Archive sections: ‘Life In Kyrgyzstan’
During the last few days I have been somewhat spoiled with lots of people fussing over me. Everyone has been very kind and attentive and one my neighbours has been preparing jars of compot, (boiled fruit juice), and saucepans of Chicken Soup for me. That’s one of the advantages of being ill, I suppose, but, [...]
I was ten years old, and still at Primary School on January 1st, 1964, when the disc jockey Jimmy Saville presented the very first edition of the United Kingdom’s flagship programme reviewing the pop music charts, Top of the Pops, (TOTP). To be honest, I can’t remember actually watching it, but I am sure that [...]
As I have been sitting nursing a bout of the flu, my mind has turned, (naturally), to medical matters … I have, for example, looked up symptoms and treatments, but I have also been thinking about the medical provision here in Kyrgyzstan. The travel advice for Kyrgyzstan from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office states: [...]
It’s been a strange week here in Bishkek … and also, apparently, around the world. It began with “Blue Monday”. A few years a British tour firm decided on a sales gimmick to help “prime the pump” so that people would start booking holidays, and they decided to declare the Monday of the last full week [...]
I am aware that there has been a somewhat depressing turn to the postcards recently, in that there have been quite few references to deaths and funerals. I have mentioned several times that last year was the year of the “black tie”. It wasn’t just a case of the number of people that died in [...]
I see from National Geographic that winter lasts for 21 years on Uranus. Thank goodness it doesn’t last that long here in Kyrgyzstan. Last Friday, the sun was shining and the weather was warm. It made a pleasant change to the bitter, biting, wind and the frozen snow covered ground. One of my neighbours was [...]
Some people ask me how I find the time to write these weekly postcards, and others ask where I get my inspiration. The answer to both questions is quite simple and, I suppose, go back to my days and training as a teacher. It is a matter of habit, instilled in me over seventeen years in [...]
When I first came here I often ran into problems over names. Back in the UK, for example, as a school teacher, I would have “hit the roof” if one of my pupils had dared to call me Ian. The correct form of address is “Sir” or “Mr. Claytor”. The use of the given name [...]
For the the second time in less than a week, my feet felt frozen and I thought my toes were about to drop off as a result of the cold.
Tuesday lunchtime and we closed the office to go to a special Birthday lunch. I have said before that Birthdays are a big deal here in Kyrgyzstan. This one was especially important as it was a 30th Birthday – a landmark, a round figure.
