's on sale

Saturday, Feb 12th, I had a couple of emails from Tariq Tapa, the filmmaker, about the upcoming opening of Zero Bridge at Film Forum in NY next week. It is so exciting to see something that you have had a small part in making happen result in some real success for a young person. There are pre-screening reviews starting to pop up before the opening later this week. It is interesting to see them and to read what different reviewers have to say about the film. I wish I were not so far away and that I had the funds to be present in NY when the film is shown and Tariq does a Q&A.

Sunday, Feb 13th, Oh My Goodness, Friday the 13th has come on Sunday this month.

Monday, Feb 14th, three classes today beginning at 9:30 am, then at 4 pm and at 6 pm. Last time for the 4 pm group. It’s valentine’s day, so that is what we are teaching and talking about. Not as big a deal in Bishkek as in America, but the text message valentine’s greetings are flying today. I picked up a jar of pickled tomatoes as my valentine treat. They are so good.

Pickled Tomatoes as a Valentine Treat

Wednesday, Feb 16th, Zero Bridge is opening at Film Forum. Some good and some mixed reviews are coming in. My favorite is a review from the Village Voice. Tariq also appeared on WNYC for an interview. He is so polished and so good in these situations. He makes me feel proud. It was a beautiful day in Bishkek today. Clear skies, temperatures in the 50′s F, great classes. We read and talked about news stories I gleaned from the internet. My favorite was one about a woman who rescued her husband after a tiger attacked him near their hut. She bonked the tiger on the head with a wooden ladle and chased it away. The other real winner with the class was the Longest Kiss in History story from Thailand. A couple won a diamond ring and cash after sustaining a 46 hour, 24 minute, 9 second smooch.

Thursday, Feb 17th, the moon is full tonight in Bishkek and I managed to get a couple of nice photos of it before it got too high in the sky. The day was uneventful. No classes. Reading and studying looking for more things to talk about in the classes with my students.

February's Full Moon over Bishkek

Friday, Feb 18th, the news from Kyrgyzstan has caught my attention. The parliament has named a mountain for Valdimir Putin. There are also mountains named for Lenin and Yeltsin, so there is a history of doing this in the country. Some are saying this act of parliament is a way of currying favor with the Russians. Others were not so sure, since the mountain is not one of the higher ones in the country and expressed a worry that Putin might be offended. There has been no reaction from Putin. The other story of interest is that the number of stray, homeless, and somewhat feral dogs is out of control in Bishkek. One sees them roaming individually and in packs around the city. City officials have announced that because of a shortage of funds for animal shelters and humane disposal of feral dogs, they are authorizing the shooting of 10,000 strays by animal control. The number seems amazing to me, but you do see a lot of stray dogs and packs of dogs from time to time. Had a great lunch with Dennis Keen yesterday. He introduced me to a new restaurant that is close to both of us. And I got a copy of Spektator magazine from him. Spektator is a free publication in English. The editor has printed two of Dennis’ pieces in the latest issue. One is on a man who makes traditional Kyrgyz instruments, the other is on an artist who draws inspiration from Kyrgyz folk traditions.

Saturday, Feb 19th, the snow is back. During the night a good 1 inch of snow was dropped on us. Bishkek is a lovely lady in white for a few more days. Temperatures have also dropped back below freezing. I decided that I would like to have a restaurant breakfast. Not easy in Bishkek. But an Aussie has a cafe/pub soon to be called The Queen’s Head, but now going by Vis-a-Vis, where they do a good English and American breakfast. I had a great breakfast there and will go back. The owner, David Hutton came to Bishkek 13 years ago. He also has butcher shop with really great looking products of meat in cuts familiar to UK and USA folks. I am sure I will be buying somethings from him soon. A ribeye steak may soon be in my future thanks to the “Aussie Butcher” of Bishkek.

Sunday, Feb 20—More snow last night. I am amazed that I never hear it or wake up when it is falling. I only realize that the snow has come again when I look out the kitchen window and see that it is caught in the crook of the trees, which seem to be made to hold it. I had thought about heading out for a walk and some photo taking today, but another inch of snow added to what we had will become a little too treacherous for me. I think I will just work on preparing a lesson about George Washington for Monday’s two classes.

Woke up this morning to see that it was snowing quite heavily. I had planned to go shopping at the Zum, a major retail operation here, and maybe get to the Osh Bazaar on the westside of Bishkek to pickup some things I need. I need to find a bathroom scale for the apartment. I know I am losing weight because I am now on the last hole of my belt buckle and my pants are all bunched up under it. It feels like I have moved to another waist size. I am happy about losing the weight and hope to keep it off. I am eating less, walking more, and trying to do other things that will help with getting me down to a fighting weight of less than 250 lbs. This effort to lose weight began when I was about 350 lbs. I managed to get down to about 321 before leaving Houston. And had dropped about 6 lbs more in Bishkek by November. But I have not weighed again since then.

I am also looking to purchase a microwave for the kitchen. I am a little reluctant, though, to get one until I know that my visa has been approved. I will not find out about the visa until February 3rd. I am hoping that they will give me a six month extension, but will not be surprised if they only give me a three month extension. The three month extension seems to be the standard. I go back on Thursday morning to find out how much I will have to pay depending on the length of the visa.

With this morning’s heavy snowfall, I have postponed the shopping trip until later. I spent the day today reading and writing. Watched some sports events on television, found some new resources for my English classes, and made the best of an indoor day.

Sunday, January 23, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

It has stopped snowing for a little while this morning. Still quite cold outside. Early morning temperatures are around one degree Fahrenheit. Forecasters were right about more snow today. It came in the evening. Actually, one of the interesting things about the snow in Bishkek is that it often comes in the night. You head to bed and it is not snowing, but when you wake up there is a fine coat of snow over everything in the morning. It snowed again this morning. I decided not to try to get out in it again today.

When the weather keeps me inside, it often brings out the domestic side of me. I cleaned house. Straightening up the desk area, which seems to collect paper and copies of things I am working on. Attacked the bathroom floor, basins, tub and mirror. Living in Bishkek is a little like living in Midland-Odessa in Texas. The apartment acquires a layer of dust every week that has to be fought off continuously or in a short time piles of dirt appear in the corners of the room. I once read a traveler’s commentary on Bishkek which described it as “dusty Bishkek” and I am beginning to see what he meant.

I also am tempted to cook soup. So today I made a really nice vegetable beef soup. I had some left-over roast beef to put in the soup. I added onions, carrots, potatoes, and some green turnips to the pot and let it cook about two hours. It turned out really wonderful. I made too much, of course, and will be eating it the rest of the week. I will probably end up freezing some of it so that I can have it at a later date.

The Sunday Beef Vegetable Soup

I find more and more that I am cooking soup or soup-like meals for myself. I really enjoy a good soup and it allows me to get some vegetables into my diet. Kyrgyzstan people really don’t eat vegetables other than root vegetables very much. Tomatoes and cucumbers are usually available, but they have become less attractive as the winter nips them in transport from the southern part of the country. There are beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes usually available. I managed to score some broccoli at the supermarket the other day. I have been rationing it out to myself in various forms from steamed to vegetable curries and a stir-fry dish served over rice. Noodles are big in the diet and I have some raman noodles that I use to create quick noodle and vegetable dishes.

Clearly, I am not eating as much beef as I would if I were in Houston. I also am not eating as much Mexican food, or even Mexican inspired meals. No chili powder has been located yet. It is one of the items for the relief box from Houston. I am able to make a reasonable form of salsa and pico de gallo using tomatoes and onions and some green peppers that have a kick. But the only corn chips that are available are not very good and they are flavored with funny flavors. So far, I find that only the onion ones are to my liking.

Monday, January 24, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I headed out to my 8 am class at the SECOM Language School this morning about 7:30 am. As I left the apartment building, I realized it was snowing again. This time the snow was quite wet and it was coming down a little harder than usual. I managed to get to the intersection of Pravda and Bokonbaeva safely, but as I crossed Pravda and reached the other side of the road, I hit a patch of ice and fell in the street. And this time I really felt the impact on my left side. Two older women helped me to my feet before the cars ran over me. I got a lecture in Russian about being very careful and watching where I walked from one of the ladies. I kept repeating, “Da, da, da!” as if I understood what she was telling me. The funny thing is, I almost did understand her. I made it safely to school, but along the two blocks I saw two other people slip and fall. I was able to help one woman up. She was very distressed by the fall and I think she may have sprained her ankle.

I taught my class of Elementary learnings this morning about Mobile Phones. Everyone in Kyrgyzstan has a mobile phone it seems. And it is the business to be invested in here. I say that because I looked up the statistics to share with my students and we determined that the average person pays bout 300 soms per month to use their phones. There are 4.4 million mobile phones in use in the country. That means the income monthly to the providers, in a conservative estimate, is about 1,320,000,000 soms, or $28 million per month. Children as young as seven have phones, business people often have more than one. There are 5.5 million people in Kyrgyzstan. Only 1.1 million people do not have cell phones. I think it must be children under 7 and people who live where there is no cell phone service who make up that group.

I returned home to find that the snow had stopped falling and I managed to get back to the apartment without another slip and fall incident. I picked up some bread from the bakery and eggs from one of the kiosks out front and when I got home, I made myself a little breakfast. Plain omelette, some nice bread and I was fixed up. I read some on my computer. I have the 2010 Man Booker prize winner as an e-book on my Mac. “TheFinkler Question” is by Howard Jacobson and is a very good contemporary novel. After about an hour of reading, I started to drift off to sleep again. I set an alarm to get me up at 3 pm so that I would make it to my 4 pm class and fell asleep.

Managed to get safely to my 4 pm class. Taught the Cell Phone lesson and got them to speak a little more than last week. Came back to the apartment. Heated up some of the Sunday soup, ate, watched television, went to bed.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I had classes today at 11 am and at 1 pm. I like this schedule on Tuesday because I do not have to getup before 7 am to get to class, and the two classes are close enough in time that I just stay on campus and read or talk between the classes. And the second class ends early enough that I can stop by markets, little bazaars, the bakery or do other things before dark. Worst schedule is the 8 am and 6 pm class days. I also don’t mind the days when I have one class at 6 pm. Though I will be glad when the days lengthen out again and when I am not walking home in the dark at 7:30 pm.

Nothing remarkable today. My friend Emil calls what is happening now “the robotic life.” When routines become the sum and substance of daily existence, he says we are leading “the robotic life.” I have to admit that I have tried most of my existence to avoid the robotic life and think I have managed fairly well. I am always looking for the opportunity to do or try something new. The winter has put a bit of damper on that right now, but I am planning some fun adventures for the future.

I went tonight to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I met Aftandil and his friend Almaz at Vefa Center and we went upstairs to the Turkish restaurant to have a celebratory dinner. It was about 9 pm when we sat down. We looked at the menu, waited for someone to wait on us, and waited, and waited. Finally about 40 minutes later one of the waitresses appeared. We wanted to order, but she told us they were closing n 20 minutes. Disappointment, but we moved to one of the other restaurants in the food court called Fusion. It is very interesting. The menu runs from Sushi and Pizza, to Chinese food. I had sesame chicken. Aftandil meets on Wednesday with a representative of a Japanese MBA program for an interview. We talked about how MBA programs work in the US. He has a degree and is looking to extend his education with an MBA. He works in the Finance Ministry of the Kyrgyz Republic. We had a great conversation with him and with his friend Almaz. Almaz is a computer programmer with honors to his name. He his providing programming services to businesses. He is from Osh in the south of the country. Both of them speak English very well. After the meal, Aftandil drove me back to the apartment and I headed to bed fairly soon after.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I taught class today at 8 am and 2:30 pm. I kept hitting the snooze on my alarm today. I finally managed to get up, wash my face, and get dressed, heading out the door at 7:40 am. I walked quickly to school even though there was still a lot of ice on the walkways. Made it into my classroom right at 8 am and waited for my students. They are an Pre-Intermediate group of more mature age. They are fun to talk with and they are comfortable talking about a wide range of topics. It was fun today to discuss the cell phone information with them and to talk about what’s next in mobile devices.

I returned home between the two classes. I had a breakfast-lunch about 11 am. Two hard-boiled eggs, a slice of salami, tomato slices, green onions, and black olives along with a nice roll. I read more of “The Finkler Question” and then returned to school to teach the second class which is an Upper Elementary group. This was a first meeting with them and it went very well. We did a life story exercise that let’s each of them tell about themselves and I tell an abbreviated version of my story. After class I returned home, read some more. Looked at some items in the on-line version of the New York Review of Books, and made note that I might need to read The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant. The review is really well written and the book sounds like it will be riveting. Watched some television, including a devastating tennis match between Nadal and Ferrer in Melbourne, which Nadal lost. Went to bed feeling bad for a multi-millionare tennis star. Interesting.

Thursday, January 27, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I slept quite late this morning. I did not really wakeup until 9 am and was not really moving very fast all day. I spent the morning reading the NY Times and some other online reporting. I find I am very interested in the current protests that are occurring in Egypt and elsewhere in Northern Africa following the situation in Tunisia. These protest activities come just after I had taught about Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., in my classes. And in a country that has seen both non-violent and violent changes of government in recent years. I am trying to determine how we should talk about these latest developments in my classes. I need to put together a reading that discusses it, along with some vocabulary and comprehension activities.

My only class today is at 6 pm. It is an Upper Intermediate group made up mostly of university aged students and job holders. For the class we use some taped dialogues provided with the texts. It makes my preparation a little easier since I just need to read the dialogues ahead of time and work up some questions and some supplementary materials. Had a good class and came home. Watched some television including the European Ice Skating Championship Men’s short program. Tried to watch some other stuff, but kept falling asleep.

Friday, January 28, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Another late start to the day. I have a class tonight at 6 pm. It will be my first meeting with the group, so we get to do the life story exercise again. I had a peanut butter and jelly brunch. Several cups of coffee. Did some laundry and will do another load tomorrow morning. Caught up on my email and Facebook. I really appreciate the way Facebook keeps me in contact with the rather interesting lives of my friends in Houston, but also with those in Bishkek and the rest of the world.

Taught a class at 6 pm. Then went to Vefa Center to have dinner at the Turkish restaurant in the food court there. Thought I might go to the supermarket, but by the time I finished dinner, I decided that I would go on Saturday. Taxi ride home. A little television, but found I was ready for sleep around 10 pm.

Another week in Bishkek is over. Temperatures are heading above freezing daily now. Tomorrow will be a great day for heading out to the ZUM and the Osh Bazaar.

I went today to the largest supermarket in Bishkek for the first time. The Beta Stores, who have at least two other locations that I have been using, built a huge store near Ortosay Bazaar, which is a little smaller than the Osh Bazaar, but has a little of everything.

The supermarket has a lot of stuff in it. I spent about an hour just browsing, picked up a couple of things and then went to see the flea market that grows up around the bazaar. People are selling used items and lay them out on the ground, or on tables they bring with them. Everything from clothing items to old soviet era medals, housewares and tools, are offered to the passersby. It is like a giant garage sale and takes place each weekend.
I am told that similar weekend offerings are held near each of the bazaars. I may take some time next weekend to return to Ortosay or go to Osh Bazaar and take some photos. I don’t know why I didn’t take photos today, I had a camera with me, but I did not pull it out. I think it was because to take pictures I have to take off my gloves, rearrange my clothing, and by the time I do that, I don’t get decent candids. I need to find a way to make myself comfortable with shooting some of these types of events.

There are also some other bazaars I have not been to, yet. I would like to go to Almedin Bazaar and I think there is another one. Each of them has similar offerings, but there are also differences, apparently. I have not been to Dordoi Bazaar since coming back to Bishkek. I need to go there again to see if we might be able to find some new pants for me. The pants I brought with me no longer are fitting in the waist and they are about a size too big. I could have them altered again, and will probably do that first. I also could just order some from an online store and have someone in Houston ship them to me. It just takes too long.

Sunday, January 16, 2011-Bishkek Kyrgyzstan

Managed to get out of the apartment again today. Took some photos and posted them to Facebook so that friends might see what I have been up to. Met for coffee this afternoon with Aftandil Jorobekov who was introduced by a common friend, Alva Robinson, who taught here last year. We had a very interesting discussion about what might come next in terms of the government of Kyrgyzstan. Aftandil works in the Finance Ministry of the country. He has some very interesting ideas about how to overcome some of the petty corruption that occurs here, including firing all of the traffic policemen and starting over with new recruits.

One of the most unusual activities I have seen in Kyrgyzstan is the way traffic cops set up little traps on the streets. They wave over anyone who is driving a nice car, demand a small amount of money, 100 to 200 soms, and then let you go on your way. The money appears to be a way of supplementing their meager income. Most of my Kyrgyz friends just put up with this practice as part of normal life and part with the soms when stopped. This sort of minor corruption appears to be normal for them. Aftandil thinks it should be something that the government should deal with as soon as possible as a way of showing that it means business and is going to root out corruption at even the lowest levels.

After our coffee, I went to the hardware market which is located a few block away. I bought a small electric heater to use on the balcony area. I like to sit and read there because the light is better during the day. But the windows on the balcony are not double glazed and the area gets cold. I also thought that a heater might help the clothes dry quicker since we hang them inside. If you hang up the wash outside, it will freeze on most days before it dries. I also bought some new door handles for the bedroom. I had been meaning to do so since I first moved in but kept forgetting.

I came back home and made a soup of leftover roast beef and vegetables. I seem to be favoring soup as my mainstay during the cold weather. Installed the door handles on the door, and rigged up the heater for the balcony. I need to get another extension cord that I can run out there. I will do some wash tomorrow and see if the heater helps the drying process.

Monday, January 17, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

On Monday’s I have an 8 am class of young people aged 10 and 11, so they are 4th and 5th graders. We read a small piece on Mahatma Gandhi as a follow up to the Martin Luther King lesson of last week and spent the rest of the time talking about non-violent protest, the question of equal rights for all people, and other pertinent issues. One of my favorite students of the group was not there today, he is the one who presents the greatest classroom management challenge. He is very clever and full of mischief most days. The other students said he was at school but had to report to one of his teachers for something. I have to admit that he keeps the class interesting for me and I get to work on all my techniques for keeping the class interesting because of him. In general, the students are all very well behaved and very respectful of teachers. But the air of respect does not always extend to each other. So, I am trying to devise new ways to encourage respect of one another in the classroom.

After class, I returned home and read a little. I returned to school at 4 pm for two more classes. After the 6 pm class I got home about 7:45 pm. Heated up some leftover soup to which I added some noodles. Watched a little television. I mostly watch BBC entertainment programming and get my news from BBC as well. But I do get to watch some American programming thanks to DIVA network and Star network. DIVA lets me see The Good Wife, The Gilmore Girls, and some other things. It also, though, has Foyle’s War and Midsummer Mystery, which are great police procedurals from England. Star network is a part of the TataSky offerings, it broadcasts some American comedies, Two and a half men, How I met your mother, Burn Notice. So when the BBC gets boring I can try those two channels. I also think it is interesting that what is identified as the Discovery Channel Travel and Living channel offers What Not to Wear, Say Yes to the Dress, Kate and John plus 8, Cake Boss, and my all time favorite time and mind killer Toddlers & Tiarras, as respites from the BBC.

It turns out that my real favorite is Anne Robinson and The Weakest Link. If I miss an episode, I often stay up past my bedtime to see the repeat on the same day. And I have become very fond of a couple of medical shows, Doctors, Casualty, and Holby City. I also find I watch EastEnders which I never watched in Houston, though it was offered by the PBS station. I often find myself fighting sleep to see the latest on some of these shows.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

It was snowing when I went outside this morning.

I went early this morning to see about renewing my visa to remain in Kyrgyzstan. I have to renew the visa since this one runs out in February. Went about 8:30 am to the office where you stand in line and then talk to the consul through a glass window. Find out that they have changed hours from 9 to 11 to 9:30 to 11:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am first in line because I have arrived an hour early. I found out also that they need 3 not 2 copies of my letter and that my Foundation Seal needs to be on my picture as well as my letter. So I get a slip from them that allows me to pay a 475 som fee for accepting my documents at the RSK bank. (The name of the Kyrgyz State Bank is pronounced Riska bank, which I find quite funny.) I decide to go to the bank on Wednesday after my 8 am class because I will have more time and make plans to return to the Foreign Ministry office on Thursday morning.

I teach two classes on Tuesday right now. One at 11 am followed by another at 1 pm. I like my Tuesday schedule because I do not have to get up before dawn and I am usually fully awake by my first class. The eleven o’clock group is really fun to work with. All boys and all about 13 years old. They have good senses of humor and usually know when I am joking with them. And they are very responsive. They have begun to talk more and more as we have progressed. I look forward to seeing them each week. I think one of the weaknesses of only seeing them once a week for speaking class is that they do not get enough practice in the language. But I am working on trying to get them to speak more in each class. I did not have a 1 o’clock today. That group had finished. Next week there will be a new schedule of classes and hopefully I will find out when I am teaching before then. But most likely, I will not know until early next week.

Back to the apartment after the 11 o’clock class. The snow has stopped falling and we have a light dusting of white covering us again. A light lunch of cold roast beef, cheese, olives and green pepper slices. I take a little nap after lunch. Watch television. Go to bed.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Up at 6 am this morning so that I can have two cups of coffee before my 8 am class. I used to be an early riser when I was living in Houston and I got a lot done before 9 am each day. But here in Kyrgyzstan, I seem to want to sleep until 9 or 10 am when I can. And it does cut down how much I get done, especially my writing and reading schedule.

Good class, covering the Mahatma Gandhi material with some older students. Then off to get the necessary paperwork for tomorrow’s return to the visa office. A visit to Vefa Center to get copies made and printed nets a few photos of the fountain that was installed for New Year’s working. I had managed to see it working once before but did not have a camera with me. This time I had the trusty Nikon point and shoot and got some nice shots of the dancing colored waters. I posted it on Facebook for my friends to see.

Necessary papers in hand, I went to the RSK bank and paid the fee for document acceptance so that I would have it with me tomorrow. Have I mentioned the problem of lines in this country. People do not cue up the way Americans and the British do. It can be very frustrating. Mostly people attempt to push forward and do not respect the space of others when there is a line for service. And no one has attempted to institute any sort of take-a-number system. I find myself at the post office, the visa office, the bank being jostled by people trying to make sure they are next way to frequently. One of the banks I use for the foundation does have a machine that spits out number and an electronic sign to show what number is being serviced. It is a great system. If only others could adopt similar approaches. To pay the fee, you stand in one line to get a piece of paper from a clerk, then you go to stand in another line at the cashier for the exchange of funds. So when money or fees are being handed over most of the time it means standing in two lines.

After the bank, I came back to the apartment and worked on some new materials for the upper level classes I will be teaching on Thursday. The powers that be have decided that we should be using the taped segments of the lessons in the student texts for the Upper Intermediate groups. I need to look them over and decide what I can add to the taped segments for the students.

Another soup for dinner. This time I combined a roasted carrot soup with some other roasted vegetables and added some noodles. It was what I needed. A little television, but then to sleep, since I needed to get up early to return to the visa office in the morning.

Thursday, January 20, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Visa office this morning. I arrived about 9 am and ended up second in line. This time I had all the paper they needed, three copies of a letter, two copies of my application with my official stamp from the Orozbay Fund on my picture, and the receipt fot a $10 Fee from the RSK Bank. The young man looks over the letter and the application along with my US Passport. “Come back on Feb 3rd. In the morning, then you will get the slip to take to the bank to pay the Visa fee.” I say okay. He gives me a slip of paper that says the office has my passport and I get to come back in two weeks.

It is now about 10 am, I walk towards Chui street and realize that I am close to the Chinese restaurant I want to eat at on Friday night with the Fulbright scholars. I take a photo to send to them. Then I head up Chui to the Beta Store. I pick up some things I needed. Take a look at an immersion blender that I am considering buying to help with the soups I want to make, but decide to wait on purchasing it. I need to do a little comparison shopping at other shops, I think. I caught a cab back to the apartment and looked over the lesson for my 6 pm class. Had a light lunch of a boiled egg, black olives, pickled mushrooms, green pepper sticks, and a sliced tomato. Then read for awhile. Took a nap. Then went to teach the class.

Had a really good class with the group tonight. They are all very comfortable with speaking English, I try to amplify the lesson we listen to by adding graphics from the internet and exploring word usage with them. On the way home, I hit a patch of black ice on the sidewalk and take a fall. Landed on my left hip with a thud. A couple of young men helped me to my feet and I made the rest of the trip safely. I was feeling the discomfort of the fall in my body, so I took some pills and was quickly drifting away to sleep.

Friday, January 21, 2011-Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I woke up a little stiff this morning, but none the worse for wear. Checked my left side to see if there were any bruises from the fall, but none had appeared. So, made coffee, wrote a little, read a little. Talked with Emil in Houston using Google Video Chat. Answered E-mails and looked at Facebook postings. I love the fact that I can be in touch with friend’s activity even though I am half a world away from most of them. But it is also nice to have friends in Bishkek who use Facebook for keeping each other aware of our activities.

No class tonight, so Dennis Keen and Kurt Davis, two Fulbright Scholars, and I had dinner at New Peking Duck Chinese restaurant. We had Szechuan Beef, Hot Beef with greens, and Fried Chicken with garlic. There was plenty of food, all of which tasted very good, and Dennis, who does not really cook took home a little of the left-overs. I enjoy meeting with the two of them from time to time and catching up on their progress on their research. Kurt is looking at the effectiveness of multi-lingual education in public schools in Kyrgyzstan, and Dennis is tracking down the current state of hunting with eagles, hawks and falcons in the country. Each of them also have blogs about their activities. In addition to looking at eagle hunting, Dennis is learning to play the Komuz, a traditional instrument. So it is always fun to find out what they are doing. Dinner for the three of us was $14.00. It was a bargin for all we ate and the food quality.

Back at the apartment I caught an episode of Weakest Link, Eastenders, and Doctors on BBC Entertainment, and then fell asleep as Michael Palin explored the Hindu Kush.