Day 31: Twelve Kilos

Have I told you about the delightful watermelons here? They are everywhere and worth making an entire meal out of.  Vendors sell them on the streets in Bishkek, but in our neighborhood in Astana you need to go to the supermarket. We bought one of the smaller ones in our market, weighing in at a mere 12 kilos (26.5 lbs). Slurpy, scrumptious, sweet, sugary, summery! Mmmm...

Day 30: In Numbers

Curious about our new residence? Check out these numbers about Kazakhstan for a bird's eye view. You can also check out "Eye On Kazakhstan" through CNN for more videos, reports, and pictures.

Day 29: Sunday finds!

Today was a lazy Sunday at home -- and much appreciated after recent whirlwind travels in the region.

 Most exciting of all moments was our trip to Ramstore, the local supermarket, and our discovery that the stock of "разрыхлитель теста" or baking powder had been resupplied. We bought 10 packets just to be on the safe side.

Care to drop by for a piece of cake?

Day 28: Gold!

I landed back in rainy Astana today and the cool weather felt like a relief after so much sun and heat over the last weeks.

Nothing better to do on a rainy summer evening than watch the Olympics, so we headed out to meet up with some friends and tune in.

Cycling got more interesting as the Swiss cyclist fell dramatically and the racers reached the finish line with Kazakhstan was in the lead! A Gold for Kazakhstan's Vinokourov! Hooray!

 Kazakh spoils British road race party

Day 27: Мир Тесен!

The Russian expression "Мир Тесен" is the equivalent of "It's a Small World After All" and literally could be transcribed as The World Tightens/Closens. There couldn't be a more appropriate message for my day in Bishkek today.

Friends and connections are so much more plentiful than one might think, even in a place as far flung as Kyrgyzstan.

Earlier this week I met a fellow alum from Monterey Institute at Issyk Kul, but that should be expected from graduates of MIIS, so the Central Asian connection was cool but not entirely surprising.

Today, I first met with two old friends from my year in Romania who were trekking through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan to chat and go for a short stroll through Bishkek. They were even traveling together with a tourist from Bratislava making his way around Central Asia.

Later, I met with a friend I got to know in Washington. Remember the student I mentioned a couple of days ago who first informed me about Issyk Kul and its touristic potential? This was her father, an active member of Kyrgyz business and political circles. It was truly a treat to sit down and chat about Kyrgyzstan and projects he has been working on (and we did so for a few hours in Russian! - his more eloquent than mine, of course).

As I finished my evening and headed back to the hotel, I could not but marvel at this enormous and very, very small world.

Some more pictures of Bishkek, for those that want a closer glimpse of the city:

The Kyrgyz White House

Memorial to those who died in the revolution

Memorial to the Tulip Revolution

Main Square

National Museum and Statue of Manas, Kyrgyz National Hero

Day 26: Issyk "Cool"

Today, I found myself surrounded by snow-capped mountains on the beach of lake Issyk Kul for a summer camp with learners and teachers. I never imagined I would find myself here.

You see, three years ago I had a Kyrgyz student in one of my classes in Washington, DC. She developed an elaborate business plan as a class project to develop tourism on lake Issyk Kul. I remember her descriptions of this thermal salt lake - one of the largest in the world - and enthusiastic ambassadorship for her home country. She sold me on the fact that Issyk Kul was a place worth visiting, but I couldn't imagine making my way to the middle of Central Asia for such a visit.

And here I am. It's as incredible as promised. Surrounded by enthusiastic campers, I enjoyed a touch of what the lake has to offer, and I would love an opportunity to spend more time hiking in the mountains and swimming. It's a place that I am thrilled to be visiting and to which I cannot wait to return.

Day 25: Feels a bit like home

Couldn't this picture be taken in the American West? As we traveled from Bishkek to Issyk Kul, I couldn't help but wonder where in the world I had ended up. With flat, dry plains and red, scoria rock canyons, the landscape spoke to me in the same way it might on a cross-state trip in Wyoming. How can a place so far away feel so close to home?

Day 24: If you teach a man to fish...

On my first day in beautiful, green Bishkek, we went fishing. It seems an appropriate (and delicious metaphor) for my visit. After all, the proverb says that "If you teach a man to fish, you will feed him for a lifetime."

Okay. Our fishing episode was rigged as the fish were in feeder ponds and probably pretty hungry (by the 

way, did you know that fish will eat corn kernels as bait?). Nonetheless, we worked and later feasted from our labors.

I've been in Kyrgyzstan this week for work and have had the pleasure of meeting with learners and teachers everywhere. They are so eager to learn and to better teach English. Focusing on this key motto seems appropriate in many ways in encouraging the development of professionalism and local teachers first so that their labors will feed English language learners for many generations.

Some photo highlights from our fishing expedition. (For the record, I didn't get a single bite on this day.) 

Day 23: Russian with Border Guards

If my Russian classes had been more communicatively focused, we might have had a task like negotiating land border crossings when visitors do not have the correct visas.

Lacking such practice, I muddled through such interaction for the first time on a group trip from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan last week. As the most capable Russian speaker in our group, I was put to the task in explaining my colleague's passport and visa situation. Although there are mistakes at which my former teachers might wince, I can say that we negotiated and came to terms (although my colleague did have to return to Almaty to get his visa) without any communication hiccups.

At the end of our conversation another guard interrupted to ask, "Are you the interpreter for this group?" I don't know if it is a reflection of perceptions of American lack of savvy with foreign language or a compliment, but I will take this as a substantial communicative success!

Day 22: Советское Шампанское

Today is a day to celebrate someone near and dear, and what choice is there but to celebrate it in local style? We bought a chilled bottle of cоветское шампанское (Soviet champagne), cost: $11, made in Kazakhstan. Although the toasting material was not exactly tasty (the price and place of origin added with the "Soviet" branding should have been a tip off), the birthday of my nearest and dearest deserves recognition.

Happy Birthday! С днём рождения!

Day 21: Lush

I was in Almaty over the weekend, and my impression can be summed up in just one word: Lush. Not like the fancy, perfumed soap shops and not so much like a person who drinks too much. Rather like fresh, juicy tomatoes, tree-lined streets and alleys, a ripe watermelon, thriving cafes, a busy metropolitan city stopping to stroll in the park, fountains spurting high into the air on a hot, dry day, and mountains looming over a verdant city. After a couple of weeks on the Steppe up in Astana, being in the old, historical and cultural capital of the country in the south was relished moment for moment.

Busy market in the city center with heaps of berries, melons, fruits, veggies, and  meat

The Central Mosque seats 300 

Gorgeous tree-lined alleys throughout the city provided places to wander and linger

Cathedral in Panfilov Park

Portable library in the park (fun invention supported by a colleague at the US Consulate)

University

Trying to cool off from the 100 degree heat

Zodiac fountain

A cable car ride to the mountains

Kok Tobe

Almaty (population app. 1.4 million)

A stop at the Beatles statue on Kok Tobe

Mural lined walkway down the mountain

These must be the houses of the 99%

Canal with gushing water from the mountaintops