Civil Unrest Fest

Salam! After receiving nervous e-mails from my family and reading news quotes talking about protestors rioting and taking over government offices and such, I thought I would say that the news is blowing this movement out of proportion. True, groups of anti-Akaev protestors have taken over the government office in Jalalabad and their supporters have set up yurts of solidarity handing out bread and tea and vodka (of course). True, an armed guard dressed in full riot-gear is surrounding the office to make sure that things stay peaceful and that no one else can enter, but they don't even have guns. True, the volunteers living in Jalalabad city were asked by the Peace Corps to pack their bags and be prepared to evacuate to Osh should violence arise, but nothing has happened and things are as calm as they ever were.
The Civil Unrest Fest began last Friday, the same day that I decided to go to Osh to visit some volunteer friends there. When we arrived in Jalalabad city, there was a crowd chanting, "Down with Akaev! Down with Akaev!" outside of the government offices. As we prepared to catch the taxi out of the city, the crowd was swarming the office gates despite the militia men fighting to keep them out. In Osh, we heard reports of protestors setting up tents in the offices, the government workers had fled, and volunteer evacuation to Osh city might be necessary. "That's conventient," we said. "We're already in Osh." And then we went to the park to play ping-pong and eat ice cream.
I'm interested to see what happens here. The protestors are calling for Akaev's early resignation and a sped-up presidential election. They also want a new parliamentary election to make up for the last one, which was a total farce. What will Akaev do? I seem to recall something he said along the lines of, "Any resistance will be seen as a show of force and proper military action will be taken." I hope he was bluffing, otherwise I might be out a job and back in America before you know it. Either way, even though as a representative of the US government (does that mean I'm just a grossly underpaid ambassador?) I have to walk disinterestedly through crowds of protestors, I secretly feel a little thrill of pride for the Kyrgyz people tying pink ribbons around their arms and yelling 'Dwn with Akaev!' I hope they succeed in creating a better country for themselves. I hope they break out of this post-Soviet lock that seems to be hold Central Asia back. I also hope they come up with a better color than pink for their next revolution.