Number Eight: Black Outs

Among all its crises, Kyrgzstan is rationing electricity to save money. The government has promised this would be short lived, but no one believes the government. The electricity is off literally half the day. In the section of town where my flat is located ('apartment' to you Yankees!) electricity is shut off from 2 to 6 PM and then again from midnight to 6 AM daily. And, as in the case last night, when there is an emergency breakdown of some sort. I am still sleeping in fits and starts, in Bishkek awakening around 4 AM. I would generally start working on my computer, downloading videos, sorting through mail, Global Visits and facebook, and blogging. There is no capacity to do that in this flat, or in town for that matter! And without electricity, I cannot even read. So my strategy is to stay awake as close to midnight as I can (which even in the US is a challenge) and then hope to sleep until 6 AM. Last night I arrived in my flat so tired that after a bit of work (I have several lecrures coming up) I decided to take an hours' nap or so, then cook my supper and work until midnight. Setting my alarm clock to ensure I did not oversleep, my plans were foiled. I woke up to pitch blackness. There was a breakdown, and the entire town was enveloped in darkness making what already appears weary truly forbidding.

The lights eventually came back and I went about my routine. I made it to midnight, slept till 6 AM and with virtual hands on hips, expressed annoyance that at the stroke of 6 AM we had to have electricity. But it is back, so now I must wait for the boiler to heat enough water for a decent shower thankful that this was not occurring when I had an entire family with me five years ago.....we would had to have rationed showers!

This really is an example of Kyrgyzstan slipping ever backyard. Yesterday at lunch, hunched over our soups, we talked quietly as to how the government could change. New elections are coming up in July, but there is no real opposition. Politicians and journalists who oppose the government disappear. I am told that the new President is more corrupt than the old. A coup is not likely since he has infiltrated every level of government and power with his relatives and friends, creating a circular shield of protection.

So here I am, talking about American Studies, the American political process, the American civil society.....must seem like Disney World.

As for those neat videos, downloading will have to wait until I return to Bishkek on the 26th. I am still searching for the fastest Internet cafe in town, but it ain't happening. There is one crowded cafe where I can at least access Global Visits and facebook to post blogs and news. I was hoping there was a really decent hotel that might offer a business center for which I would be happy to pay the euro or dollars to use, just to download videos. I ran into some Peace Corps volunteers who would surely have scoped this out and they are still searching themselves. I am taking videos on a daily basis...so I will have a stack to share. Taking the videos was really beginning to replace the blogs....and in a sense, I am happy to be writing again. Grateful that at least my trusty laptop is functioning properly. Owning a business that offers limited opportunity for creative writing (or any writing for that matter!), I am finding joy in having this space of quiet tine to write. This was how I introduced Central Asia to many faithful readers five years ago, and I really loved writing those 'dispatches,' so all is not bad! Not so good for this special region of the earth, however, that Putin would love to snatch in his clutch once again. The Soviet Union is dead? No so. Look at all its' puppets.

Signing out........