The Beginnings of Life in Bishkek - Day 3

20 August, 2010




I didn't sleep too well last night. I had no problem getting to sleep, but Katie and I both woke up at about 3:00, and she was able to get some sleep after that. I know I got about an hour of sleep after 4:30, but woke up at 5:30 and didn't go back to sleep. I once again checked to make sure the entire apartment was still there. It was. I tried to go to sleep, but it wasn't going to happen. Oh well.



Katie and I went for our first run in Bishkek this morning. We've decided that running in the afternoon would be silly since the air is so dirty that time of day, so we suited up and left the apartment at about 8:15. We ran west for about two blocks, then ran north through a park that takes us all the way to the big open squares and larger city parks right in the heart of downtown. Much to our satisfaction, we saw one local guy running, and once we were in the big monument parks, we saw an older lady enthusiastically slow-jogging around Carl Marx's statue. That made us feel okay with our behavior. The traffic wasn't too bad at that time of the morning, so the few street crossings we had were pretty easy. I think we ran about 3.5 miles (really, that's 5.7km around here!)


Katie's Note: Success! Since the moment we signed up to go abroad I've been wondering...will I be able to run there? In a big city? So, I'm elated to know that it is possible and we won't be standing on street corners waiting for traffic lights all the time.



On another note, we've unplugged our water heater and the water continues to be hot. Go figure. Guess we'll save money on utilities this way!



Beta Stores – the big western-style store here in Bishkek. Over the last couple of days, we've been making a list of things we'd like to pick up for the apartment: fan, pitcher, cutting board, skillet, a few plastic storage containers (perhaps we'll be invited to a Tupperware party soon, but one never knows with those, so we pre-empted it), etc. Also, we knew we wanted a few more food items to have on hand. Jerry Craig offered to take us to the store, which was great. We were able to get all of the items we set out to find, and we got some good food stuffs as well. Balsamic vinegar, olive oil (EV), vegetable oil, fresh bread (very good French bread-style loaf), Nestle Quick, an eggplant for 0.83 c ($0.02), mozzarella cheese, some marinade/spice mixes, and some more juice. Jerry dropped us off at our place and we had fresh bread, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic vinegar for lunch.


Katie's Note: Okay, so it really is no fun shopping and not knowing what you are buying and not knowing how to find a good deal or not. And it's not fun trying to pay, seeing 862 som on the registar, handing the lady 200s up to 800 and then realizing that you missed seeing the 4 in front of the 862 and then feeling flustered because you can't find the bills in your wallet. Silly American! I was exhausted after this endeavor and a bit disheartened. So it goes... I need a Russian tutor!