November 20th, 2021

Wow! It’s been a while. Let’s pretend that the break wasn’t because I lacked motivation to post anything and move on, shall we?

With that out of the way, it’s important to provide some backstory on this event, as it wouldn’t have even happened had I not decided to come to Kyrgyzstan. That seems obvious, but it matters here – I only decided to come to Kyrgyzstan because of a few factors, one of which being the Russian political and Covid climate, and the other being a new friend. I was browsing a certain online forum for Russian learners back in April of this year when I saw a particular comment which read more or less, “I am a native Russian speaker trying to learn English, and I am willing to help with your Russian in exchange. Here is my instagram handle.” I thought to myself that the worst that could happen was basically nothing, so I sent him a message.

That person ended up being my friend Nurik. He is 17 years old and from the small town of Kara-Balta in Kyrgyzstan, about an hour and a bit outside of Bishkek. Over the course of our many conversations, he convinced me to look into the country of Kyrgyzstan as a potential backup destination in case my Russia plan fell through. One thing led to another, and look where I ended up! Genuinely, if it had not been for him, I wouldn’t have even considered Bishkek as a destination for study abroad, but because of him, I’m now having one of the best experiences of my life.

So after a lot of planning and figuring out schedules, I finally made the journey to meet him in person. Below, you can see the interior of the Express Marshrutka on the way there.

While the marshrutkas in the city are mainly good as the absolute best way to get pickpocketed and/or crushed against the window, long-haul marshrutkas are honestly a better mode of public transport than most in the US. They constantly leave and come back between the origin and destination, only allow on as many people as they have seats, and don’t make any set stops between the start and finish. Well, unless you want them to do so once you’re nearing the destination; they’ll drop you off anywhere along the route according to taste, which is an nice luxury. I was pleasantly surprised.

Once I arrived, I was met by Nurik and his cousin Sula and taken to see some of the limited sights of Kara-Balta. It’s important to note that Kara-Balta is the 8th largest “city” in Kyrgyzstan at a whopping 45,000 people (counting the nearby villages within the limits), so the sightseeing was never going to be the best. But that didn’t stop it from being memorable – I got to see a Soviet BTR armored personnel carrier in a nearby park, a remaining Lenin statue near one of the schools, and the nice hammer and sickle monument at the entrance to the main city park. In that same park I got a picture with the “I heart Kara-Balta” sign, which just has to be a rare picture to have. The other pictures of me are near the railroad tracks at a spot which I thought was interesting.

Here are the few pictures I was allowed to take of us together. Nurik is in the center in all three, and Sula is opposite me in both of the first two. They informed me that smiling for pictures was “not Kyrgyz,” but I managed to get small grins from them in the second one. They were both incredibly nice, despite the serious expressions, and were happy to show me around. Luckily for me, they are both teenagers, and as such their planning skills aren’t ideal. This meant that I was mainly experiencing Kara-Balta through their own eyes and what they considered important to show in the moment, which I preferred.

These are the best of the pictures I took of Kara-Balta from a “random teenage wandering” point of view. One thing that Nurik has been sure to point out to me over the past few months is the fact that the city has barely changed since the early 90s, which you may have been able to guess from the Lenin statue and prominent hammer and sickle. It also means that I now have a better idea of what a non-capital city looks like in a post-Soviet country. Notice in the first picture the very Russian street and architecture – that was the main residential area upon the city’s main settlement, built using pre-brutalist architecture, and so maintains a very classic and somewhat European feeling.

In the fifth picture, you can see one of several mosques that we passed in the city, not quite as commonly as in Bishkek. Strangely, Kara-Balta is almost 50% ethnic Russians – in one of the two markets, I felt like I was fully in Russia itself, with basically everyone there being Russian instead of Kyrgyz. Because of this, there are several Russian Orthodox churches scattered around alongside the mosques. I found the city on the whole to be very interesting, if not a little bit depressing. The post-snowfall weather did not help, to be sure, as dirty ice and snow are about as depressing a decoration as a town can have.

Our final stop before I headed out in early evening was the larger of the two markets. While not quite as large as Osh Bazaar in Bishkek, it was still decently sized, and I’d wager a guess that you could find most anything you would need there. Due to the time of day, weather, and lighting, I dearly wished that I had with me a better camera than my phone, because there were lots of opportunities that my poor cell couldn’t quite handle. The last picture here is the closest to doing it justice, at least. Just imagine that same photo, but about 50% more pretty and better composed.

Luckily, I definitely plan on heading back after winter break – especially since I was informed today that Nurik’s father was quite upset that he didn’t take me to meet the family. While it is somewhat inexplicable why he didn’t take me to meet them, especially if his parents wanted to meet me, it’s also important to remember that he’s 17. I definitely did stuff like that when I was his age. Plus, it gives me an extra excuse to go back, not that I need one.

I have a few more posts lined up for my time here before I make my way home – again, apologies for the long, long delay between my last one and this one. As a bonus, have a yawning bus-stop cat picture!