My home away from home in Kygyzstan Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
ACCELS Kyrgyzstan Head Office was in Bishkek.
The American Councils for International Education hired me right out of Kazakhstan and offered me a position as a Program Recruiter. I was assigned to Bishkek but needed to attend training in Moscow, Russia. I arrived in Bishkek. My Kyrgyz host family's son picked me up. I would stay with his parents for my entire time in Bishkek.
Bishkek was not what I had expected. It was as beautiful as Almaty. I lived in Yug-2 and had a good view of the mountains. I enjoyed Bishkek.
Of course, there was work to do. Part of it was on the road visiting cities in Kyrgyzstan. The rest was in Bishkek.
Below are some of the photos I took while I was in Bishkek. I do not have any pictures of my Kyrgyz host family.
Yug Dva
View from Yug Dva (2) from the apartment I stayed. The mountains are beautiful.
Osh Bazaar
My host brother brought me to the Osh Bazaar, the wet market in Bishkek. You can buy anything here. I remember meeting an American who spoke near-fluent Kyrgyz. I had to ask him if he was Kyrgyz or not.
Honor Guard
I got to see the Honor Guard at the city center. They were talking while marching until they saw me. Then they marched professionally. If you see any of these photos online, they are mine.
The statue of Lenin.
Winter, 1999
Winter finally came. In Kazakhstan I did not experience a lot of snow since I was in the south. In Bishkek, I saw a lot.
Snow from Yug 2. Yes I was fascinated by it.
More snowfall.
If I remember right, the US Marine Corps barracks were around here. I met the US Embassy Marine Security Guards when I lived in Bishkek. It was the first time I met fellow US Marines since I left the Corps in October 1996.
I do not remember the location of this monument.
Manas International Airport
Manas International Airport some two years before the US military arrived.
I flew in on a jet similar to this one. I thought I was going to die since it was a Soviet jetliner. After my four months in Krygyzstan, I would miss them.
Several Soviet jetliners. Kyrgyzstan Airlines did own one Airbus, but they could only fly to Turkey and not the rest of Europe.
I flew on this plane four times between Bishkek and Osh. It is a fun ride. Kyrgyzstan Airlines Tupolev T-134.
Kyrgyzstan Airlines Tupolev T-134.
Manas did have one jetway at the time. This photo was one of my last pictures of Kyrgyzstan. I flew out to Istanbul via Turkish Airlines in late 1999.
My last photo of me leaving Kyrgyzstan heading to Istanbul, Turkey.
Reflection
The four months went fast primarily because I was on the road. I lost contact with the Chokubaevs. I never met them when I moved back to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2013. Recently, I was able to get into contact with one of my Kyrgyz host brothers. I hope to meet him and his brother in the future.
Map of the places
- Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
- Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan
- Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan
- Jalal Abad, Kyrgyzstan
- Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
- Osh, Kyrgyzstan
- Talas, Kyrgyzstan
The map is from OpenStreetMap. If you load it, OpenStreetMap may set cookies and may see your IP address. The places are listed above as text.
Use the arrow keys to move the map. Use the plus and minus keys to zoom. The numbered markers are for mouse and touch. The same places, with the same numbers, are in the list above.