friday night poker night

jen and i played in the monthly friday night poker night this friday with some of our friends from the embassy. 1000 som buy in. texas hold-em. winner takes 80%. second place takes 20%.

jen and i play by yahtzee rules which are great for poker except that you have to have five in a row for a straight... jen kept forgetting this and kept betting big when she had four in row! somehow... i managed to make it to the final three and kept folding early and talking the other two guys into betting big against each other. it worked and i got second!

other than winning our money back... our favorite part of the night was seeing a painting of will (our host) that his sister had made for him. great idea if someone is looking to get me a gift!

we've got mail

tonight during russian lessons we received a text message from our friend chris saying that he had received a package for us that was sent c/o him (the best and safest way for us to receive stuff here in bishkek from the states). in our excitement... we shuffled jane (our lovely russian teacher) out the door and rushed to meet chris at the metro pub for the "exchange". chris was sitting with a couple of friends, one of whom we knew from karaoke, and they invited us to join them. "wish we could... but we are heading to the gym" was our response. a complete lie as we knew we were heading straight back home to open our goodies. let me start by saying...

WE LOVE YOU MOM! YOU ARE THE GREATEST IN THE WHOLE WORLD!

we couldn't race back home and up to our apartment quick enough. we tore open the 20 pound (yes... 20 pound) box to a cornucopia of non-low fat american goodness! 8 bags of honest to god american potato chips... two bags that we are eating as we are writing (so long diet). two huge bottles of tabasco (just in time... i was down to my last two ounces!). a box of microwave popcorn (ten packs in whole!). a case of kool-aid (supposedly for jen's class project but bound for my water bottle). and a galore of cookie mix (again... farewell diet but hello pregnant woman cravings).

i can not relate to you how amazing and wonderful this is. seriously. you have no idea! this is better than christmas and the fourth of july combined. american goodness that we can't get here in central asia.

thank you... thank you... thank you... mom!

had a bad day

yesterday was a "bad" day. it started off when i decided to fast for the day. something that i am trying to do once a week. a good way to cleanse the mind and soul i guess. anyway... when i fast... besides feeling cleansed and soulful... i am also tired, hungry and grumpy. so hard to say if it really accomplishes anything. but we will see. my morning routine consist of checking my email first thing before we head off to school. this is just a fancy way of saying i check up on my fantasy basketball team the "birdnest bombers". 15 - 2 baby! yes... i am a dork. so i go to turn on my "trusty" laptop and it won't start. the lights come on for about one second... and then flick off. determined... i push the button again. the lights come on again for about one second and then flick off. again. nothing. again. nothing. again. nothing. well... maybe if i do it one more time. again. nothing. again. nothing. again. nothing. but i couldn't stop as i was convinced that if i clicked it ONE MORE TIME that i would hit jackpot. again. nothing. again nothing. so although my computer never started up... i was reminded as to why i should never gamble in vegas as i could see myself stuck at a slot machine all day and night thinking "one more time". later in the day after doing some research online (with a different computer) i came to the conclusion that my motherboard has gone out (this...after my hard drive died in august). no problem... a couple hundred dollars and i will have a new motherboard and my computer back! i'll just run down to best buy... or circuit city... or fry's... oh. we don't have those in central asia. and since i doubt the bazaars will have them. i am out a computer and more importantly... tons of photos that i haven't posted yet.

the day continued downhill after i get to school and get an email from my dad saying that they are going to have to stop chemo on him as his white blood cells are too low to take it. it also looks like his cancer has spread to his other lung and his hip. the doctors are going to try a specific type of radiation on him instead of chemo. we are praying that this will work. either way... kind of scary. your thoughts and prayers are welcomed.

by this point in the day... it is only 800am.

i get a call about an hour later from david stillwell, the guy i coach with on our club basketball team (the snowflakes! yes... these are high school guys who call themselves the "mighty snowflakes") saying that we need to have a team meeting as some parents called him saying that their kids want to quit the team as they feel there isn't enough "team unity". i could blog for hours on my kids and their home schooled, church influenced ideas of "TEAM UNITY" but i will save it for another day. needless to say... it wasn't my idea of how i wanted to spend wednesday night. so right after school... tired and grumpy from not eating all day (but feeling spiritually... spirited) i rush out of BIS with jen in tow to drive to hope academy (the other local, expat school and the school where most of the kids on my team go) for our team meeting.

bishkek is a laid out in a big huge square. achenbyvea street (where BIS is located and the main street off of which we live) runs east west on the southern part of town and parellel to the big mountain range outside of town. chui runs east west on the north part of town and is the "cool" part of town with all the parks, museums, government buildings, bars, etc. connecting achenbyvea and chui are manas (running north south on the west end of town) and sovietksya (running north south on the east side of town). bishkek is intersected (a fancy way of saying cut in half) north south by the railroad (from which you can catch a three day train to moscow... something that is on our list of adventures that we MUST take while here). outside of the achenbyvea/chui/manas/sovietksya square... the town runs out like spokes. but other than a couple of the bigger bazaars (osh being the best example) everything we need is usually inside of this square. oh... and the square is only about 10 square kilometers... everything is pretty close.

in theory.

during the bishkek "rush hour" driving from BIS to Hope (located off of chui and sovietksya) can take up to 30 minutes. this is because normal, civilized traffic laws don't apply here. when one person decides to run a red light... every car behind him will run the red light as well. when cars are backed up at a light. one car will decide to pass the lane of traffic by driving down the opposite lane into oncoming traffic... and when one car does this everyone else follows suit. and as mentioned before... each lane is made of "two rows" of traffic but not really as you will have three to four cars abreast driving in the same direction down the "two row" lane. as crazy as it all sounds... it works. except when the traffic police are out.

and wednesday they were out in force.

the way it works is that a traffic cop stands right past a light... with his toy store light sabre in his hand... waving people over. he waves you over if you run a flashing green light. he waves you over if you run a flashing yellow light. and he waves you over if you run a red light. he waves you over if you turn right on red. the order of the lights are green (everyone goes)... flashing green (what substitutes as a green turn arrow... although no one coming in the opposite direction stops which mean you have to wait until a yellow light)... yellow (which means clear the intersection unless you are a bus and then you can keep going)... and then red (which means the other cars from the cross street are already in the intersection as they started going when your light turned yellow and they jumped the green light).

so traffic sucks. i am going to a meeting that i don't want to be in because i am not feeling all touchy feeling and wanting to yell at my team and tell them that there is "no crying in basketball". i am running late. jen is tired and feeling pregnant. and i am on the phone telling david stillwell that i am running late when i see the toy light sabre waving me over to the side of the road.

when you get waved over the traffic cop (in this instance a woman! go equal rights in bishkek!) comes over. shakes your hand. and then asks to see your papers. remember... everything is in russian. i grab the papers and hand them to her and then get out of the car.

a note about "papers". as a former soviet republic, bishkek is all about records. everything is record. hand ledgers. notebooks. receipts. everything. they are fanatical about it. driving papers consist of your registration (showing that you paid a bribe in order to be able to put the car in your name when you bought it) ... technical papers (showing that you paid a bribe instead of having to put a first aid kit and fire extinguisher in your car)... your drivers license (showing that you paid a bribe in order to be able to drive... there are no "drivers test" here)... and your id card (or in this case... my passport... showing that you paid a bribe in order to be able to pay bribes).

i normally try to get out of tickets by saying "ye ne pakneemyu" which is russian for i don't understand you. or i break out the "ye ne gabaru po russki" which is russian for i don't speak russian. no luck. as she continued to talk to me in russian while speaking very slowly and loudly... determined to make me understand what i had done wrong.

here is my translation and transcript of what happened:

traffic cop: hi. do you know why i pulled you over?
me: hi. i don't speak russian.
traffic cop: do you know why i pulled you over?
me: hi. i don't speak russian.
traffic cop: you don't speak russian.
me: i don't speak russian.
traffic cop: do you speak russian a little bit?
me: i speak russian a little bit, yes.
traffic cop: do you know why i pulled you over?
me: i don't understand you.
traffic cop: i thought you spoke russian a little bit?
me: i speak russian a little bit, yes. a little, little bit.
traffic cop: you can't talk on your cell phone while driving (using hand gestures)
me: i don't understand you.
traffic cop: you can't talk on the cell phone while driving (using hand gestures)
me: oh... no phone driving (using hand gestures)
traffic cop: yes. no cell phone while driving.
me: i am sorry. i didn't know. can i go now?
traffic cop: what? i don't understand english.
me: i don't speak russian. can i go now?
traffic cop: what? i don't understand english.
me: can i go now? (using hand gestures)
traffic cop: no. i am going to write you a ticket and take your papers to the police station. you have to go to the police station tomorrow, pay a fine and then get your papers back.
me: how much do i have to pay (suddenly able to understand most of what she was saying)?
traffic cop: 500 soms (about 12 dollars)
me: so you are saying i can drive in the middle lane, go down the wrong lane into oncoming traffic, jump green lights... but i can't talk on the cell phone?
traffic cop: i don't understand what you are saying.
me: can i pay you now?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you now?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you now?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you now?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you now?
traffic cop: yes.
me: can i pay you 200 soms?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you 200 soms?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you 300 soms?
traffic cop: no.
me: can i pay you 300 soms?
traffic cop: you can pay me 1000 soms.
me: here are your 500 soms.

of course in this case there was no paperwork or ticket as the money goes directly into the pocket of the traffic cop. so go back to the car where my tired and hungry pregnant wife is waiting. rush to Hope. jennifer asks to come inside but i tell her that she needs to wait in the car since it is a team meeting. note to self... never tell wife, pregnant or not, that she has to wait in the car. will always lead to an argument!

went into the meeting and talked about feelings with a bunch of 14 year olds for 30 minutes.

it was enough to make me break my fast.

base closing... maybe

there you have it. the kyrgyz parliament voted to close the base today. funny thing is that i was just at the embassy playing basketball with some of my friends who work there and none of them knew anything about it. so we will see.

February 20, 2009
Kyrgyz Parliament Votes to Close Base

By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan voted on Thursday to terminate the American military’s eight-year lease on an air base outside the capital, Bishkek, complicating President Obama’s plans to deploy as many as 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan over the next two years.

The bill was approved by 78 of the 81 deputies present, with two voting against it and one abstaining. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev will now send official notification to Washington, giving U.S. forces six months to vacate the base.

The facility is a key logistical hub for American forces in Afghanistan, particularly at a time when Taliban attacks have jeopardized another prime overland supply route from Pakistan. The Manas base in Kyrgyzstan provides transit facilities for some 15,000 personnel and 500 tons of cargo each month. It also hosts large tanker aircraft refueling fighter planes on combat missions over Afghanistan.

American officials had scrambled to reverse the decision to close the base, which was announced by Mr. Bakiyev in Moscow on Feb. 4.

The government in Bishkek had longstanding complaints about the facility, asking for more cash compensation. Tensions were exacerbated by a 2006 incident in which an American serviceman fatally shot a Kyrgyz truck driver.

Mr. Bakiyev announced the move to close the base at a press conference with Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev, who promised to shore up Kyrgyzstan’s floundering economy with around $2.15 billion in loans and grants. Moscow has long complained about the continued U.S. military presence in Central Asia, and many in Washington concluded that Russia had encouraged the move.

Russian and Kyrgyz officials said there was no connection between the aid and the base closure.

In public comments, deputies portrayed the vote as the culmination of years of complaints and said the American presence in Central Asia had outlasted its usefulness.

“It is impossible to make people of Afghanistan live by standards which are brought in from abroad,” said Kabai Karabhekov, a deputy. “One has to give an opportunity to Afghan people to build their country themselves.”

international school expeditions

jen and i are in the process of making a proposal to quality schools international (the company that runs our school and 30 plus others) to start a outdoor leadership program.

the name of the program would be international school expeditions (click link to see the website) and it's purpose would be to offer staff development, team building, outings clubs, and adventure travel to qsi schools.

i've drawn heavily from my experiences at cal state san bernardino to help design the program and we are really excited to see what qsi's response is going to be. as much as i enjoy teaching... my passion really is on outdoor leadership. we are hoping that they take the program on. if not... jen and i are seriously considering starting it on our own. wish us luck!

bishkek in the news

bishkek has made the news recently as debate revolves around the future of the us military base at manas international airport. being an "american embassy school", we are somewhat effected as many of our students have parents who are connected directly to the base or to the embassy supporting the base. it comes down less to politics (although the krygz government is claiming it has to do with our policy of attacking civilians in afghanistan) and more about money. kyrgyzstan is a very poor country and is very dependent on foreign investment. russia has offered up a two billion (us) dollar loan to the country while hoping to increase their influence over the region. the krygz in response... are hoping to get more money out of the americans.

our friends at the embassy say that while publicly being told they will have to leave the base... no "official" word has been given. we will see.

here is an article from the new york times:

February 4, 2009

Kyrgyzstan Says It Will Close U.S. Base
By ELLEN BARRY and MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

MOSCOW — In Moscow to seek financial support, the president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, on Tuesday announced that a decision to close a U.S. air base in his country — a decision that will seriously hamper U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

Mr. Bakiyev arrived in Moscow under pressure to ease economic troubles in Kyrgyzstan, which is heavily in debt to Russia and dependent on remittances from migrant workers. President Dmitri A. Medvedev said Russia would extend a $2 billion loan and $150 million in aid to Kyrgyzstan, which Mr. Bakiyev hailed as “serious and important support.”

At a press conference, Mr. Bakiyev said the U.S. had not paid Kyrgyzstan enough in return for the use of the base – and expressed anger over a 2006 case in which an American serviceman shot and killed a Kyrgyz truck driver on the base. The American left the country, against official protest.

“How can we speak of independence and sovereignty if we cannot enforce the law on the territory of our own country?” he said, at a press conference. “All this has given rise to a negative attitude to the base in Manas. And that is why the government has made such a decision.”

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, on Tuesday called Manas “a hugely important” airbase for the United States. The base has served as an air hub and refueling and transit point for NATO efforts in Afghanistan, and U.S. officials have several times intervened when Kyrgyz officials considered shutting it.

During negotiations this summer, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. would pay more than $150 million in assistance and compensation for the base. At the time, a government statement said the United States had contributed more than $850 million to support democracy, economic development, aid projects and security in the Kyrgyz Republic since its independence from the Soviet Union.

NATO’s special representative to the area, Robert Simmons, spent Monday and Tuesday meeting with officials in Bishkek, telling reporters the site was “vital.”

At the press conference, Mr. Bakiyev said Washington had ignored requests for more money.

“Eight years have passed,” he said. “We have repeatedly raised with the United States the matter of economic compensation for the existence of the base in Kyrgyzstan, but we have not been understood.”

The base was opened in 2001 with Moscow’s blessing, but Russian leaders were increasingly irritated by the continuing presence of American troops there. It was not clear whether Russian officials had pressed Bishkek to end the agreement.

To Russians, the longstanding U.S. presence at Manas suggested ambitions “to strengthen its position in this region” – against Moscow’s and Beijing’s interests, said Andronik Migranyan, an analyst at the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, a Russian think-tank based in New York.

“The American government is involved in many things that Russia does not like, and this is something of a bargaining chip,” he said.

Mr. Migranyan said friction over the air base will become “become a serious impediment to Russian-American relations” if Mr. Obama follows through on his plans to beef up the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. He added, however, that there was likely room to negotiate.

“If president Obama halts the construction of elements of a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland; if there are broader discussions on global security, if negotiations start on START I; and many other issues, then Russia will support the United States in Afghanistan,” he said.

Kyrgyzstan’s close relations with the United States have long unsettled Russia and China, which both have military interests in the region.

In 2005, the country appeared to move further into Washington’s orbit after a popular uprising, supported in part by the United States, toppled the corrupt and increasingly authoritarian government of Askar A. Akayev, sending the president fleeing across the border. The bloodless coup was part of a wave of popular revolts, known as colored revolutions, that remain a source of anger and suspicion among Russian officials, who consider them Washington-hatched schemes meant to undermine Russia’s influence in the region.

Similar uprisings in Georgia and Ukraine ushered in governments that quickly sought to shut out Moscow’s influence in favor of stronger ties with the West. Kyrgyzstan, however, has often sought to strike a balance among Washington, Moscow and Beijing. The government has allowed Russia to maintain a military base on Kyrgyz soil and is a member, along with China, Russia and three other Central Asian countries, of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security alliance.

Upon his election in 2005, Mr. Bakiyev vowed to pursue an independent foreign policy, saying that Kyrgyzstan would not be “a place for the fulfillment of someone else’s geopolitical interests.”

spring break india

it is official. we are going to india over spring break. leaving bishkek on the 21st of march and returning on the 28th. will fly out of almaty, kazakhstan on saturday. spend a couple of days exploring "the golden triangle" of delhi, agra (including the taj mahal), and jaipur before heading north to chandigarh and amritsar where we will hang out with ramon and linda - our couchsurfing friends which we met in karakol. they are really good people and we can't wait to spend some more time with them.

we are super excited. planning on traveling light with one small backpack that i will carry (jen will be carrying the baby!). our big plan is to take a photo of the baby (aka jen's belly) outside the red fort, taj mahal, golden palace and other sites in india. also... we can't wait for the food!

more details to follow as we get closer.

on fatherhood

i haven't blogged yet regarding "our situation" as my friend randy use to call bridget and his pregnancy with conner. that doesn't mean i haven't talked about it (every day with jennifer, my dad, and some local bishkek friends) or thought about it (pretty much every second of every waking moment) or dreamed about it (yes baby... i dream about you while i am sleeping).

in case you don't know... jen and i are expecting our first child (and hopefully the first of many!) in august! we found out over christmas break while in houston. saw the baby and it's heartbeat for the first time on december 24th (the best christmas present ever)! amazing, life changing stuff.

and since that first unbelievable moment of seeing the little speck of a person during that first ultra sound on christmas eve... i have been consumed with thoughts of fatherhood.

not just my own (august can't get here soon enough)... but my father's as well.

i am a pretty visual person and the best analogy that i have come up with is when you are standing in a room with a mirror in front of you and behind you... and you get the effect that images of you go on forever. both behind you and in front of you.

the self reflective me has spent much time thinking about this.

i can't imagine having had a better dad than john d. conover. dad is everything that i needed in a father. caretaker. provider. coach. teacher. friend. he is able to "guide" me while allowing me to make my own mistakes... have my own adventures. dad has been the only member of my family (extended family included) who was always 100% supportive when i felt the need to explore. be it alaska. be it bishkek. his staple line is "i want what's best for you" and he seem to always know what was best for me while letting me find myself. he was able to put my dreams and my needs above his dreams for me.

a big part of my sense of humor comes from my dad (but i have to give credit for my lovely sarcasm to my mom!). a even bigger part of my kindness and grace comes from my dad. i have never know someone more giving and generous than my dad. he is the first person i want to call when something great has happened (dad... we are having a baby!) or when something bad has happened (dad... i've been robbed... twice... in rome... sob, sob, sob).

i love my dad more than i could ever express in words. he is the type of dad i want to be.

but as i look forward to a future of my own fatherhood - i worry that i am not going to be to my child, all the things that my dad was to me.

it seems so daunting and intimidating. almost impossible. i want so desperately for this little person to be protected by me the way my dad protects me. to be loved by me the way my dad loves me. to be guided by me the way my dad guides me. to be my friend. and to grow up fun and crazy and caring and kind like i have grown up (or at least like i am trying to grow up).

while it makes me feel so stressed when i think about fatherhood... i can't imagine anything else in the whole world that i want more.

the biggest loser

on sunday nights i play tennis with my friends sasha and charlie (and charlie's nephew). we are all pretty evenly matched (at least when it comes to playing doubles). it makes for good tennis as we play best of five and we normally end up playing for three plus hours. the courts are nice (by central asian standards) indoor courts. the lines are just a bit long. i can tell because i land a high percentage of my first serves and am brilliant at painting the baseline. this doesn't translate over well to a regulation court as i tried playing once when we were home in the states over the break and everything was long (that is what she said).

anyway... last week while playing we were taking a break and all sitting on the bench drinking water. i happened to look down at myself and then at charlie and sasha. although i felt healthy and good for exercising... all i could think was "man... we are getting old and fat".

as a result... "the biggest loser bishkek" has been born!

joined by chris, charlie, sasha and myself are each throwing money ($100 a piece) where our mouths are (i wonder how many calories are in a dollar vs a som?) and betting to see who can lose the most weight over one month. we are paying out the winner one month at a time but the big goal is to keep this contest going through june. we will see.

after one week... i have lost almost five pounds am in first place.

my losing weight isn't congruent with jen's pregnancy diet of ice cream and cake... so we will see how it works out. wish me luck.

valentine's day at the hyatt

last night jen and i celebrated our first valentine's day in bishkek (and our first as husband and wife!) at the hyatt. the event was a fundraiser for the international women's club. the iwc is a local group, mainly expats, that raises money for local orphanages.

really nice event. everyone was dressed in tuxes and suits (including me... my mom will be so proud). in typical bishkek style... the night started off with a fashion show. isn't hard to do as you could pretty much pick any girl off the street corner and chances are you would find someone who is a russian supermodel. the show was followed by a couple doing an amazing flamingo dance. then more fashion show. then some belly dancers. and then a raffle. and then... finally... food.

the hyatt is the "swank" place in town. and it is really nice and by far the nicest hotel in bishkek... although it would only be a nice, midrange hotel back in the states. the food is suppose to be amazing. and again... it was good for bishkek. my point in sharing this isn't to knock the hyatt or the wonderful time we had...but to show how our standards get "adjusted" when living in central asia. ok become good. good becomes amazing. amazing becomes the best in the whole world.

in typical us fashion... we were ready to go home around 1000pm (before the band and dancing started) but in typical fashion... my wife wouldn't leave until the ice cream was served.

two helpings and six scoops later we heading out into the wonderful bishkek night. it was an amazing... no the best ever... valentines day.

skiing at too achu

our friend chris from the us embassy invited us to tag along as he went skiing at too achu ski area. the "resort"... i use that word loosely... is about a two and a half hour drive west/southwest of bishkek and in an area of kyrgyzstan that we haven't explored yet. the drive there was worth the price of admission. crazy, huge mountains. crazy, windy road over the top of a 10,000 foot range. and crazy, amazing views.

too achu is located above a snow bound valley at about 8000'. one ski lift that is below the resort. you ski down and then ride the lift back up. if you want... you can ski past the lift down to the village below (about 6 kilometers) and ride a taxi or marchutka back up (a 20 minute drive). the views were unreal. snow covered peaks in the back ground and a completely snow covered valley below. no green to be found anywhere.

jen and i didn't ski. arena, our doctor, happened to be there with some other embassy folks and suggested that she didn't. so i happily decided to hang with her while our friends skied.

too achu is a pretty surreal place and we wish we could take our family and friends from the states there to show them. someone... come visit!

snow day

we got dumped on today with about six inches of snow. started slowly around 1000am with these little bitty pellets of snow that continued to grow and get heavier as the day progressed. after school jen was inspired to make snow angels in exchange for me getting to throw snow balls at her...