jane's daily blahjane's daily blahThe ramblings and photographs of a world traveling hermit. Current location: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Articles
This was the last thing I needed...
2008-06-07 17:13:00 ...but I couldn't just leave it frantically running down the sidewalk mewing pathetically. More About: Pets , Thing
Rock, thefts and racism
2008-06-07 08:53:00 I didn?t write much about the rock festival that Katy and I went to last Saturday, as I was more concerned about my stolen wallet. (I?m still rather concerned about the loss of the drivers license, as according to the GA DMV website, you need to know your license number in order to replace it, and I don?t.) Anyway, as I mentioned in the post about the wallet, the sound quality at the rock festival was definitely sub-par. Even groups which we had heard before, which we knew normally sounded good (such as our friends in the band Cadillac), sounded terrible at this event. As such, I won?t bother wasting my time uploading any videos. I will, however, post some shots of Cadillac performing:While at the festival, we ran into Lyuba, a girl of 17 who is one of Katy?s former students. I told her how I?d just had my wallet stolen, and her reaction was, ?But you?re OK, right?? She then gestured to a vertical scar bisecting her lower lip and told me the following story:One night as she was walk... More About: Photography , Rock , Race , Central Asia , Racism
Advanced Opinions
2008-06-04 08:52:00 This month I?m back to teaching all lower level classes, although during April and May I taught an advanced class. It was loads of fun, as my students were actually able to share their opinions with me (as opposed to the lower level classes, where conversation revolves around simple questions like ?What did you do yesterday??). I?m really going to miss my advanced class. Anyway, here are some of the (unedited) answers they wrote on their exam; I thought you might be interested in their opinions.What is your opinion of the ?compensation culture? that has developed in America?In America it is very stupid I think. Because in some situation the person guilty by himself, not because floor is wet or coffee was very hot. People should be more careful. If I were a judge, I never decide that people should take money if they wasn?t be careful. But in our country, if you are say truth and you are right, unfortunately, to win in judge is very difficult. You must give bribes for a jury. But if y... More About: Opinions , Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan
Well it's June...
2008-06-04 08:46:00 ...and we still have running water, even though it's still cold. Additionally, for the past 3 nights, the power has stayed on ALL NIGHT! Are we returning to civilization?? More About: June , Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan
Boobs in Bishkek
2008-06-01 14:10:00 Okay, so this post isn?t actually about boobs or Bishkek, but I simply couldn?t resist the alliteration; this is actually a book review. One of the books Ben Jr brought with him to Kyrgyzstan was Revolution Baby, the story of Saffia Farr, the pregnant wife of a British government aid employee who moved to Kyrgyzstan when her husband was transferred here shortly before the 2005 ?Tulip Revolution? [wikipedia]. After reading the book?s back cover, I was excited to delve into this book, although both Ben and Katy warned me that I wouldn?t like it. And for the most part, they were right.See, Saffia Farr is VERY different from me and my friends, and her life ? even when she was living here in Bishkek ? is vastly different from my own. I had a tough time relating to her, or even to her version of life in Kyrgyzstan. She essentially spends the bulk of the book complaining about life in Bishkek, bitching about being unable to find a good place to get her legs waxed (!) and constantly remindi... More About: Book Review , Central Asia
Some fucker stole my wallet
2008-05-31 18:37:00 Katy and I went to a rock festival today. It was sort of a "battle of the bands" kind of thing, a competition between rock groups from different local universities. Our friends who have their own band were playing, so we went. The festival wasn't that great, mainly because the sound equipment was so bad that even the groups that were good sounded terrible. However, it was a beautiful day, and we had a good time hanging out with the guys and people-watching. Unfortunately, on our way to the festival, we took a marshrutka. These are notorious places for theives, so I'm always pretty careful with my things. I had my wallet in the outer pocket of my backpack - which was a pretty horrible place for it - but, I was holding tight to the zipper so no one could get into it. Then the marshrutka swerved suddenly, knocking me of balance, and I let go of my bag just long enough to grab the bar and steady myself. My hand was off it for about ten, maybe fifteen seconds... and yep, it got snagged... More About: Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan , Wallet
????? ????? (seerum est?)
2008-05-29 17:20:00 Across the street from the school is a samsa stand, where nearly every day I buy a lovely, flaky, buttery pastry filled with cheese. This is known as a ????? ? ????? (samsa with cheese), or simply "?????" for short. Every day I go to this stand and ask, "????? ?????" (Do you have cheese?) because sometimes they've sold out of cheese, and other times the bazaars aren't carrying the cheese they use. The stand is run by a woman and her son, who is probably about 12 years old. The woman has always been friendly, but it took a while for her son to warm up to me, although now he always grins from ear to ear when he sees me. Anyway, a little after 9pm, I was walking to the internet cafe (where I am currently sweating away as their AC is broken and this place has no ventilation), when I heard a shy voice say, "????? ?????" I turned around and there were the boy and his mother, on their way home, grinning profusely at seeing me in some other context. Totally made my day. Now I'm going to ... More About: Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan
Field Trip to Ala Archa
2008-05-26 13:27:00 I went to Ala Archa National Park, just south of Bishkek, back in March with Austin, Kevin and Ben Sr. While the scenery was spectacular, the day was overcast, dreary and cold. In contrast, this past Sunday was warm, sunny and gorgeous. The school decided to take whichever students and teachers were interested to Ala Archa for the day. This wasn?t an English studying excursion, simply a fun in the wilderness kind of day. We chartered a bus for the event, although our bus was... interesting. About halfway to Ala Archa, before we even started to climb in the mountains, some of the students sitting in the back of the bus began to panic and run to the front. Smoke was billowing up into the bus from underneath. The driver pulled over and went and fiddled around under the back of the bus for a while, then we continued on. As our road started to climb, he had to repeat this several times. Luckily, we did make it to our destination.The last time I went to Ala Archa, we followed the road/tra... More About: Photography , Central Asia , Trip , Kyrgyzstan , Field
Further adventures at Dordoi Bazaar
2008-05-26 13:10:00 I really cannot ever go back to Dordoi ever again. I am hardly what one would call a shopaholic; in fact, I?m usually pretty cheap. Unfortunately, markets and bazaars just break down my resolve. My previous (and first) trip to Dordoi Bazaar netted me three ridiculous and utterly impractical pairs of shoes. Afterwards I swore that I?d never go back. Apparently I lied.Last Saturday Katy and I went to Dordoi for the purpose of buying black sandals. I made a point of bringing enough money to cover black sandals, lunch and transportation, figuring that way the massive amount of temptation would be rendered nonexistent. Unfortunately, Katy brought plenty of extra cash and kept saying, ?I can pay for it and you can just pay me back.? Really, I can never go there ever again; my salary is too small for this nonsense. But check out what I got, as it?s awesome :-)What I went there for in the first place...Some lovely balls to decorate the kitchen...How 'bout them apples?And obviously I had to... More About: Central Asia , Adventures , Kyrgyzstan
Café Nooruz (???? ??????)
2008-05-25 16:25:00 Café Nooruz was, until quite recently, my favorite restaurant in Bishkek. Despite its not entirely stunning ambiance, the lagman (a Kyrgyz noodle soup) and shashlik (meat on a stick) was fabulous. Additionally, the fact that it?s located directly across the street from the school means that we go there all the time. And did I mention that it?s super cheap?The other night, a group of us went there, as we so often do, and promptly ordered mutton shashlik. Soon four skewers of meat arrived at our table, sizzling, fatty chunks of meat, obviously fresh from the grill. Equally obvious was the fact that this meat was by no means mutton.In many tales I?ve read over the years of visits made by Westerners to the Soviet Union and later to its former republics, I?ve encountered numerous descriptions of ?unidentifiable meat? ? but in all such tales the ?meat? in question has been processed beyond the point of recognition: not only is the species unidentifiable, but whether or not the substance i... More About: Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan
Want to live and work in Korea?
2008-05-21 13:27:00 Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I spent 13 months teaching English in Daegu, South Korea . Anyway, the school where I taught is currently looking for a new teacher, as one of their teachers will be returning to the US in a couple of months. It's a great place to work and I highly recommend it. If any of you are interested, please leave me a message and I will get back to you with the details. More About: Education , Work , Live
Candlestick where?!?
2008-05-18 05:11:00 Yesterday, when I was in Ramstor (yes, I know...) looking for candles, I came across a candle-holder which drew my attention. Now, here in Kyrgyzstan I generally wouldn't waste money on something as extravagant as a candle-holder. But it involved a lime green frog, and I thought it was cute enough to pick up and take a look at... Then I turned it over to check the price, and saw something which immediately made me decide to buy it, just so I could take the below photo: More About: Miscellany
We didn?t need that hot water anyway...
2008-05-17 08:53:00 Years ago, when developing their infrastructure, the Soviets decided that hot water would be distributed to everyone from a central source; no one would have their own water heater in their home. Unfortunately, a system as vast as one which supplies piping hot water to the masses must be closed periodically for maintenance. In Russia, they usually do it by region; one neighborhood loses hot water for a week, then regains it as the workers move to a different region of the city. Here in Bishkek, they simply shut off the hot water to the entire city for a full month. The hot water went away last Monday, and there are rumors that the hot water will be off not for a mere month, but until September. Boiled water bucket showers, headscarves (my solution to unwashed hair) and stinky people ? woohoo!There are a lot of rumors about water flying about these days. My student who is a plumber (one might assume he would be in the know regarding such matters) has heard that ALL WATER in Bishkek w... More About: Central Asia , Water , Kyrgyzstan
The most wonderful/evil place in Bishkek
2008-05-11 09:58:00 Just north of the city is a huge market called Dordoi. I put off going there for over four months because I knew exactly what would happen: More About: Evil , Place , Kyrgyzstan , Wonderful
Thoughts on Language Acquisition
2008-05-10 13:46:00 I was talking to someone the other day (I forget who), and this individual brought up the fact that Condoleeza Rice?s Russia n is ?so bad.? This person thought it was reprehensible that someone who studied Russian in university spoke the language so poorly. But the thing is, I completely understand.In order to maintain one?s foreign language abilities, one must constantly practice and study. I received my BA in Russian in 2001. At that time, my spoken Russian, while not fluent, was pretty damn good. However, from Summer 2001 to Summer 2005, I neither practiced nor studied Russian. Additionally, during that time I made two extensive trips to South Korea, traveled all over Costa Rica, and lived in Southern California within walking distance of the Mexican border. By the time I returned to Russia in August 2005, my Russian skills had greatly diminished; I spoke something I referred to as Spanglorusskikonglish.I was in Russia from August 2005 through June 2006, during which time my Russi... More About: Education , Thoughts , Language , Kyrgyzstan
Anton?s (? ??????)
2008-05-09 13:14:00 There?s a bar located just around the corner from the school. We would never have found it had one of the local staff not taken us there one night. Before we left she told us, ?You will be afraid. But don?t worry.? In order to reach Anton?s, first you walk through a wrought-iron gate into what appears to be a private courtyard. You walk nearly all the way to the back of the courtyard, then enter through a doorway on the right. There is no sign indicating that you?re entering a public establishment. At this point you go down a dimly lit staircase which leads to a long, winding, tunnel-like hallway. Eventually you emerge into a slightly dank basement containing a smoke-filled café/bar that simply reeks of atmosphere. This place is awesome. For some reason it?s decorated in a mountain climbing theme, but with periodic additions of masks, ranging from scary monsters to fencing masks. There?s both karaoke and a piano. Anton, the owner is a nice guy, and his mother is the chef. The fried ... More About: Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan
Adventures on the far side of Issyk-Kul
2008-05-07 09:50:00 (As usual, there are only a few photos below. To see the full set, CLICK HERE. They're not quite in order, unfortunately. After spending four hours in the internet cafe, I just couldn't take it any more.)Bright and early last Thursday morning, Kimberly, Ben Jr and I took a taxi to the airport to pick up Sara B (who works at the American Home in Vladimir where I used to work) and her friend Sasha. Apparently, Sara had been on the way to the train station when she bumped into her friend. Being a rather spontaneous type, as soon as she learned that Sara was going to Kyrgyzstan , she decided to buy a plane ticket there and then and join her! We picked them up and had our driver take us to the Western Bus Station, where we caught a marshrutka to Karakol. The good thing about the marshrutka was that it was only 250soms ($7) per person. The bad thing was that it was terribly cramped. Not as cramped as the inner-city marshrutki, but it wasn?t exactly comfortable. I was seated next to a win... More About: Photography , Central Asia , Adventures , Side
Because I'm waiting for some podcasts to download....
2008-05-04 19:55:00 I've been tagged by Adeline... so here goes :-)1) What was I doing 10 years ago? Early May 1998, I was studying for my final exams of my second semester as a Freshman at Sewanee. I was also preparing to move to Gainesville, FL for the summer.2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order): Um, as it's nearly midnight, let's talk about tomorrow:1. Check if the vet is open (tomorrow is a holiday) and if so, take Lucy to the vet. She has a terrifying mouth infection.2. Edit my photos from Karakol 3. Plan lessons for Tuesday4. Go to Shmel (the fast internet cafe that recently opened up near my house; where I am now)5. Buy a cheese samsa. Yum.3) Snacks I enjoy: 1. Beer cheese. (Salted/smoked string cheese)2. Chocolate. Preferably dark. Possibly flavored with brandy.3. TRISCUITS. Man do I miss them.4. Cheese samsas4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: 1. Establish a non-profit animal rescue2. Travel to as many places as possible3. Buy a 1979 Volvo ... More About: Podcasts , Download , Miscellany , Waiting
Back from Karakol
2008-05-04 19:46:00 I'm back in Bishkek after 4 days in Karakol... only one day of spring break left, then it's back to the daily grind. I'll have photos and stories of our adventures up as soon as possible. More About: Back
The Kyrgyz Pavaratti?
2008-04-30 10:27:00 This is from last weekend, but I've only just now gotten around to uploading all the video clips necessary for this post. Last Sunday was the 25th anniversary performance of ??????? ?????????? (Stalbek Almasbekov), the premier opera singer of Kyrgyzstan . He's also the father of one of my former students. This student now studies with Matthew, and decided to invite both of us to his father's performance. We received free tickets and prime seats in the fifth row, center. Too bad I'm rather a philistine and not all that big into opera. Anyway, while I'm ertainly no judge of operatic quality, he seemed to be an exceptional singer. I took numerous photos (below), although since it *was* opera after all, I took some videos as well, and have uploaded three short clips to YouTube. The show consisted of two abridged operas, ???????? ????? (Village Honor) and ????? (Pagliacci).Stalbek Almasbekov sings Village HonorStalbek Almasbekov sings Village HonorStalbek Almasbekov sings Village Hon...
In which I go to Kochkor and get ridiculously sunburnt
2008-04-29 09:28:00 [As often happens here, I took way too many pictures this weekend to post all of them on my blog. Only a small handful appear below. To see the complete set please CLICK HERE.]This week is our Spring Break, and as such, most of us are going on various travels around Kyrgyzstan . I had planned to spend three days in Kochkor, wandering about, trying to find and ride Bitchy Horse. Katy?s friend Carolyn flew in from Germany on Thursday, and soon they, plus Ben Junior and Matthew, had decided to join me in Kochkor. I was the only one who spent two nights in Kochkor; Ben and Matthew returned to Bishkek Sunday afternoon, and Katy and Carolyn set off for Karakol on Sunday morning. I returned to Bishkek Monday afternoon. That?s the short version. Here?s the long one:We left for the Zapodny Avtovokzal (the western bus station) at around 9am on Saturday morning, and less than five minutes into our taxi ride, I began to feel carsick. This happens to me quite often, although very rarely does it o... More About: Photography , Central Asia
En vino veritas
2008-04-21 17:54:00 I am not going to tell the full story of what befell us on Saturday night, as the story itself isn?t really mine for the telling. My role was peripheral, and as such, my coverage of the events shall be as well.My friends had decided to spend another evening out at the rock club Zeppelin; however, as we?d been there the night before, and as I was feeling decidedly head-coldy following my walk-n-ride, I decided to stay home. After a couple of hours sobbing my way through Battlestar Galactica reruns (in preparation for my attempt to acquire parts of season 4), followed by a few minutes of escapist mystery reading, the power went out. No surprise there; it?s been going out every evening around midnight. I figured that was a sign that I should go to bed. Not five minutes later, a loud ruckus from the courtyard convinced me that perhaps I should be out and about.Let?s just say that a former Kyrgyz friend of ours had imbibed way too much, causing him to turn into an angry, belligerent mons... More About: Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan , Vino , Veritas
A free ride?
2008-04-21 17:33:00 Saturday afternoon, despite the beginnings of a head cold, I decided that the day was too beautiful to spend indoors. I walked south along towards Sovietskaya, in the direction of Park Pobedy in order to see what I could find. Along my way, I took some more Lada pics, a shot of the vet clinic where I got Lucy spayed, and a nice shot of an alleyway, just west of Sovietskaya.This is my vet clinic.It's located in the basement of this building.More Lada goodness :-)And they do come in colors other than green and orange...One thing I love about Bishkek is that when you get a block off of a main street, it's like you're in a rural village.When I reached Park Pobedy, I decided to continue following Sovietskaya (or whatever name the street takes on at that point) southwards, past the park. Just after I passed the southern boundary of Park Pobedy, I crossed Sovietskaya and entered a grassy area, filled with sheep.Sheep!More sheep! (It was kind of garbagy, but unlike the cow in Naryn, they... More About: Photography , Free , Ride , Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan
More Cat Butt Pillow
2008-04-21 17:26:00 Grey Cat isn't picky about whose butt she uses for a pillow.Sometimes heads are OK too.This is a crap photo, but that's because all three of them were in a pile on top of me when I took it! More About: Pets , Pillow , Kyrgyzstan , Butt
a crazy weekend just passed....
2008-04-20 16:44:00 ...and I'll write about it when I have time. Which might not be until Wednesday. More About: Crazy , Weekend
More pictures and some car lust
2008-04-16 15:40:00 Tan (???) is the most wonderful beverage in the world. The best way to describe it, however, makes it sound rather awful: it's like watery, carbonated buttermilk. Trust me, though, it's delicious. Buy it if you ever get the chance. The above bottle of tan is dill-flavored. I was worried it would be disgusting, but it's even more delicious than regular tan. I've been downing at least a liter a day. Awesomeness.This gigantic statue of Frunze (wikipedia entry) is located just across the street from the Bishkek train station. He sits atop an eerily anatomically correct horse. You can't tell from this shot, though.Bishkek train station - obviously taken facing the sun, sorry.More train station. Too bad the Kyrgyz train system is so... truncated.I want to buy an old green or orange Lada or Moskvich.I've been stalking them around the city.Moskvich #1Still Moskvich #1Moskvich #2More Moskvich #2A Lada. I think.Lada #2 ("parallel parked" a good car's width from the curb)Yum, more Lada. More About: Pictures , Photography , Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan , Lust
Miscellaneous imagery
2008-04-13 08:38:00 What do you do in Bishkek when the power goes out?Take cool candle photos, of course!The official map of Bishkek only labels two religious facilities: the Orthodox Cathedral I photographed last week, and an Islamic Mosque. (Of course there are more than two, but as I gather it, these are the main ones.) Yesterday I decided to check out the mosque. I was hoping for something equal in splendor to the Orthodox Cathedral, but I was rather disappointed: all concrete and tin. I only took one photo, and it wasn't even all that great. I felt rather conspicuous, and wanted to hurry things up so I wouldn't seem offensive.See what I mean? Concrete and tin.Meanwhile, I found this ironic. The sign reads:For the dumping of trash there is a fine of 1000 somsLikewise. Sigh.Last night we went to Zeppelin, one of the few rock clubs in Bishkek.Cadillac, the band whose members we know, was one of three groups who played.Me and Young Ben drinking beer, before they ran out of beer-on-tap.Katy and Alyso... More About: Photography , Central Asia , Kyrgyzstan , Imagery
A JPG theme! Please vote :-)
2008-04-11 07:32:00 I know I've been promoting Everywhere Magazine a lot lately (it's a travel photography mag, how can I not?) Anyway, JPG Magazine and Everywhere are put out by the same people, and, a you might remember, I was into JPG long before Everywhere was even thought of (despite the fact that I've yet to be published in JPG... sigh.) Anyway, one of the themes over at JPG right now is "creature" - No, Youngmee, I didn't include that shot of you; no-one but the AH crew would get it :-) Anyway, I've submitted the picture below. I'd love your vote. Just click here or on the picture! More About: Photography , Korea , Vote , Theme
A present from Ayana
More articles from this author:2008-04-11 07:12:00 This is Ayana. She's the daughter of one of the local teachers who works at the school... and she loves cats. (Also, for those interested, Lucy's had her stitches taken out and seems to be doing quite well, although she has what appears to be an abnormal amount of scar tissue where she was spayed.) Anyway, yesterday Ayana brought me a present she had made for my cats: a box full of grass, leaves, flowers, pieces of bread and a plastic "pond" for them to drink out of. The cats loved it. More About: Pets , Central Asia , Present , Kyrgyzstan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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