The Last Day of The Year…

As I sit in my cozy apartment, watching melted snow and ice drip off the roof, past my window outside I hear an old woman bellowing from the sidewalk below, “TVORGG, SIIR…TVORGG, SIIR, CMETANA.” Her voice is high pitched, almost mournful sounding. I don’t have to look to know she’s walking around the apartment buildings selling homemade cottage cheese, cheese, and a thick cream cheese out of plastic buckets. Her calling is as daily and as steady as the Muslim call to prayer that I hear every morning, pre-dawn.

In stark contrast I think of the giant flat screen TV they recently erected on one corner of the busiest intersections in the city. I think it was put up to display advertisements, but every time I have passed it – usually on my way to work or back from friends’ houses – it’s blaring old American rap music videos.

Out front of the oblast’s administration building, where I work, is Lenin Square. It is here, the tallest statue of Lenin in all of Kyrgyzstan, resides over the city – one hand clutching his jacket’s lapel, the other raised in a wave-like salute. Posed here, surrounded by flags and a “New Year’s Tree” almost as tall as he, he looks benevolent; happy almost, to be in the center of the city’s festivity.

The bazaar is now more dangerous than ever. There’s another layer to it now: ice. The once muddy ground is now a pure, uneven sheath of ice. Un-phased local women continue to walk confidently in heels arm in arm, while tourists slip and slide all over the place falling and bruising their unaccustomed bodies.

As the week, and now the day wears on, with the New Year on the cusp of the day – the interruption of fireworks becomes more frequent. Outside children ignite and throw “poppers” at each other – usually landing within inches of tiny toes and cracking like gunshots. In the stores, sparklers and rockets are sold beside displays of champagne – and sell in higher volume.

New Year’s Eve was very interesting. Ed invited a few of us over for dinner – in his new apartment (which is pretty much the same as mine, but with sparkly wallpaper instead of paint. We have the same landlord). He cooked us spaghetti and homemade sauce. It was delicious. For dessert we ate rice crispy treats! (Thanks Meg’s Mom for sending the ingredients!)

After dinner, we went over to a former PCV and his (beautiful) Uzbek wife’s apartment just across the way. Her parents, sister, and niece and nephew were there too, as well as another volunteer. We watched a live Russian New Year’s show on TV, broadcasted from Moscow. It was strange to watch TV because I haven’t done so in 4 months, but cool because during each singing performance the lyrics were shown on the bottom of the screen like karaoke. Good language practice. We toasted with champagne at midnight then went outside to experience the fireworks extravaganza. It was so insane. It seemed like every household bought and ignited their own supply. Meg and I were so overwhelmed we stood against the wall of the apartment building, to avoid getting hit. I’ve never seen so many fireworks at such close range before. The show ranged from sparklers to these giant Roman Candles. For about 45 minutes after midnight it seemed as if the whole city was under siege. The noise was deafening. So that was my first Kyrgyz New Year.

On another note, I believe it’s earthquake season. Last week we had a huge one. It was pretty scary. I was sitting alone in my office – on the 4th floor when it hit. I didn’t know what to do so I just shut my computer and sat frozen at my desk. It was over in less than a minute, but this time stuff fell. When I got home from work later that day, my apartment was covered in plaster dust and chunks. My cement walls and ceiling cracked in multiple places – leaving quite a mess for me to clean up. Someone told us the epicenter was just 20 miles away!

New Year’s after I got home from guesting and was about to fall asleep there was another earthquake. This one was significantly smaller and quicker. And then yesterday (Jan 1st), as I was washing dishes a medium size one hit. I shut off the water and braced myself against my dish cabinet in the kitchen. It wasn’t as big as the earthquake that caused damage, but it still freaked me out a bit, especially with the after-tremor that rocked the building seconds later.