I just spent the last five or so hours looking for a place to wash my clothes from Bangkok. After a twenty-two hour trip back from Bangkok, my eyes are burning and my head feels heavy with sleep deprivation. Unfortunately in Moscow, our plane shortciruited as we were on the runway accelerating toward takeoff. We were literally going really fast and the plane just stopped. We had to wait for three extra hours for the next plane, and I was so hungry that I bought a sandwich and chips for nine dollars.
I probably wouldn't be this drained had it not been for the Songkran Festival in Bangkok beginning the day before I left. I ended up standing on the side of a Bangkok street with two Australian guys drinking whiskey, throwing water on people, smearing their faces with clay, and wishing them a Happy Thai New Year. One of the guys was an actor on my favourite Australian serial, "Neighbours," for years. The festival was clearly what the New Year should be for everyone. The whole city transformed into a water fight that involved people of all ages, classes, and so forth. Gangs of Thai people loaded up in the back of pickup trucks with buckets of freezing water and squirt guns. Buses and cars of defenseless people were attacked by these pick up truck posses. I am sure that there are excellent photos of the festival online, but I was afraid to take my new camera out of my bag lest it be ruined. I just did a Google search and there are some photos that hardly capture the energy of six Asian countries' water fight. Feel free to look at them anyway.
I finally talked the administration here into letting me use the laundry machine at the office, which the cleaning lady is only supposed to use.
I am listening to Cat Stevens and the sweet sound of an automated laundry machine. I spent a lot of money getting back to Bishkek because my luggage was over the preposterous limit set by the ticket the US Embassy bought for me. I was supposed to have only 20kg of luggage, 40lbs. I don't believe that this is the standard for international flights. I am fairly certain that it is closer to six pounds for two bags. I got suckered into paying $50 for ten extra pounds of luggage. I tried to argue the case that I had the luggage from the consolidation during the revolution when I couldn't go home. The admin officer was not buying my case at all. I also bought a few food things from Tesco and had to bring my deprived colleagues material affection at their sites on the lake. I paid it; however, Aeroflot is a fascist airline with bad planes and pilots. If you have any sense of democracy or the power of the free market, don't fly on the airline that still features a sickle and hammer on their logo.
I managed to convince my doctors to buy me a new mattress, sheets, and pillow. I know that I should write emails. My eyes are tired and the screen is coming in and out of focus. I will be heading back to Kara-Oi to resume my ascetism and stint as an English teacher. My ascetism will have to wait until tomorrow morning when I am out of the capital city, though. With heartburn and a headache (damn it's good to be back in Khirgizia). -MJ
