I notice that a lot of bloggers refer to their first world problems. I have not lived in the first world for a while so I am not sure what they are complaining about. But, I do have some third world problems. First, the power cuts are quite frequent and irregular now. Since I have an old Soviet electric stove, instead of gas, this presents nutritional problems for me. Last night, the power cuts meant that my girlfriend could not steam the manti she had made until close to midnight. It also means I can not read either for work or pleasure most nights. On the upside the black outs have greatly reduced my electric bill. It is less than a third of what it was in August.
Second, it is now cold and there is still no heat in either my flat or my place of work. To make matters worse, the owner of my flat has still not fixed the broken window on the balcony after ten months. He is infinitely better than the land lady I had during the first five months I lived in Kyrgyzstan, she was unbearable, but I would like him to fix the window before it starts snowing.
There are many things I love about Kyrgyzstan. I have a job, a girlfriend and an apartment here, all things I previously lacked. But, light and heat are bourgeois luxuries that I greatly enjoy. In fact they are two of the very few bourgeois luxuries that I bother to indulge in anymore.
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Are there any international development agencies trying to help Kyrgyzstan with energy issues.
Also, is this a result of the old conflict with Uzbekistan over water resources?
Being in southern California, I see many people who think they suffer from "first world problems." The primary one seems to be that their home is not large enough, and so people are constantly expanding, expanding, expanding, hoping one day to exploit every square centimeter of their property. Having lived in squalid conditions in Russia, I seem to be satisfied with my modest lifestyle, thank God.
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