Koton

most of the time I'm a bazaar kind of girl, I love all the people, the pushing and shoving, the variety of sounds, colors and smells. But I'm also a Koton girl...which is the new store that opened in the center of Bishkek...I think I'm an unpaid walking advertisement for the store, because I've been telling everyone about it, but it's a great store!! It has plain old cotton t-shirts for a normal price! It's a big store with nice changing rooms, it has different sizes, they don't think every girl is the same size, and they are quality made. Pretty much its the Turkish version of Gap. So some days I'm a bazaar girl cause where else can you get a bright green one size fits all tank top for 1.50, straight from China (fortunately I'm that one size) but today I was a Koton girl and I'm enjoying my slightly more expensive but extrodinarily comfortable t-shirt from Turkey.

P.S. Blogspot is back in English?! Wonder what language it will be in tomorrow? Mongolian?

blogspot goes haywired!

Something happened last night, and blogspot is in Russian now!!! I went online to look at my grandmother's blog (I have an amazing grandmother, who at 82 started her own blog!!!) and everything is in Russian!? What happened??? Now I can't "create a new entry" "I have to Создать сообщение" I don't publish an entry, I "Опуликовать сообщение" I can't ever seem to get away from Russian!!

sunday in the park

There's nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon to relax, then to go to the park with all your friends from ch! Yesterday we went to the park after service, partly cause it was my birthday, and partly cause we all wanted to have a picnic, but what a wonderful time.
I love my brothers and sisters here, and they are such a joy, especially as I get to know them better and better. I love the fact that Russian is solid enough that I can enjoy myself in a setting like that and not even have to think about it, I can just talk.
I love the fact that there are other ex-pats there that also speak the language well enough that we can communicate with each other in Russian:-)
I love the fact that God made Kyrgyzstan and absolutely beautiful country, with splendid mountains, and lots of green (a least during the spring),

and I love wonderful days like yesterday!

после концерта or after my recital

Life does go on after a recital! I gave my first international solo concert last night, which sounds a lot more important than it actually was, but regardless, it was a recital in another country! It made my life super busy leading up to it, with lots of practicing and lots of rehearsals, and lots of stressful days, and crying. But it was all worth it in the end, and it went very well, everyone enjoyed and it, and most importantly I really enjoyed it. I think it might have been the first time that I gave a solo recital and I actually enjoyed the whole process of playing, I wasn't even tired at the end!! Now that its over I can think about the next things that I have going on; all those things that I said after my recital, after my recital. I can't even remember all the things I said after my recital to!!! I think mainly conference and many trips this summer, and teaching a friend how to knit:-)

TP

I have found another use for central asian toliet paper. Probably most of my readers don't know what central asian toliet paper is like, but those of us from western countries make lists of all of the things that central aisan toliet is good for. ( it is very different from our toliet paper...thick and not soft) I've have added to the list....coffee filter...I figured it might work since it is the same color (all-natural unbleached) as my coffee filter and about as thick, but I was holding off as long as possible.... but the my package hadn't come and I had already used my last paper filter for four days (did you know you can use a good American paper filter several times, if you just empty the grounds?) and on Monday morning I had nothing so I pulled out the good old central asian toliet paper and sure enough, it worked perfect, no grounds in my coffee, great taste and everything!! But thank God my package arrived today and I will not have to use toliet paper for long....somehow it just seems wrong...

to sell or not to sell

I had somebody refuse to sell me something? Can you imagine??

I went on Thursday and bought paper with my friend from this little seller in the undergroud walkway to print my recital posters, and she kindly sold us ten pieces and we were on our way. The next day I had to reprint the posters cause there were some mistakes so I went back to the same lady (cause she was the only who sold the size paper I needed) and I asked her for some blue and purple, and she told, "no I won't sell it to you." I asked why, and she said that I would have to buy a lot, and so I asked how much I'd have to buy, and she said a lot, and then she said no I won't sell you any. And so I asked why would you sell me paper yesterday and not today, and she just said no I'm not selling today. So I finally walked off and thought, not wonder why you are poor and work in the underground...you could have made money off of me if you were willing to sell something to me....

Then I went to the design shop where I had the posters printed, and I was really afraid cause I was thinking if the woman in the underground wouldn't sell me paper, what might the design people going to say (plus with all the stress of my recital my Russian has gone out the window and I was all alone trying to do this) So I walked in and said I have to redo my posters because there are some mistakes. And they were so nice, the lady said of course and that the guy who did them would help me as soon as he got back, and three minutes later he came a listened patiently and said sure we'll redo them right away and didn't make me pay for the redesign, just for the printing, and so then I thought interesting...he doesn't work in the underground....I wonder why!?

That is the dicotomy of Central Asia, people who won't sell you something just cause they don't want to get up off their chair to pull the paper down, to people who really want to be professional and helpful. The problem is you just never know which day it will be and what kind of person you are going to face...just makes life more interesting here!!

pictures!

some pictures of the last month
friends, handing out Good Samaritan presents, me with my recorder student(who isn't looking at the camera:-( etc..

A nice calm Sunday in Bishkek

This morning my local friend told me I wasn’t American, I promptly disproved that by buying a hot water heater after church. The hot water was turned off a couple days ago and I’ve already had enough! So instead of having a quiet afternoon I’ve had men in my apartment all afternoon long. It started with my landlady’s sons who came to do some stuff around the apartment that needed to be done and then right after they got here the plumbers came so at one point there were five people working in my apartment around Nargiza and I....definitely too many in my small apartment!! Now I’m just waiting for the plumbers to leave so I can take a shower!!! Thank God for hot water heaters. Every year they turn the hot water off for a month to do repairs. A whole month without a shower!! I really am American I can’t imagine it. Actually it isn’t all that bad, you get used to heating up water and washing hair and doing sponge baths, but definitely now convenient. But besides getting hot water today we cleaned and organized the apartment and got new fixtures in the bathroom. We had ugly bright pink in the bathroom for the shelf towel holders, mirror etc...and since I moved I’ve said that I have to replace them cause they are just awful, so today I finally had time to go and pick out new ones. I’m feeling a lot better now:-)

Other things going on in life? I just got back from a few days in Narin helping my cousin settle in...I needed to get out of Bishkek for a few days, and she needed an excuse to relax for a few days after working hard to settle into her new house. So it worked out well, we relaxed watch movies, painted her kitchen and figured out where to hang pictures! And I enjoyed the quiet and peaceful pace of Narin.

Now I’m back in Bishkek trying not to get to stress out out about my recital that’s coming up!!! Saturday the 27th at 6:00PM. It’s weird to be doing a recital again, but so far everything is coming together, and I’m just trying not to think about the little details like dress, tickets, MC etc...have you ever heard of having an MC at a recital?? Here it’s required....but its sooo weird I don’t want to have one, but I guess I just do it!

After recital it two weeks and then conference and then 1 week and home to America!!! Life is going quickly!

Aubade...

...or a poem or piece of music pertaining to the dawn or the early morning

I guess I’m still learning English...this is my new English word of the week. It’s the title of the first movement of a trio that I’m playing with friends, now that I know what it means...the whole movement makes so much more sense! In general I’m not working on English too much this days, thus only one new English word since I got here:-) But Kyrgyz on the other hand I learn many new words! Today was exciting because I went to buy bread from my bread lady...I buy bread from her all the time, because she is so sweet, plus she died her hair blue, so she still has spunk. But anyways she asked me in Kyrgyz how work was going and it only took me a 1 second delay to understand and respond. I was proud of myself. I also went to the bazaar and bought carrots and potatoes in Kyrgyz. It’s so weird to be back where I was with Russian so long ago, but on the other hand its exciting to be able to understand and communicate and little bit in yet another language!

life in Bishkek or Spraznikom

I figured I better update soon before I get another e-mail from my grandmother:-)

is life always this crazy in the spring??

every day something happens, and I think "I should but this on my blog!" and every day, at the end of the day I don't have the energy or the right attitude to figure out how to write something, so another interesting day goes by...

what's been interesting lately?? Kafkaski dancing, double bass balalaikas, Cafe Mustafa, Sweet Pea Handcream, and pizza on the 1st of May

so pretty much the last couple weeks have been hard...feeling a little lonely and wondering just what I'm doing here etc...so a couple weeks ago I prayed that God would just help me get through the day and give me a miracle. I was kind of hoping that it would be that one of my American friends would be able to go out to dinner after my concert....but instead its been two weeks of my local friends loving me and listening to me and helping me.

Alena was the first miracle...she let me hang out with her all afternoon when I didn't want to go home between dress rehearsal and concert...that's when I saw Kafkaski dancing and a double bass balalaika..there is no way I can describe them so I won't!! But needless to say they were some of the coolest things I've ever seen! Plus I got to ride home after the concert in her boyfriend's car, which is a nice car, and a much needed break from the marshrutkas!!

Then comes Bayan and Cafe Mustafa. I was still pretty down the day after the concert and went to worship rehearsal and I ended up breaking down on my friend Bayan, and cried and cried. She just hugged me and told me to keep plugging away and that indeed I had a purpose here...and then this past week, she took me out to dinner. How humbling to have a national friend take you out to dinner and not let you pay. It's hard to explain as well, but its really a gift and an encouragement to me to have a friend like that who is willing to sacrifice like that to show her appreciation of our friendship, and to encourage me.

Then there's my other friend here, who came over today to learn how to make pizza and I mentioned one of my American friends here, and she looked at me and said, "You have an American girlfriend???!!! I thought you only had us!!!" (meaning the people at church:-) Sometimes I do feel like I only have local friends cause they are the ones I'm with all the time, but I do have a couple great ex-pat friends who have also been a great encouragement to me!! Like Tiffany making me hummus!!

So in all I've been shown how well God has provided for me here, and given me some great friendships, although in another language, and a different culture, and I'm humbled and overwhelmed by all that I'm learning through them!! So thank God for friendships!!

P.S. Spraznikom....or Happy May Day!