Why Kyrgyzstan isn't fun anymore...

So, I'm getting sick of Kyrgyzstan. I already told my boss that I'm finishing 2 months earlier than my contract says so that Mike and I can finish at the same time and travel to Turkey in the summer. So we'll be done at the end of May. But the way things are looking right now in Kyrgyzstan, I'd be ready to leave even sooner than that, even though I won't.

The weather is wintery, and none of the sidewalks are plowed here. So walking anywhere is horribly dangerous, because all the sidewalks are sheer ice. Going even just down the block means that every step must be taken carefully, and you always have to look exactly where you're going to make sure you don't step on an uneven part of the sidewalk. This makes it difficult to go anywhere, because it's just ice no matter what part of town you're in. I don't have any shoes with grip, so I just hold on to Miek and hope that he has better balance than I do. It also means that going to the bazaar is basically impossible, because all the walkways there are sheer ice as well. I can't imagine shoppping while also watching where I'm stepping (and making sure that all the other people passing don't slip and take me down with them)!

Also, the police presence seems to have only gotten worse in Bishkek in the new year. I mentioned in my last post that some friends got stopped just down the road from our apartment, outside our favorite restaurant, Aktan. Today, Mike and Evan got stopped at exactly the same place. They refused to give any documents to the policemen, who were apparently being jerks, and they called the office staff, who came and bailed them out. They didn't have to pay any bribes, but it's just getting to the point where I don't feel comfortable walking anywhere, alone or not. We got ID cards from the school, which we've been told will get us out of any run-in with the police, but I HIGHLY doubt it will do any good at all. It's a little, red, leather, business-card sized booklet that says on the outside "Kyrgyz Republic ID" and on the inside has my picture and a piece of paper with The London School stamp and my name and job written in Cyrillic. If anything, this would probably make police matters worse, because they'll just laugh at the ridiculous booklet. Ah well. I carry a copy of my passport and a copy of my Kyrgyz visa and registration, but I'm not sure these would hold up if I do someday meet up with policemen. Blah.

I also have a bad cold, so I don't really feel in the mood to do anything except watch movies and stay at home.

However, not everything is bad! Yesterday and today I got 7 packages and 3 letters from America, so I feel so loved! I got 9 DVDs, some candy canes, and 3 books. There's another package waiting for me at a different post office that I'll go pick up tomorrow too. I think it's from Rhonda, which means (hopefully!) it contains candy and chocolate!

So all in all, I'm glad that I'm leaving here in June instead of August. I'm sure things will get better when the wather warms up and I can do things again. There are still many places I'd like to see in Kyrgyzstan, but Bishkek is just getting on my nerves now. There are still things to look forward to too- In February there's the International Festival of Santa Clauses, and then in the spring I want to go to Arslanbob in Southern Kyrgyzstan, and of course back to lake Issyk-Kul when it gets warmer. I'm looking forward though to living and working in Turkey- Mike and I have started to look for jobs in Instanbul to get a feel of what our options are.

Two new London School teachers are arriving in the next few weeks, so that will add some excitement as well to our lives. Hope they'll be fun!