Tags: I see it this way! Heritage Shores Bridgville De E.W. Faircloth photography photographer water swimming summer life guards Kyrgyzstan asia

SUMMER AT HERITAGE SHORES By John C. Barr “What country are you from?” This is the question frequently asked of the two new lifeguards as they meet the residents of Heritage Shores. “We are both from Kyrgyzstan”. “Where is Kyrgyzstan?” That’s a very good question that needs to be answered. First let’s learn how to pronounce the name then will learn where the country is located. The name of the country is pronounced as follows: KUR-gi-stahn Now that we have that behind us we can now learn where the country is located. Kyrgyzstan is located in central Asia. Landlocked and mountainess, it is bordered by Kazakhstan and Russia to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and the Peoples Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. The country with a current population of over 5.4 million people occupies 77.181 square miles. Soviet domination was established in 1919 and finally the Kyrgyzstan people gained their freedom on August 31 1991. Why would these two young men want to travel so far to work as life guards in the United States? Let’s introduce each one and find out their reasoning. The youngest at 20 years old is Bektur Emilbek Uulu (Call him Beka). As a fifteen year old he became an exchange student and spent his sophomore year at Kamiah High school in Kamiah, Idaho. He lived with an older family during the school year and had the time of his life. “The first time I came to America I was scared but happy. I was getting a chance to learn about your great country and improve my English while building a future for myself,” said Bektur. When he returned to his home country he knew that in the future he wanted to come back to America. That opportunity came in the winter of 2008 when he put an application into Kyrgyz Concepts for the chance to be employed in the United States during the upcoming summer months. His application was accepted. The process for one to become accepted will be explained latter in this article. The older of the two men at 21 is Elnur Eshmenbetov (Call him ‘L’). “Both Bektur and I became best of friends while attending high school and strengthened that relationship as students at the American University in Central Asia,” said Elnur. “So when he applied to work in America during the summer of 2008 he convinced me to also apply.” Bektur and Elnur were assigned to the large resort in Wisconsin known as the Wisconsin Dells. This resort had over six pools and over 200 students from all over the world employed there during the summer months. “After our training we worked as lifeguards and  both of us also got a part time job working at the Believe It or Not Museum as cashiers to make some extra money,” said Elnur. “Our free time was spent partying, just think, what else would you do when there are over 200 girls and boys housed in one dormitory,” he added. In 2009 Bektur accepted a summer job working at a pool in New Jersey. He was very disappointed and within a month left that position to work for his brother-in-law in New York City who is a bankruptcy attorney. Elnur didn’t join his friend in 2009. It was now 2010 and both men, going into there senior year, decided to work one more time in America. Now it is time to talk about the process they followed to get to be lifeguards at Heritage Shores. “Both Elnur and I went to Kyrgyz Concepts and applied for a position for summer employment, Beknur said. “Along with the application fee we had to pay them for their services,” he added. “No one is denied as long as you have the money or the means to pay,” he added. The company main business was tourism and part of that was finding employment in the United States for Kyrgyzstan students. The positions available were working in restaurants, amusement parks, and resort areas and as life guards at swimming pools. Because of their past experience in Wisconsin they again applied to be lifeguards. Once you applied and were accepted Kyrgyz Concepts took care of everything such as passports, visa, travel expenses to and from the airport, lodging, food and airfare. They would make sure that you would arrive at your final work destination without any problem. But of course you paid them for all the costs. Elnur explained the travel route they both took to reach the adult community of Heritage Shores.  “On May 13th Bektur’s mother drove us 30 miles to the Manas International Airport located in Bishkek City. We then boarded a flight to Moscow and then on to New York City. Our next flight took us to Atlanta, Georgia where we boarded a train to North Spring and then a taxi to Roswell, Georgia,” Elnur said. “The connections went like clockwork and because of the various time zones we arrived at Roswell on the 14th of May,” he added...    They spent the next several days being trained as life guards which also include the operation of swimming pool equipment. They lived in a hotel sharing and paying for a room with two others from their country. After their training they waited for their assignment. Bektur and Elnur were told to travel to Maryland where they would get their assignment. On May 22 they boarded a Greyhound bus and headed for Maryland. They checked into a hotel and waited to meet their manager from U. S. Pools for their assignment. “Both Elnur and I thought we would be assigned to an amusement park and finally on May 27th while our manager was driving us to Delaware he informed us that we would be going to an Active Adult Community in Delaware called Heritage Shores,” said Beknur. Both men had no idea what was an active adult community and when they were informed that it was a community where 55 year olds and up lived they were surprised. However, both of them adapt to any situation and after arriving at Heritage Shores were very pleased with the conditions. After about an hour of training both pools became their responsibility. “The biggest difference between Heritage Shores and Wisconsin Dells is their will not be any parties at night after we finish life guarding but that is probably a good thing,” said the older of the two. I asked them what their plans are when they graduate from college? “I would like to get a scholarship to a college in the United States or Europe to continue towards a Masters degree. There is no school in my country that has a Masters program. My final goal is to work at the United Nations,” said Beknur. My ambition on graduation is to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyrgyzstan,” said Elnur. Meeting both young men and spending time talking to them I came to the conclusion that both will be very successful in whatever path in life they end up taking. I know both of them will meet there short term goals. All of us at Heritage Shores are pleased to have them for the summer of 2010 as our life guards. Welcome to Heritage Shores Beka and “L.” You both may not believe it but over 55 year olds can still party.