As I have said previously, there are many sources in which I “find” my hospitality guests. One of them is the World Trade Center Institute in Baltimore. I have volunteered to host with them a couple of times, much to my delight. One of my guests hailed from Kyrgyzstan and his name is Saidali. The organization brings groups of professionals from many of the former Soviet Republics to show them first hand American Democracy. He was part of a group of doctors, which came in quite handy as I happen to have donated a kidney the week he arrived. I was on bed rest and he was very attentive in always checking on me.
There was a bit of a communication as we do not speak Russian or Kyrgyz, the two languages he speaks. You know, you figure it out. It was a LITTLE frustrating but he was such a nice man that we just ended up laughing our tails off. We had him for a couple of weeks but most every day was spent with his group on professional visits in Baltimore and DC. In our free time together we took him to our favorite hangouts and invited others to our house as well.
We had a lovely farewell reception for the entire group. We became quite attached, despite the language barrier.
Again and again he invited us to come visit his homeland. Someday….
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