Back in Central Asia

I fully intended to update my blog spot periodically through out the summer, but obviously it never happened! In the midst of the summer I think it was all too much for me to make sense of. I live in two different worlds with two different sets of values and views on life. Two different standards of livings. I feel comfortable in both worlds but the crossing between the two can leave you a little disoriented.

So now I'm back in my second home. They say that it takes one day for every hour of time difference. That makes 10 days for me, meaning that today I should have fully adjusted. Have I fully adjusted yet?

I noticed many things as I left one world for the other. The fact that I was leaving America not entering became apearant at JFK. Security was fairly lax, they didn't even ask me to take out my lotions and liquids! They just moved us all on through. When we landed in Moscow it became even more noticable. People started clapping when the plan landed...people never clap in America when a plan lands! In the airport the airconditioning wasn't working, the air was stale and full of cigarette smoke. People had all staked out their spots on the floor to wait out the long layovers, putting newspaper or blankets on the floor to sleep on. (I even slept on the hard marble floor with a just a little travel blanket, I had a ten hour layover, and that was the only way to sleep....I don't think I have ever been more uncomfortable!) The coca-cola I bought to keep me awake cost $5.00, and there was pretty much no security to get on the plane to Bishkek. I guess they figure they don't have to worry about terroist going there!

Then I arrived in Bishkek. The city seemed to look dingier than I remembered it, and everything looked smaller...I think being tired makes everything look different, because now the city looks like I remembered it, but in the moment it was an overwhelming thought of, where am I? The only other thing I noticed was that they had replaced all the old soviet style trash dumpsters with new shiny steel ones on wheels, that look like they come from the space age! My first marshrutka ride was so awful, I think I almost started crying while I was still in the van. They seemed hotter and more crowded than I remembered. I was quickly reminded why I want to buy a car! The bazaars seemed full of over priced Chinese junk, and everything seemed dirty.

So I could go on and on about my first week and how stressful it was, but then everything clicked. (my friend said it would, one day after you get back it's like you blink and everything seems normal again and nothing bothers you) So everything clicked for me on Friday night. I was catching a marshrutka late, when they are really full, and I got on an extra full one. There must have been at least 35 people in a 15 passenger van. I was pressed in on all sides by Kyrgyz men (remember that there is no rule in Kyrgyz culture that you should try not to touch the person next you on public transportation) it was very tight! Anyways at that moment fortunately I didn't start crying, instead I thought about all the complaining I heard in America regarding public transportation, and I almost burst out laughing. If anyone had seen me there or been in my place they probably would never complain again. (please don't interpret this wrong, I'm not condemning anyone for complaing about public transportation in America, it can be a pain anywhere, but remember it can always be worse!) So at that moment something clicked everything was about as awful as it could get, but that's what I'm here for right? Not because life is easier here, but because I can offer something, hope, where there might not normally be any. Just for the record. I got off that marshrutka a half a block early and almost started crying as I walked back to my apartment because it was so awful, but for the moment as I was trapped there between all those Kyrgyz I was able to reconcile being back in a place that is deffinitely not a first world nation.

My time in America seems like a dream. Everything is so clean and pretty, you have infinte choices for everything to suit every single diffferent type of person. The standard of living is miles above anything here, and I'm reminded why America is the place everyone dreams of coming too, and I'm reminded that I'm blessed to be from that country, and as I live here in my second home may I live sensitively to the poverty and may I live a simple life with compassion on those around me, and never take for granted all that God has given me. So have I fully adjusted yet? As much as I ever will. I don't know if you can ever fully adjust back to either place. The other one will leave it's mark on you forever; but you learn to live where you are at and enjoy the adventure of adjusting!