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”
I was scrolling through Facebook the other day, and as some readers know, I have a lot of Iranian friends and colleagues from my undergraduate days when I conducted research in Tehran and Esfahan. Well, one of them happened to post a deal that is simply too good to not share with you: a website dedicated to Iranian cinema has a special deal making all its films free for 90 days. Continue reading “Iranian Movie Night: ALL OF THE MOVIES!”
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 15th 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.
Last week, I got to return for probably the last time to my favorite rayon in Kyrgyzstan, the high and remote Chong-Alay region, which is the southernmost region in Kyrgyzstan. As the crow flies, it’s only about 65 miles southwest of Osh (a 20-minute flight in the Soviet era), but thanks to the majestic Alay mountains, the drive is 300km and takes 5 hours on a good day. It’s remote, but as I had learned from my previous visits, it’s one of the most welcoming and hard-working places in the country. Continue reading “Winter in Chong-Alay”
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”
It’s the end of the month and time for another look at my favorite photos from the past month! Some are prompted, some are spontaneous, and some are some throwbacks. Take a look, read about it, and click to enlarge if you want to see more closely. Continue reading “March 2017 Photo Roundup”
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”
At the Winter Universiade, the talk of Almaty and indeed all of Kazakhstan was a young singer who had performed at the opening ceremony: Dimash Kudaibergen. And not long after, he also became my new Central Asian musical obsession after I shared a plane ride with him from Almaty to Astana. Continue reading “Central Asian Musical Obsession: Dimash Kudaibergen”
It’s the end of the month and time for another look at my favorite photos from the past month! Some are prompted, some are spontaneous, and some are some throwbacks. Take a look, read about it, and click to enlarge if you want to see more closely. Continue reading “February 2017 Photo Roundup”
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)”
