Blogs from Osh, Kyrgyzstan, Asia

Day 24, July 19, 2009, Sunday, Jekshembi: So, the schedule did get worked out and we bought a ticket on Kyrgyz Airline to return me to Bishkek today. That meant that most of yesterday was full of goodbyes including a visit in the late afternoon to the home of Amariam for an afternoon meal including a sheep's head. Amariam and I talked about what it takes to get accepted at an American University. She is preparing to take the TOEFL here and the SAT exam as she graduates. Her English is very good, with only an occasional difficulty. She would like to work in an business where her abilities as a translator would be useful. In addition to the sheep's head, the meal consisted of a rib for each of us, a salad called mother's tongue ... read more

Day 21, July 16, 2009, Thursday, Beishembi: I got home about 10 pm from yesterday's adventure into the heart of Southern Kyrgyzstan and the village of Aidarken. I was exhausted from the travel and the experiences and went straight to bed after unloading a bag full of goodies from the afternoon-long-into-the-sunset-dinner at the home of Faruh's wife's family. Travel to Aidarken was with Faruh's brother-in-law and his wife and baby, Mustafa. Faruh's brother-in-law studied theology for 10 years at Al-Azhar in Cairo and he works in the foundation that represents the ideas of Fetullah Gullen in Kyrgyzstan. Given the large number of phone calls during the day, I would say that he is in a fairly important position with the Young foundation. There are offices in Bishkek and in Osh that have been pointed out to ... read more

Day 19, July 14, 2009, Tuesday, Sheishembi: The day yesterday was interesting, Marat woke me about 6 am as planned and told me that I should have breakfast and we would head out to climb the stairs of the mountain to a Museum in a cave at the top of Soloman's Throne, or Suleman's Throne. The rock is a promontory of jagged mountain that dominates the Osh skyline. It sits more or less in the center of the city. From the observation area about half-way up you can look out over all of the city of Osh. Last year when I was here in late July, I was unable to climb the steps due to being even more overweight than I am now, and the fact that the temperature had hit 104 degrees and it was ... read more

Day 18, July 13, 2009, Monday, Duishombu: The day has begun in Osh with the sound of “Allah Ahkbar” issuing from the minarets of the local mosques. It is was unusual to hear the sound at a little before 5 am this morning, since I have not heard it once in Bishkek or in Lake Issy-Kul. And there was something comforting about hearing the call to prayer in a country that while run by a secular government, is predominately Islamic in its belief structures. The day promises to be one of other surprises and revelations, I am sure. I have been to Osh twice before, but on the typical run and shoot visit that marks much of my travels with Emil. We would whisk into town on our way to another destination, manage a meal, pickup ... read more

Yes, for anyone who is wondering, we are still alive. Lack of internet cafe's and lack of patience on dial-up connections has contributed to our long silence! We have been in Kyrgyzstan since August 27th. It's a beautiful country with lots of mountains and fresh air. The country is not heavily populated and doesn't have big cities so we've been camping quite a bit. Pictures are not working for us right now... The application will not load properly. Maybe later we'll be able to upload some files... Tomorrow we leave for Uzbekistan. Another adventure! Here are some of the things we have been up to: Our first wedding anniversary... September 1st was our first wedding anniversary! For those dying to know how we celebrated, it was not in a fancy hotel with clean clothes. ;-) On ... read more