On the road again

It has been 14 months since my last international trip and the break has been nice.  This trip has been postponed numerous times but finally I am in Kyrgyzstan.  I'll be in Bishkek on the front and back end and in Osh for the rest of the two weeks.  Routing took me on a direct 9 hr flight to Istanbul, short layover and a 5 hr flight arriving at 3:30a.  My seatmate across the Atlantic was a bit of a riddle.  A young guy, he was friendly enough for me to find out that he was on his way to Yemen.  Not anyone's travel destination of choice and apparently he wasn't thrilled about it.  Stranger still was the large computer case he kept on his lap for the entire trip, and even took with him to the lavatory.  When I asked if he wanted to put it overhead, he replied that his life was in there and he couldn't part with it.  This, in addition to the fervent prayers he recited upon take off, gave me pause.  But trying to keep in mind cross-cultural sensitivity, I managed to keep my imagination in check.

Fortunately, my travel coincides with two acquaintances, one who is managing a project with which we are to collaborate and has been able to provide me with very useful intel and another who used to work in Kyrgyzstan (now in DC) and is very familiar with the country.  Turns out the former and I have worked at the same organizations at different times and know many people in common.  Today she took me to a local grocery store and gave me a brief history lesson on why the country contains such diverse cultures - Korean, Chinese muslims, Russians, Germans and Kyrgyz.