Bishkek - Day 2

My dear readers,

It is with great sadness and frustration that I inform you that this will be my last post for the foreseeable future. My laptop was stolen, and it will be incredibly difficult to continue to present my adventures and photos to the world without it. I don't want to present you with anything that's half hearted - I'd rather present nothing to the world than something that isn't a quality I can look back on and approve of.

Right now, I am mostly hoping that I didn't lose too many photos and documents that were not backed up to cloud storage yet. My pride hurts. I'm determined not to let 1 bad memory ruin all of the good memories I've had here in Prague. However, I am now faced with the difficult decision of whether I can afford (and justify) replacing it. If so, how, and with what? Suggestions for what to get, and information on how to obtain an affordable replacement are very welcome. 

If you feel so inclined, donations to help ease the pain in my wallet, and budget for continuing this adventure, will also be graciously accepted via PayPal. (Kmt04@my.fsu.edu)

I will need the support and encouragement of you, dear readers, more than ever now. I can't help but think that this is a sign to give up on this entire travel writer endeavor. I hope to turn that sign around and create something even more fantastic in spite of it, though. 

In the meantime, I'll continue to post on other social media platforms, but just in case I do throw in the towel - I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for reading. I hope I have been able to entertain you, as well as open your eyes and hearts to things you otherwise never would have considered. 

And now, I present you with what I hope won't be my last post...  

I know y'all have just been DYING to know how things went after my first day in Bishkek, right? Did I have a panic attack? Did I cry all day long? Did I get auctioned off as a bride to the highest bidder? You'll just have to keep reading to find out!

Bishkek Day 2: June 22, 2015

So far, adjusting seems a little easier than it did last year. Maybe that’s because I can read most of the signage around me. Kyrgyz is the national language, but Russian is the official state language, so most signs are written in both, and at least it resembles Russian a bit. Georgian is beautiful, but so completely different from any other language that I know, that there was no hope for me to decipher anything. I know if I stick it through, it should make me a better person, right? And if any of you judge me for starting out feeling like all I want to do is get the hell out of here, and then ending up loving it – why don’t you try to do something like this? You’ll see just how hard it is. It’s a freaking emotional roller-coaster, add on top of that (even more so than last year) the stress of having nothing to come back to when it’s all over, you’d be ready to cry yourself to sleep every night for a few weeks too.

It’s still hard to wrap my head around why anyone would want to visit here, at least not for 2 months… and certainly not for their last opportunity to go abroad for such an amount of time… but the view I finally got to see when walking to the bus stop today… that may just be a factor in it. When I finally looked up from the rough gravel road I was walking down with my neighbor's daughter, and another student who was placed with the family next door, I finally saw the mountain range ahead. Holy crap. They seem so massive. It’s hot as balls around here right now, but still gets cool at night, and those mountains are still covered in snow. I’m not talking about just the very tops of them, a good hunk of those mountains are still white. After seeing that, I’m beginning to think that some of our weekend excursions will finally make me really appreciate this place.

The Tien Shien Mountain range as it appears from Street No. 5 in the Рухий Мурас (Roohee Mooras) neighborhood of Bishkek.

Trying to get to school today was fun, for everyone apparently. Some people were dropped off by their host families. It seems they were able to place everyone in at least moderately well off families, and some in much better off families too. Most of us are out in those suburbs, I’m not sure if that’s supposed to make me feel safer or not… yes it’s harder to reach them, and most of the families out here have to be fairly well off to be able to afford to build a house out here, but the difficulty to get to & from school, and the main areas of the city leave me a bit wary. The possibility of going out one night does seem within reach at least. Cabs are cheap it shouldn’t cost more than $5 to get home from just about anywhere in the city.

Speaking of how cheap things are here… I took out 4,800 SOM today, that’s about $80USD… let’s see how far this goes… It’ll cost me 20 SOM per day for my marshrutka rides to & from school, 120/week to keep my local phone turned on, and lunch today, which I split with Masha, was a tasty  dish called Pide (I think it’s Turkish) and 2 bottles of water,  know how much that cost? 300SOM… ya know how much that is in USD? Less than $5… I told my host mom that today, and she said that was expensive, and suggested a cheaper place. Holy crap - it gets cheaper than that!? I wanted to lose weight while here, but I don’t know if I can resist such cheap tasty foods, because I know I can’t get them in the states.

Our pide 3 ways, cheese, egg, and meat - basically Turkish pizza

Tea, as my family poured it, red, as I like it.

Remember  how I was guesstimating how old my host “mom” is, well she finally asked me how old I am today, and was relieved that she was older… by 2 years… yep… she’s 30… but she’s also shown me a lot more around the house to help me feel more at home, probably because I’m so old lol. I’ve got the gate code, a key, have been shown where to get clean drinking water, been told there’s something called максим (maksim) in the fridge, I think? She showed me how to make my own tea (which I learned today that if you like it красный/red it means you like it strong), and also how to use the washing machine. My host mom last year wouldn’t let me do my own laundry, which is super sweet, and shows some cultural differences, I think. Even though I lived with her family for 2 months, I was always still considered, and treated, as a guest. Btw- tea is HUGE in Russian & Asian cultures if you didn’t already know that. Here (at least at home) it always comes in a concentrated form out of a tea pot and poured over a wee strainer with a few loose leaves in it, then diluted with hot water. It's served in a small bowl, called a пиала (piyala), add a sugar cube or a preserved strawberry and it’s even more delicious than it was originally. Speaking of strawberries… ermagherd… we got the BEST smoothies/смузис today! For about $3, it was so incredibly fresh and tasty… there will be many of those consumed this summer.

A fine example of taking your tea красный (red).

I’m pretty sure I’ve got a much more traditional Kyrgyz family than the students I’ve talked to today. Most of them had minimal exposure to their families and their customs because they just got in this morning at 5am, then had to be at school by 9am (for most of us it’s at least 25min to get to school) then we walked around the city… had I known we were going to walk so much, I would have worn a much different outfit… Yeah… walking around the city for hours on day 1 is one is pretty much one of my least favorite things to do… do you know how many of the things I remember from it? Umm… none. I remember where the nearest bank to get money is, and the shopping mall near the school, which is where I need to get off my marshrutka… we’ll see how well this goes tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have the girls come with me for a while before I need to figure it out on my own. I think I have a pretty good handle on it, but I need to get used to keeping an eye out for my stop somehow, having to ask to get off at a stop, and to flagging down the marshrutkas. In Moscow, we got on and off at pretty standard stops, so they always stopped, whether anyone was waiting or not.

One of the few marshrutkas in my area.

Oh, I guess I should explain what a marshrutka is, since most American cities don’t have them, though I hear NYC has a few underground ones. A marshrutka is a minibus/van that only goes along a fixed route. It costs a little bit more than riding a traditional bus, and is way more crowded, but they often stop closer to where you want to get on and off. There’s no A/C, and the driver breaks harder than I do… at least the one on the way home today did… needless to say, this is a place where I will be showering at night to get the nasty of the day off… and maybe taking some whorebaths with wetwipes during the day. I managed to find toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, Nivea hand cream, and bodywash today for about $17 total, but normal body lotion seems to be elusive, maybe it’s just the store we were in… and I forgot to look for hand sanitizer… I need that, my hands feel dirty all the time.

Just like Russia and Batumi, A/C doesn’t exist in these houses, but heating is provided by the city… too bad it’s not cold out… The room I was in for testing today had a small A/C unit, but it was too little too late. It was so stuffy and warm in that room that I started to fall asleep DURING my placement test… so… hopefully my results still place me in the proper level.

Also, as I’m typing this, the wee little hellion is pant-less, playing hide and seek with his big sister. Not gonna lie… I envy him a little. I already miss living alone. His happy noises are hard to differentiate from his upset noises too, unless he’s legitimately crying.

So, what makes a Kyrgyz family so different from other families? Well, in Batumi, my family’s flat was perfectly normal, actually I really loved it. Small, but cozy, well decorated, and that balcony… you couldn’t beat an evening sitting out there, watching the families of the neighborhood head out for evening walks, eating perfectly ripe watermelon as that cool sea breeze rolled down the streets. Here, well yes it’s different because we’re in the suburbs, but everyone’s house out here feels a lot like a compound. There’s high cement walls with gates around all of them. There’s a carport for the Mercedes my family owns (yeah, their car costs about as much as the student loan debt I’ve got now) and when you go inside, you immediately take your shoes off, if you didn't already do it outside. In Batumi, it didn’t seem super necessary that I take them off right away, I’d walk into my room and take them off there, but my host mom would always get on to me for not putting on a pair of slippers/flipflops for walking around the flat. Well, she kept it so clean, I really didn’t see a need to do such a thing. Anyway, here it’s fine to walk around inside the house without shoes or slippers on, which I prefer anyway. I know I can leave them by the door, but I don’t want to crowd things too much, so I’ve been carrying them up to my room. Also, you need a pair of sandals/flipflops for walking around outside. THIS seems to be what makes my family different from other families… there’s a table to eat at outside under the carport, and a garden behind the house, between 2 sheds, a separate kitchen for cooking in when it’s hot out (there is one inside the house), and a table in the room next to it for meals when it’s hot out, as well as another stove of sorts in there too. I think for bigger meals. To me, it looks like it’s meant specifically for making dishes like plov, or beshbarmak, but I’m betting that’s not the case. I'll give you a better tour in a later post.

Not having internet at home is still kinda rough. Last year that was a good hunk of what kept me from getting homesick. I really pride myself on being a bit of a nomad and able to just go anywhere without missing “home”. Yesterday, I wasn’t missing “home” because, well… I don’t have one anymore… instead, I was missing Istanbul, where in a matter of days, I felt at home. It helped that I had a sweet flat with wifi, and my cell phone still got free data and texts though. Here, like in Georgia, it’s $0.50/text and $5.99/MB of data, so… needless to say, I’ll be shelling out the cash soon to buy myself a 4G data plan and mobile wireless router with one of the companies around here. It’s a 10 hour time difference, so the only convenient times to have any hope of getting in touch with anyone back in US is late at night when I’m relaxing before bed, and early in the morning when I’m getting ready to go to school. Which is about 1pm or 9pm for most of y’all. If I just sit at wifi cafes after class I’m really going to be missing out on a lot of the socializing, which is really one of the most important parts of this program. (The friends I’ve gotten to hold on to from these programs are some of the most fierce friends I could ask for) Besides, at 2pm when class gets out, it’s still only 4am on the East coast.

Speaking of relaxing before bed, I’ve got just a little bit of mental energy left in me to work on some draft messages (since I can’t send any until I get to school in the morning). I really should work on getting to bed earlier. But at least my hair has a familiar and comforting scent to it now that I’ve been reunited with my favorite shampoo and conditioner scents, which aren't sold stateside for some stupid reason. Oh, and my family put TP in the bathroom- WOOT! (It’s the little things, right? Lol)

Side note… the call to prayer here sounds very different from what I heard in Turkey, I’ll have to make recordings and post them as well for you to compare. Maybe it’s because I’m further away from the source, and there aren’t competing calls, but it sounds very different to me.

End of Bishkek Day 2.

Is this home?

Добро пожаловать в Киргизию! Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!

The Kyrgyz flag flies atop the sentinel mound at the Manas Ordo Complex near Talas, Kyrgyzstan

In my last post, you got some insight to the mess that has been my Tinder experience around Istanbul. Update - it wasn't as overwhelming by the time I left. I suppose I got used to the bad pickup lines, broken English, and expectations of Turkish/Tinder men. I've met a few cool people, and had some shenanigan filled adventures, courtesy of Tinder, though. I may have even met a man or two that I wouldn't mind keeping in my life in some form or another while I was in Istanbul as well. Since I made my Instagram account public, that's been inundated with messages too. Apparently they think that social networking and dating are synonymous. So thank you, Istanbul, for trying to make me feel pretty and interesting. I miss you dearly.

Also since my last post - I have gone on adventures to France, Belgium, Germany and now the Czech Republic. I've had a lot of adventures in this short time, and certainly have a lot to write about to keep y'all entertained.

Anyway, it's time to rewind a bit... I'd go all the way back to my 1st visit to Istanbul, but I want to start sharing parts of this crazy ride I've been on more frequently, especially now that I've started traveling for real this time. So, we're gonna jump right into my time in Bishkek. The following few posts will be largely unedited, raw writings of my first few days there. If I were to edit them, you'd lose out on the fresh memories, some of which I'm happy to report I can now look back and laugh at. I think it's time to send you on the journey with me - through the struggle - with me. I thought that adjusting to Batumi last year was The Hardest Thing I Ever Had To Do... I was wrong. 

If you want a little background to establish my mental state at the beginning of these adventures, you can read my pre-departure post: One Year Later. The gist of it - I was in a state of fear and panic, as the path I had been intending to follow was swept out from under me, and I was left in the same position I was in when I finished my undergrad: unemployed and homeless, with no prospects in sight. All I knew was that it would be good for my soul, and career path, to go to Bishkek, even though it meant spending money I should have been saving. 

On June 12th, I took my final Master's Comprehensive Exam and walked out of the room confident that I had nailed it. I packed up my apartment over the following 2 days with the help of some amazing friends, moved all of my belongings into storage, and said goodbye to Tallahassee. On June 15th, I was leaving the USA, the entire time thinking: "I'm not coming back until you give me a reason. America, I dare you, give me a reason to come back!" Spoiler alert: I have no intention of going back any time soon.

Now, with all of that stress and uncertainty fresh in your mind, let's begin.

Bishkek- Day 1 – 21 June 2015

Boarding our delightfully under-booked flight with Atlas

Today has been a hard adjustment. For starters, my head just feels funny. I don’t know if it’s motion (well, land) sickness from the boat ride yesterday (we took the long Bosphorous cruise) followed by the plane, or if it’s altitude sickness. Yes, laugh as much as you want, but this Florida girl is used to an elevation of 0ft - Bishkek is about 2,600ft. Anyway, as we began our descent into Bishkek, Masha saw a few lights and a whole lot of darkness and said “I thought we were going to a city? All I see is some North Korea shit down there!” I laughed and reminded her that the airport was still about 30km away from the actual city center, so we probably still weren’t in a position to see it. Shortly after, we finally saw the lights of the city, but that reassurance I gave her will come back to bite me in the butt if you keep reading.

Cheap fares, good food & plenty of empty seats - fly Atlas!

So, after that we continued joking around about what we were supposed to tell customs officers if they asked us why we were there, and how long we planned to stay. I said (in a Christopher Walken-esque rhythm) “I’m here to sight-see, and I hear y’all have some sights to see! Show me the sights!” Mash chimed in with “The sooner you stamp that passport, the sooner I can see the sights!” and well, I’m sure everyone around us thought that the only 2 white girls on the plane (with the exception of our Turkish crew) were pretty special… Mind you, it was about 3am Bishkek time, 12am Istanbul time, and 4pm EST at this point. After spending 3 hours in the Istanbul airport (never arrive more than 2hours early for flights in this part of the world), and 5 hours on an under-booked flight that still managed to not have enough leg room, add on some nerves about the next 2 months, and you’ve got 2 delirious girls.

Masha and I in a slightly less delirious state as we prepared to take off for Bishkek.

Anyhow, right before all that joking began, the thought ran through both of our heads at the same time: “What the HELL did I get myself into?!” Last summer, she was in Kazan, Russia, a fairly large city, and well, IN RUSSIA. She fits in there. If y’all haven’t noticed from the photos I’ve posted on Facebook and Instagram, she kinda stuck out like a sore thumb in Istanbul. Now, I’m getting to enjoy that feeling for the 1^st time here in Bishkek. I never thought I’d miss my cultural ambiguity as much as I do right now.

In Russia last year, people didn’t think twice about whether I was Russian or not. In Batumi, people thought I was Russian, and once I got a tan, I started to fit in more with the Georgians. In Istanbul, an old man who reminded me a lot of my Italian Step-Grandfather assumed I was of Turkish descent even after I told him I was from America. Today, my new hostess asked about my ethnicity as well. She said I have Russian eyes. I’ve only met a few people here in Bishkek, but there’s a whole lot of “one of these things is not like the other” going on around here, and well… for once, it’s me. But enough about the whole diversity thing… I know y’all are wanting to know about life with a new family.

I know I didn’t post much about my time in Batumi last year. You can blame a hunk of that on where I was staying. A lovely flat just blocks away from the Black Sea, in one of the best locations in the city, with an incredibly outgoing, sweet, and caring, host mom and family. I didn’t really have much down time to reflect on my experiences between that, school, hanging out with friends, and harassing a certain person who became my rock and kept me smiling. So far, my new host family here is really nice. They’ve let me do my thing and fed me very well. I’ve got a harder time considering them as a host mom & dad, because, well… I’m pretty sure they’re about my age. They’ve got a beautiful little girl, I’d say about 9 years old (who’s room I also took over judging by the pink Disney princess curtains and dolphin sheets - last year when I took over my host brother’s room it was maturely decorated for a 15yr old boy), and a hellion of a toddler, hitting his terrible 2’s. Considering how most of the cultures of Eastern Europe/Eurasia that I’ve encountered marry young and have children young… I’m putting them at 35 max. I know my host mom last year was only about 13 years older than me, but she also had a college aged daughter, and treated me as her own daughter as well. I don’t think my new hosts will be able to wrap their heads around that anytime soon, and I can’t blame them. If you put someone in my house that was 7 years younger than me, well, they’d just be my friend, or a sibling figure. (Heck half of my friends are about 7 years younger than me nowadays anyway).

But I digress… I think I’ve begun rambling. Oh yes… back to our arrival in Bishkek...

We landed sometime after 3am, and Masha and I easily moved through customs, with no questions asked whatsoever. We were greeted by a pretty, young, Russian-looking girl from the school our program would be using. She led us to the creepy van that would take us to our host families, and gave us little welcome packs to help us settle in. The pack consisted of a tourist map of Bishkek, a bottle of water, "goldfish" crackers, a dinky local cell phone, and a roll of toilet paper... soon enough you'll see how that welcome pack wasn't very reassuring for my 1st day there...

For now, let's jump to how reassuring Masha that we weren’t going to North Korea came to bite me in the ass… ya know how suburbs are a pretty Western concept? Well, that concept has been spreading. The airport was already about 30min away from the center of the city, and the girl who welcomed us told us that we're both lucky and only have a short bus ride to school every day. We circled Masha's neighborhood a few times trying to find her house, once we did, we said goodbye, and set off to find my house... which is at least 10 minutes from Masha's house. A short ride to school you say? What do you think is short? Oh, and guess what we passed on our way out there? A YURT! THERE'S A FREAKING YURT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD! HOW FAR OUT OF THE CITY ARE WE!? I’m at least 6km away from my school, and that’s only what I gathered from google maps today based on landmarks I saw as I was driven here at 4am this morning. I can’t see the Bishkek skyline from here, and at night, I can’t see much of anything. Street lights are not a thing out here… neither are buses… I’m gonna have to learn which marshrutka and which stop will get me home tomorrow.

Does THIS look like a capital city to you?

When I woke up after over-sleeping in order to avoid all the awkward "getting to know you" stuff a little bit, I heard the sounds of a child screaming. I'm not certain if it was joy or anger, all I know is I don't know how to handle children... great... anyway, in the afternoon, my host mom made me a late lunch, and showed me around a little bit, and had her daughter clear out some space in the hallway closet for me to unpack, turned on the computer, and went off to Mosque with the kids, giving me some time to gather myself and get situated before dinner. I unpacked my stuff, and started going through my welcome pack.

First I tried to figure out where we were on the map that was in my welcome pack only to realize that our neighborhood isn't on it at all... okay, so we are pretty far a way from school... the bottle of water was a nice touch, since it's best to assume that water from the tap in most countries isn't safe to drink. In Russia, the water tasted gross, and was likely to make you sick. Bottled water wasn't cheap either, so it led to us drinking a lot of soda and beer, since it only cost a little more when we weren't near our big jugs we bought for the dorm rooms. In Batumi, bottled water was cheap, and tasty too, but the water from the tap was AMAZING! It was some of the best water I've ever tasted! Quite a delightful surprise after we were initially told to not even brush our teeth with that water to avoid getting sick or catching a parasite of sorts. In Bishkek, bottled water is super cheap and the tap water isn't dangerous to drink, it just doesn't taste as good, and is really hard. My family has a specific tap for drinking water, but it's not nearly as cold as the water to come out of the normal tap. The pack of "goldfish" crackers was quite disappointing... they taste nothing like the real thing. They don't even taste like saltines, much more bready... the local phone they gave us didn't have any money on it, didn't even have what our own number is written on it, so we have to figure out how to find it somehow, and there's no list of who has what phone number, so... unlike last year, when I was given a list of student numbers so I could get in touch with them right away, I spent my 1st day wishing I could call Masha, but couldn't.

Essentials for adjusting to Bishkek

The last item in the welcome pack was, of course, the roll of toilet paper... when I saw this, I thought
"haha, cute joke by the administration" because last year in Batumi, the school we attended rarely ever had TP in the bathrooms... nope... not the reason at all... When I finally walked into our little bathroom, I understood why... it's not a universal thing around here to use TP... there was a damp rag sitting on top of the toilet... gross. So. Much. Gross. I remember talking with someone about how some people in the US are switching to using cloth rags instead, because they're hippies and don't want to waste paper, but they would have a bin to toss the used ones in and then just wash them in a machine... nope... pretty sure this one just gets washed as you go, and everyone in the family uses the same one... nuuuuuuuuuuupe! It was after this that I finally got on the computer to try to figure out where in the world I was, and see if anyone I knew was on Facebook for me to freak out to. That 10 hour time difference meant that sure enough, no one was online. I made a quick, stressed out, and slightly terrified, status update and went back to my room to try to settle in.

I was freaking out JUST a little..

So, I was expecting we would live in the city, like I did last year. Mash isn’t exactly close to it either, but I think normal buses go out to her area at least. This puts a damper on getting to live in a similar manner as I did last year: Have breakfast at home before I leave for school, hang out with friends all day after class, enjoy a few glasses (or liters) of wine, then go home, chat with my family a bit, watch some RuTV or whatever they were watching, get on the internet to finish up the day’s homework, catch up on some Facebook, and chat with the person who could relate so well to what I was going thru and really kept me from getting homesick, while kinda making me look forward to going home at the same time. That same person, who had become my rock, who had me excited to go to Bishkek, is no longer in my life. So, I’m not sure how things will work out this year, just yet. My host “dad” is going to find out the best way to go about getting my computer and phone hooked up to the internet so I don’t have to use his computer for everything. But that still leaves how far away from the city and school that I live, leaving nothing for me to do without navigating public transportation. Not to mention, my family is Muslim, and it is currently Ramadan. So… plans of going out clubbing and being young and stupid this summer may just be out of the question completely. I know staying in and studying and applying for jobs and learning more about Islam and what life is like in a Muslim family will make me a better person in the long run, but man I miss going out every night in Istanbul! I miss acting the way I should have acted when I was Masha’s age. I should have been going out and having fun. Stupid being too young to go out for most of my time at University...

Anyway, since Ramadan started a few days ago, I also feel a bit guilty that my host “mom” has to make me food, when she's fasting. My neighbor called her and his wife both models - they fast for 1 month and they’re skinny again. At least the people around me have a good sense of humor, and I’m sure we’ll get comfortable around each other eventually. 

For those of you who don’t know anything about Ramadan, here’s a quick intro: it takes place during the 9^th month of the Islamic calendar, which is considered to be the holiest month of the year. People fast from sunrise to sunset, and avoid impure thoughts and actions. Think that's not too hard? In the summer here, (Ramadan began in June this year) the sun rises at 4:30am, and doesn’t set until about 9pm. That is some serious dedication.

The food I’ve had so far is tasty though. I have NO CLUE what I’m eating most of the time… or drinking for that matter… I should have taken photos of my food today for you, but I’m sure there will be time for that later. Plus I didn’t want to seem TOO weird on day 1. I do know that for dinner, they made a dish called “5 fingers” or «пять палцев» (pyat paltsev) in Russian, or бешбармак (beshbarmak) in Kyrgyz, and they make it for special guests. It was noodles with meat pieces, a big hunk of meat on the side (which mainly the men and special guests ate directly from) and we drank bullion with it. Not too weird, for a totally different culture, right? My neighbor told that I needed to eat it the traditional way, with 5 fingers, but his wife informed me he was joking, and I could use utensils. Having them over for dinner tonight, certainly made things a little less awkward for me. It's nice to know the neighbors and feel welcome in the community.

When we were done eating there was a prayer that I’m not used to, and feel a little weird doing because I don’t want to come across as disrespectful, but trying to do it is me attempting to be respectful, and my neighbor did try to teach it to me, and I earnestly tried to learn it… anyway, we finished it off with some tea. Some damn good tea at that. Just like in Russia, every meal has tea. I don’t hate it. Maybe this time when I get back to the states I’ll actually learn to make it correctly and keep up with that habit. After dinner I took a stroll with the men folk, and their toddler boys. That was when I learned that this is basically going to turn into a suburb eventually. None of the houses here existed 5 years ago, it was just fields. The side streets aren’t paved, but there is an attempt at a sidewalk along the main road. I just have no clue how everyone manages to walk around here without any sort of flashlight.

End of Day 1. Stay tuned for Days 2 & 3, and plenty more tales of shenanigans and cultural experiences!

A view of the Government Flag Stock, which is supervised by a special guard all day, and the Aykol Manas (Magnanimous Manas) statue in front of the State Historical Museum from Ala-too Square, the main square (плошадь) in Bishkek.

Landing

Well, I started this post as my plane began the descent into MCO, and I'm finishing it in my 1st big girl (1br) apartment in Tallahassee.  I still can't believe that this great adventure has come to an end. It began May 1st with a short trip to NY to see friends and family, and that's just how it's ended on August 20th. That's 3 months and 20 days since I've been in the state of Florida. 

Here's a little tip for anyone flying out of the NYC area, if you fly out of Westchester, you get some amazing views of the city. It was cloudy when we took off, so I didn't stare out the window like I usually would, and nearly missed these sights.

Manhattan, Central Park on left

Governors Island between Manhattan and Brooklyn

(Ellis and Liberty Islands)

Plus, it's such a small airport, you don't need to get there super early, or freak out about how to find your terminal, or deal with city traffic, and it only cost about $15 more for a flight to Orlando. Thank you Jet Blue. 

Yes... this is how small the Westchester airport is

Somewhere along the Atlantic coast of Florida, perhaps Daytona?

And how appropriate is this? Pitbull came on the station I was listening to on the plane as we flew over some very familiar sights... Sandy beaches, azure waters, deep blue lakes and rivers, dark green pines, the grids of central Florida suburbs with their snaking highways to connect them, and what looks like a wildfire in the distance, yup... that's FL for you, always getting blown away or burnt down.

As my plane touched down, something strange and uncontrollable happened... I felt a tightness in my chest and started to cry. The little kid sitting next to me must have thought I was crazy- he's starting a family vacation to the happiest place on Earth, and sitting there in a teal dress and black cowboy boots, I couldn't wipe the tears away fast enough.  At least my seat was at the back of the plane, so I had some time to compose myself before disembarking-23A, same one I sat in to fly to NY nearly 4 months earlier.

The fields & suburbs of Central FL

I forgot how big MCO is; that I'd have to take a shuttle before getting to the baggage claim. I stood there, starring out the window at familiar, yet strange folliage, hoping my ride wouldn't be hard to find once I reached the main terminal. I called as soon as I got off the tram, and didn't get an answer, but she found me. С первого взгляда на мою самую лучшую подругу, и я заплакала... как ребёнок. - Upon seeing my best friend, I cried like a baby. Ugly cried in public. Not from the happiness of seeing her, we've gone years without seeing each other. Not from being back in the states, or FL, or "home". I couldn't stop crying because this meant it was over. (And the fact that I was ugly crying in the airport made me more embarrassed, which led to more crying) This crazy, hectic, stressful, awesome adventure was over. The problems and stresses of real life awaited me... 2 months later & I still haven't addressed some of those issues... She tried to make me feel better by telling me that her daughter, my god daughter, told her that morning that she was so excited to see me, she thought she might cry. So I'm on the same level as a 6 year old when it comes to controlling my emotions apparently... actually worse, because she did a great job of not crying when we picked her up from school, while I fought back tears. This time because I couldn't believe how much she grew up while I was gone. The day I can't pick her up and smother her with kisses after being gone for a long time, will be a very sad day... for me that is, she'll be glad I can't embarrass her in public anymore.

So, while waiting for my luggage, I offered up some Imeruli Khatchapuri to Teri, to hold us over till we could get home and get lunch - I don't care how unsanitary it may have been to keep that stuff with me all the way from Georgia, but my host mom made it for me, and I needed it. I needed it to comfort me, just like when I was sick and she made me tea. I was sick when I left Batumi too, my host mom, again, did everything she could to make me, a very stubborn girl that never takes medicine, feel better. She even sent me home with some crazy Georgian лекарство (medicine) that burns so good when you put it on, mainly because it will clear up your congestion in a jiffy. Cultural note: in Russian, you always drink medicine, even if it's a cream you rub under your nose.

Here's a practical lesson for you, one I encourage you to use states side: if you ever sit near someone who doesn't know how to cover their mouth when they cough - punch them. Punch them right in the throat. They deserve it and everyone will thank you for it, because they were wanting to do the same thing, but were too afraid. And to those of you who don't cover your mouth when you cough- when people call you out on it, it's not a joke- we're judging you and plotting to murder you in your sleep because you're going to get us sick, ya nasty.

And I'll leave you with that for now. The past 2 months of adjusting back to "normal" life can warrant their own post. Plus, there are still so many photos to go through and stories to tell later, I want to do them justice!

The hardest thing I've ever had to do...

...is this... this is the hardest thing I've ever done. Yup. I'm pretty sure of that.

I truly have to apologize for the delay on this post. A more accurate and in the moment description of what I've experienced would have been best, but I'll try to describe things as accurately as possible. I was incredibly busy since I arrived in Batumi, I know I've mentioned it before, but seriously, it was really a challenge to find some "me" time. If it's not obvious enough by the fact that I've only posted once in the past 8 weeks, and that I'm retroactively posting... considering I finished writing  this on a plane to New York and am finally posting it days later as I wait for my flight to Orlando. Sorry. The adventure may be over, but that just means once I'm settled in Tally again I'll go through photos and post things in more detail.

Anyway, going back to why this is probably the hardest thing I've ever done... the following post is based on what I felt for about my first 2 weeks there, and I'll even give you a spoiler just for some peace of mind: things changed...

I think this is what culture shock feels like. I didn't really experience it in Moscow, because big cities don't scare me, and I got reacquainted with dorm life last summer, so nothing was all that new. Yeah, I sounded like an idiot plenty of times when I tried to communicate and looked like a deer in headlights plenty of times, but nothing really put me out of my comfort zone.

Here, on the other hand... what did I get myself into? I can't read any signs, I don't understand most of the languages spoken around me (yeah, there are plenty of people around here who speak little to no Russian), and I know nothing of the culture, customs, food, or area. Oh did I mention the amount of fear the officials in the program have tried to instill in us? I know they just want us to be aware and cautious, but I feel like I'm in a dangerous and hostile place. Not fun.

Have I also mentioned that I haven't lived in a nuclear family since I was 4ish? That's over 20 years of living without a patriarch in the house, and certainly no little siblings. All of a sudden, I have a mom, dad, and 3 little siblings. How do I do this? How do I acclimate to family life? How do I get used to new family customs, and not being able to communicate with everyone in the family? (Yeah, I'm not allowed to speak English at home, and my littlest sister speaks more English than Russian. Frack.) WALK ON ALL OF THE EGGSHELLS!

In addition to the stress of getting acquainted to a new style of home life, and dealing with changing dynamics in old friendships while trying to make new ones again, let me tell you about some of those things  the officials kept warning us about:

Don't stay out at night, and if you do, make sure you're not alone, preferably have a male with you. -- Honestly, it was the males that were likely to get in trouble. By the end of the program I felt perfectly safe walking home alone at night. Safer than in Moscow.

Watch out for suspicious characters. If someone is overly interested in the fact that you're American, they're probably a spy and you need to report it. --ok... I'm not totally sure if this actually happened to someone, but I think I overheard some people talking about it happening once.

Watch out for men following you. The whole kidnapping wives thing still happens on occasion. -- this actually got worrisome on occasion. One girl did notice someone following her on 3 occasions, and someone else confirmed it. -- and I think we came pretty close to getting wived once in the Southern Caucus Mountains, but that's another story. Another fantastic and unforgettable story...

Then there's the things I kept hearing from other girls in the program: the men are really aggressive, they don't know how to take no for an answer, they think because you're friendly that you want to date them... --well I had zero problems with that. It seems like they could all tell just by looking at me that I'm an old maid. (Cue sad trombone)

And to add to all of that stresss, the CLI program is intensive. 1 year of Russian in 2 months, nbd. I know people here from last year, so it's not too bad, but showing up a day late, with a zombie brain, means I had no clue what was going on the whole first day. My teacher seemed nice, but I spent the first few weeks trying to feel out if she liked me. Doesn't help that I'm a slacker. Yeah, doing homework for a few hours every day, but not studying for hours for the test totally puts me in slacker zone around here.

Despite all of this, I'm still glad to be in a place I never thought I'd ever be, making some awesome memories and learning a lot. Still haven't really gotten homesick yet either.

So, bring it on CLI Batumi!

Batumi's famous Cha-Cha Tower, where at 7pm, for 10 minutes, Cha-Cha flows freely

Students of the Maritime Academy in Batumi disperse after Maritime Day Celebrations in June, 2014

Batumi's Alphabet Tower - letters of the Georgian Alphabet glow green at night as they spiral up to the ball of the tower. 

Another beautiful sunset over the Black Sea

SOMEONE made the mistake of petting one of Batumi's stray dogs. He followed us for the rest of the day. We named him George. He stalked us for the rest of the summer, knowing we were happy to feed and pet him.

Being buried on the beach here is a wee bit different than back home.

A statue depicting Madea and the Golden fleece, with Batumi's only skyscraper in the background.

One of the best (and worst) things about Georgia: Khatchapuri

Your hot then your cold...

Obligatory weather post.

Those of you who helped with my packing debacle are probably wondering how I've fared so far, especially considering that the projected high for the day I landed in Moscow was 50°F with rain, and I've turned into a spoiled little Florida girl...

Snow in May! WHAT?!

I can officially say that the finicky, indecisive weather in Florida has NOTHING on Moscow!

Day 1 was indeed cold & rainy. Mad amounts of gratitude go out to the lovely Toni for lending me warm clothes, jackets, and especially a rain coat.

The first 2 weeks were pretty cold. Got good use out of my pea coat and scarf, especially on day 3 when it SNOWED! Yup! Snow in May. The first time I've seen snow since we moved to FL. Woke up disappointed to hear that I missed the morning snowstorm, only to flip a shit in class when it started snowing again. By the end of the day the layers were coming off, though.

Trying to plan for weather in advance here is futile. The forecast says one thing when you go to bed, but when you wake up it'll say the opposite. Oh, and the heat index here is ridiculous. It always feels at least 10°F hotter than what the mercury says. The high for the past few days here was just under 90°F. Did I mention that the dorms and classrooms (and metro) don't have air conditioning? Yup... super fun... the forecast until we leave, high around 70, low around 50 and clouds... I kinda want the heat back...

Up until the past few days, it also seemed like eternal winter here too. Not because of the temperature, but because of the пух (pooh, as in the Bear, not the subject of a previous post). That's what they call the fluffy flying seeds from the massive amount of dandelions that are no longer blooming. When I was a kid, we called them tooth fairies. It was kinda pretty for a while. It constantly looked like there was a snow storm outside my 4th floor window... it got old really quick. Pooh in my hair, my eyes, stuck to my lip gloss, oh and piles of it everywhere. At least I apparently don't have an allergy to it at least. Sucks for all the kids here just learning that they do though.

Anyway... the pooh is settling down, the tulips have been replaced by pansies, marigolds and lavender, and the cityscape has quickly been changed from a beautiful spring view to a hot summer one. If you can ever make it here at the beginning of May, do it. The tulips are so vibrant and beautiful, it's amazing. It's really not what you expect to find in such a big city.

Vibrant tulips bring an aspect of joy to the monolithic monuments of Victory Park honoring the tragedies of WWII

Flowers are a huge aspect of Russian culture though. After a long, cold, winter, people here literally stop and smell the roses. Multiple times I've seen people stop dead in their tracks to smell or photograph a flower. I'm guilty of it too. The scent of jasmine that permeates the air as I walk to the dorm is incredibly comforting. You'll also see people everywhere carrying bouquets of flowers as well. Why? Because Russian women appreciate flowers more than any other gift a man can get her, even more than chocolate or wine. But make sure you only give them in an odd number, even numbers are reserved for the dead. So, if you ever want to suck up to a Russian girl, or in my case, a professor, get her flowers. In general, female teachers here are given flowers on the last day of school, so if you're ever here studying, set aside some money from the beginning so you don't spend your last week of food budget on flowers. You never need to go far to find a flower shop either. We've even got one in the dorm.

Every evening, people congregate on the steps of the Muzeon for socializing, and specific events - like Boogie-Woogie night.

The end of Spring and beginning of Summer here seem to try to make up for how cruel the rest of the year can be. Days are warm and sunny, flowers are blooming, and everyone is outside enjoying the weather in the many parks and green spaces throughout the city. The days are long here too, not just in the northern parts where you get White Nights. While we were in St. Petersburg, we were told that they only average about 60 days of sunshine per year. We were blessed with 2.5 of those days. Even when it rained, the weather was still rather lovely. We even found a rainbow right before heading back to the train station. While the sun up there doesn't go down until about midnight at this time of year, in Moscow the sun sets after 10pm, and rises by 5am, and it seems people are out and taking advantage of every minute of it. Walking through the park by the Muzeon the other day after exploring the Fallen Monument Park, I couldn't help but feel jealous of everyone here, because they have beautiful places like that to go to, and just enjoy their environment.

An elusive rainbow peeks through the clouds in St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt

So, how do Russians enjoy said environment? Well, rollerblading is still a big thing here. So is skateboarding, biking, badminton, dancing in the the park (apparently it was boogie - woogie night- people were swing dancing in front of the museum), napping on the grass or big bean bags, or benches, making out in said locations (seriously though, the pda is intense, but more on that later), and just meandering about. 

So I suppose it's time for a lesson, huh? This one is applicable anywhere you are- go outside. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you. Feel the sun kiss your skin, the breeze blow through your hair, and the rain cleanse the air. But if you ever find yourself over here in May, be prepared for all types of weather, literally. Here's hoping it warms up again before I leave for Siberia next week! With that, I try to cut a long post short and leave you with some photos that try to capture the beauty of the weather and nature I've seen. It's hitting me that I've only got a few more days. Not nearly enough time to do everything I want. I knew the time would fly, but I wish it would have slowed down just a bit...

No clue what this park was named, probably couldn't find it again, but it was beautiful!

Flowers in the gardens at Petergoff - Peter the Great's palace outside of St. Petersburg

Who could resist a stroll through the green fields of Tolstoy's estate?

Probably the most beautiful and picturesque churches of the many in the Suzdal area.

Wait, you want me to do what?

So, trying to play catch up again. When I last left you, I had given only a glimpse into the weekend trip to Suzdal. We learned about picking wildflowers, which is still a running joke among the group...

No vehicles are allowed through this field, all visitors must walk 3ish km.

Once we got to Suzdal, we had a great lunch at a cute little restaurant, then started our excursions to the many churches in the region. The first was the Church of Boris and Gleb, which was pretty cool to me because of the Medieval Russian Lit course I took last year. It's also pretty freaking cool to see stuff still standing that was built in the 12th century. (You don't find that much in Russia, since most buildings were made of wood and either burned, rotted, or were destroyed in some other fashion.) The scenery was also amazing. The soil is black and everything is bright green. I cannot express to you how poorly photos capture the beauty of the land and scenery.

Anyway, after that church was a bus tour, and... you guessed it- more churches! I unfortunately didn't write down the names of all the churches and monasteries we went to, but they're all really old and really beautiful. Some even have miracles, and important historical figures associated with them. There was also a little sample of what life was like for Russian families in the 19th century, with authentic wooden churches and houses which had been moved into a specific area to try to recreate and preserve the memories of average life back then. It was pretty cool to see an example of how my ancestors may have lived... but I also can't blame them for leaving, the standards of living were so different from those of the same time period in the US. At least I learned some cool cultural stuff though. Again, I won't bore you with details, you can ask me if you really want to know, though. So, if you ever find yourself in Suzdal, I highly recommend the Suzdal Inn. It was lovely and clean, and man they know how to throw a party! Or maybe my teachers, who organized the trip do, either way, a night of good food, local beer, some homemade strawberry moonshine concoction, and dancing was just what I needed.

Recreation of an old Russian bedroom, and by old, I mean early 1900's

Amidst all of that fun, was another fantastic experience- Banya, a weekly ritual among those who can afford it. Oh man, even though the girls and I didn't do it quite right, it was still a great time, and another chance to push myself out of my comfort zone. I didn't take any photos of the Banya, so sorry, you'll just have to experience it for yourself. The building was located in the yard of the hotel, as is Russian tradition to keep it separate from the main house. There are old beliefs and superstitions as to why, but I won't bore you with that now. Anyhow... the building was wooden, very nice, and clean. There was a bit of an anti-chamber for a toilet, supplies and changing... and by changing I mean stripping. That's right, it's not a Banya if you're not naked. Upstairs there was a bit of a lounge with couches, a table prepared for tea with cookies and marmalade, as well as a small cardio room. On the bottom floor was a room with a giant wooden tub of cold water, a shower station, and a bucket of cold water overhead that would fill with cold water for you to pull a string and be quickly doused with cold water. In that room was also a door to the hot room.

It looked just like your average sauna, all wood, and hot as hell. However, here's the difference- there's a bucket of hot water in there with a ladle and a bundle of birch branches in it. The ladle is for pouring water onto the hot stones to steam the place up and heat it even more. The branches add a lovely scent to the water, which fills the air as it evaporates into steam. More importantly, those birch branches are for beating yourself, or others, to improve circulation. I highly recommend getting someone to beat the crap out of you. It feels and smells so refreshing!

So, after sweating out all sorts of toxins and getting flogged, what do you do next?  Step out for a bit and shock your system with a dousing of cold water, of course! Suck it up, do it. It feels fantastic! Then go sit down for a spot of tea, and repeat the process. Apparently the girls didn't quite do the Banya correctly, I guess we were supposed to stay in the heat for shorter spurts with a good dousing in between. Hopefully I'll learn the proper technique before the summer is over.

My matryoshka is lacking...

Moving forward, we went back to the party, everyone stayed safe, everyone had a good time, and again I got to suck up to my professor. The next day was another slew of churches and monasteries, either in Suzdal or Vladimir, with beautiful frescoes and even the hand of Alexander Nevsky- Russian bad ass. The day was capped off with a lovely lunch at a restaurant called Adam and Eve in Vladimir, just by the remains of the old city walls, and a workshop on how to paint traditional Matryoshka dolls. I think I'll stick to music though, I suck way less at that than I do painting.

Once our dolls were almost dry, we set back out for Moscow, and well, you've already read my public restroom survival tips, so you pretty much already know what the rest of the trip was like. Oh, but one more addition to that, in case I forgot- bathrooms are often not separated between men and women, and if there's TP, it may just be communally located, and there may or may not be a toilet seat... so... get used to that.

Moscow was a giant party, yet again, when we got back. I swear there is at least one holiday per week in the month of May. Turns out that Saturday was Museum Day. So not only did everyone celebrate the number of museums in the city by going to them, but also with music, parties, and fireworks. And drag racing/drifting, can't forget about that! Oh wait, that's EVERY FREAKING NIGHT! I'll try to go out there and get photos one day, but if you ever live in the MSU area, get used to the sound of revved up engines lulling you to sleep.

On that note, I'll leave you with my lesson from the trip: embrace traditions of the culture. Take the advice of master painters on how to improve your skills. Go see what the noise is all about down the street. And most importantly, set your pride and insecurities aside. Get naked with people you barely know and flog yourself with birch branches. I tell you, the Russians are on to something with Banya... maybe that's why all the girls here have flawless skin!

The first church we encountered in Suzdal, and the least impressive.

Because we're adults. Well, technically we all actually are.

Another lovely church of the Vladimir/Suzdal area

A 3km trek through a field of dandelions was well worth it to enjoy this sight! Imagine being a regular worshiper here...

MORE CHURCHES!

Other angles of more churches!

Frescoes inside one of the churches... sorry I don't remember which one :-/