14th Day, The Two Week Mark

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Day 14, July 8, 2009, Wednesday, Sharshembi:

A little hard to believe that I have been in Kyrgyzstan for two weeks, but the diary does not lie. I awoke early this morning with the rising sun pouring into the room where I sleep. It is on the front of the house on the lower level. And that is apparently the East, though when we pray we face the other direction. All of which runs counter to my native sense of direction. But it is going to be a bright sunshiny day with the attendant heat. Of course, since everyone sleeps late, it is hard to judge when the adventures for today will begin. One adventure has already begun. The coffee is not out where I can find it and has been put up somewhere. I have looked high and low in the kitchen, but it is not in a normal place, like up in a cabinet, or down in a cabinet, and not stuck into the refrigerator. Luckily, I purchased some instant cappuccino when we were at the grocery store yesterday and I located that. So, I am going to be sugared up and buzzing in about 5 minutes after one cup of it.

Last night after watching the movie, which turned out not to be about a good woman and a bad man, but rather a son's search for his worthless dad, and the son's maturing into a good man, the script needed work (See yesterday's entry about the film), we watched Russian MTV's coverage of the memorial and a salute to Michael Jackson. It will be interesting to see if sales of the catalogue of his music increase for awhile as people try to make sure they have digital copies of their favorite hits.
Then we had a very late dinner. Gulnara did not arrive home until almost 10 p.m. Ainura had prepared a beef short-rib stew with carrots and potatoes. It was very good. We had more watermelon, and they had me try a duck sausage and some white cheese that tasted like feta without the salt. I am to have more of the very tasty duck sausage for breakfast this morning.

After dinner, Timka and I watched a Russian dubbed Robocop on television, until he fell asleep and then went to bed. I watched until the movie was over. One of the most striking things about television here are the advertisements. Often they are for mobile telephone services that will send a message to your friend, or let you download music, or other things. There are very few if any for automobile dealers, furniture stores, food stores, clothing lines, or soft drink companies on television. There are lots of advertising signs on businesses. The soft drink companies, mobile phone companies, and banks often provide signage for businesses that have the name of the business on them, but have huge product placement as well.

Today, Timka and I are planning a walk in the neighborhood to get used to where we are and where we can go from here easily by foot. We are not a long way from the center of Bishkek, but we are out some. The taxi ride from downtown yesterday was about 70 Soms and we have paid between 70 and 100 Soms for the trips into the city center.

Another quick search found the coffee hiding behind something else in the cabinet. The cappuccino did its trick and woke up my brain enough so that I could find it.

It is possible that the day will turn out well after a shower, shave and a little meditation.

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Photos

Chickens on our Walk
Found the Source of the rooster crows early in the morning.

Timurlan
As we walked

Cal after the walk
In the Kitchen