Today I had my first negative experience living in Bishkek.
First, some background information. My friend (and Mike's roommate) Evan got mugged at knifepoint on Wednesday night. He was walking home from visiting a friend after dark, and a Kyrgyz guy started walking next to him and chatting. Evan said they talked about how old they were, where they were from, what they did for a living, etc. As soon as they walked into an underpass, the guy pulled out a knife and demanded Evan's wallet. Evan said he'd had a bad feeling about it, but didn't cross the groad to catch a bus or anything just because. In hindsight it's much easier of course to think about what you should have done. Anyways. Evan caught a bus home and was really shaken up all evening. He had debit cards in his wallet which he cancelled, and he also lost his driver's license and his scuba license. Luckily the guy didn't take his super nice and super expensive camera, which he had in a bag around his neck.
Today, Mike and I were having a lazy day at his place. We made lunch and watched a pretty crazy Japanese movie called Battle Royale. So we were just in bed when we heard Evan come home, the doorbell ring, the door open, and sounds of things crashing. Evan ran into our room, followed by a Kyrgyz guy shouting in Russian. It turns out that he was the guy who had mugged Evan, and had somehow followed him home from the internet cafe this afternoon. When the doorbell rings it's always someone from the office or one of the other teachers, so he just opened the door. The guy wanted the PIN code for Evan's debit card. Evan gave it to him, but I told him that the card didn't work in Bishkek. The guy would have left with the code, but he definitely would have come back when he realized it didn't work. Evan cancelled the card, but I didn't know how to say that in Russian, so I just said that it doesn't work in foreign ATMs because it's an English card. The guy demanded money from Evan, and he gave him what he had in his pocket (about 100 som/3$). Mike got up out of bed and told the guy he had to leave, but he wouldn't. Mike is a boxer so he was ready to beat him, but he picked up a bread knife from the dishrack and started waving it around. He said that if we gave him 500 som, he would leave. Mike took out his wallet and gave him 500 som, but he still didn't leave. He said that he needed 5000 som instead (more than 100$) which none of us had. He picked up Mike's camera which was on the desk and put it in his pocket. He also made Evan give him his cell phone. He then was asking me what was in my purse, which was on the floor near where he was standing. I told him that my name was Mary and I was a student at the American University and that I didn't have any money on me except the 50 som that I offered to him from my pocket. He asked me to show him my wallet and prove I didn't have money, which I didn't want to do because I DID have money in it- I had just changed 100$ into som the night before and hadn't taken it out. But he picked up my purse, grabbed my wallet, saw 4800 som, and started yelling at me for lying to him. While he was distracted by the money, Mike punched him in the face twice. He dropped my wallet but took the money, and then took off running. Mike ran after him, even though he was shirtless and barefoot, and Evan and I followed them. The office staff heard the ruckus and ran out after us too. Mike disappeared around the corner, and when we saw him again he hadn't gotten the guy. But he had really hurt his hand from clocking the guy in the face (it was his hand that he already broke in the past in a fight) and his feet were fucked up from running on gravel. He would have caught up to the guy, but he slipped rounding a corner.
The office staff were upset and they called the police. 6 big burly Kyrgyz policemen came into Mike's room to take down our story. They were scarier than the mugger was, and now I have less faith in Kyrgyz police than I did before- now they just know how much money teachers at our school carry on them, so they'll just probably be more likely to stop us for bribes now! They took pictures of our room, asked for our story twice, and then sat with the staff in the office for about an hour taking notes. I'm sure nothing will come of it. So in the end, he got off with my $100, Evan's cell phone, and Mike's camera. I have to read my insurance policy to see if there's any way to recover stolen money (Mom, any chance you can get it back from property insurance?)
It's my roommate Nicola's birthday tomorrow and tonight is celebration time, so it's a real bummer that Evan, Mike and I really aren't in the mood. I had to change more money, and now I hope to get by this week only spending $50 until payday on Friday, but going out tonight will be about a quarter of that probably. It's sad that my perfect image of life in Bishkek has now been a little marred, and I hope that I don't spend the rest of my time here looking over my shoulder to see if that guy is following me.
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