Southern Success

I'm in Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second largest city. Monday we made the 12 hour trip squashed in a shared taxi with 5 other people and a whole lot of luggage. We're staying at a hotel that a friend's parents own. Our room is pretty nice, so I'm a little concerned about what the price is going to be, but they keep feeding us for free and it would be unthinkable to stay anywhere else.

Yesterday we went to the Aravon Family Medicine Center and we are all hooked up for our return trip to take the actual interviews. We went to the raion center, one of the Family Doctor Groups, and the director was enthused about the project, so they're getting some of the rural health points involved and we're going through a Village Health Committee to recruit non-medical volunteers. We should have a good show.

We met with the Osh director of the Family Group Practice Association Today and she was definitely less enthused, which is pretty much what I expect from the urban/rural divide. But she did introduce us to a bunch of the people we'll be asking for interviews on our return so they know when we are coming back and are prepared, and she seemed to think that recruiting patients would be no big deal.

So I'm off to Kochkor-Ata tomorrow, where I may or may not be treated in a sanatorium (I just had a very confusing phone conversation, but I guess all will be made clear when I arrive tomorrow, and I can proceed accordingly--if I'm not staying at the sanatorium and getting massages, I may as well get back to Bishkek early, since I can live for free and work just as well there). I get back to Bishkek on Monday, Thursday I'm having a Thanksgiving/Giving Away My Stuff Party, and Friday I'm singing in Kyrgyz at some public event.

Then the following Sunday, it's back to the South for a week of intensive interviewing--it's going to be nuts. I made a chart of all my remaining days in KG in half hour increments, and filled in scheduled events, so when my RA and I are scheduling things we can just continue to fill in the spreadsheet with the appropriate info in the appropriate timeslot. Yeah, I'm an uptight academic.

I'm really tired, so I'm going back to the hotel for a nap before getting back to the exciting world of note taking. I'll be really happy I did all this when I get down to actually writing this stupid dissertation.

So, overall, a good trip, and it's not quite as cold down here. The heat did go on before I left Bishkek, so at least I won't be going back to a freezing apartment. The heat isn't doing much so far, but it will intensify until it gets to the point that when there are warm days, everyone has to wear shorts and tank tops in their apartments. Which isn't wasteful at all. Oh, Kyrgyzstan.