Noah Bratcher from the USA has already visited Kyrgyzstan. He arrived in July 2019 as a Peace Corps volunteer. But he did not stay long: he had to leave the Kyrgyz Republic because of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. When the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, Noah returned to the republic on his own, not through the Peace Corps.

Noah liked its original culture and melodic language. He told why he decided to return and what he plans to do in the republic in an interview with 24.kg news agency.

— Why did you decide to come back?

— When I returned to the US at the beginning of the pandemic, I expected the lockdowns to be short, and to return to my Peace Corps service after a few months.

However, three months became six months, six months became a year, and returning to Peace Corps service seemed less and less likely.

Peace Corps service is usually 27 months long. I was only in Kyrgyzstan for 9 months.

I didn’t have the opportunity to learn the language and see the whole country in only 9 months. Therefore, I decided to return to Kyrgyzstan on my own, not with Peace Corps.

Noah Bratcher

— What are you planning to do here?

— I opened my own English center in January of 2022, Kalpak English Academy, in Osh city, with my Kyrgyz friend and partner, Sovietbek Zikirov. We opened a second branch, in Kyzyl-Kiya on July 1. We are considering the option of opening a center in Bishkek later, but for now we plan to focus on the south of Kyrgyzstan.

The south is less developed and there are less opportunities here for students to have a quality education, so I am happy that we can provide some opportunities to the people of the south.

Noah Bratcher

— You haven’t been to Kyrgyzstan for two years. What, in your opinion, has changed in the country?

— A lot had changed in Kyrgyzstan in the time I was in America. A new president, price increases and a weaker currency, and more religious attitudes (at least in the south).

The position of women seems to have worsened since I first came to Kyrgyzstan. Here in Osh I see a lot of women wearing burka/niqab everyday, but I rarely saw this even just two years ago.

Noah Bratcher

This alone isn’t necessarily a big problem, it is none of my business how women choose to dress, however it seems to be an example of a larger trend.

For example, recently three women professors who work at the Osh State University came to Kalpak English asking for TOEFL preparation classes.

They insisted that the teacher be a woman, because their husbands would not accept a man as their teacher. These were not young women, they are professional, career women in their mid 40s. I told them that we do not have any female TOEFL teachers, but their husbands didn’t need to know that.

I said that when her husband calls I can ask our female administrator to stand in front of the class and pretend to teach.

This is a sad situation, because women are generally much better students in Kyrgyzstan. Nine out of ten of my best students are women. But their potential is often limited by expectations from their families or society. From my perspective as an American I see no conflict between career and education and being a family oriented person.

Of course, the inflation is a problem as well. My favorite restaurant in Osh increased the price of their shashlik, and now they put four pieces of meat per shashlik instead of five. It’s just a small example of the worsened economic situation.

— When you thought about Kyrgyzstan, what images did you see first of all?

— Before I had ever come to Kyrgyzstan, I visited Kashgar in the Uyghur homeland. This was the first place I ever met Kyrgyz people, in the Kyzyl-Suu autonomous region in Xinjiang. At this time I became interested in Central Asia, so I chose to come to Kyrgyzstan. Kashgar is very similar to Osh and Southern Kyrgyzstan.

Although I appreciate nature, I am not the kind of person who spends so much time in nature. I am happy to visit nature just a few times a year, so I appreciate the busy streets of Osh more than the nature of Kyrgyzstan.

My first thoughts of Central Asia were of busy Silk Road bazaars, rather than mountains and valleys, so Osh is a good place for me to live.

Noah Bratcher

— Do you miss your homeland?

— I lived in the USA for most of my life so I don’t really miss living there now, though I miss the food.

I miss seafood. I am from California and I always lived very near the ocean. In Kyrgyzstan there are one or two kinds of fish to eat, in California there are dozens of tasty varieties of fish and seafood. I especially miss the local crabs from Humboldt County, where I grew up.

There are some other foods that I miss. Despite Kyrgyzstan being a country with a lot of dairy, there is not good cheese in Kyrgyzstan. Also, I miss the variety of wines available in the USA, not only California wines but also European wines which are difficult to find here in Osh or even in Bishkek.

We have more variety of vegetables in California, and therefore we can make much better salads. A European style bakery in Osh would be lovely as well; as much as I like Kyrgyz and Uzbek bread, I miss German and French breads. And of course, I miss Mexican food. The diversity of food in the USA is a great thing.

The laidback lifestyle in Osh is similar to the vibe in some parts of California. However, Californians are much more punctual than the people of Osh.

Noah Bratcher

— How long do you plan to stay here?

— I plan to stay at least for a few more years. I would like to see how successful my English school can become over the next few years. Maybe I will stay for ten or twenty more years, who knows!