Archive: May, 2011
In the weekly postcard last Saturday, (Oh, the humanity), I mentioned that I had met up with Hugh Coulter and his wife Jean, (who run fund raising efforts for an orphanage and two Microcredit funds in Karakol), and that they promised to distribute the regular quarterly update on their various activities. Well, the report has [...]
The Kyrgyz national currency, the Som was introduced on May 10th, 1993. The word “som” in Russian is the name of a fish – a catfish – but in Turkic languages such as Kyrgyz, it comes from the word meaning “pure” and was used to refer to coins made from “pure” gold from before the [...]
One day last week, I was talking to one of my neighbours about Dehn Pobeda, the public holiday, (today), which commemorates the end of the Second World War, (or the Great Patriotic War, as it is known here). She was but a little girl during the war itself, although she could remembered that it was [...]
Every day is a special day for someone. My calendar consists of an amazing list of anniversaries and commemorative days. May 9th, for example, is a national holiday here in Kyrgyzstan – Dehn Pobeda – Victory Day, commemorating the end of the Second World War. For many of the combative nations in the global conflict, [...]
They say that “all that glitters is not gold” and that is a warning that we should always bear in mind.
May 8th is designated as The World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. This date was chosen because it was the birthday of the man who is generally held to be responsible for inspiring the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, (ICRC) – Jean Henri Dunant, (or, as in the anglicized version, [...]
Herbert Morrison was a 31 year old reporter in 1937, working for the Chicago based WLS radio station, when he received an assignment to cover the arrival of the Hindenburg Zeppelin airship at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. Little did he know how the event, and his report, was to go down in [...]
Hunting with the golden eagle is an ancient tradition that dates back to the Mongol conquest of Central Asia around the 12th and 13th centuries, when a fine eagle and good horse cost the same price and both lent prestige to their owner. Although the practice is gradually disappearing in this area, hunting with birds [...]
At first glance, Klavdiya Antipina appears as a remarkable woman and an unlikely heroine who would, as John Sommer says, had “single – handedly preserved ethnographical information about the unique traditional culture, and that she had accomplished this despite formidable personal barriers.” Despite her contribution to the study of Kyrgyz nomadic culture, her work is [...]
Last week I wrote about Cemeteries and mentioned the Burana Tower, which is situated 10 km to the South of Tokmok. There is a legend that tells of a powerful khan who had a beautiful daughter, Monara, whom he loved very much and wanted to protect against the affections of local djigits – young men. [...]
