https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/buses, lorries, borders, and the cover for your phone Kündölük 3.4.2enhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2014/10/last-post-from-the-road.html Sun, 12 Oct 2014 20:30:00 +0600roadhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2014/10/last-post-from-the-road.html This was my last trip. I wrote on the bus from my phone, in the dark, on the last night at the border. The boy from the next bus is playing the komuz again, a different boy. I decided in the market in Urumqi when the girl with the chargers asked, "Mama Talas, next time?" and I said nothing. I put…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2014/06/the-ledger.html Sun, 08 Jun 2014 21:10:00 +0600stallhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2014/06/the-ledger.html I counted the books for the six years. In total I went 31 times, about 700 kilos each trip with the lorry, 4 lorry drivers, 22 bus companies (I changed when they got rude), 3 robberies attempted, 1 successful. I paid the border: 11,000 dollars. I paid the family: more. My feet: priceless, but they…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2014/03/nurzat.html Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:20:00 +0600familyhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2014/03/nurzat.html Nurzat (my niece, 22 now) finished the courses in accountancy in Talas. She does not want to be an accountant. She wants to sell. She says "I do not want to sit, I want to move". I said: I know. I said: watch the knees. She came with me in March. First trip: sick on the bus, sick at the border,…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2013/12/the-pass-in-december.html Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0600roadhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2013/12/the-pass-in-december.html The bus left Urumqi at 6 in the evening. At 3 in the morning there was snow, big and quiet. At 8 the bus stopped: the road was closed at the pass, a lorry across the road. We waited. A man from Almaty shared his tea, I shared my bread, and a woman with a baby slept on my shoulder for five hours. I…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2013/09/everything-is-more.html Thu, 19 Sep 2013 21:30:00 +0600Urumqihttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2013/09/everything-is-more.html Urumqi in September 2013 is not Urumqi in 2008. Everything +40%. The girl with the chargers has a shop of her own with a glass door, and a boy who carries her boxes. She remembered me: "Mama Talas!" and gave me the old price on the first order. The second order was the new price. The cardboard…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2013/06/bakai-graduates.html Fri, 28 Jun 2013 19:40:00 +0600familyhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2013/06/bakai-graduates.html Bakai got his diploma on Friday. Economics, TSU, a red cover. He did not need to wear the tie; I told him he must, I had a lot of ties. In September he starts work at a bank in the city, the bank with the blue sign. The first salary he gives to me and I give back. A mother has to do this.https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2012/11/my-feet.html Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:20:00 +0600healthhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2012/11/my-feet.html I have to write this. I am 42. My doctor, Dr Zhamal at the polyclinic, looked at my legs and said the bus is not a good friend. Sitting 26 hours, standing 10, carrying 50 kilos. She said do not do it more than three times a year. I said I will think about it. She said nobody thinks about it until…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2012/05/ruslan-is-leaving-the-shop.html Mon, 21 May 2012 21:00:00 +0600phoneshttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2012/05/ruslan-is-leaving-the-shop.html Ruslan wrote he is leaving the phone shop for a repair centre. Four years. He started when he was this tall and now he is a man who buys me tea. I told him: go, but the new place will need screens and spare parts, and I know the shelf. He said "Kunduz-apa, I will write you from the new place." I…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2012/03/8-march.html Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:10:00 +0600stallhttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2012/03/8-march.html My stall on International Women's Day is full of men who have forgotten what to buy. A scarf, 15 som, they say "it is for my wife", and the wife is standing behind them. I give them a card and a bear for free. It is the same bear as the keyring. If you are a man reading this: buy the scarf before…https://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2011/12/covers-for-the-touch-ones.html Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:45:00 +0600phoneshttps://blog.attelkom.net/chelnok/2011/12/covers-for-the-touch-ones.html The covers I sold for three years were for phones with buttons. Now Ruslan's customers have the big touch screens and nothing fits. Every phone is a different size, with the same name. I wanted to cry. In December I went and bought 40 kinds of cover, 12 of each. I know at the stall which will…