We woke up bright and early and realized that we didn’t have enough water to make coffee. We could probably risk it with tap water but information online is mixed and nothing is worth a case of you-know-what.

So we headed out to find a somewhere with decent breakfast options. We found a hip little coffee shop with excellent coffee. We’ve had a lot of okay coffee but this was the first very good cup since maybe Amsterdam. I had a French omelette, Nick had a Mexican-spiced grain bowl, and Millie had yogurt and granola. We didn’t expect Kyrgyzstan to have such hip places, but between last night’s craft beer bar and this place, Bishkek feels like Brooklyn.

We forgot to brush any hair before leaving (mine or hers) so we looked a real mess in there. I wish I looked cool in a baseball hat.

From here we walked back to the apartment to do some planning and booking. It has been hard to figure out how much we should do here. The country is known for trekking and long hikes or horseback rides. Everything sounds idyllic… and also really tough to do with a little kid. We finally nailed down our next 10 days before we fly to China.

We also had a heart to heart with Millie about yesterday’s disaster day. We talked through all the reasons airports are difficult, and why we need to behave in them. We devised a plan where she gets a star for every step she gets through without incident. At the end, we will cash out the stars (details tbd) and she can buy herself something. She started illustrating the steps.

She is generally not very motivated by these charts so as an additional incentive we reminded her that she had tried some new foods recently which meant she could fast track and finish the “try new foods” chart we started back in Turkey.

Once we had everything booked and our family meeting was complete, we started walking towards the park. Millie carried all her stuff in a backpack the airline gave her yesterday and looked so grown up.

We walked through the center of town. I love the Kyrgyzstan flag.

At the entrance of the park there was a lady selling cotton candy. Millie immediately asked if she could get some as her treat for completing her chart. She has never had any before and has been wanting desperately to try it. She has decided she likes this even more than ice cream.

As we were walking she got bonked on the head by a falling acorn. I think she was scared more than hurt, but still burst into big tears. As Nick was comforting her she asked “am I not going to get to do my chart because I’m screaming?” I felt guilty that she interpreted our talk as not being able to cry ever vs. not being able to act insane in a busy passport control line. Every day I do my best and wonder what will come back to haunt us in a future therapy session.

The park was like a permanent fairground, with all sorts of rides. Unlike some other versions of this we’ve been to, these rides were cheap, less than a dollar each. We said yes to every ride she wanted to try and she had a blast. Nick went with her on the faster ones and she just shriek laughed the whole time. We also did the Ferris wheel, fun house, and more.

We walked from here to a traditional Kyrgyz restaurant. We ordered the national dish of noodles with onions and horse meat. It was about as good as it sounds (not very). The highlight of the meal was our broken English conversation with the host as we were waiting for our taxi. He told us he didn’t like Trump and thought Barack Obama was a good president. When Nick asked him about what he thought of Ukraine and Russia, he said “they are brothers. They fight like brothers”.

We got home and Millie asked to play on the playground in the apartment complex where we are staying. As soon as we said yes she got too nervous because none of the other kids spoke English. I think she is getting used to spending 24/7 with us, but still I feel for her that she doesn’t get any kid playtime.

Two things to remember…

First, we have a lot of conversations about traditions and being respectful. Millie has internalized these but gets the words wrong. When we see something new, she says “maybe it’s conditional” instead of “traditional”. And then instead of “respectful” she says “we need to be expectful”.

Second, she asked recently why every taxi driver we’ve had is a man. We couldn’t really think of a good answer and then Nick went into possibly too much detail about women’s safety (classic Nick). She will constantly notice and ask about gender roles – like why are hostesses almost always women? Why are women out with babies and not men? On one hand I’m glad she is questioning it instead of just accepting it, but on the other it is sad to see her start to notice all the differences, especially in places where it’s even more pronounced than home.