Starbucks in Kyrgyzstan?

Well...  no.

Katie and I had been out and about and saw what we thought was a small Strabucks stand.  Now, Starbucks is fine with me, but I don't make any point to seek them out.  This, however, might have changed that on the rare occasion that I would want to go get some coffee.  Most of the coffee here is of the Nescafe instant crystal variety.

This morning I set out to investigate closer.  Approaching the stand and inspecting it led me to the conclusion that this wasn't a real Starbucks.  I ordered a mocha.  The nice "barista" asked if I wanted a starbucks mocha.  I replied in the affirmative.  What I got was a very watery mixture of steamed milk, espresso (very watery espresso) and some chocolate-like flavor.  My guess is that it was Nutella, based solely on the faint hazelnut flavor.  Was it terrible?  No.  But it sure wasn't a good cup-o-drink.  I'll keep looking if I want to find a place to buy good espresso drinks.

My guess is that some enterprising person thought they would take advantage of the Starbucks name by placing it on an espresso stand.  I'm thinking that the word starbucks here is something like "kleenex" in the states.  When the young barista asked me if I wanted a starbucks mocha, she was asking if I wanted it made with espresso.  So, starbucks = espresso.  Duly noted.

On another note, last weekend the political parties here had a lottery to determine the order in which they are listed on the ballot next Sunday (10th October).  I'm not sure, but I think that the Ata Myekyen party got #11.  Anyone confirm this for me?  Oh, I found this small campaign banner to clear up the issue...

Note: I am not the only one in the picture... there are two people on the bench.