Markets, Mountains & Valleys

Days 6 & 7  (originally posted 9/2/18)

Friday started with the whole group heading to the Bishkek center-city market to shop for fun national made gifts and souvenirs. As you can imagine, with a group of 13 of us, the biggest challenge of the day was trying to stick together…especially when one of the girls would stop by another store to check something out ;) wink wink… Each of us were able to experience a true business bartering experience as we bought things like rugs, hats, shirts, earrings, bracelets, a checker/chess board set and even a Bishkek made guitar that is called a Komuz. This gave us the opportunity to immerse ourselves into the goods that the Kygyz people make and see how they make a living for themselves and their families.

After that, we got lunch to-go and headed back to the hotel to work on creating some more files and spend some time talking and praying about the various kids that we had a chance to encounter with. Over the span of 2 or so hours, we spoke about our time with close to 40 or more kids that we spent time with on Thursday from either a medical viewpoint or from just playing ball with them. It was so neat to hear of the different interactions that people on the team had with these children and how seeing a picture of them brought back so many great memories of time spent with them. With Aaron and Olivia leading the efforts of this, we were able to put together an organized format of how to identify these kids and advocate for them in the future through files and documents. 

Later that night, we ventured off to dinner with our great friend Galia, to an incredible restaurant that seated us all comfortably. The decorations were awesome, and we even had a local Kyrgyz band playing music while we ate with a Komuz and some other instruments. All week Mariah was in search of a Kyrgyz delicacy, horse. To her excitement, this place served horse! Just about everyone in the group tried a piece of it, and it got great reviews from the whole group. We were able to have great conversations as a table and reflect on many of the things that we had experienced throughout the week. As we were leaving dinner, most of the waiters and waitresses at the restaurant lined up together and did a special choreographed Kyrgyz dance to a song on a track. It brought many smiles and laughs to our faces, and of course the girls have been determined to learn it ever since. 

Saturday was probably my favorite day of the week. As many of you read, on our first day in Kyrgyzstan, we went straight to an American run orphanage to spend time with them. We were able to meet back up with them and head to the mountains for a day trip to have a picnic, hike and love on the kids. On the trip over, a few kids from the orphanage were able to fit in our van, while the rest went in other cars. Let’s just say it was a bumpy ride…Hats off to our driver for withstanding the rockiest road I have ever seen in a 12- passenger van. That takes some skill! When I say pictures don’t do this place justice, you better believe me. As we drove down into the valley, I think all of our mouths dropped in awe of His beautiful creation. To our left, there was a flock of horses roaming around almost like cows would be in America. We were surrounded by beautiful and tall mountains with a valley that cut through the middle of them and river flowing to create the divide. In my entire life, I have never experienced His beauty on display to this much of an extent. The McFall family (who run the orphanage) prepared sloppy joes and fruit cups for all of us to eat, and we all dove in and loved it!

After eating lunch, a few of the boys grabbed Cole, Aaron and I and we began climbing the side of the mountain. It was a VERY difficult hike/climb. The mountain was vast with loose rocks, thorny bushes and oh not to mention I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and old worn out tennis shoes. My arms and legs definitely paid the price for the wardrobe malfunction. Slowly but steadily, we finally made it to the peak of the mountain. The funny this was that the younger boys had been at the top for what seemed like 30 minutes waiting on us slow Americans. The view we had from that level of elevation was even more incredible than when we were at ground level. I feel like I could have spent forever just looking out into those mountains and the river flowing through the valley. It is an image that will be etched into my mind for the rest of my life. The hike down wasn’t the smoothest of treks, but I am sure glad we finally got to the ground.

To end the afternoon with the boys and girls, many of us played a game of kickball on a field that we put together with big rocks as bases, a spiky, thorny plants in the base paths. It was so fun to see the joy on the children’s faces as we ran around and had a blast. It was such a great way to end the afternoon with them before we said goodbye. I think it was truly a blessing that these were the first and last children that many of us got to see here in Kyrgyzstan. It was in his plan from the beginning. Watching His plan unfold was a beautiful thing.

-Cole Hyman