I got an email from Farrell this morning; he was at AUCA for an early statistics class: “I think a bomb just went off near the school. It sounded just like Baghdad. I’m ok. I’ll see you soon.” Oh shit.
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Thanksgiving in Bishkek
2007: Kirstin hosts Thanksgiving in Amman for about 20 fellow study abroad students. Other than providing the space, I made cookies. The night was pretty hassle-free. 2009: Thanksgiving in Iraq, U.S. Embassy style. Think of the most elaborate selection of Thanksgiving food that is cooked to a perfectly mediocre level. Never trust a Bangladeshi to …
group projects
“Who read the article for today?” One student shyly raised his hand before putting it back down. Dang! My anthropology teacher almost never asks the class if we had actually read the assigned chapters, we usually just stutter through a discussion, peeking at the reading and picking up bits and pieces along the way. But …
Osh Bazaar, visually
Farrell and I went back to Osh Bazaar this week with a friend from Russian class. There was yet another holiday on Tuesday (a Muslim holiday, probably celebrated with copious amounts of vodka) so the bazaar was fairly empty, but you can still get an idea of how maze-like and potentially insane this place can …
three months down
Exactly three months ago today, Farrell and I arrived in Kyrgyzstan. It was early in the morning, when most flights arrive at Manas Airport, and we had just spent over two days making the journey, including a 10 hour layover at a Moscow airport with no air conditioning during the height of the city’s bog …
trying out new optics
Took the 7D out around town. My favorite picture of the day.
a new era
Nearly two months after the Great Bishkek Break-In of 2010, I have some big news. We’re starting a new era in our Bishkek lives: the post-burglary era. Because I have a camera again! My wonderful mother and stepfather put up with my whining and shipped me a Canon 7D (along with all of the ridiculous …
Kirstin climbs nature, part 2
(for part 1, see here) I got bored in class yesterday and wrote a list of details I wanted to be sure to remember to write about regarding my Revolution Day hike in Kemin. The first item is one I considered repeating several times: “of course I underestimated the [amount of] physical activity” There’s a …
Revolution Day
Yesterday, November 7th, is an officially recognized public holiday in Kyrgyzstan. And, just like in the U.S., when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the obligatory day off is rolled over to Monday. So, Happy Revolution Day! We all know that Kyrgyzstan has had a couple revolutions in the past several years (the so-called …
short announcement
Attention World: All hope is not lost; WE FOUND BACON IN KYRGYZSTAN That’s all, enjoy your breakfasts (because I certainly am!)