Archive: January, 2011
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.
I came across an interesting dilemma last week concerning our site www.links.kg. The idea behind the site is to provide links to webpages which concern travel to Kyrgyzstan, in particular to travellers’ tales, where they give accounts of their visits to Kyrgyzstan and their impressions of the country and what it has to offer. We [...]
Yet another international survey has been released – this time by Freedom House. Their annual survey, “Freedom in the World” showed some progress for Kyrgyzstan, which managed to buck the general global trend which, according to Freedom House, indicates a “fall” in the level for the fifth year running. This five year trend is a [...]
I was watching the news on the TV the other day when an item caught my attention. It was about yet another anniversary … they are very hot on anniversaries here in Kyrgyzstan. This time it was marking the anniversary of the adoption of the State seal, or Gerp as it is known here, as [...]
This week we seem to have had the usual run of news stories. Follow up accounts about the events in Osh in June, with one report blaming Uzbek nationalists, who oppose Karimov’s regime there, for provoking incidents which led to the eruption of violence; about the “terrorist gang”, (who are now being referred to as [...]
January 13th is not only Stariy Noviy God, it also marks the anniversary of one of the strangest events I have encountered here in Kyrgyzstan. Back in 2003, before the two revolutions which we have experienced, the front pages of the local press carried stories and photographs of strange lights seen in the skies over [...]
One of the things I have met here in Kyrgyzstan that has always fascinated me is the fascination with celebrating almost any and every occasion possible. January 13th represents, perhaps, a classic example. It is a “holiday” known as Stariy Noviy God, (or “Old New Year”). It could the apparent contradiction in the name that [...]
In a postcard a few days ago I mentioned the fact that the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection here in Bishkek has the tomb of St. Irakily – Kyrgyzstan’s only Saint. Actually, I was a bit unfair, because Kyrgyzstan may also be the final resting place of another Saint, with a much more grandiose claim [...]
