Fajita Night KG

Sunday, 3 August 2003
You can go anywhere in the world and get drunk, and the following day’s hangover is always the same.  So it is that I spent most of today, actually all of today, recovering from one of the more popular pastimes here in Kyrgyzstan … getting piss drunk.  Last night started out innocently enough with me preparing one of my favorite western dishes for my family … fajitas.  Mama always does the cooking in the house, usually with a little prep help from the brothers, so I thought it would be nice gesture to take the task off her hands for the evening and let her relax.  I probably fractured some major local custom by doing so, but Aza assured me that it was a nice gesture.  After spending an hour in the Beta Store (local large grocery chain) and walking down every aisle three or four times, I managed to find a few of the ingredients necessary for my feast.  Meat, of some sort, cheese, red and green peppers, onions and tomatoes rounded out the menu.  Of course, I failed to find most of the major components, such as tortillas, avocados and sour cream, though I did find a few jars of hot and mild salsa.  A funny thing happened when I order the meat as well, as I had to order 3 kilograms of meat, which amounts to about 6.6 pounds.  The lady looked at me funny and probably suspected that I had either miscalculated the conversion or mispronounced my Russian “three”.  I assured her that I indeed needed 3kg, and after receiving my payload, I too began to doubt my calculations.  As it turned out, I had just the right amount of meat for seven hearty Kyrgyz eaters.

Acclimating KG

Thursday, 31 July 2003
This makes two straight days of writing, which I must admit is something of an anomaly.  It seems, however, that because of ample amount of sleep I had earlier this week, due to a fairly severe head and chest cold, I am again up and wired.  I have been told that Bishkek is called the greenest city in Central Asia, and if the abundant overgrowth throughout the city is not enough to convince you, then my allergies will.  I have been sneezing crazy since I arrived, and combined with two weeks of breaking in the local pubs, stresses of adapting to a new culture, and immunizing my body to local microorganisms, my body final had enough and laid me out for two straight days.  No worry, though, as Sudafed and Tylenol PM have helped me through the trauma, and it seems that now, everything is A-O-K.

Arriving in Bishkek KG

Orientation

Wednesday, 30 July 2003
It has now been two weeks since I arrived in Bishkek , Kyrgyzstan, and to say the least, my assignment with the MBA Enterprise Corps has not been uneventful.  Our assignment actually began in Washington, DC, with a 3-day orientation where all Central Asia volunteers met, mingled and participated in team building exercises.  In addition to the nights in “Reggie’s Bar” inside the Hotel Lombardi where we stayed, the volunteers also spent a day participating in a ropes course, where we were responsible for testing our ability to work cohesively.  We passed with flying colors, but given the “touchy feely” attitude of the camp directors, I have to assume he tells every team this.  As it was, the weekend was a great way to get to know the other volunteers, not to mentioned determining what everyone’s fears were.

Introduction - Kyrgyzstan