Mileage – Monday Bazaar: A Travel Blog

Mile 26: Reflections From My COS Flight

Published on 5 June, 2018 by Mark Jahnke2 Comments

Most of this post was written one year ago as I left Kyrgyzstan.

We touched down in Istanbul at about 9:30, and we all moved quickly to security, visas, and customs. One by one, as we cleared, each person, without realizing it, left our group, and I watched over my shoulder as the old man in the kalpak got his passport stamped and went off to his next destination. I was alone, without anyone from Kyrgyzstan, for the first time in months, surrounded by travelers from all seven continents. Continue reading “Mile 26: Reflections From My COS Flight” →

Mile 25: It’s Over. Finally.

Published on 23 May, 201729 June, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

This post was written in real-time on May 23. I apologize for the delay in uploading!

I’m sitting at the airport in Bishkek. It’s 5:30AM. Over the next 31 hours, I will fly almost 10,000 miles to my parents’ house in Seattle, the last of the 67,067 miles I will have flown on a total of 74 flights during the past two years. I’ve been free of Peace Corps for 12 hours. And the sense of relief is overwhelming. Continue reading “Mile 25: It’s Over. Finally.” →

Mile 24: Tying The Loose Ends

Published on 24 April, 201729 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

It’s hard to believe it, but I only have one month left living in Kyrgyzstan. It’s been two years almost to the day since we landed at sunrise at the airport in Bishkek, and now my service is finally winding down with some good final memories, some bad ones, and a few special projects coming to a satisfying conclusion. Continue reading “Mile 24: Tying The Loose Ends” →

One Boston Day, 2017

Published on 15 April, 201724 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

This is a reposting of my One Boston Day post from 2016.

As many readers know, I was a runner in the 2013 Boston Marathon, and was less than a mile away from finishing when the bombs at the finish line exploded 4 years ago today, at 2:49 PM Eastern Time.

I was one of over 5,000 runners who was unable to finish the race because of the explosions, and I was one of tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people who experienced and continue to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after the events of that day and those in the weeks that followed.

It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been 4 years since it happened. So much in my life has changed. I’m a very different person from the one who stood on the start line that morning and ran for four hours before having my dreams crushed and my life forever changed. While all of Boston can relate to the pain and the terror of that day, only a handful of people who were trapped for an hour in a highway underpass with me, hypothermic and dehydrated, can understand the particular brand of fear and panic that I experienced on that day.

In lieu of attempting to explain why April 15^th and Patriot’s Day are two of the most important days of the year to me, I want to share with you two videos that I hope you will set aside about 25 minutes or so to watch. If you only have time for one video, watch the second.

The first video is a video that I made with my teammates. During the race in 2013, I ended up taking hundreds of selfies and videos of my teammates and myself as we made our way along the course. There is no way I can put into words the sheer elation I experienced that day, but I think this video perfectly shows all of the positive energy that surrounds this marathon.

The second video that I’d like to share is a TEDx talk by Tom Grilk, the head of the Boston Athletic Association. His talk is called “In Boston, Everyone Owns The Marathon,” and he manages to capture more eloquently and concisely than I ever could what the marathon means to me and why, three years later, I commit to run a marathon every spring that I am physically able to. Just a warning that this video, while very uplifting, may trigger some very strong emotions in some viewers, so make sure you’re in a space where you can allow yourself to feel those emotions.

Running the Boston Marathon in 2013 and again in 2014 showed me that the marathon represents everything that is good in the world. People working hard towards a goal. People overcoming hardship. People honoring sacrifice. People celebrating the resilience of the human spirit. People helping each other across the finish line. People running towards the smoke. People coming out of their homes to provide water and blankets to stranded runners. People giving their finisher’s medals to people who had not been able to finish. People coming together to show that Boston truly is one.

This is why I run marathons. This is why I finish for Boston.

Side note: Some readers may remember that the Tsarnaev brothers lived in Kyrgyzstan prior to immigrating legally to the United States (and in the younger’s case, becoming a naturalized US citizen) in 2002 and 2004. I want to emphasize that both the people and government of Kyrgyzstan condemn terrorism in the strongest terms, and are actively working to stop terrorism both here and overseas. The Tsarnaevs were radicalized in the United States nearly a decade after immigrating legally and contributing to the community around Boston.

I find strength knowing that despite Tsarnaev’s attempt to kill me and my teammates, and his critically injuring my teammate’s sister, that I find myself here today, working to help the people of Kyrgyzstan live happier and healthier lives. Kyrgyzstan is a beautiful and special country, as dear to me as the city of Boston, and I know that all of Kyrgyzstan stands in solidarity with Boston on this One Boston Day.

Mile 23: After The Finish Line, A Fulbright

Published on 6 April, 201724 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

March was the month when everything finally seemed to fall into place. When March began, I wasn’t quite sure about what was happening two months from now. And now as it ends, I can say with near certainty what I’ll be up to between now and 2020. Continue reading “Mile 23: After The Finish Line, A Fulbright” →

Kazakhstan: A Journey Across The Steppe

Published on 20 March, 201724 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

Kazakhstan is fascinating to me. It is the most developed of the Central Asian countries in the cities, with prosperous jobs, one of the world’s top-rated airlines, and even several Starbucks. And yet, the rural areas hang on to beautiful manifestations of Central Asian history and culture. More than any other place in Central Asia, this push and pull is visible in Kazakhstan. And we got to see it first-hand. Continue reading “Kazakhstan: A Journey Across The Steppe” →

Mile 22: A Whole Lotta Kazakhstan (and a little bit of Osh)

Published on 6 March, 201724 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

February is the shortest month of the year, so that might be why it seems like I spent half of it in Kazakhstan with a few stops in Osh along the way. See, after the office rejected my plans to visit my friends and host family in Tajikistan last summer, I wound up with just shy of two weeks of vacation time with no way to use it but to burn it up before our COS conference, so I saved some of my local money (yes, I am able to save a little bit on an income of $250 a month living in the big city) and went on some adventures. Continue reading “Mile 22: A Whole Lotta Kazakhstan (and a little bit of Osh)” →

Mile 21: A Quiet Winter

Published on 30 January, 201721 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

Well, January came and went quickly. January is usually a very slow month in Central Asia because there’s a bunch of holidays and school breaks. With students out of school and universities closed, a lot of regular work stops as parents stay home with kids and people return to their villages from the city. Despite this, the month was still lively thanks to some beautiful snowfall and time with friends and a major work breakthrough. Continue reading “Mile 21: A Quiet Winter” →

My 2016 In Photos

Published on 9 January, 201721 April, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

2016 is over, and I made a point to go outside and take photos during every month. And it was awesome! At the end of 2015, someone decided that it would be fun to create a website that would find your most-liked photos on Instagram. It turned out pretty awesome and I edited it together to make this post. So I went back to the same website and got this result:

I love it, but…there’s just one problem… 6 of the 9 photos are from a single week in December that I already featured in my post of photos from December yesterday! So, I decided to do things the old fashioned way and go digging through my old photos for my favorites from this year. And so I decided to summarize my year in photos instead.

#1 Berovo, Macedonia

12471367_10206754717478884_294960883133772737_o

12418789_10206760289498181_1880244979026773192_o

12418877_10206754206946121_2233991340545541804_o

Last January, I took a quick detour from a trip to Europe to visit my dear friend Gwen in her little hill town in eastern Macedonia. And boy, did I fall in love with it. Macedonia is small, affordable, and spectacularly beautiful no matter what time of year or weather. I hope to go back again soon.

#2 Almaty, Kazakhstan

12694857_10206978060062309_7875657851380802359_o

Almaty oozes a sense of winter and excitement, and I had a great trip there last February, which helped inform my Almaty Destination Guide. I’m looking forward to going back for the Winter Universiade.

#3 Rural Bishkek

This is a photo from guesting with my Kyrgyz language teacher on the outskirts of Bishkek, where life is a bit slower and the houses seem to be more of a village style than city. I just love the way that the light and the snow play together in this photo with the mountains peeking from behind the smog.

#4 Kurshab Afternoon

These two shots of the afternoon sun and of me riding in a truck are from a trip to the Kurshab Reservoir back at the very beginning of May. Some friends invited me out to spend the day relaxing, eating, cliff diving, and swimming in the lake. All in all a great way to welcome the summer!

#5 Hill Exploration

In early May, I also got invited out to a farm in the hills outside of Osh with some colleagues. These two shots came from that day, which I wrote about here.

#6 Marathon Number Six

Last May, I finished my sixth marathon, running the Run The Silk Road Marathon in beautiful Issyk-Kul. At an altitude of over a mile, my time was more than 90 minutes off my PR, but this represented a huge achievement to me that I’m very proud of.

#7 Meeting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet

When outgoing Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet first became Director, her very first task was safely evacuating volunteers in my site, Osh, Kyrgyzstan, during a period of unrest here. In May, she finally got to visit Kyrgyzstan and Osh, where she came to one of my offices to hear about our work. I respect and thank Carrie so much for the work she has done to improve the Peace Corps, and for her mentorship ever since.

#8 In And Around Osh

13161793_10207709301462887_3481215654315415196_o

11110515_10205680475063495_9141937553054645050_o

My most popular posts have been my post about hats and my Osh Destination Guide. Last summer, to prepare for that post, I spent the summer watching for and taking photographs of Osh, especially Suleiman Too from different angles. Here are some of my favorite shots.

#9 Seasons of Osh

My favorite shot of Osh has got to be this one, which includes the former ruler of Alay, Alimbek Datka, trees, a museum, and Suleiman Too, four of my favorite things in Osh all framed in one photo. I managed to get a nearly identical photo in two very different seasons, proof that Osh is always amazing.

#10 Sary-Tash

On my way out to Chong-Alay for the first time, I snapped this shot through the windshield of the small crossroads of Sary-Tash with the massif of the Pamir Mountains behind it, the westernmost wisp of the Himalaya. Sary-Tash is an important crossroads on the Pamir Highway – East the road leads to Kashgar, China, a critical trade route. North leads to Osh, and the world markets. West leads to Dushanbe, albeit across a closed border, and South is one of the only roads to access the interior of the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, the legendary Pamir Highway.

#11 Team Osh Takes Arslanbob

This has to have been one of my favorite weekends of my time in the Peace Corps, a weekend where local friends whisked us away to the fairytale town of Arslanbob.

#12 Hiking Pride

Another of my favorite photos of all time, this was taken at the peak of a hike last summer with several dear friends who were visiting from Switzerland.

#13 Harvard Takes Kyrgyzstan

When my friend Nico from Geneva and Harvard came to visit, we had to get hiking. So we hiked, we showed our Harvard and Swiss pride, and, of course, we ate plov. We ate SO much plov. Easily one of the best parts of my entire time in Kyrgyzstan!

#14 Beach Vacation, Kyrgyz Style

Kyrgyzstan, of all places, has got to have some of the cheapest and most beautiful beaches anywhere in the world. If you are willing to be frugal, you can even swing a beach weekend from Bishkek for less than $20, if you can believe it. These photos are of me doing yoga in Fairytale Canyon on the South Shore, and of a beach near a friend’s guest house in Kajy-Sai village.

#15 Squad

Just another selfie of me with some of my favorite colleagues in the world.

#16 Horse Games 2

I haven’t gotten a post up about this and I still feel guilty.

#17 Sary Chelek

We had a fantastic trip to Sary-Chelek, including a few of these great photos. One of our friends took a *perfect* photo doing a hair flip so naturally we spent nearly an hour and several degrees of body temperature trying to do the same.

#18 Mom And Dad Take Kyrgyzstan

My parents came to visit and it was perfect.

#19 World Nomad Games

There are too many good photos from the World Nomad Games for me to put them here, but this is one of my favorites.

#20 Uzbekistan

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I let myself pick three of the nearly 1000 photos I took during my trip to Uzbekistan. Check out more on my post about that trip.

#21 White House, Headquarters, and America

I still can’t believe that I was named one of 8 winners of the 2016 Peace Corps Blog It Home contest, and that I got to spend a week in Washington, D.C. talking to young people about my experiences and learning from the best and the brightest at the White House. Pinch me please!

#22 The 16 Girls Of 16 Days

SONY DSC

This post was one of my favorite projects I got to work on this year, and it even got translated to German. In case you missed it, my colleague Josefin guest-wrote a post where she interviewed 16 young women around Osh about their lives and their goals as a part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Be sure to check it out here!

#23 More Toguz Korgool

15622565_10209573398304143_3216765977076268880_n

I got to represent the US again and carry the flag for the Asian Championships of Toguz Korgool!

#24 Osh Under Snow

15384384_10209506018659694_8200030046521730425_o

15337420_10209504643425314_2237954531542961892_n

No caption needed, just pictures of Osh looking amazing in the beautiful winter weather.

#25 Happy New Year

And a Happy New Year 2017 from me, Lenin, and everyone else here in Osh. Can’t wait to keep on going in 2017!

Want more photos like this in your life? Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

Want to know more about BloggingAbroad? Check out their website at bloggingabroad.org.

Mile 20: Holidays and Snow

Published on 5 January, 2017 by Mark Jahnke

So, I’m beginning to get the impression that last year’s winter was an unusually mild one given that we had more snow during December of this year than we had in the entire winter last year. But that’s OK, because I like winter and I LOVE snow. Continue reading “Mile 20: Holidays and Snow” →