Central Asia: Hello from the Future

Yes, I'm 10est/11central/12pacific ahead of you here in Kyrgyzstan and the weather is great: crisp but nice. After a week, jetlag is wearing off, but the tiredness that comes from everything being new hasn't. I have a bit of double cultural difference since I'm living with (very wonderful) Brits. We have tea instead of dinner and there is Marmite in the fridge, but most of the differences that catch me off guard are the ones I can't articulate. Even with those, though, they've really helped me feel at home.


Double Take--  Out and about most everyone is Kyrgyz, that is, they look Asian, with a few Russians mixed in. I have the odd experience of forgetting I look any different until a particularly Germanic, American-dressed white person walks by and I think 'oh they look like me!' and remember what I look like. I try to dress the part by wearing alot of black, skinny jeans and black boots like the stylish young locals. It seems like Hong Kong mixed with Moscow, with Asian bubushkas and old Kyrgyz men in their high felt hats, until you see the surroundings. Then it reminds me of Berlin--apartment building-lined avenues-- but leafy and more run down. Everything seems just a bit worn and uncoordinated, nothing matches, design is bad, because prices are the same as the States, but everyone makes less.

Aslan's Country-- Running in the mornings down by the dry canal I see yarrow, rose bushes, poplar trees and stray dogs. One of the high-walled expensive homes has chickens out back, then further there's an abandoned lot & old gas tanks. On the other side are the botanical gardens, where most people run and walk, but it's so over grown you can't see the high mountain peaks, do I don't run there. Someone's graffitied "Aslan" with a crown on one of the concrete barriers. No, they haven't read Narnia: Aslan is Turkic for 'lion' and a Seljid royal title, the ruling empire here from the 11th-14th centuries. There isn't much I haven't seen before in some way or another (except for the bubbly salty-sour yogurt & wheat drinks). It's more about the awesome mix: a culture with characteristics I think of as utterly separate. They sell burgers at the Bazaar.