I'm Back!

Well, we're back in town (Bishkek), and I'm so glad to be here. The trip was really great, and I saw so many amazing things. Kyrgyzstan is beautiful, with some of the best features of Colorado and West Texas. It has the snow-capped mountains, evergreens, and rushing rivers of Colorado and the steeply rolling hills; sharp, rocky cliffs; huge sky; and soil of red, apricot, and dusty violet like Texas. When I kept saying how beautiful it is, my coworkers told me a legend about how they came to live in Kyrgyzstan. When God was handing out land to all the people of the world, Kyrgyz people were asleep. When they woke, the earth was claimed, and they went to God and asked, "Where is our land? Where will we live?" And God said, "Well, I have given it all to other people. But there is one place left. I was saving it for myself because it is so beautiful, but I will give it you."

The first few days I was gone, we held customer conferences to tell current customers more about the microfinance services, the goals of the program, and the success stories of clients. We also gave awards to some of the women: roses and certificates and beautiful shawls or glassware. We held 2 conferences on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and one on Sunday in various villages 1-2 hours from Balakchy. At first conference on Saturday, the executives of the microfinance project were at a meeting and unable to attend and speak as they had at Friday's conferences. Meerim, Valodia (another of my coworkers in the communications dept.), and I walked in a little late; the conference had just started. The head of the Balakchy office walked up to Meerim and me and said something in Russian and my name and then walked to the podium. I asked Meerim what she said, and Meerim said, "She wants you to speak to the women." And I said, "What?!" Meerim said, "She wants you to speak to them, and I will interpret. Say your wishes for them, your message to them." Just then I hear the manager announcing from the stage in Russian and then my name. It's time to go! Yipe. So I spoke briefly and honored them for their hard work to better their families and provide more opportunities for their children. I thanked them for being an example to their communities and honored them for the skill and courage it takes to take a risk and approach business in a new way. It was a hit! The women were so gracious to me, and it was just wonderful. Below are a few pics of the conferences and of Meerim and me speaking.

The major hit at the conferences was the top three entertainers in Kyrgyzstan. The microcredit org had arranged for 2 singers and a comedian who are super famous and popular in Kyrgyzstan to perform at each customer conference. My favorite was Ipic, who sang more traditional music. He has a huge voice that makes the whole hall vibrate with sound, and his songs have a little of what reminds me of yodeling: not long sessions of yodeling but that same technique that breaks immediately into a higher note. It was so beautiful. I also really liked him because to me he looks a lot like Big Uncle John (John Earl). After the conferences, I hung out near him during lunch and afterwards, even though I don't speak Russian, and he doesn't speak English. I managed to convey that I had one of his songs in my head, and he wanted me to sing it. So I hummed it, and he started singing it, and I joined in. It was really cool, and then he wanted me to sing an American song, so I did. Everyone listened so carefully, and the woman, the manager, who headed the conferences said that if she'd known I could sing, she would have had me sing and speak.

Ipic Performing: Here is Ipic singing one of the songs. He is wearing a traditional coat and wool felt hat.

Ipic and Me: Here Ipic poses with me. We're in a school, where one of the conferences was held in the auditorium. See how he looks like John Earl?

Meerim and Comedian: This guy is the most famous comedian in Kyrgyzstan. People were absolutely howling; they thought he was so funny.

Local Cherries: I've been telling some of you how amazing the local fruits and vegetables are here. Yum... Look at these cherries: beautiful. The color is so bright, and skins are thinner than the darker cherries. They are super sweet and tart at the same time.

Outdoor Fountain: After the first conference, we all ate at this cafe, outdoors near this fountain. Afterwards, the manager of the Osh branch splashed me (just a little, like flicked her wet fingers on me), and I didn't know quite how to take that. But then she did it to herself and said, ah, how much cooler we are now, and I realized it was true. :)

Valodia, new driver, and me: The first night of our trip, we ate dinner at close to midnight, and we were sooooo beat! Valodia was only with us for the first 2 nights of our trip, and I must tell you what a hero he was the second evening. We three (Valodia, Meerim, and I) stayed at a rented apartment for the night because the guest house was full. At 1 a.m. Valodia woke to hear the front door lock being unlocked. He went to the door just as it was opened by the woman who rented to us. She was standing there with a drunk young couple who also wanted to stay in the apartment. Valodia is a very mild-mannered guy, but he said, "What are you doing?" And the woman said that she was renting the apartment to this young couple, and Valodia said no, that he'd already paid to rent it from her, and she said, yes, she rented to us and now to this couple, too. And he said absolutely not, he was not letting them in, that he is on a business trip and has two young ladies asleep in the other room and will not let this couple in. She said it would be fine, they just want to sleep, and he said no, he knows what they want to do and they will not do it here, so they should all leave! So. They all left. And I slept through the whole thing. When I awoke, Valodia and Meerim were talking about how we needed to move, how Meerim and I couldn't stay there alone the next night, and I was saying, oooh, it's not so bad. Yes. Yes, it was. I just didn't know it. So every night after that, Meerim and I stayed in the guest house, and we were very safe. :)