I'll be out of town for the next couple of days. Last night some friends spontaneously invited me to join them for their Yssik-Kul (biggest lake in KG) holidays. While our husbands will stay in town working, us girls (and her 3-year old son + his nanny) will enjoy ourselves at 2.000m with nice clean air, hopefully nice weather and lots of fun at the beach. I've heard about beachvolleyball and massages, so I'm really excited.
As soon as I get a chance, I'll drop you a note again...
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The life of a social anthropologist's wife
Having a husband working as a social anthropologist in his field is quite different compared to being married to a 9-5 office worker. One extraordinary situation happened last night. After Philipp had been out all day to get work done with his assistant, he announced that he would have to meet someone else at night, when he got back. Originally we had thought about meeting the guy (Kyrgyz of Russian origin, 27) together with his wife (28), so I would also have the chance to meet people and go out. But his wife was working, so Philipp ended up going by himself. Before he left, we at least managed to go to the supermarket together, which appeared to be our quality time that day. I was looking forward to a relaxing TV evening, taking down my makeup and putting on my sweatpants.
Two hours later (at 9 pm) my cell phone rang. Philipp told me that the other guy had spontaneously invited his wife to join them after work and that she'd be there in 15 minutes. To keep the balance of the meeting, Philipp asked me to also get ready and be there in 15 minutes! At first I wasn't crazy about it, but I got his point. So back into the bathroom, make-up on again, sweatpants off, nice pants on [...] and I arrived after, let's say, 18 minutes (including a 10 minute walk to the café!). The other girl beat me, she already was there, when I arrived.
Anyway, we stayed with them until midnight and it was really fun talking to them. We had some good laughs. And the communication was nice for me as the guy new some German and had been to Germany several times. So with him throwing in some German sentences and Philipp translating (which unfortunately got worse after the 4th beer, when he started translating the guys's German sentences) I was pretty much involved in the conversation. I almost broke down laughing at one point, when I thought he said, he had forgotten his guitar in Germany. When I asked about it, because I was wondering why he was telling us this, it turned out he had said "I forgot all the German that I once knew just like I forgot how to play my guitar." It was hilarious!
You might think, wow what a great job Philipp has - simply hanging out with people, talking to them and having lots of beer together - awesome! But let me tell you, that last night I (once again) witnessed that it's not only fun. They told us very intersting things about their lives and the culture of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan. But at the same time you need to be polite and can't say no, if the guy orders one beer after another for both of them. So imagine you have to exactly remember 5 hours of talking (you could as well call it informal interview) so you can transcript it the next day - AFTER having had 6 beers (= 3 liters) by the end of the night! While getting my husband home I really didn't envy him for his job... and I told him to ask his employer for a danger bonus. ;)
Nevertheless, we of course love our life here and feel very fortunate to get this once-in-a-lifetime chance! I know it's a very big achievement of Philipp (and eventually me too hopefully) that he established all those relationships and that we are allowed to live so closely with locals here and get accepted by them. I've realized that many many foreigners who live in Bishkek for work, never really get in touch with locals or rather superficially - either because there are less occassions to get to know them (I know some really do try), because they don't speak Russian or simply because they are rather interested in their projects that brought them here than in the local culture. So I know the way we live here is something very special and I'm very thankful for it, because people allow us insights into their real normal way of life.
Two hours later (at 9 pm) my cell phone rang. Philipp told me that the other guy had spontaneously invited his wife to join them after work and that she'd be there in 15 minutes. To keep the balance of the meeting, Philipp asked me to also get ready and be there in 15 minutes! At first I wasn't crazy about it, but I got his point. So back into the bathroom, make-up on again, sweatpants off, nice pants on [...] and I arrived after, let's say, 18 minutes (including a 10 minute walk to the café!). The other girl beat me, she already was there, when I arrived.
Anyway, we stayed with them until midnight and it was really fun talking to them. We had some good laughs. And the communication was nice for me as the guy new some German and had been to Germany several times. So with him throwing in some German sentences and Philipp translating (which unfortunately got worse after the 4th beer, when he started translating the guys's German sentences) I was pretty much involved in the conversation. I almost broke down laughing at one point, when I thought he said, he had forgotten his guitar in Germany. When I asked about it, because I was wondering why he was telling us this, it turned out he had said "I forgot all the German that I once knew just like I forgot how to play my guitar." It was hilarious!
You might think, wow what a great job Philipp has - simply hanging out with people, talking to them and having lots of beer together - awesome! But let me tell you, that last night I (once again) witnessed that it's not only fun. They told us very intersting things about their lives and the culture of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan. But at the same time you need to be polite and can't say no, if the guy orders one beer after another for both of them. So imagine you have to exactly remember 5 hours of talking (you could as well call it informal interview) so you can transcript it the next day - AFTER having had 6 beers (= 3 liters) by the end of the night! While getting my husband home I really didn't envy him for his job... and I told him to ask his employer for a danger bonus. ;)
Nevertheless, we of course love our life here and feel very fortunate to get this once-in-a-lifetime chance! I know it's a very big achievement of Philipp (and eventually me too hopefully) that he established all those relationships and that we are allowed to live so closely with locals here and get accepted by them. I've realized that many many foreigners who live in Bishkek for work, never really get in touch with locals or rather superficially - either because there are less occassions to get to know them (I know some really do try), because they don't speak Russian or simply because they are rather interested in their projects that brought them here than in the local culture. So I know the way we live here is something very special and I'm very thankful for it, because people allow us insights into their real normal way of life.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Reisküchle mit Obstsalat
After all the fun in the morning I went back home to be a good housewife. My main task was to cook something for lunch. I got really creative - just so I didn't have to go to the supermarket to get missing groceries, but only to the bazar which is right behind our house. I made fried rice "küchle" (made of rice, eggs and flour) with fruit salad (made of watermelon, honeydew melon and grapes). I have no idea if anyone already invented this dish earlier, but I swear it was my own idea. And I was surprised it turned out "wkusna" (= tasty)!
Our neighborhood pool
This morning I got curious, because I heard some cheering and official sounding announcements from the pool in our neighborhood. Usually it's rather quite and only some young neighborhood boys have fun in the pool (unfortunately I have never seen someone our age there, otherwise I'd love to hopp in also!) and also rather in the afternoon. So I went there to see what was going on. It was a competition of different neighborhoods. I have never seen so many people there. And for the first time I also saw girls swimming there - I believe they must have been 15 or 16. Since I always wanted to take pictures there, I went back home to get my camera. I love watching kids play! Unfortunately the competition ended soon after I got back with my camera.
While sitting there, I started talking to some young girls. You can't imagine how hard it is for me to remember their Kyrgyz names. To me they either sound all similar or they include a letter combination I can't pronounce. Philipp always tells me I should simply concentrate more. But I do and I really care, but still I have trouble with it. So we chatted in a mix of Russian and German. They both go to the Kyrgyz school in our neighborhood, where they major in German. They have 7 classes a week. That's quite a lot, I think. So since the swimming competition was over, they invited me to join them for a dart game. Only later I got to understand, that this also was part of the competition and that the girls must have taken part in the swimming competition earlier also. After swimming they did some running around the school building and later darts. They competed with a team against other neigborhoods.
Anyway, I was proud of me talking Russian, but at the same time ashamed of it, as I always have to realize that once I get a chance to talk, my brain is empty. I know that I've learnt the words and grammar before and I should be able to get it right, but then I just can't do it. Anyway, I still think it's more important that locals realize that I really am interested in their language and culture and that I'm putting much effort in it. No matter, how bad my Russian ends up. I'm the wife of a social anthropologue - can you tell? ;)
It was also funny, because the girls of course asked, how old I was and since when I had been living with my husband. For them, of course, living with the husband equals being married. So I explained that I have known him for more than 8 years, that we have been living together for about 5 years and that we got married half a year ago. I literally had to explain it 3 or 4 times, because they thought they must have got it wrong, also they hadn't (I heard them discussing it in Russian). Living together without being married is impossible for Kyrgyz people. And they were also very surprised that we don't have any children. This one girl's sister is 18, married and already has kids (I forgot to ask how many, but it sounded like more than one). A conversation like this is very typical. It happens to us all the time. And it makes me feel really old! So I always try to explain the average age for women to get children in Germany (which is 30), to make me feel a little younger again. So there, I have 3 more years!
While sitting there, I started talking to some young girls. You can't imagine how hard it is for me to remember their Kyrgyz names. To me they either sound all similar or they include a letter combination I can't pronounce. Philipp always tells me I should simply concentrate more. But I do and I really care, but still I have trouble with it. So we chatted in a mix of Russian and German. They both go to the Kyrgyz school in our neighborhood, where they major in German. They have 7 classes a week. That's quite a lot, I think. So since the swimming competition was over, they invited me to join them for a dart game. Only later I got to understand, that this also was part of the competition and that the girls must have taken part in the swimming competition earlier also. After swimming they did some running around the school building and later darts. They competed with a team against other neigborhoods.
Anyway, I was proud of me talking Russian, but at the same time ashamed of it, as I always have to realize that once I get a chance to talk, my brain is empty. I know that I've learnt the words and grammar before and I should be able to get it right, but then I just can't do it. Anyway, I still think it's more important that locals realize that I really am interested in their language and culture and that I'm putting much effort in it. No matter, how bad my Russian ends up. I'm the wife of a social anthropologue - can you tell? ;)
It was also funny, because the girls of course asked, how old I was and since when I had been living with my husband. For them, of course, living with the husband equals being married. So I explained that I have known him for more than 8 years, that we have been living together for about 5 years and that we got married half a year ago. I literally had to explain it 3 or 4 times, because they thought they must have got it wrong, also they hadn't (I heard them discussing it in Russian). Living together without being married is impossible for Kyrgyz people. And they were also very surprised that we don't have any children. This one girl's sister is 18, married and already has kids (I forgot to ask how many, but it sounded like more than one). A conversation like this is very typical. It happens to us all the time. And it makes me feel really old! So I always try to explain the average age for women to get children in Germany (which is 30), to make me feel a little younger again. So there, I have 3 more years!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Shopping on Dordoi Bazar
We went to one of the biggest Bazaars in Bishkek - Dordoi Bazar! Philipp refused to take me there, because it's so crowded. But one of our friends was polite enough to offer to take us there. So Philipp couldn't say no!
For the first time in my life we took a Mashrutka (those overcrowded mini vans serving as public transport). I heard a lot about burglaries in Mashrutkas, so I was a bit nervous as I had my camera with me. But we were lucky, as we left our neighborhood around 9 in the morning it wasn't that crowded yet. The ride in a Mahrutka costs between 8 and 15 som (20-30 Cent). Passengers stop the van by waving on the side of the street. The vans have a sign in the window saying a number and which destination it is heading to. Than the passengers get on, sit down or usually stand and hand their money to the driver. When you're sitting in the back, you ask the other passengers to pass it on to the front. I was fascinated by how the driver was making sure to really get everyones money - while driving - and also handing back the change - while driving. If you want to get off you just let the driver now and he'll stop anywhere on his route, not only at official bus stops.
After a 20 minute ride (or even less, I don't remember), we reached the bazar. It was already hot by then. But it still wasn't that crowded. The bazar is huge! Our Kyrgyz friend estimated that the space of the entire bazar must be something like 1 square kilometre. It basically looks like a huge hall with a roof top, hundreds of isles, and thousands of little booths and stands inside. They sell anything there: starting from underwear, clothes, shoes, bags, wedding dresses, suits, any type of household supplies, baby supplies, juwelry, sunglasses, carpets to food and fruit. We only walked part of the clothes section. When I went to my first bazar here last year I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know where to look - and neither was I able to buy anything. This time I adapted more quickly. Most of the clothes are being imported from Turkey or China. I wasn't looking for something specific, but I ended up buying a t-shirt type of dress, some leggings and a hair brush. It started to be fun!
I also noticed that in the underwear booths, they often sold panties with fake butts. I have never seen them in Europe, only had heard about them in women's magazines. It's funny, because I had trouble finding clothes that fit me, because I'm too "big" for Asian standards and my butt is the major problem area (ok, let's face it, not only for Asian standards...). And the flat "butted" Asian girls that I admire for their nice skinny figures obviously like to cheat sometimes. So the worrying about one's butt must be a global phenomenon!
When walking in the isles there are always people with carriages rushing from the back or the front. They are like couriers for the goods being brought in and out. They would just yell for you to get out of their way. They are very busy and, of course, time is money so they don't like to speed down. There are also many men with smaller carriages selling cold beverages and mostly women with old strollers being (mis)used for selling bananas, coffee, tea, juices or little snacks. One blind old woman walked through the isles singing old Kyrgyz songs. Her singing was beautiful so I gave her some money. For a real time impression of Dordoi Bazar check out this short video clip I found on YouTube. Maybe there are more, I couldn't check.
But I realized that shopping and taking pictures at the same time doesn't work. So I focused on shopping after a while. Therefore I'm disappointed I didn't get that many good pictures. Plus I had the impression, that the people around felt uncomfortable when I took pictures, so I didn't want to be in their faces. One woman even banned to photograph her display dummy, which surprised me. But I'll definitely go back one day to just take pictures and not shop, and then have time to make people more comfortable. I really got dizzy after a while, because many of the booths almost look identical and I kept having deja-vues. It also got packed after a while and the air got kinda bad, so after about 1.5 hrs we decided to leave. The boys were relieved! I have to say they were very patient with me and helped me to get good deals. Before I go next time I need to study some Bazar vocabulary, because I was quite lost today.
This really was an adventure for me and I loved it, although Kyrgyz people will think I'm crazy for saying that. Most locals I asked about it, don't like going there, because it is too crowded - especially on Sundays. ;)
For the first time in my life we took a Mashrutka (those overcrowded mini vans serving as public transport). I heard a lot about burglaries in Mashrutkas, so I was a bit nervous as I had my camera with me. But we were lucky, as we left our neighborhood around 9 in the morning it wasn't that crowded yet. The ride in a Mahrutka costs between 8 and 15 som (20-30 Cent). Passengers stop the van by waving on the side of the street. The vans have a sign in the window saying a number and which destination it is heading to. Than the passengers get on, sit down or usually stand and hand their money to the driver. When you're sitting in the back, you ask the other passengers to pass it on to the front. I was fascinated by how the driver was making sure to really get everyones money - while driving - and also handing back the change - while driving. If you want to get off you just let the driver now and he'll stop anywhere on his route, not only at official bus stops.
After a 20 minute ride (or even less, I don't remember), we reached the bazar. It was already hot by then. But it still wasn't that crowded. The bazar is huge! Our Kyrgyz friend estimated that the space of the entire bazar must be something like 1 square kilometre. It basically looks like a huge hall with a roof top, hundreds of isles, and thousands of little booths and stands inside. They sell anything there: starting from underwear, clothes, shoes, bags, wedding dresses, suits, any type of household supplies, baby supplies, juwelry, sunglasses, carpets to food and fruit. We only walked part of the clothes section. When I went to my first bazar here last year I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know where to look - and neither was I able to buy anything. This time I adapted more quickly. Most of the clothes are being imported from Turkey or China. I wasn't looking for something specific, but I ended up buying a t-shirt type of dress, some leggings and a hair brush. It started to be fun!
I also noticed that in the underwear booths, they often sold panties with fake butts. I have never seen them in Europe, only had heard about them in women's magazines. It's funny, because I had trouble finding clothes that fit me, because I'm too "big" for Asian standards and my butt is the major problem area (ok, let's face it, not only for Asian standards...). And the flat "butted" Asian girls that I admire for their nice skinny figures obviously like to cheat sometimes. So the worrying about one's butt must be a global phenomenon!
When walking in the isles there are always people with carriages rushing from the back or the front. They are like couriers for the goods being brought in and out. They would just yell for you to get out of their way. They are very busy and, of course, time is money so they don't like to speed down. There are also many men with smaller carriages selling cold beverages and mostly women with old strollers being (mis)used for selling bananas, coffee, tea, juices or little snacks. One blind old woman walked through the isles singing old Kyrgyz songs. Her singing was beautiful so I gave her some money. For a real time impression of Dordoi Bazar check out this short video clip I found on YouTube. Maybe there are more, I couldn't check.
But I realized that shopping and taking pictures at the same time doesn't work. So I focused on shopping after a while. Therefore I'm disappointed I didn't get that many good pictures. Plus I had the impression, that the people around felt uncomfortable when I took pictures, so I didn't want to be in their faces. One woman even banned to photograph her display dummy, which surprised me. But I'll definitely go back one day to just take pictures and not shop, and then have time to make people more comfortable. I really got dizzy after a while, because many of the booths almost look identical and I kept having deja-vues. It also got packed after a while and the air got kinda bad, so after about 1.5 hrs we decided to leave. The boys were relieved! I have to say they were very patient with me and helped me to get good deals. Before I go next time I need to study some Bazar vocabulary, because I was quite lost today.
This really was an adventure for me and I loved it, although Kyrgyz people will think I'm crazy for saying that. Most locals I asked about it, don't like going there, because it is too crowded - especially on Sundays. ;)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Reminder: Link List & Blog Poll
I would like to post more links to sites related to Kyrgyzstan and Bishkek. I wonder how I should handle it. I regularly add links to the link list in the right collum. So if you're intersted in more articles and topics, please continually check the link list. I will use this blog mainly to write about my own impressions. Of course, there are many more topics and facts worth being mentioned. But I just can't deal with all of it. And if it makes sense, I'll add a link directly into my post. Or do you have any other/better suggestions?
In the right collum I also installed my first online poll for this blog. Since I have no idea, how many people and who is reading this blog how often and what you like or dislike about it, I decided to simply ask you. So please, take a second to vote. I'm trying to make this blog interesting not only for me (I'm already addicted to it), but also for you - so please help me meet your expectations or answer your questions! Of course, you're also welcome to send me your comments via e-mail.
In the right collum I also installed my first online poll for this blog. Since I have no idea, how many people and who is reading this blog how often and what you like or dislike about it, I decided to simply ask you. So please, take a second to vote. I'm trying to make this blog interesting not only for me (I'm already addicted to it), but also for you - so please help me meet your expectations or answer your questions! Of course, you're also welcome to send me your comments via e-mail.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Good stuff
My day today looked much like yesterday. Very relaxing. Just some house cleaning, translating, table tennis and dinner with friends at a café. Now Phil is off for work again (he often meets people at night for interviews) and I'm happy about having some more time with my beloved internet. We haven't installed a LAN to connect our two computers yet, so only one of us can use the internet. Recently I spent a lot of time browsing old friends on facebook. Seems like everyone is getting married right now.
Below I posted pictures of some traditional food that I love. The first is "Borsok" (hope I got it right), a starter consisting of fried little yummy things you dip in sour cream, and the second one is "Plov" a main course which could be described as rice stue with meat, carrots and lots of garlic. Those of you who have been at my farewell party in Berlin already know it, because I gave it a try at home (following the instruction of an online receipe). We discussed how much garlic I was really supposed to put in. The amount given in the receipe was quite high. So, dear friends, now you see I was right. It should have been a lot more... ;)
In this blog called "The Golden Road to Samarqand" you'll find a recipe for Kyrgyz Plov and also many posts about Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan.
Below I posted pictures of some traditional food that I love. The first is "Borsok" (hope I got it right), a starter consisting of fried little yummy things you dip in sour cream, and the second one is "Plov" a main course which could be described as rice stue with meat, carrots and lots of garlic. Those of you who have been at my farewell party in Berlin already know it, because I gave it a try at home (following the instruction of an online receipe). We discussed how much garlic I was really supposed to put in. The amount given in the receipe was quite high. So, dear friends, now you see I was right. It should have been a lot more... ;)
In this blog called "The Golden Road to Samarqand" you'll find a recipe for Kyrgyz Plov and also many posts about Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Kalpaks and Horse Games
I have to apologize for yesterday's post. It actually was tooooo random to be posted. It just wasn't my day. Today I was very "saanjata" (busy). I "rabotala" (worked) a little bit on a German-English translation, studied some "Russki Jasik" (Russian), met with "moja" (my) Russian/German/Kyrgyz-study-mate and went out to play "nastolni tennis" (table tennis) with Philipp and his assistant Elina in the evening.
Didn't take any pics today, so I'll show you ones I took a while ago. These are the traditional Kyrgyz felt hats called "Kalpak". Mostly elderly men wear them, more people wear it in rural areas and especially for special occasions - celebrations, holidays, weddings, funerals etc. For a short summary on traditional Kyrgyz clothing look on this webiste.
The next holiday I know of will be the Kyrgyz independence day by the end of August. I'm already looking forward to it, because I love being among many people and watching horse games. The horse games are also a big Kyrgyz tradition. Unfortunately they don't have many in Bishkek anymore. But they do on Independence Day. I've already been there last year, and I really wanna go again this summer.
P.S. By the way, I decided that people being photographed from the back will be my personal photographic art signature! Once you'll see my photographs in famous galleries, you'll remember this very blog entry. :)
Didn't take any pics today, so I'll show you ones I took a while ago. These are the traditional Kyrgyz felt hats called "Kalpak". Mostly elderly men wear them, more people wear it in rural areas and especially for special occasions - celebrations, holidays, weddings, funerals etc. For a short summary on traditional Kyrgyz clothing look on this webiste.
The next holiday I know of will be the Kyrgyz independence day by the end of August. I'm already looking forward to it, because I love being among many people and watching horse games. The horse games are also a big Kyrgyz tradition. Unfortunately they don't have many in Bishkek anymore. But they do on Independence Day. I've already been there last year, and I really wanna go again this summer.
P.S. By the way, I decided that people being photographed from the back will be my personal photographic art signature! Once you'll see my photographs in famous galleries, you'll remember this very blog entry. :)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bishkek traffic - almost live!
Puh! It's taken me all day to figure out how to convert a stupid 10 sec video clip from my mobile to a format that works here (via a tool I can access here). I was getting ambitious and also wanted to tilt the video 90° so it's in a correct position. It's been driving me crazy. None of my video programmes were able to do it. So I wanted to install a new one. Which didn't work, because I didn't have enough memory space left on my notebook. So I tried to transfer some of my data to an external disk. Which stopped several times, because the disk is almost full also. After hours of transfering data back and forth, I was finally able to start the installation. Only to realize that the serial number is missing. After another while of searching for it, the installation finally started. But - of course!!! - the installation got interrupted as my computer froze. When finally opening the programme I had to realize that it doesn't take my file formats. Then, I noticed that I already had another (I'd like to call it professional) cutting programme installed - which also doesn't eat my file. Anyway, the day is gone, my video is still tilted to the left and I'm kinda pissed...
I beg you, please, enjoy this video clip of Bishkek traffic! And tell me that you love it... haha.
I beg you, please, enjoy this video clip of Bishkek traffic! And tell me that you love it... haha.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Horseback riding with Olga
On Friday I joined our friend Jana (from Germany working for a German NGO in Bishkek) to watch her taking horseback riding lessons. She has just started doing it. Living in a new city she thought of a new hobby she could start. So she figured, what would be more convenient and fun than horseback riding while living in Kyrgyzstan? Besides all the imported Daimlers, Audis and Mashrutkas, horseback riding is the most traditional way of getting around here. Maybe not in the city, but definitely in the rural areas outside of Bishkek and in the mountain villages. And compared to Germany it's affordable here - both horses ($400-500 from an animal bazaar i.e. in Karakol) and lessons (350 som/hr = approx. 7 Euro/hr). Although it wouldn't be my thing to do, I had fun watching her and Olga, the Russian teacher. Jana also took the chance to get herself a Lada Niva while living in Bishkek - very typical vehicle here! I love it!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
A reality check
When I browsed through my blog yesterday, I realized that it's really hard to paint a realistic picture of the scene here. To be honest, I feel like this blog is already missing the "dark sides" to this city. When looking at the pictures I posted, you get a very clean, sunny and happy impression of Bishkek. Of course, this is one side to it. But my everyday experience looks different and I was suprised myself that the pictures don't reflect this. But I guess people generally just tend to post "nice" pictures and of course I can't take pictures of many bad scenes, as I don't want to emberass people here.
So I decided it's time for a reality check and at least tell you about some "not so nice" things here, so you don't get a wrong impression.
What you can't see in the pictures is how hot it is here - mostly around 35°C. Therefore it's only nice to be outside in the very early morning or after 7pm in the evening. Of course sometimes you have to go out during the day, but it's really exhausting in the heat. Especially for locals who take "Mashrutkas" (little passenger vans, most common public transport here) it is hard, because the busses are packed (literally) without any airconditioning and the rides to work are long sometimes. Not to mention people like construction workers who have to be outside all day.
Because of the heat, it's also very dusty all around the city. Cleaning your shoes is not worth it, because they get dusty again within a second. Especially when walking at those big roads, the air is very polluted which makes it hard to breath. There are lots of very old cars in the city. Last year, when we came back from the mountains you could feel the air getting worse when coming closer to the city. Sometimes people also burn their garbage in the yard - although it's not allowed. So often the air smells burnt. During my first days here the smell was a very intense impression that reminded be of my stay last year, so for me it's typical for Bishkek. But when being here all the time, you don't realize it anymore.
I still have my problems walking in the streets and on the sidewalks. The roads are often in bad conditions. Only the very big roads are in good conditions. Every time I go out I stumble at least once. You can't walk and look around. You can only walk looking on the ground, trying not to step in holes, stumble over rocks or fall because of a sudden level difference. Sometimes manhole covers are just missing. I wonder why I haven't seen anyone disappear in them yet - especially children. But they obviously grew up with it. Of course, locals don't always look on the ground. But after a month, Philipp still has to remind me of looking at the ground, because I stumble so often.
Talking about streets. The traffic is much more aggressive here. Traffic lights can only be considered as a mere "suggestion" rather than a rule. Many cars ignore red lights and speeding is normal, you just blow the horn at the same time, so slow cars have a chance to get out of the way (if they make it). As a pessenger walking you can't expect cars to pay attention to you or stop for you - not on crossings and not even if the car just starts from a parking position. Sometimes I even get the impression that they aim for you, because even in the low traffic streets in our neighborhood they always force you to step back although there would be more than enough room left. It must be a game - whoever has a car has to show his power. There are also many deaths from car accidents. Mostly on long distance roads. I have heard of so many family members of friends who have died in car accidents - and sadly its mostly because someone involved in the accident was driving drunk. This is a big issue here.
And last but not least, I have to mention the alcohol and drug abuse (you sometimes see men coming home drunk in the middle of the day, or hear them screaming at their wives at night), the homeless (people sleeping under trees on newspapers), the really poor diggin in our garbage regularly and little children begging for money in the parks. Of course we are not faced with these type of issues every day, but often enough to be reminded of how thankful we should be for what we have and how we were allowed to grow up and that Kyrgyzstan is still a developing country.
ADDED LATER TODAY:
After SirSia's comment I would like to add, that these of course are only some "major or minor" bad things about living here. Of course, stumbling on the sidewalks isn't that bad, but rather funny. But still it's something that I realize very often, because it's very different to my hometown Berlin - so to me it's worth being mentioned. There are also things that seem to happen in almost every big city in the world - maybe I'm just not used to them. And naturally, I know there are many worse things than the couple I mentioned. I just won't be able to nor do I decide to write about all of them. And luckily I haven't seen all of it either, I've only been here for a month! So please keep in mind, that whatever I write about is always based on my experiences having lived in Germany almost all my life and a little while in the U.S. - and last but not least, based on the fact that I'm writing mostly for my European family and friends (at least these are the readers I know of). Therefore I hope noone feels offended by my post and if so, I ask or rather invite those readers to post their own experiences, because it's very likely that we all see a city from a different perspective and with a different background.
I'm glad this turned into "communication" at this point. Thanks for your post SirSia!
So I decided it's time for a reality check and at least tell you about some "not so nice" things here, so you don't get a wrong impression.
What you can't see in the pictures is how hot it is here - mostly around 35°C. Therefore it's only nice to be outside in the very early morning or after 7pm in the evening. Of course sometimes you have to go out during the day, but it's really exhausting in the heat. Especially for locals who take "Mashrutkas" (little passenger vans, most common public transport here) it is hard, because the busses are packed (literally) without any airconditioning and the rides to work are long sometimes. Not to mention people like construction workers who have to be outside all day.
Because of the heat, it's also very dusty all around the city. Cleaning your shoes is not worth it, because they get dusty again within a second. Especially when walking at those big roads, the air is very polluted which makes it hard to breath. There are lots of very old cars in the city. Last year, when we came back from the mountains you could feel the air getting worse when coming closer to the city. Sometimes people also burn their garbage in the yard - although it's not allowed. So often the air smells burnt. During my first days here the smell was a very intense impression that reminded be of my stay last year, so for me it's typical for Bishkek. But when being here all the time, you don't realize it anymore.
I still have my problems walking in the streets and on the sidewalks. The roads are often in bad conditions. Only the very big roads are in good conditions. Every time I go out I stumble at least once. You can't walk and look around. You can only walk looking on the ground, trying not to step in holes, stumble over rocks or fall because of a sudden level difference. Sometimes manhole covers are just missing. I wonder why I haven't seen anyone disappear in them yet - especially children. But they obviously grew up with it. Of course, locals don't always look on the ground. But after a month, Philipp still has to remind me of looking at the ground, because I stumble so often.
Talking about streets. The traffic is much more aggressive here. Traffic lights can only be considered as a mere "suggestion" rather than a rule. Many cars ignore red lights and speeding is normal, you just blow the horn at the same time, so slow cars have a chance to get out of the way (if they make it). As a pessenger walking you can't expect cars to pay attention to you or stop for you - not on crossings and not even if the car just starts from a parking position. Sometimes I even get the impression that they aim for you, because even in the low traffic streets in our neighborhood they always force you to step back although there would be more than enough room left. It must be a game - whoever has a car has to show his power. There are also many deaths from car accidents. Mostly on long distance roads. I have heard of so many family members of friends who have died in car accidents - and sadly its mostly because someone involved in the accident was driving drunk. This is a big issue here.
And last but not least, I have to mention the alcohol and drug abuse (you sometimes see men coming home drunk in the middle of the day, or hear them screaming at their wives at night), the homeless (people sleeping under trees on newspapers), the really poor diggin in our garbage regularly and little children begging for money in the parks. Of course we are not faced with these type of issues every day, but often enough to be reminded of how thankful we should be for what we have and how we were allowed to grow up and that Kyrgyzstan is still a developing country.
ADDED LATER TODAY:
After SirSia's comment I would like to add, that these of course are only some "major or minor" bad things about living here. Of course, stumbling on the sidewalks isn't that bad, but rather funny. But still it's something that I realize very often, because it's very different to my hometown Berlin - so to me it's worth being mentioned. There are also things that seem to happen in almost every big city in the world - maybe I'm just not used to them. And naturally, I know there are many worse things than the couple I mentioned. I just won't be able to nor do I decide to write about all of them. And luckily I haven't seen all of it either, I've only been here for a month! So please keep in mind, that whatever I write about is always based on my experiences having lived in Germany almost all my life and a little while in the U.S. - and last but not least, based on the fact that I'm writing mostly for my European family and friends (at least these are the readers I know of). Therefore I hope noone feels offended by my post and if so, I ask or rather invite those readers to post their own experiences, because it's very likely that we all see a city from a different perspective and with a different background.
I'm glad this turned into "communication" at this point. Thanks for your post SirSia!
Friday, July 11, 2008
For David and Jennifer...
...who are actually reading my blog (YEAH!) and who have complaint I'm not posting enough. Excuse me?! So this one is for you!
The pictures show one of the parks in Bishkek. There are many of them. This one is extremely narrow but long (I believe about 5 or 6 blocks). It starts close to our neighborhood and goes all the way down to Chui Street (the central street). It takes about 20 Minutes to walk through. On the side of the walking paths there are those "rainbow" benches. You'll find them all around Bishkek. I love how colorful they are - always set me into a good mood. And of course, always lots of people sitting on them. When you walk down the park, you feel like walking on a catwalk.
On the side of the streets you'll often find these little booths. They are the alternative to supermarkets. Locals sell anything in these booths and most stay open even at night - very convenient. This one is in the same park and sells newspapers and magazines.
The pictures show one of the parks in Bishkek. There are many of them. This one is extremely narrow but long (I believe about 5 or 6 blocks). It starts close to our neighborhood and goes all the way down to Chui Street (the central street). It takes about 20 Minutes to walk through. On the side of the walking paths there are those "rainbow" benches. You'll find them all around Bishkek. I love how colorful they are - always set me into a good mood. And of course, always lots of people sitting on them. When you walk down the park, you feel like walking on a catwalk.
On the side of the streets you'll often find these little booths. They are the alternative to supermarkets. Locals sell anything in these booths and most stay open even at night - very convenient. This one is in the same park and sells newspapers and magazines.
As the sun goes down...
Hey folks - in case there is anybody out there... Since I don't get much feedback on my posts, I wonder, if I'm the only one reading this blog. Am I? At this point I'd like to remind you of §6 of my Blog Testimony (you'll find it to the right of this post). Don't you have any questions or comments? Please don't hesitate, I'd rather communicate than just write a travel diary.
Yesterday I got introduced to the girlfriend of one of our friends. She speaks English fluently and is planning on doing an Au-Pair year in Germany. So I'm hoping she could be the one, doing a language "tandem" with me - me teaching her some German, and her helping me out with my Russian. This could be fun! I'm really motivated to intensify my Russian learning.
This is how pretty a sunset looks from our living room...
Yesterday I got introduced to the girlfriend of one of our friends. She speaks English fluently and is planning on doing an Au-Pair year in Germany. So I'm hoping she could be the one, doing a language "tandem" with me - me teaching her some German, and her helping me out with my Russian. This could be fun! I'm really motivated to intensify my Russian learning.
This is how pretty a sunset looks from our living room...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
It was worth it!
I haven't posted anything in the past days. This is for a reason. My back got really bad after Sunday. I was in great pain and I wasn't able to move anymore. So we went to see a doctor in a local hospital. I was lucky because Philipp's assistant knows a doctor, which made the process a lot quicker and inexpensive - usually you have to wait for a long time. Anyway, I wanted to make sure nothing is broken. Fortunately nothing seems to be broken, the lower back is "just" sprained. I should minimize my activities now and wait for 2 weeks. When it gets really bad, I should take the strong pain killers he gave me. Today is the first day I didn't have to take them. YEAH! The pain is bearable now, but the fact that I can't do anything is just annoying...
Well, the doctor had a good laugh, when he asked if I had done something after the accident that could have made it worse. I had to admit, that we went out dancing on Sunday night! Argh! I felt so emberassed. But I swear on Sunday I felt okay. We were invited for a birthday of one of our friends. It was soooo much fun! There were all nice people, good food, lots of vodka and - yes - some crazy dancing. Surely I was trying to take it easy, but the pictures we took doubtlessly proof something else. Anyway, they even got Philipp to dance. It was the very first time ever that both of us were on the same dancefloor!!!
So therefore, I think it was all worth it! Ouch!
Well, the doctor had a good laugh, when he asked if I had done something after the accident that could have made it worse. I had to admit, that we went out dancing on Sunday night! Argh! I felt so emberassed. But I swear on Sunday I felt okay. We were invited for a birthday of one of our friends. It was soooo much fun! There were all nice people, good food, lots of vodka and - yes - some crazy dancing. Surely I was trying to take it easy, but the pictures we took doubtlessly proof something else. Anyway, they even got Philipp to dance. It was the very first time ever that both of us were on the same dancefloor!!!
So therefore, I think it was all worth it! Ouch!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
What day is it again?
Since there are no real weekends here for us, I always get confused what day of the week it is. But today is Sunday - I just remembered. The stores are open on every day of the week here. And my husband also works every day of the week - usually even more on the weekends, as his people often have more stuff going on then. I miss having a structured week. So today we decided to install our own weekend-day. It will be flexible - meaning no certain day of the week - but we'll try to have at least one day every week just for us, not having to think about work.
I feel that I have more energy now and that I'm motivated to get more involved now. We had planned to make a documentation video of the neighborhood. I'm supposed to write the script/concept. Right now I'm rather thinking about an experiment however: not we will videotape, but we'll have different people living in this neighborhood tape whatever is important to them. I think it's interesting to get their point of view, because I assume (and we already know from Philipp's research), that their view will be different from our's and we might even get new insights via this medium. I'm just not sure about the cutting process yet. With the cutting you always stress or hide certain things, because you make a selection of the entire material - the same happens with fades or background sound. So I kinda feel like the cutting should also not be done by us (although I love doing it). But with all the equipment and all the different people involved, it's not that easy. I'm excited however. This is going to be cool and something we'll enjoy as much as our friends here, because its something that will last, even when our time here is over.
Today I attached more pics from my walk through Bishkek last week. The first picture shows the two state guards guarding the national flag on one of the main squares called "Ala-Too" - one of the main tourist attractions. The second one shows the government building called "White House". Maybe some of you have seen it on TV in 2005 during the so called "Tulip Revolution" after the parliamentary elections in March 2005, when former President Akayev was forced to resign on April 4, 2005 after violent demonstrations and after the government headquarters had been stormed by the people. After that, opposition leaders formed a coalition and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is still in office today. [Click here for more information on the "Tulip Revolution"]
P.S. By the way, my back is slowly getting better again. I'm relieved...
I feel that I have more energy now and that I'm motivated to get more involved now. We had planned to make a documentation video of the neighborhood. I'm supposed to write the script/concept. Right now I'm rather thinking about an experiment however: not we will videotape, but we'll have different people living in this neighborhood tape whatever is important to them. I think it's interesting to get their point of view, because I assume (and we already know from Philipp's research), that their view will be different from our's and we might even get new insights via this medium. I'm just not sure about the cutting process yet. With the cutting you always stress or hide certain things, because you make a selection of the entire material - the same happens with fades or background sound. So I kinda feel like the cutting should also not be done by us (although I love doing it). But with all the equipment and all the different people involved, it's not that easy. I'm excited however. This is going to be cool and something we'll enjoy as much as our friends here, because its something that will last, even when our time here is over.
Today I attached more pics from my walk through Bishkek last week. The first picture shows the two state guards guarding the national flag on one of the main squares called "Ala-Too" - one of the main tourist attractions. The second one shows the government building called "White House". Maybe some of you have seen it on TV in 2005 during the so called "Tulip Revolution" after the parliamentary elections in March 2005, when former President Akayev was forced to resign on April 4, 2005 after violent demonstrations and after the government headquarters had been stormed by the people. After that, opposition leaders formed a coalition and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is still in office today. [Click here for more information on the "Tulip Revolution"]
P.S. By the way, my back is slowly getting better again. I'm relieved...
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Mayday, mayday!
Yesterday was a crazy day. I got up as usually. Philipp - as usually - had already been working for a couple of hours by then. As usually we had a breakfast together. But after that the day turned into a not so usual day. Philipp just described what happened in an e-mail to our good friend Sha Li (who has just moved to Beijing, China). I think you can't describe our emergency in a better way, so I'll simply quote him. For an English summary (based a bit more on the simple facts) and an illustration of the sight, please scroll down:
"Wir hier im zentralen Teil blicken natürlich stetig gen Osten: normalerweise etwas neidisch wegen dem nicht in seinen Facetten, sondern als allgemein-gültig wahrgenommenen Wirtschaftsaufschwung, gestern aber dann doch etwas unbeherrschft, ja fast verärgert! Es begann in unserer mit chinesischen Qualitätsprodukten renovierten Toilette als Kerstin nichtsahnend die Spülung betätigte. Ein ungefährlicher Alltagsvorgang sollte man meinen, wären da nicht diese offenbar kaum belastungsfähigen Plastikschrauben, die als alleinige Sicherung den Spülkasten mit dem Toilettensockel verbinden. Die Schrauben brachen, der Spülkasten gerieht in Schieflage - und eine nicht unerhebliche Menge Wasser lief sogleich, zugegebenermaßen aber in ästhetisch-vollendeter Form, aus allen Ritzen und verwandelte unseren eher nachlässig mit chinesischen Kacheln ausgekleideten Toilettenfußboden in eine Pool-Landschaft. Obwohl als Handwerker unerfahren und mit der gegenwärtigen Situation gleichermaßen überfordert, schweiften während verzweifelter Versuche die Wassernachfuhr über Schwimmer-Beeinflussung einzuschränken, meine Gedanken in Richtung "Hauptwasserhahn abdrehen". Ja, ja, gefunden heißt noch nicht Problem behoben, sollte es sich um chinesische Plastikrohre mit metallenen Drehschrauben handeln. In der Theorie genügt ein Handgriff, um das Wasser zu stoppen, in chinesisch fachmännischer Praxis vielleicht auch, nicht aber leider in unserem Fall. Ergebnis: das Wasser sprudelte weiter und weiter und wir holten Handtuch um Handtuch. Es war angebracht über den eigenen Schatten zu springen und um Hilfe zu flehen. Wobei wir auch schon beim chinesischen Qualitätslinoleum angekommen wären, dass Teile unserer Wohnung ausschmückt. Kerstin erklärte sich bereit die entstehende Wohlfühloase für ein Sekündchen zu verlassen, damit eine Notrufabsonderung per Handy möglich wurde. In einem in anbetracht der Lage wohl angemessen zügigen Tempo machte sie sich auf den Weg zum Bürobereich. Das Zusammentreffen sohlenfeuchter Füße mit chinesischem Linoleum bei erhöhter Laufgeschwindigkeit verursachte laut dem einzigen Augenzeugenbericht ein astreines Aqua-Planing mit Unfallfolge. Aufgrund des instabilen Moments geriet der in Bewegung befindliche Korpus in eine rückwärtige Schieflage und schlug nach kurzem Verharren im Schwebezustand, in glücklicherweise überraschend unverdrehter Haltung allerdings, auf ebensolches Linolium auf. Unfallergebnis ist bei heutiger Diagnose eine auf den ganzen Körper ausstrahlende Prellung des unteren Rückenbereichs. Die Patientin ist den Umständen entsprechend wohl auf, beklagt sich aber, außer über die Schmerzen, auch über die Belustigungen angesichts ihres zeitweise eingeschränkt einsatzfähigen Bewegungsapparats. Zur Genesung mag beitragen, dass nach 5-stündigen Rettungsbemühungen unter Einbezug eines kirgisischen Facharbeiters und ohne weitere persönliche Verluste verzeichnen zu müssen, die vollständige Funktionalität des Sanitärbereichs wieder hergestellt werden konnte."
I went to the bathroom. When I flushed the toilet - still not so unusual - the water tank got tilted and one of the two plastic (!) screws attaching the tank to the seat broke. The water immediately started running down to the floor - quickly! I screamed for help. Together with Philipp we tried to put the watertank back in its original position - assuming the water would stop if we just closed up the screw hole again. While trying this, the second screw also broke. Now more water was running down - more quickly. In panic I went to get towels and a pot, as the floor was turning into a pool already, while Philipp was trying to find the main water supply focet to turn off the water. The watertank not only kept emptying out, but more and more water was automatically refilled constantly. At the same time it was impossible to turn off the main focet. So we stood there, one with the arms in the watertank to hold one trigger, which stopped the tank from refilling, the other holding the pot to catch most of the water - needless to say, that the space was tiny and we were constanly in each other's way. Realizing that this wasn't a final solution, we decided to call for help. While letting the running water do its own thing, I ran to get a cell phone. Running wasn't a good idea! I slipped on the wet floor and hurt my back quite bad. No time for whining though, we had a bigger emergency to take care of. I went back to the toilet holding the pot again, which turned out to be much harder now, as my back didn't allow me to bend down anymore without pain. Philipp called a friend living in the same building - one hand in the watertank still. He arrived within a minute, but probably irritated by the sight presented to him: Me opening the door in tears and my pajamas, Philipp only in his boxers with his arms deep down the watertank. I was relieved, because now he took my place in the game. The boys finally found a way to stop the watertank from refilling without someone manually holding that trigger. We let the watertank empty out. Five hours later and with the help of a professional Kyrgyzs technicians the problem was solved - with 2 brand new plastic screws! However, my back still bothers me very much. I'm assuming it's nothing serious, but I can hardly move - because of my back and all the sore muscles from standing in weird positions. If it doesn't get any better within the next days, I'll need to see a doctor. But so far, I think I'll be alright. What a day!
"Wir hier im zentralen Teil blicken natürlich stetig gen Osten: normalerweise etwas neidisch wegen dem nicht in seinen Facetten, sondern als allgemein-gültig wahrgenommenen Wirtschaftsaufschwung, gestern aber dann doch etwas unbeherrschft, ja fast verärgert! Es begann in unserer mit chinesischen Qualitätsprodukten renovierten Toilette als Kerstin nichtsahnend die Spülung betätigte. Ein ungefährlicher Alltagsvorgang sollte man meinen, wären da nicht diese offenbar kaum belastungsfähigen Plastikschrauben, die als alleinige Sicherung den Spülkasten mit dem Toilettensockel verbinden. Die Schrauben brachen, der Spülkasten gerieht in Schieflage - und eine nicht unerhebliche Menge Wasser lief sogleich, zugegebenermaßen aber in ästhetisch-vollendeter Form, aus allen Ritzen und verwandelte unseren eher nachlässig mit chinesischen Kacheln ausgekleideten Toilettenfußboden in eine Pool-Landschaft. Obwohl als Handwerker unerfahren und mit der gegenwärtigen Situation gleichermaßen überfordert, schweiften während verzweifelter Versuche die Wassernachfuhr über Schwimmer-Beeinflussung einzuschränken, meine Gedanken in Richtung "Hauptwasserhahn abdrehen". Ja, ja, gefunden heißt noch nicht Problem behoben, sollte es sich um chinesische Plastikrohre mit metallenen Drehschrauben handeln. In der Theorie genügt ein Handgriff, um das Wasser zu stoppen, in chinesisch fachmännischer Praxis vielleicht auch, nicht aber leider in unserem Fall. Ergebnis: das Wasser sprudelte weiter und weiter und wir holten Handtuch um Handtuch. Es war angebracht über den eigenen Schatten zu springen und um Hilfe zu flehen. Wobei wir auch schon beim chinesischen Qualitätslinoleum angekommen wären, dass Teile unserer Wohnung ausschmückt. Kerstin erklärte sich bereit die entstehende Wohlfühloase für ein Sekündchen zu verlassen, damit eine Notrufabsonderung per Handy möglich wurde. In einem in anbetracht der Lage wohl angemessen zügigen Tempo machte sie sich auf den Weg zum Bürobereich. Das Zusammentreffen sohlenfeuchter Füße mit chinesischem Linoleum bei erhöhter Laufgeschwindigkeit verursachte laut dem einzigen Augenzeugenbericht ein astreines Aqua-Planing mit Unfallfolge. Aufgrund des instabilen Moments geriet der in Bewegung befindliche Korpus in eine rückwärtige Schieflage und schlug nach kurzem Verharren im Schwebezustand, in glücklicherweise überraschend unverdrehter Haltung allerdings, auf ebensolches Linolium auf. Unfallergebnis ist bei heutiger Diagnose eine auf den ganzen Körper ausstrahlende Prellung des unteren Rückenbereichs. Die Patientin ist den Umständen entsprechend wohl auf, beklagt sich aber, außer über die Schmerzen, auch über die Belustigungen angesichts ihres zeitweise eingeschränkt einsatzfähigen Bewegungsapparats. Zur Genesung mag beitragen, dass nach 5-stündigen Rettungsbemühungen unter Einbezug eines kirgisischen Facharbeiters und ohne weitere persönliche Verluste verzeichnen zu müssen, die vollständige Funktionalität des Sanitärbereichs wieder hergestellt werden konnte."
I went to the bathroom. When I flushed the toilet - still not so unusual - the water tank got tilted and one of the two plastic (!) screws attaching the tank to the seat broke. The water immediately started running down to the floor - quickly! I screamed for help. Together with Philipp we tried to put the watertank back in its original position - assuming the water would stop if we just closed up the screw hole again. While trying this, the second screw also broke. Now more water was running down - more quickly. In panic I went to get towels and a pot, as the floor was turning into a pool already, while Philipp was trying to find the main water supply focet to turn off the water. The watertank not only kept emptying out, but more and more water was automatically refilled constantly. At the same time it was impossible to turn off the main focet. So we stood there, one with the arms in the watertank to hold one trigger, which stopped the tank from refilling, the other holding the pot to catch most of the water - needless to say, that the space was tiny and we were constanly in each other's way. Realizing that this wasn't a final solution, we decided to call for help. While letting the running water do its own thing, I ran to get a cell phone. Running wasn't a good idea! I slipped on the wet floor and hurt my back quite bad. No time for whining though, we had a bigger emergency to take care of. I went back to the toilet holding the pot again, which turned out to be much harder now, as my back didn't allow me to bend down anymore without pain. Philipp called a friend living in the same building - one hand in the watertank still. He arrived within a minute, but probably irritated by the sight presented to him: Me opening the door in tears and my pajamas, Philipp only in his boxers with his arms deep down the watertank. I was relieved, because now he took my place in the game. The boys finally found a way to stop the watertank from refilling without someone manually holding that trigger. We let the watertank empty out. Five hours later and with the help of a professional Kyrgyzs technicians the problem was solved - with 2 brand new plastic screws! However, my back still bothers me very much. I'm assuming it's nothing serious, but I can hardly move - because of my back and all the sore muscles from standing in weird positions. If it doesn't get any better within the next days, I'll need to see a doctor. But so far, I think I'll be alright. What a day!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Attending a diploma ceremony
Today we got up at 7am to be ready by 8am. [I never realized what a nice temperature it is outside at that time of the day! Maybe I should try getting up before 11 from now on...] We were invited to attend the diploma ceremony of the Academy of the Interiour Ministry. It was very interesting for us to see the traditional ceremony. The students were divided into different units - the final classes, the ones who get their diploma next year and the ones in their first year. You could tell them apart by their dresscodes. They marched, they did some appells (is that an English term?), there were speeches and there also was a music unit playing - oh, and one show act inbetween was a dancing group doing a beautiful walse.
Again I had so much fun taking pictures. Since I had finally read the manual of the camera (a NICON D40) yesterday, today I kind of knew what I was doing - at least compared to yesterday. I felt so professional - let me tell you! Well, this was until I got home and looked at the pictures on my computer. Half of them turned out great and half of them looked like I used my cellphone to take them. What a smack in the face! But I already figured out what went wrong - luckily. I had used the maximum ISO setting after one point, because I (thought I) had read in the manual that it would avoid unfocused pictures when using a long time setting. Not true!!! Well, I'm glad I at least got about 150 good shots and an additional 100 snap shots.
What about my QUIZ posted earlier??? I haven't received many replies yet and not the correct answer either (but some hilarious ones - thanks, we had some good laughs!). Take your chance!
Again I had so much fun taking pictures. Since I had finally read the manual of the camera (a NICON D40) yesterday, today I kind of knew what I was doing - at least compared to yesterday. I felt so professional - let me tell you! Well, this was until I got home and looked at the pictures on my computer. Half of them turned out great and half of them looked like I used my cellphone to take them. What a smack in the face! But I already figured out what went wrong - luckily. I had used the maximum ISO setting after one point, because I (thought I) had read in the manual that it would avoid unfocused pictures when using a long time setting. Not true!!! Well, I'm glad I at least got about 150 good shots and an additional 100 snap shots.
What about my QUIZ posted earlier??? I haven't received many replies yet and not the correct answer either (but some hilarious ones - thanks, we had some good laughs!). Take your chance!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Out and about in Bishkek
This was actually supposed to be yesterday's post. Our internet connection once again didn't work. Sometimes it's unpredictable. It has a life of its own...
These past days I had a very strong feeling of having to be outside. So today I spent 4 hours walking around in Bishkek. It was so much fun to be around people and in the middle of traffic. This might sound weird, but since I mostly stayed around the neighborhood during my first 3 weeks, where there is low traffic and you always kind of see the same faces, this made a big difference today. And it was the first time I walked around all by myself since usually Philipp was with me. I felt very free (don't get me wrong here!) and slowly I don't feel like a tourist anymore. I love walking around with plastic bags from local stores, because this obviously distinguishes me from European or US tourists, who always have there trecking sandals and backpacks. I enjoyed taking lots of pictures on my way. The best scenery I found at a central fountain. Many people - locals, national and international tourists - were cooling themselves off at this fountain and it was a very relaxed atmosphere. It's still easiest for me to photograph children. Some of them get really into it and obviously like being photographed. With adults I'm still very insecure. So still most pictures of adults are from the back. I hope I can learn how to do it right with adults also. Does anyone have an advice for me? I'd love to take portraits, but I'm just too shy to ask people. At least I already got my Russian sentences together for asking, if I could take a picture. Hopefully I'll get over this soon. I imagine it's easier if you speak Russian and if you can chat a bit more with the people. So again, the key is the language - I need to work on it!
I also went to a cafe by myself (Sherbet), to a different mall (Beta Stores) and into a fashion store (koton). I liked the dresses in the window, so I just went in - something I also hadn't done before, because I was afraid of the vendors starting to talk to me in Russian. Seems like I'm getting more confident already. I looooved their clothes! I want to shop there so badly! But here is the bad news: they have European prices. The dresses where about 2.500-5.000 som (about 50-100 Euros). This is a price I would also have to think about in Germany, and especially right now it's something we can't afford, if it's not something we necessarily need. Hmmm. I still haven't been to the biggest bazar in Bishkek (Osh Bazar). They are supposed to have nice affordable pieces there - mostly from China (I wonder about their sizes however).
Since I can't upload too many pictures at once, I will upload today's Bishkek impressions continually during the next days. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!
These past days I had a very strong feeling of having to be outside. So today I spent 4 hours walking around in Bishkek. It was so much fun to be around people and in the middle of traffic. This might sound weird, but since I mostly stayed around the neighborhood during my first 3 weeks, where there is low traffic and you always kind of see the same faces, this made a big difference today. And it was the first time I walked around all by myself since usually Philipp was with me. I felt very free (don't get me wrong here!) and slowly I don't feel like a tourist anymore. I love walking around with plastic bags from local stores, because this obviously distinguishes me from European or US tourists, who always have there trecking sandals and backpacks. I enjoyed taking lots of pictures on my way. The best scenery I found at a central fountain. Many people - locals, national and international tourists - were cooling themselves off at this fountain and it was a very relaxed atmosphere. It's still easiest for me to photograph children. Some of them get really into it and obviously like being photographed. With adults I'm still very insecure. So still most pictures of adults are from the back. I hope I can learn how to do it right with adults also. Does anyone have an advice for me? I'd love to take portraits, but I'm just too shy to ask people. At least I already got my Russian sentences together for asking, if I could take a picture. Hopefully I'll get over this soon. I imagine it's easier if you speak Russian and if you can chat a bit more with the people. So again, the key is the language - I need to work on it!
I also went to a cafe by myself (Sherbet), to a different mall (Beta Stores) and into a fashion store (koton). I liked the dresses in the window, so I just went in - something I also hadn't done before, because I was afraid of the vendors starting to talk to me in Russian. Seems like I'm getting more confident already. I looooved their clothes! I want to shop there so badly! But here is the bad news: they have European prices. The dresses where about 2.500-5.000 som (about 50-100 Euros). This is a price I would also have to think about in Germany, and especially right now it's something we can't afford, if it's not something we necessarily need. Hmmm. I still haven't been to the biggest bazar in Bishkek (Osh Bazar). They are supposed to have nice affordable pieces there - mostly from China (I wonder about their sizes however).
Since I can't upload too many pictures at once, I will upload today's Bishkek impressions continually during the next days. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!
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