The good and the bad of New Year's in Kyrgyzstan

Happy New Year everyone! I just posted my New Year's photos on Facebook and I don't feel like posting them again so I'm just going to put a link up to that album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267915&id=6714291&ref=mf

I will post more details here, however, as to the actual events of the day. I suggest looking at the photos before, or at the same time as, reading this

A small group of us (many volunteers are away on vacation this year) gathered for some pre-partying at Jared's house. Jared had convinced Stephany that people wear costumes here on New Year's and had so suckered her into wearing a dog costume to go with his kangaroo costume. After some light drinking and playing around with the costumes we decided to head into Bishkek. We heard that there was going to be much excitement near the center of the city, in Ala-too Square, so that's where we went. The night started off great. We took pictures with every Santa/Ms. Clause we could find (or Father Frost and the Frost Maiden, as they're called here) as well as with other various people in costume. Stephany and Jared were approached for photos on multiple occasions. We even took a picture with the police, which I thought was pretty funny. We were chatting with locals and having a great time. As midnight approached many people started lighting fireworks. At this point, the group of us had secured a location on the steps of Ala-too Square to watch the fireworks. This is when the night started to get a bit bad for me..

Stupidly, when sitting on the steps, I took my purse off and placed it next to me. As the big fireworks show began, I stood up to take some pictures, leaving my purse on the step below me. When I sat back down, it was gone. Now, in reality, the situation wasn't so bad. My money, my credit cards, my phone, my keys, and my brand new camera were all on my person and still safe and sound. In my stolen purse was the following: my camera case, some make-up, my gloves, my Peace Corps ID, and various other odds and ends. It could've been a lot worse.. a LOT worse. But by this time I had had a bit (too much?) to drink and so it was my natural reaction to freak out and start screaming "SOMEONE STOLE MY PURSE!"

Two nice Kyrgyz guys that we had been chatting with said that they knew where the guy who took it had gone and began to lead me off in that direction. Normally, I would've been hesitant.. but at the time I felt like I could trust them and so I ditched my friends and wandered off with two strangers. Smart, no? It wasn't until they started leading me down a dark side street, saying "Your purse is down here! Your purse is down here!" that I started to get suspicious. Just then my friends called, asking where I had run off to. Perfect timing. I walked away from the dark alley and went to meet my friends.. When we had been reunited I had a brief breakdown as I was overwhelmed with what just happened, and what just could've happened, and then it was over. I accepted how much worse things could've been and I decided not to let it ruin my night. So we finished watching the fireworks and then took a taxi to the best ex-pat restaurant in town where I ordered the best hamburger of my life. We ate, danced, and then called it a night. Overall, a decent night. A bit bumpy, but far more good than bad

And that was New Year's.

I have since bought a new purse, and I plan on replacing my gloves and my camera case soon.

Funny update about my ID: Someone called the Peace Corps office a few days ago claiming that they found my ID on the floor near Ala-too Square. They said they knew nothing about my purse or the rest of my belongings, but they were hoping to claim some sort of reward if they agreed to give my ID back. I am highly suspicious. Though I would rather pay a small "reward" than pay the 1,000com it would cost to replace the ID, Peace Corps already told them that we don't pay rewards and they refused to give my ID back without monetary compensation.. Great.

On a brighter note, Shannon gets here tomorrow!!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!