Wear Purple Today

Realistically I wouldn't be saying this if I was still in Central Asia. One, because with the language barrier I am limited to "Thank You", directions back to the flat, and a few basic menu items. And while knowing how to get food, a tea or beer, thank the server and get home at the end of the evening is useful, it won't begin to start any sort of conversation when tact and sensitivity is needed. And those would both be needed with the topic on my mind today.

I'm wearing purple right now. Purple isn't my favorite color but I'm wearing it today because there's been a wave of publicly noticed LGBT youth suicides and there is an awareness event to show support for those youth. But before this recent wave the following statistics were all already known. 

• 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harrassment in school in 2009. 
• 30% missed a day of school after staying home due to safety concerns. 
• LGBT teens are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual & cisgendered peers
• 1 of 3 LGBT youth has attempted suicide

This is a reality that should be the cause of conversation and much thought. I hope you do something to show support to the youth who find themselves attacked by the same homophobia we see in politics without the shield of rhetoric but rather to their faces and in personal attacks. We as a society have tolerated this behavior from our leaders, from the media, and in doing so taught the next generation such hate is okay. It's not. And we have a lot of work to do to make sure the promise of equality and freedom is open to all and not just an American ideal never to be reached.

I hope you have a wonderful day, and that you too are wearing purple.

After these messages we'll be right back... Maybe.

Soooo.... I'm back in California. After the last post I spent 4 hours around the airport in Istanbul before getting on my flight for JFK. Arrived there relieved and excited to be surrounded by fellow Americans with their endearing habits like speaking English with slang I could understand. The flight was odd and wonderful as a result of the full day delay. As a result of seeing folks in the lines the day before, while waiting for the flight, while in our seats, on route to the hotel, at the hotel, in the elevators, over dinner and then again at breakfast and in the airport and then once again on the plane - faces were familiar. And passengers were talking, enjoying each others' company and so forth. While waiting for restrooms people would allow others who needed it more urgently to jump the que, when going to get snacks from the back of the plane folks would offer to pick up an extra for the passenger next to them and when I went to the back to stretch my legs I ended up joining a woman for a glass of wine to celebrate her recent wedding. It was like the entire plane's mood had changed from one of annoyance to acceptance of the situation and then into a celebration of the temporary community we'd created. Definitely an enjoyable experience.

Waiting in JFK was a bit odd as the family feeling spread out but was still present in clumps around various gates. But unlike on our flight where Delta staff had been apologetic and friendly to make up for it - we now had the business as usual poor service that is usual for airlines in America. Though Delta as a company was rather nice as they gave me an upgrade to make up for the delay so the NY to SF flight was amazing in that they asked me if I wanted a drink - and the chair was so comfortable after so many hours in transit that by the time they brought the drink I had passed out. Definitely a relief.

Anyways. I arrived back to California. A quick rest but not enough time to get over my jet lag before I left for my next destinations: Houston and Galveston. I had an amazing time in both locations, and I came back last night from Galveston where I spent the majority of the time. But as I found via a series of emails while on my way back - that will be the last of my travels in the near future due to some visa trouble with the Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The rest of the crew all have EU or CIS country passports and can reapply for transit visas whereas as an American I sadly cannot. So for the next unknown amount of time I shall be out here in California. Slash where ever I wander off to. (Not going to lie, already started looking to see if a DC trip would be possible for the Rally to Restore Sanity)

Regardless the last few days have been incredibly restorative thanks to the good company I was surrounded by. Though the jet lag has been bizarre to say the least. Within a little over a week I flew west (Almaty to Oral), east (back to Almaty), west (To Turkey), far west (To NY), farther west (To SF), rest then east again (Texas) and yesterday west again (Back to Cali). Also the climate changes from Bishkek to Oral, Turkey to California, the humidity of Texas and back to the dry heat and cold nights of the bay... well it's a bit odd. My body and mind have ceased to go into culture shock, climate shock and jet lag seems to be habitual enough that I'm almost normalizing on this crazy routine. Which might make a normal schedule odd. Whenever I find one of those.

I'll probably post more at a more normal hour later this week once I have a better idea of what I'm doing. Discovering that I'm not flying out tomorrow morning means I'm not leaving for the airport in an hour, I haven't repacked, and I might be in one place long enough to normalize a sleep schedule (obviously not tonight though... far too late for that. I blame my computer's overheating during the day and not at night for this problem as it's easier to work on photos now... ) But yes. My life is about to resume a much more boring track for the short term. Consider it a commercial break between now and the more interesting times I hope to be ahead.

In Istanbul (Sort of... )

Quick summary.

 

I left Bishkek for Almaty in a minibus. While in the station took a hard fall over a minispeed-bump thing ... why it was in a path in the dark in the rain? I don't know. But I fell hard on concrete and hurt my wrist and ribs while using both to protect my camera. Camera outside scratched on the edge of the lens, but functional. Wrist - sore for a while, used an ace bandage and pain killers and now it's up to par. Ribs bruises are almost gone, still hurts like hell if I stretch or breath too deep. Oh well. No stretching... back to minibus... took it to Almaty. Had a fever, wasn't fun. Fail. Got to the airport, got a room at the hotel attached. Quick shower, hour nap and then off to Uralsk. Arrived there to discover. DAAAAAMN this place is cold. Really cold. Like the captain announced when we landed at 9 am - it was 5 below zero. COLD. And I've got this annoying fever and red nose and... the hotel we're supposed to stay at that the director stayed at in May... well it's a nice place. But they don't turn the hear on till the 15th. Whoops. Not gonna cut it for a sick Urv. So Ainura and I go to 6 different places checking both quality of the hotel and more importantly - does the heater work. Some had heaters in the room that they said worked, but if you turned on the fan, cold air. Eventually we found a place. At this point we eat lunch. Return to the room at 12 pm. I pass out. Pass OUT. So passed out that at 10 am the next morning I wake up. 22 hours of sleep. Fever easing up a little. Sleep = magic.

 Then blah blah stress phone call pack up leave crazy stress 12:50 flight out... somehow catch it. Money is as always a problem as Ainura's flight we can't get as we need to exchange money to get the ticket and the cash counter is randomly closed. We panic a bit, make some calls and eventually I say good luck, farewell and board my flight leaving her with almost all the money and taking $100 for excess baggage fees... Which was less than half of what I needed. But I had my salary in cash so I ended up being okay/spending that/I'm gonna be so broke as a result of this project/OMG where am I going?!?

Moving on. I fly out to Atyrau. Where is that? Good question. I didn't know either. I found it on an inflight map. South of where I was. I arrive an hour later. And wait until 5 pm to board a flight that left at like 7? Then off to Almaty. I arrive near 10 or 11pm (flying east here folks) and then wait till 3:40 for the flight to Istanbul.

I have no clue the time here... I'm flying east now I'm flying west. I arrive in Istanbul just after 6 am and the Delta flight counter opens at 9:15. We've gone west, the time has changed, I have no watch, had no sleep, have been going east and west and the light makes no sense and I'm just too tired. Eventually I find out for $250 they will change my flight to the flight today as opposed to in three days. Sold. Then $205 excess baggage fee because I'm carrying all the stuff I was supposed to leave in the Land Rover I never saw when I was in Uralsk... Whoops. There goes my September pay. Ugh. Then after waiting to sell me the ticket until 11:15 when they knew they had a seat for me, Delta tells me "RUN!" So I do. Check in has started. I rush for passport control, dash through customs, jog down a very long airport with my north face gear making me look much more athletic than I am and arrive to the gate just in time to be pulled aside for extra security and have my bag hand searched, scanned for radioactivity and also have the normal x ray treatment.

Then I wait. Wait 2 hours more. Then we get on the plane. Wait 2 and a half hours more. Then Delta says, sorry... we're not flying today. Panic. Border control. Passport checks for everyone. Waiting to collect our bags. Shuffled onto buses... And magically deposited at a utopia of a hotel.

After getting through the annoying long check in process (I've had enough lines people!) I'm given a key and one of my new friends from the last few hours of waiting (obviously I talked to everyone around me as they spoke English and this after Central Asia was a novelty!) helped me carry the REI bag that's the size of a dead body and then some up to my room. Glorious room! Took a hot shower and came out a smiling human. And then they gave us delicious food (first real meal since the flight from Almaty to Istanbul... which wasn't real. It was fake eggs I swear!) and suddenly life was good. Now I'm well fed, about to rest, in good company, logistics are being managed and delays are not costing me a penny. And added bonus, I have internet. And a kiwi tart for dessert. Oh heaven, I arrived.

Someday I hope to see Istanbul. 

But for now I'm loving this extreme comfort giving me a break from airports as well as helping restore my health. Also found chapstick for sale here! The cold in Kazakhstan and the dry air on the flights made them chapped enough to almost bleed... it looked like I was wearing lipstick. Insane. But after obsessively reapplying it in the last few hours I am beginning to smile again without the painful cracks threatening to bleed on me.

 

TMI there probably. But oh well. Tomorrow at 8 am Delta should be collecting us from the hotel to send us all out to NY and then on to our connecting flights. So if all goes well I'll be back in California tomorrow night before traveling to an even more foreign land... Texas.

Oh dear, I have no life.

I was just online checking my email in between editing some files for work. And while online had a quick chat with a friend. I then proceeded to say I should sign off to finish some work before bed. (It's just after 11pm here in Bishkek)

It then occurred to me... I have no life. I have not yet followed my sister's advice and found more scandal and intrigue. And while I've fallen off Garmin's version of the world, I have no yet found some grand adventure. So dear friends go out and have a crazy adventure and email me all about it - I need to live vicariously through your insanity. As for now... I have work to do.

=(

Things I should post on later

Gender. Big topic. Interesting topic. Something I've been thinking about for the last few days. But because it is a big, interesting topic... It's also intimidating. And will take more time to write than I'm ready to sit in front of a computer screen to do right now.

Also, I want to write about US LGBT Youth Suicides visibility in American media and how different it is to read the news from here.

Also Californian mud slinging in the political arena and the current elections here in Bishkek. Somehow corruption being the norm here makes it more polished and although the American political system seems more legitimate in outcomes the process is uglier... or at least so it seems from here.

GPS devices.

Cameras.

Being American.

Mosquitoes.

Food.

Why Coca-cola is so comforting when abroad....

Lots of things. But somehow though I often feel like an opinionated person who doesn't listen enough, when I'm typing posts I'm always second guessing. Is that really the way it was? Or did I just see it this way because of... ? Maybe that's not totally accurate. Let's just say that which can't be debated.

And by the time my mental loops have been jumped through the text that results is sadly boring. I read my coworker's blog and go, "Wow that sounds so exciting! But... that's not how I remember it at all. It was much more... eh/whatever. Not OMG exciting." Maybe I'm just being jaded? Maybe it is incredibly exciting. Maybe my life is much more interesting than I'm currently giving myself credit for. But from where I'm sitting it seems all I can do is hope this burning mosquito coil works, the net doesn't crash, the garlic adds flavor to the MREs, the only working converter doesn't conk out as it would kill my laptop's usefulness and that I can sleep through the call to prayer at 5:30 in the morning. It quickly goes from new exciting locale to adjusted rhythm of life with standard daily quirks and the desire not to see THE WORLD in big exciting capitals, but rather simply find a gym. The world will still be there afterwards, but somehow a forth floor walk up is just not as satisfying as a rowing machine.

Rest Day Photos - Part 1 (Part 2 to come when the net behaves... )

Don't Drink the Water

Actually I didn't drink the water. But I did eat the salad. Whoops.

My Californian kid mentality is craving vegetables. I know Americans are known for NOT eating their veggies, and apparently the Kyrgyz are similar in that respect. Thanks to summer there is a plethora of fresh produce, but the traditional food doesn't really incorporate it. So the veggies seem to be mostly served in salads, which would be fine, except the water is a bit of a challenge for the fragile western digestive system. At least I think that's what did it - but today I'm not feeling too hot. Luckily better off than my roomie out here in Bishkek - who woke up, puked, returned to bed. I opted to stay in bed without that excursion but still feeling a bit off. Hoping it passes quick.

It's Sunday here in Bishkek and it's looking like I will definitely be in town for the election on Tuesday. Which I am excited about as I'm sure it will be interesting to see an election outside the states. The closest to that I've seen in the past was back when Bush v. Gore was still undecided during winter break when I'd flown out to see family in India. But election day itself - I've never seen in another country, and in a country that's only recently had a revolution I'm sure it will be even more interesting. Not sure what to expect, but oh well... Adventure continues even if it's been on pause for today.

A Day of Rest and Energy in the Evening

Today after taking the time to sleep in I found myself wondering, what is there to do in Bishkek for a non-Russian speaker? And getting little other advice I found myself following google maps to see Osh Bazaar again. Nice walk, interrupted by a political rally. This time by the supporters of the guy with the red flags all over Bishkek... So his supporters were all wearing red and carrying larger versions of the red flags. Fliers have been popping up all over so the formerly saturated wall postings are now once again recovered in fresh fliers. The blue and red ones I've gotten used to seeing have competition from a fresh coat of bright green fliers. This election is now in RGB!

I'm sure I'd have more interesting thoughts about this if I knew anything about any of the candidates. The only thing I know is the one who's face is 8 stories high farther down our block apparently cheated on his master's according to one of the girls in the office who knew him in school. They're all supposed to be corrupt in different degrees from what I've heard, and I don't know much about them. So it's weird because I see a political rally and think, "Cool! Bright colors, people who *WANT* their photo taken and not looking like a tourist when I shoot photos. (obviously I'm a journalist not a tourist when it's newsworthy)"

Eventually made it to the bazaar and took more photos because last time was obviously not enough. Then did the stereotypical expat thing and had dinner at Fatboys. A local restaurant with a menu in English! How exciting. Did an atypical meal of Turkish plov, Chinese beef, and British cider. Multinational meal! Actually a delicious combination too. I'd recommend it and have it again. Then proceeded to walk back to the flat.

As I arrived fireworks started exploding over Bishkek. Sounded very eerie as midway through the call to prayer began at the mosque on our street so their was an odd blending of booming explosions and a deep voice resonating through the clear night. Something very violent about the contrast in the sounds. But that might just be because I'm only used to hearing fireworks on the 4th of July and new year's day - so the sound is unfamiliar when unexpected in a foreign city. Regardless, the combination of the sounds in the air, the presence of political fliers EVERYWHERE, spontaneous rallies and men with megaphones definitely has injected energy into the stagnant and quiet life I seem to have become accustomed to in Bishkek.

I have no clue what the schedule looks like, but after the rally yesterday and another today - I feel like this weekend will continue to get more and more interesting. And Tuesday should be very exciting at this rate. But part of me hopes it's really rather dull as dull tends to mean peaceful and orderly. Soon one of the girls will be taking us out later so hopefully will enjoy the first taste of Bishkek's night life - for now just relaxing around the flat listening to music. Hope you're well!

Photos from Around Town Continued...

Common Theme in Politics: Cute Kids

Seen earlier today while she was performing in an election rally at Victory Square.