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.

In an effort to not be redundant...

I don't want to say the same things here as are said and published in the work blog.

But I am posting there as well. In fact today you can see photos of the work we did this afternoon.

I don't know if it's the jet lag, the irregular sleep hours or the odd feeling of waiting that is making me tired - but I am rather tired. Like a caffeine addict having withdraws - except without the addict and withdraws part. And without the caffeine.

I suppose it's partially because I'm not used to not choosing my own schedules. Even with school and work in the past - I got to chose at the beginning of the quarter, when will I be available for work, and when will I fall off the face of the earth. But here because I'm staying in the flat with the office, I'm not exploring on my own due to the language barrier and I'm doing work when it is asked of me - thus I'm no longer choosing my hours. Furthermore because after work I blog for work, organize photos, tweet, edit footage and images etc... it seems the line between working and not is blurred. Whereas at home - when I'm doing work it's clear that I'm working and when I'm at home or out with friends that's clearly my time.

I suppose I should adjust to this sooner rather than later as once we hit the road it will likely be like this only more so.

Though I think the other thing I find odd is not having my car. The lack of self-mobility while being prepared to be on the move makes it very different than when I have the full freedom of movement and the confidence to explore or at least visit my favorite places. Not trying to complain here - just trying to identify where my head is at, and right now it's that sort of odd stagnant feeling. Also wish there was a gym or something around here as even when I'm doing physical activity (carrying equipment, coming and going to the flat on the 4th floor etc..) it's spread through the day and I'd love to be able to do a long work out to exhaust myself to insure I could fall asleep at a normal time. But instead when the night comes I feel stir crazy and am typing away or working on project pieces I couldn't get to during the day.

Oh well. On that stir crazy note, I'm off to bed. If you want to see photos - they're not too impressive but they're up on the TracingTea blog.