Before heading to our friend’s wedding in Virginia with my partner Grace and her brother Justin, we decided to stop by DC’s Dolan Uyghur Restaurant.

We devoured the mouth-watering dishes of guiru lagman, fried lagman, lamb kebabs and pumpkin kawa samsa. It was a feast. It was Justin’s first time trying Uyghur food and he loved it!

I heard the waiter speaking in Uyghur with the other customers so I thought he must be ethnic Uyghur. I know some basic Uyghur and wanted to connect with him, but felt nervous. It’s

“You should say something to him! Don’t you speak some Uyghur?” Grace and Justin cheered me on as we were about to leave. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it!

My heart thumped, yet that passion to connect hearts through languages took over.

“Thank you! Köp rehmet!” I said to him in my limited Uyghur as we headed out.

“Woah! Good job! But how? Where did you learn that?” He asked excitedly.

I began to explain to him that I worked in Almaty, Kazakhstan at KIMEP University through the Princeton in Asia Fellowship Program for two years. Before I could even finish, his eyes light up and he nearly screamed:

Алматы? Қазақстан! Ойбай! Мен! Қазақпын!

Almaty? Kazakhstan? NO WAY I’M KAZAKH!

I was overwhelmed with joy. I pulled out my rusty Kazakh I haven’t used for over a year and talked with Alibek. I learned that he was ethnic Kazakh from Ghulja, a city in Western China, and later moved to Almaty for college. He’s currently a Master’s student in the US and working part-time at the restaurant to support his studies. The rest of magic. We talked about my time in Almaty, my love for Kazakh culture, and his time studying in the US.

It’s been nearly 2.5 years since the pandemic unrooted me from Almaty, a city that I’ve grown to love during my two years living there. My memories there were filled with beautiful stories of friendship, learning, and growth. To this day, I will never forget the incredible, kind humans who welcomed me into their culture.

The pandemic has been tough and made life uncertain in many ways. Yet meeting Alibek made my heart smile. It reminded me that language learning and cultural exchange have the power to tear down barriers, connect hearts, and turn ordinary transactions into opportunities for friendship.