Yesterday was the first snowfall of the year, at least in Bishkek. It has been snowing in the mountains for months. Rumors have been circulating for weeks that the city would turn on the heat any day now (everyone thought it would be Nov 1), but apparently even a couple of inches of white on the ground is not sufficient reason to, you know, heat our houses. So I've spent most of my time lately huddled on my bed with my computer and books. The bedroom is the smallest room, so it's the only one the space heater can warm up, and my computer battery is dead and the adapter needs to be cajoled into working so if it shifts a milimeter everything goes dead, so, yeah, ideal working conditions. It's so cold that to take a shower I have to move the space heater into the middle of the bathroom so it's on full blast as soon as I step out of the shower, and I have to run the hot water and the heater for about 20 minutes before it's warm enough to start the showering process.
I only ventured out to pick up some necessities, and then I'm going right back to huddling. I don't have to leave again until Thursday morning.
This week a bunch of people left--I'm getting pretty sick of saying goodbye all the time. Oh, well, it will be my turn soon enough. I'm having a Scavenging Party the end of the month so people can come and lay claim to all the stuff I'm getting rid of. One friend suggested there be games and winners get first dibs on the best stuff.
Next week I am leaving on Sunday for Osh, after finally getting the director of the oblast Family Group Practice to sign on. I'll be there and in the surrounding towns through Wednesday, and Thursday I am going back to Kochkor-Ata. I stayed there with my teacher's family some time back, and they've been calling ever since to ask when I'm coming back to be treated at the sanitorium, so this is me fulfilling that obligation. It's a bit pricy for KG and me, but it's way less than that trip to UZ I wanted to take, and a couple days of massages, warm baths, and having heat will not go amiss. It's a fancy place, so I can bring my computer and huddle on the bed there doing work if need be.
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3 comments:
brrrrrrrrr!
The sanitorium sounds like the perfect place to get some work done!
There's some weird Dr. Who spin-off for children they keep showing at my gym, called the Adventures of Sarah Jane or Janet or something. Thought you should know.
ahhh! Reminds me so much of my Peace Corps days! ;-) Glad to hear they did finally get the heat going.
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