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Published: January 13th 2008
I'm now completely moved into my apartment and getting ready for classes. Classes begin tomorrow.
I've been pretty busy the last week. I've spent a lot of time with Rahat's relatives. I went over to Rahat's sister's apartment several times. She is in her late 20s and has two kids. They are really cute and very well behaved. They have a really different relationship than kids in the US usually have. The six year old acts more like a mother for the two year old girl than a sister. Instead of fighting, she babies her sister and is always trying to help her. I found that this is usual in Kyrgyz families. The older siblings are taught to take care of the younger siblings while the younger kids are taught to respect and obey the older kids. Rahat, when he was four years old, was often left in charge of his baby brother while his mom ran short errands. The kids in Kyrgyzstan learn to be much more responsible than kids in the states.
I also had a lot of fun skiing yesterday. Rahat and I met up with the mother of one of my friends and we all went to a ski resort about 1 1/2 hours from Bishkek. Though it only had one lift, the lift took you up so high that it took about 1o minutes to ski to the bottom. The area where you can ski is also very wide, without any trees or barriers. The terrain is varied, with some areas of the mountain easy and others very steep. We had a great time skiing and hope to go back there a couple times a month.
On the way there, I was also able to see a very different part of Kyrgyzstan. Outside of Bishkek and the major cities, the country is sparsely populated. Sometimes, as you drive, there are no houses in sight. Just snowy plains and towering mountains. There are few trees in Kyrgyzstan, and most of the trees have been planted right along the roads to make the view more beautiful while driving. As you leave Bishkek, you also get to see where the wealthy people live. Most of Kyrgyzstan's rich live 20-30 minutes outside of Bishkek. They live in the gated communities in the mountains. We were able to see some of the homes of the rich as we drove. The rich people live in homes that would be considered large even by American standards You can also tell that there are a lot of new rich people too- probably 1/4 of the large homes are under construction.
I really like Kyrgyzstan's countryside more than Bishkek. Bishkek has everything you would expect from a city-numerous cafes, restaurants, night clubs, all types of shops, theaters, circuses, bazars, ect. However, it really isn't that pretty. There are few attractive buildings, since most of them were built during the soviet era. It lacks Russia's churches, which really brighten up every city. They are so ornate and you can almost always see when wherever you are in Moscow. So far, I haven't seen any churches in Bishkek. You can tell the people aren't very religious. I've only seen two tiny, plain mosques in Bishkek. They each consisted of only one room and were smaller than any church I have ever seen.
The countryside, however, makes up for the city. The mountains are gorgeous, and there are tons of animals milling about. It is just as common to see someone riding a horse or donkey cart as it is to see someone driving a car in the village. It's a much more economical and ecological way to get around here.
I'm excited for classes tomorrow. I'm going to have 6 credits of individual Russian tutoring, 6 credits of individual Kyrgyz language tutoring, and 3 credits of Central Asian history (my only group class).
I hope all is well with everyone at home!
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Kira
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Classes
I hope you don't get lonely with only one group class! :-) I love hearing about your adventures! Maybe I'll come visit you in Bishkek! Do you know if it's expensive to fly there?