Thank God for Generators

I spent New Years in Bishkek. It was a nice change from Khujand. I was treated with warmth, good food (I had chinese, italian and even made cooked sushi rolls!) and a beautiful city covered with snow. Bishkek, Kyrgzstan is indeed the 'Switzerland' of Central Asia; like Tajikistan it too is over 93% covered by mountains. The difference is many of them are mountainous grassland so it is a perfect place for trekking, horseback riding and enjoying the wilderness. The phrase, "Wild, Wild East" kept coming into my mind as we drove through the various landscapes. Bishkek also reminded me of Vancouver as the backdrop of the city is the Tian Shan Mountains, similar to the North Shore Mtns that us Vancouverites enjoy as we drive along the Hwy #1.

Above is a photo of Lake Issyk Kul (second largest alpine lake in the world next to Lake Titicaca) and another of Altu Square on New Year Eve.

It has taken me many weeks to write this blog because since my return from Bishkek, there has been serious problems with power/gas at the MEDA office. But as of this afternoon, we finally got a generator! This wonderful generator makes noise like a lawn motor but it gives us power to do our work. I was pretty estatic when this all happened. Who knew I could get so excited over a generator...haha


On January 8 at approx. 10pm, there was an earthquake that hit at the Tajik-Kyrgyz border about 70km away from Khujand. I was sitting on my bed talking to Rob on the 5th floor of my apt. when this happened. It was such a scary first experience. The whole room shook for many minutes and I watched as my vase and xmas cards fell off the TV. I was glad that Rob was on the phone with me at that time but it really hit home that there is not much you can do during such a circumstance except to hope the shaking will stop and that the building you are in does not collapse. In Tajikistan, it is really like playing the lottery as there are no building regulations on earthquake proofing homes/apts so it will depend on how well the building is constructed. Thank God the shaking stopped...