Bishkek Adventures

28.1.2018 Cold weekend well spent indoors -series continues. Me, Para and Lamees embarked on a journey to find some culture. We went to Kyrgyz National Academic Opera and Ballet theater Maldybaeva to see a classic opera Don Juan. The tickets cost about 5 euros per person for the most expensive seats. Here it would be affordable for me to enjoy some opera or ballet culture every single weekend and they actually have a different show for every weekend; Saturday ballet, Sunday opera. The opera building was quite beautiful but also a bit cold because of the weather. We left our coats with a nice babushka lady (who only spoke Russian) and proceeded to find the entrances. We also got to use some of our newly learned Russian; "I come from Finland/Indonesia/Egypt". We were trying to impress a lady selling programs and wearing a lovely traditional coat to get a picture with her (and succeeded). The hall had a lot of art but my favorite was a blue lady looking like a real opera d...

21.1.2018, VOL 1 After a long day of sliding it was time to take it easy, rewind and relax. But on the other hand, when volunteering abroad for 7 weeks you don´t want to waste your precious free time by not experiencing the culture of Kyrgyzstan. Para found the perfect solution to this dilemma; banyas. In short banya is like a spa or public bath with different kind of saunas, treatments and pools. It was a completely different experience compared to the spas in Finland. Mission relax and experience something new achieved. We chose a fancy looking banya called Slegkim in Bishkek city center. When we got there the outside did not look much, some construction was going on. Here I have noticed however that a shabby looking building often hides some beautiful indoors spaces. That was also the case with the banya. We had no idea how to use a banya, the staff did not speak English, we do not speak Russian and we did not have anyone from local AIESEC with us today to translate. Para ...

20.1.2018 This weekend I was invited to a field trip by my awesome host family. First we went to visit my host dads parents in Bishkek suburbs. On arrival I was fed exceedingly well with traditional Kyrgyzstan bread. Luckily I had one more box of Finnish chocolate with me to give for my host grandparents. By lunchtime we were joined by the family of my host dads sister. Suddenly I was in sitting in a table full of new people none of which spoke English. I had to come up with a new communication strategy. Firstly, smiling is really important, you can rarely be impolite if you smile a lot in a family gathering. Also hand gestures and "joong rahmat", thank you very much, help a long way. I am learning to be more solution oriented in new situations as per AIESEC leadership development. After lunch it was time for a family outing to "little mountain". A popular gliding place for families with children and adults as well (gliding is for everyone!). The plac...

18.1.2018 Second week of working in "share your smile" project in Bishkek brought us new AIESEC volunteers. Our team got some reinforcements from Egypt and France. Project-wise we are starting to improve with our lesson plans and teaching but there is still so much to learn. :) After work Ayana from AIESEC Kyrgyzstan wanted to show us Osh Bazaar, the largest marketplace in Bishkek. The Bazaar was amazing, massive and had everything from TVs and shoes to all kinds of food supplies. It also had a really confusing layout with some stalls inside, some outside and had I been there alone it would have taken a long time to find my way out again. Our Bishkek friends took good care of us, warning to be really careful with all valuables as there are a lot of people in the Bazaar.

13.1.2018 After 1 week of working hard for the project, it was time for an another excursion outside of Bishkek. This time Polina from AIESEC had organized a trip to Kashka suu for us. Me, Polina and her family, local volunteer Yulia and Para packed ourselves at a mashrutka minibus and traveled to see some beautiful mountain landscapes again! In Kashka suu we could either go skating or skiing. Polina, Para and Yulia wanted to try downhill skiing for the first time. So we headed to a skiing class where the teacher introduced us to the art of pizza skiing for beginners (crossing your skis so that you slow down and can turn). During the lesson he ended up yelling us "pizza, pizza" a lot... I sort of stuck with us from that moment on :) After class we had lunch with the people who came with us in the same minibus. It was like a really big indoors picnic as everyone (except me and Para) had brought something to eat and shared the food and tea. In the end I w...