July 9

July 9, 2013

I had a pretty good night of sleep before getting up close to six. The sun was still hiding behind one of the high rises beyond my window thus giving me a chance to make my coffee without contending with its scorching rays.

Zarina had replied confirming that Turkish Airlines would only allow me 38 kilos and any excess would be charged at $6.00 a kilo. It was time to reevaluate my cargo for sure. I went through the collection of laminated pictures I’ve accumulated between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and which Willoughby had offered to relieve of, and discarded several that were not exactly scintillating. The remaining ones still weigh a ton.

I also decided to get of my T-shirts since they could be easily replaced in the States along with the small travel towel Caroline had given me when leaving Tajikistan. I went through my toiletries and let go of some other items, sun block among them, to lighten my load. I tested my shoulder bag to see if I could carry the pictures there and it seemed to hold firm. I’ll have to wait and see how it feels once I have the tablet in there, my drinking cup and other essentials.

I walked to the dental clinic and had no trouble finding it this time. In fact, I was too early and the staff could be seeing finishing their lunch in an adjacent room. One of the employees handed me a clipboard with a two-page form to complete, just like we do in the States. The waiting room was spacious, very clean and even had magazines in English to read.

The young dental hygienist spoke very little English, so the actual dentist, Gulzat, came by to introduce herself and to take a look before the cleaning started. I guessed she must not have found anything horrifying as she wanted to proceed with the cleaning right away. I asked for some anesthesia due to my extremely high sensitivity to the scaler.

I barely felt a pinch when she proceeded to do so and had no discomfort whatsoever during the entire procedure. The hygienist would ask me often if I was all right and I would nod yes. In less than an hour’s time, I was done polishing and all. The clinic charged an extra $10.00 for the anesthetic and I happily paid the $90.00 bill.

Pollen, construction dust, cigarette smoke or whatever was in the air just got to me and I went home sneezing all the way. I stopped at the convenience store for water, milk, and take-out for dinner. I’m going to miss that place, for sure.

Although today was the beginning of the Ramadan holiday, I could see no evidence of it anywhere. Some people had said that since the majority of Kyrgyz are non-observant Muslims, there might not be much fasting taking place here. By the look of the men smoking around me, I’d have to say none.