7th of November, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Kazakhstan.
A mini-van stops. It is a bus. The driver comes and talk to me. I tell him I cannot pay. There are some passengers inside. Some of them go to the toilet, other guys are smoking. They leave. But then they stop on the road again. All of sudden they come back. One of the passengers come and ask me why I don’t take the train. I tell him I don’t have money. He goes back to the mini-van and after a few minutes they tell me I can come.
I sit on the back. There are three seats available. There is one couple who is talking to me. They are from Almaty and are going back there after some holidays in Czech Republic. They cannot speak English but we use the translator a little bit.
I am super happy to go all the way to Almaty but I know it will be hard. My nose is bad and I am not feeling very good. I can see that Askar, the husband of Aisel, is also a bit sick.
Everybody it seems to manage to sleep but me. Even though I am by myself in the back seats. I just cannot sleep at all.
Many hours pass. It is a long drive, about 16 hours. Not so much for the distance but for the roads: they are terrible! But really, really bad. I can see they are building a new one just next to this one, but we still cannot use that.
I haven’t brought any food with me. That was stupid. I know I will starve at some point. And I don’t want to drink too much water either, because I don’t want to ask to go to the toilet all the time. The result is, of course, catastrophic: migraine.
But I do eat the rest of my muesli, and drink half some lemon juice.
Later on, we stop for what should be dinner, and Aisel offers to pay for me. We have tea with a pastry. Others only eat a chocolate bar with tea, or a piece of cake. What?
I contact my CS host and tell him we will arrive around 11 p.m. That is what I was told. But because of the roads, and at some point, we are stopped by the police and they keep talking for a long time, we arrive in Almaty around 3 a.m. Luckily for me, Aisel and Askar had invited me already to come to their home and meet their family. But they don’t know about me so it will be a surprise. I accept.
They live with Aisel’s parent but we spend the night at Askar’s parents. They are so happy to see them! I believe they were away for a long time, either 3 weeks of 3 months, I don’t remember. There is a table full of food prepared for us. I am starving but even though I want to eat a lot, I cannot because my migraine is already killing me.
We keep talking until after 4 a.m. How do they all have the energy? I don’t know. I know I am dying. Actually, I guess they all go to sleep because of me.
I stay in the kitchen, in a couch, shared with some lovely kittens.
In the morning, after breakfast, Aisel, Askar and I go to their daughter’s school. She doesn’t know they are back yet. Her reaction is very beautiful and touching. I can only imagine how great parents they are. She is also happy to see me. She hugs me and we start talking about different things, while walking back home. Actually, we hitchhike back home. That’s right! Lots of people hitchhike in the bus stops here. A lady and her young boy pick us up.
We collect all our stuff and take a taxi to Aisel’s home. They also don’t know her daughter is back, and her mother gets very emotional too. It is so sweet!
Everybody receives and treats me like a guess. Aisel has two other children, a young girl and a boy. Aisel’s younger brother, Onka, also lives with them.
Aisel and Askar brought them lots of gifts, including many sweets and treats. The lovely girl I met at school, gives me a huge Oreo chocolate bar, which unfortunately I forget when I leave their apartment.
I eat something and I also ask if I can rest a little. My head is horrible again and I am feeling terrible myself.
I told My CS host, Andrey, I would arrive around 6 o’clock to his place. But with all the goodbyes and things Aisel’s family want to give me, I live their home around 6 p.m., only arriving at Andrey’s place near 7 o’clock.
They give me some really useful things, like toothpaste, another pair of socks (now I have three but one is getting bad and winter is coming, so…), some mountain herbal tea, honey, and this amazing winter trousers, for really snowy weather. I try to refuse but is actually Aisel’s mother who wants me to have it. She makes me try it on and when she sees it fits, she does not take no for an answer. She wants to give me the jacket too, which pairs with the trousers, but I show her I have a good coat so it is not necessary. They also try to give me some boots, they are so sweet, I know, but unfortunately the boots they have are too small. I am kind of relieved because I was feeling as I was taken too much of them already. Even though I know they were doing from their heart and very happy to help.
They call a taxi for me because it is raining. What can I say? I give them all a big hug and it is so funny when I hug Aisel, it feels as we were friends for much longer than 2 days.
10 Years Around the World 