Archive sections: ‘Life In Kyrgyzstan’
In Britain we have a children’s rhyme which runs … Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot …
Sometimes, people get a little confused when they come to see me in my office. There are the things you might expect to see in an office: computers, papers and so on, but the decoration is, I admit, a strange and eclectic mix. As well Traditional Kyrgyz crafts, represented by a Shyrdak and a Mongolian [...]
November 1st is Police Day! Police Day is another one of those peculiar “unofficial”, “professional” holidays that seem to abound here in Kyrgyzstan, it marks the creation of the Kyrgyz Police Force, some 86 years ago, although the Criminal Detection service was apparently established six years earlier! .
During the week the “baseball kids” have been making plans for the weekend. Sunday – October 31st, Halloween – seems to have caught their imagination. Katya, for example, is a member of a dance troupe and they had a show in one of the city’s youth centers, (but as I was in Naryn for my [...]
Some of you will know that one of the charities that I support here in Kyrgyzstan is the Karakol Orphanage. I was introduced to the orphanage by a British (Irish) consultant, Hugh Coulter, who was working on an EU project which was based up in Karakol. You can find out more about how he came [...]
Those of you that know me will know that one of my favourite pastimes used to be playing “Trivial Pursuits”. I have that sort of mind that “collects” trivia … I loved the Geography questions but I also enjoyed History ones as well. Although I am interested in History, my knowledge of the subject is [...]
The word of the week for this week seems to be “Transparency”. This is the result of two international reports that have been issued: The Open budget survey issued by the International Budget Partnership and the Corruption Perceptions Index issued by Transparency International. The word “Transparent” can have several meanings. The obvious one is that [...]
A week ago, I received an invitation to the regular monthly Open Meeting of the International Business Council, (IBC). Now, I get a lot of correspondence from IBC – after all, I serve on the Management Board, and have done so, (with two short interludes), ever since it’s inception in 2000. That might change this [...]
One of the interesting aspects of writing the “Postcards from Bishkek” is the feedback that I receive. Often people make a comment on one or other points that I have made – sometimes agreeing with me, sometimes taking issue with me. Sometimes, they ask for more information – such as “who is this person Roza [...]
One of the emails that I received this week thanked me for the weekly postcard that I send out giving a review of the weeks events here in Kyrgyzstan, but the writer admitted that they were rather confused as to to who was who and the positions taken by the various parties in our recent [...]
