Good day.

July 12, 2009

Today was a good day. I have forever been a story teller and have yet had few stories to tell that were worth telling and as my mood is steadily getting better, the ability for me to see good things is easier and the stories can come.

My village is about a 30 minute walk from a major town. It is the summer and it can get very hot (100+ degrees), not to mention the fact that the walk has very little shade and dirt roads with lots of wind. So the walk is quite a pain. I usually also have my backpack with me because if I buy things at the bazaar (which is one of the only reasons I come to the city) I will need something to carry them back in, so my back gets especially hot and sweaty.

My village is small and no voksal (bus/taxi station) and you pretty much have to hope a taxi happens to be passing by going into town. Most times, you don't get a taxi ride. Needless to say, I was walking into town.

I was little less than half way when a horse drawn buggy with three Kyrgyz people inside passed me. It was going a little faster than I was (the horse was merely walking) so we had time to say hello to one another as they passed and smiled at the novely of a foreigner and one that spoke Kyrgyz at that as well. Just as they got just a hair further than me, they stopped and offered me a ride and a tushook to sit on (a tushook is a cushion that is as long as a couch and used to sit on by multiple people - if folded up and sat on by only one or two people, it doubles the comfort). It was extremely pleasant and while the sun was still beating on me, I was not walking, I was out of the dust and I had some pleasantries with them. They required no payment. They were just being nice. It was worth noting and one of the moments that makes all the bad days disappear.