Category Archives: Central Asia

So This is What a Christian Country is Like – The Caucus Region

“Dong…Dong…Dong…Dong…”

“Hey, do you hear the bell?” Olivia asked looking at us doing our work in the AirBnb apartment in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. “Isn’t it interesting?”

“What do you mean?” I responded, not sure why she found the bell sound so interesting.

Continue reading So This is What a Christian Country is Like – The Caucus Region

Restored, Renewed, Rejuvenated

“Is this where we will sleep tonight?” I asked with an incredulous look.

An Russian looking man wearing military camouflage cap and T-shirt gestured us in Russian to put our backpacks onto an outdoor wooden platform in the middle of an large wooden yard.
“Is this where we will sleep tonight?” I asked again not understanding what he said because our “survival” Russian was only good for basic greeting and bargaining of prices.
The man smiled in a funny way and continued to speak in Russian and to gesture us to put our backpacks on the platform. Although he was more than a meter away from us, we could smell the vodka in his breath.

Continue reading Restored, Renewed, Rejuvenated

The Miracle of Routine – Urban “Camping” in Bishkek

“Dad, isn’t that an abandoned building?” Nathan asked with a slight fear in his voice.

The abandoned building had broken doors and windows that were patched with wooden planks or locked up with metal bars and padlocks. The surrounding walkways were overgrown with weeds. The lot was surrounded by fences made of shiny grey aluminum sheets, the type that one normally see at construction sites.

“Let’s first go in and see…and see if it will work out. If not, we can always leave,” I encouraged the children. Continue reading The Miracle of Routine – Urban “Camping” in Bishkek