There and Back Again

 Salut,

So for whatever reason, I’ve decided to reread the Harry Potter books, which I’ve read over fifty times, and going to Almaty donned in my Slytherin green and silver scarf added to the appeal. While in Almaty, I also completed my card collection, and I now have a deck of cards for each Hogwarts House!

Happy New Year! The last week of December was full of lots of nothing and a mix of plans and schedules. Classes were tests and review and last minute cleaning. I had my students also make snowflakes! The school had large public celebrations for New Year, though it’s eerily similar to Christmas with the decorated Christmas tree, reindeer, and Santa Claus imagery. The snow is fully gone, which is a huge shame. It briefly briefly snowed right before I went on vacation, and I’m hoping it snows again soon. Before I left, we had a large celebration in the city and threw back some cognac which was alright and danced too many hours into the night.

I arrived in Bishkek on December 31st, which I was sad about because it was entirely my fault. I mistakenly waited until the last minute to buy plane tickets to go to Bishkek from Osh, and by the time my leave was approved by Peace Corps, tickets were sold out on January 2, our anticipated departure date to Almaty. The New Year's period is extremely slow due to people celebrating at home, so I had to settle for one last ticket on the 31st to make it. Getting from Jalal Abad to Bishkek, the capital, is still such a huge headache and long. In the winter, I am very suspicious of taking a car to the capital, the cheaper but much much longer option (8-10 hour drive versus 45-minute flight) due to wintery roads, and Baktygul says that the roads through the center of the country carry lots of cargo (think big 18 wheelers) and prone to accidents.

Regardless, I got to be in Bishkek for New Year's. There was a grand party in Ala-Too Square, with the glorious Christmas tree and a concert going on. A little pop-up Christmas market like the one I saw in Osh, with vendors selling coffee, hot chocolate, popcorn, and various toys for kids. I stayed in an Inn for two nights until the 2nd.

Bishkek on the 1st of January was harrowing in the morning. I’d never seen the city completely empty, but I found it relaxing (despite my attempts to find food). For the morning, the whole city was shut (not even Christmas is entirely shut down, which I suspect comes from the limited holidays Kyrgyzstan celebrates and this being the prime time to spend with families). 

The last time I went to Almaty at the beginning of December I went by plane because it was faster (though more expensive). This time, I went with friends and we took a bus from the Bishkek bus station. Much to our dismay, we accidentally bought bus tickets for 6 pm instead of the 2 pm ones we intended. We stayed a bit longer in Bishkek, and we were able to land on the same bus as other fellow volunteers heading to Georgia. This winter break, half the cohort was traveling in or through Almaty (Almaty is a major air transit hub to get to South Asia and Eastern Europe where others were heading). The bus fare was cheap. At the border, which is quite close to Bishkek, you have to unload, cross the border on foot, get stamped on exiting and entering, and then meet the bus on the other side. I had never crossed a border on foot before, so that was a fun experience! The drive is approximately 45 minutes to the border, and then 2.5-3 hours to the Almaty bus station. 

I chose a Booking apartment in the center of the city for seven of us (and it ended up only being 43/44$ per person for four nights, so only 10-11$ per person per night which I think was a steal considering we weren’t in a hostel). The owner only spoke Russian so I had to use lots of Google Translate. My Russian hasn’t improved at all, unfortunately. The first night, we arrived in Almaty super late and Door Dashed (or here in Central Asia, we Yandexed) Burger King (Yandex is like Google, and it acts as Uber, Door Dash, Google Maps, and Google Translate, amongst other things). I really missed Burger King. 

On our first full day, I would say we had a pleasant and surprisingly spiritually enlightening day? The Almaty Metro is gorgeous, large, and clean, and we took it (got lost a bit too). The city is sprawling and huge compared to Bishkek (Tashkent is actually the largest city in central Asia, Almaty is 2 million and Bishkek is 1 million). We went to the Central Mosque, and by accident got a private English-guided tour of it from a local Arabic teacher who worked there. It was lovely, and we got to witness the call to prayer (Azan) around lunchtime. 

Afterward, we ate a late Italian Lunch at Mamma Mias and then went to Zentkov’s Cathedral. I went to the cathedral with my mother last time in December, but this time, we also happened to walk in during a service. I studied art history in high school and college and was very interested in the contrast between the Central Mosque’s stylized calligraphy and the gold and intense iconography of the Orthodox church. The fact that we got to witness services in both the mosque and the cathedral added to the day. 

There’s this famous hotel in Almaty that on the top floor has an expensive restaurant with a panoramic view of the city. We just had drinks there, and then we left and had Indian food at a Shakespeare pub??? I, not in the mood at the time for Indian food, asked for penne pasta, and the waitress warned me it was very spicy. I’ve learned that in Central Asia spices are nonexistent and was unsurprised when it was completely not spicy. Unlike Bishkek, Almaty doesn’t have a center Christmas tree or an equivalent of Ala-Too Square, but there were some lovely promenades. 

On our second day, we went up to Medeu, an ice skating rink famous for being the highest rink (elevation-wise) in Central Asia (and possibly the world). We went at a spectacularly busy time, but the mountain view was glorious. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to ski, as we didn’t really have the time, but we went up to the Shumbylak mountain resort after skating. I’m a decent ice skater, I try to do it every year. Jacob’s village has an ice skating rink! I want to get better at skating. We ended up going up the mountain fairly late, so we were able to ascend while it was light and then come down in the dark.

Unfortunately for us, we came when it was between the afternoon and late-night skiing shifts, so we were wedged between large crowds of people outside. The top of the mountain was probably -8 degrees Celsius, so we got up there, took some photos, and dipped because of how late it was. Then our toes froze as we waited to go down. (Our friend Tess was waiting for us to go to dinner, and Naoni told her we’d be down within 1.5 hours. Zach, who has lived in Almaty before, laughed and said we wouldn’t be down for at least 3-4 hours… which ended up being slightly true). 

January is the birthday month for my cohort of volunteers (there are four and 3 are within the same week), so this whole vacation was to celebrate them. Alex had his on the 4th, Vanessa on the 6th, and then Tess on the 7th. We ate at a Korean restaurant for Alex’s birthday, and then we went out to a bar. I didn’t get the best sleep while in Almaty, but to be honest, I don’t think I expected much better. On our third and last day, I went to the Green Bazaar which is Almaty’s indoor bazaar (most bazaars I’ve been to are half outside, half inside, the inside usually being shipping containers). I got some old postcards of Almaty from the Soviet era which was super cool. I met Naoni at the art museum in the city. I learned she’s a huge art fan, so we geeked out over discussing our interpretations of the pieces 😀. I went shopping at Meloman, a large (and expensive) 24/7 game/art store, where I got the playing cards I mentioned at the beginning. I also got an absurd amount of candy and some stuff for Baktygul and my family. We also went to the Rakhat chocolate factory, where I bought some cheap good chocolate (that is currently gone, eaten by my family). 

I visited the Museum of Musical Instruments next to the cathedral, and later in the evening, I went to a Mexican bar with Jacob, where we had some actually spicy nachos, thank god!We departed Almaty back to Bishkek, where we celebrated Tess’ birthday. We ate more Indian food, befriended a dude at a Bubble Tea place, and had a very clean and new modern apartment. Every time I’m in Bishkek, I am trying to go to a new inn/apartment/hostel to find the best place. We spent a ton of time in Bishkek Park for her birthday, and Naoni helped me fix my hair, which had been a rat nest for weeks. For Tess’ present, she was allowed to shave Jacob, which she has a mean knack for apparently. We had a large dinner at an expensive Japanese place, where we met up with her PST host family members and also some other volunteers in Bishkek. We also had a large dance party at our apartment afterward. On my last day in Bishkek, I went to Osh Bazaar (yes, it’s called Osh Bazaar but is not the Osh Bazaar in Osh), where I bought more presents for my host family. We ate at Imperial Pizza, a franchise where I first ate back in Kant during PST back in the summer). 

We met up with some Fulbrighters at a Thai restaurant. There are 7 (?) Fulbright fellows in Kyrgyzstan from the US, and we met three of them, one living in Bishkek, and two in Naryn the other Naryn PC volunteers are friends with. It was so interesting to speak and talk with them (as someone interested in Fulbright) and also to contrast their experiences with ours, as they’re very different. They are here just for a year, make a lot more money than we do, live alone without host families and in major cities, not villages, and get significantly less training (some come in with significant Russian or Kyrgyz skills, others none at all) and are also bound to a lot less rules than we are. We finally all also got to see the Christmas Tree again (I hadn’t gone with friends before) and got to meet some of Alex’s host family (HF) who live in Bishkek and bought us corn kebabs. 

I returned to my site late into the evening on the 9th. On the 10th, though, I went with Baktygul to my district center, Suzak, where there was a large teacher conference for English teachers. Unfortunately, they didn’t choose a particularly good classroom, as it was full to the brim with as many as 20 teachers standing outside. I also found it incredibly boring, as firstly, listening for more than 20 minutes of someone speaking straight Kyrgyz wears on my brain, and it was also only one person lecturing like 70 of us teachers. Baktygul and I ate lagman and then got some school supplies from the city before we went back. 

I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and cleaning before I headed to Osh on the 11th. We had a two-day conference, run by the PSN (Peer Support Network). The PSN is a group of other volunteers whose jobs are to provide aid and support to volunteers living in Kyrgyzstan (mostly mental health-related). So this conference was for coping strategies for living in Kyrgyzstan and for volunteers in the South (in the North, all the volunteers went to Kara Kol in Issyk Kyl). I was a bit jealous that the North had so many (it was 24 in the North versus 11 in the South). Among other things, we hiked up Suleiman Too mountain and also went to the bazaars (before and after training sessions, of course). 

In the evening, we had game nights, where I became obsessed with playing Monopoly with a small go version Tess bought from Almaty. I lost the first night after caving and going to bed and giving my properties to everyone else. I’ve always been meh about playing Monopoly because growing up, I would play with my great uncle, and it would take *days* to finish, as we would play in hour increments and my grandmother would pass us extra money under the table if we were about to go bankrupt, delaying the finish.

Nevertheless, I had a great comeback the second night and placed second behind Santi after a five-hour-long game, the last half hour or so just him and I. There were secret illicit dealings made, marriages proposed to settle debts and unite properties and money, and contracts written up and signed; it was all very dramatic of us. 

After all, was said and done, I ended up spending lots of money, eating lots and lots of good food, speaking more English than I would have liked to, listening to lots and lots of Nathan Wagner angsty music, shivering more than I cared to, and collected tons of beautiful memories and photos amongst my favorite people. I believe that out here your life is composed of three things that form a triangle: your school, your community/host family, and yourself (your motivation) with friends/support network back home. If one thrives, that can keep you here and what you lean on when stuff gets tough. At least one needs to be good. If all three fail, then it falls and crumbles like a house and it’s difficult to keep going (I thought of that after Frank left). Continuously after I talk more and more with other volunteers, I feel so blessed to be with an endlessly sweet host family, a kind counterpart, and with strong friendships and family back home (and my sister who has been sending me updates on her wedding planning!). 

À Bientôt,

Grace

Music

1. Angels vs Demons- Nathan Wagner
2. Innocence- Nathan Wagner
3. Nightmare- Nathan Wagner
4. In the Stars- Benson Boone
5. Dancing in the Dark- Bastille
6. Depression- Nathan Wagner
7. The Kill- Nathan Wagner
8. Psychopath- Nathan Wagner
9. Snowman- Sia