Eight months later we are back in their office at Toli-Bi 21 facing Panfilov Park.
This time we are greeted as friends, not naïve hippies. But the two do not hesitate to command another mission.
“You must touch Turkistan!” they demand, “you do not really know Kazakhstan if you have not touched Turkistan.”
They are compelling and persuasive and we deeply consider every command even if they seemingly bear no relation to our mission and are completely impractical. The bottom line is we have only 48 hours left in the country. Not enough time to touch Turkistan and make the plane to Dubai. I am embarrassed to admit to them that we can’t make the trip.
I change the subject.
“Have you ever acted in a film?” I ask Renato
“You mean a film about us, about our work? There have been documentaries made about our research…or as an actor?”
“I mean acting.” I reply.
“Ah, yeeees, I used to act in Kung-Fu movies in Hong Kong” he replies.
by Eve Sussman