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.

Sleepless in Bishkek

Somehow sleepless in Bishkek sounds far less interesting than Sleepless in Seattle, but there you have it. It's nearing 5 am here and I'm awake and feeling restless. I'm sure I'll be exhausted again later, but somehow despite a week out here I've yet to adjust to the local time zone. Or at least I've yet to sleep a proper night's sleep in one go, or without aggressively attacking mosquitoes distracting me from the task of sleep.



I tried to see if I could get some sort of sleep aid to help cope with the jet lag and have found such things are lacking. I was tossing and turning so a few minutes ago decided to just stop the tossing and turning and get up, and upon doing so discovered Rosie was on the computer in the same boat. And apparently the thought of Sleepless in Seattle also occurred to her, so after finishing this first paragraph we laughed at the likemindedness (or cliché-ness perhaps ) of our early morning Bishkek thoughts. Obviously I lack originality at this hour especially - so shall therefore reapply mosquito repellant and try to sleep a bit more before the sun rises and the call to prayer tells me I should be more religious or at least more alert.

Day of Rest

Today is the first official rest day since I arrived. As such I have had an incredibly exciting day... resting actually. I woke up with the call to prayer, thanked god that I could sleep in, rolled over and went back to bed. And then proceeded to sleep some more. Periodically I would wake up, say to myself, 'Why bother?' and return to sleeping. I guess the degree of jet lag and the mosquito attacks at night have been taking their toll on me as I was able to fall asleep again and again even when the sun had risen and the traffic on the streets of Bishkek peppered the air with the sound of horns.

If Bishkek had a few million people more, it might feel like India - but it's surprisingly quiet for a capital city. Not sure what my plans will be for the rest of this day of rest - but I hope to go out exploring or at least see some of the city beyond the few block radius of the flat. Right now there is a car driving past trying to disprove my theory that Bishkek has been rather quiet by blasting its horn as it goes past - and it's interesting how clearly the doppler effect can be noticed. Anyways - if you're in or around Bishkek with recommendations let me know - otherwise I'll likely continue my day with a trip to Ala Too Square or an internet cafe or something of that nature.

Dear Mosquitoes - please bugger off

It's near 5:20 am in Bishkek and I can't sleep. I'm exhausted and have been trying to get rest for the past few hours but I keep having mosquitoes land on me, either be about to bite (at which point I roll over to swat them) or they actually bite (at which point a fierce itchy begins and I must use all my discipline to not scratch).

The cold that initially greeted me upon my arrival here has lifted, and given that I do not want to invite further mosquitoes into the flat by opening window that lack screens, I find the air retains much of the warmth from the day. This would be rather pleasant if I wasn't wearing long pants, a long sleeved shirt and socks in my effort to cover as much skin as possible to avoid them. Even those efforts however are somewhat in vain, these mosquitoes are large and persistent and not to be discouraged by things like a mere layer of fabric or mosquito repellent. I think they welcome the challenge. I've gotten bites between my toes, on my fingers, on my face and anytime I roll up my sleeves I find their marks greeting me. As such a thick blanket is welcome as it provides enough of a barrier that I don't get bitten. It also is really warm. And as someone who usually craves feeling the cool side of the pillow, this is rather counterproductive to the other current aim of sleep. I've yet to figure out an effective balance.

Prior to tonight I was at a hotel two blocks away which magically had no mosquitoes and also because their window faced away from the mosque, the complimentary 5:30 am wake up call could be avoided. It seems out of the crew I am the favorite for the mosquitoes as they flock to bite me while they merely buzz around the others lazily. Not sure why but I'm not flattered by their attention. It is most unwelcome. Anyways, I'm going to try to sleep a little bit before the flat gets filled by the rest of the team beginning work in a few hours. Luckily during the day the mosquitoes seem a little less active than during their night time raids, so perhaps I can try napping then?

By the way - the score of Mosquitoes Urvi Has Killed versus Bites Urvi has Received started at 3:7 when I began this post. The score is now 6:7. I'm catching up. If you try to bite my face, I will kill you. I am not above smacking myself in the face to avoid scratching my face off later. Just saying.