Things to Note in Kyrgyzstan

I think I might be at the point at which I’ve been here too long (it’s almost a year and a half). I’m finding the quantity of things I notice about the city, people, and culture is less than it used to be. It might be that I no longer have a family to live among and write about, it might be that Bishkek is less interesting than the regions, it might be that I don’t have enough of a life outside of work, or it might be that I’m losing my sense of perception as the unique aspects of life in Kyrygzstan became routine to me.

A colleague recently moved here from Bulgaria and complained about how dark the streets are.

“Dark?” I asked. “I can see a light,” I said, looking out the café window. Of course, I can remember back to when I first moved to Bishkek and I also found it dark. But now, compared to the true blackness of Osh, Bishkek is a bright, vibrant and orderly city to me.

So, if anyone chances to be reading this and there is anything you are interested about in Kyrgyzstan, please ask me and I’ll make an effort to take note and write about those issues.

One interesting little rumor floating through the air is that people are expecting another revolution on the one year anniversary (March 24th) of last year’s revolution. I don’t put much stock in it, but it’s common enough that at a recent training, people were discussing a future event and someone casually commented, “Oh good, that’s before the 24th, before the next revolution is expected.”