Postcard from Bishkek

During January 2014 the range of topics covered in the postcards included the following topics:

Day by Day

• A year of anniversaries – 2014 - It’s going to be a busy year here in Kyrgyzstan … with lots of anniversaries to commemorate – 01/01/14
• An initial foray into Issyk Kul - Semyenov’s first trip to Issyk Kul … to mark his birthday in 1827 – 02/01/14
• Signs of progress … -My recent trip to Naryn provided some surprises – 03/01/14
• Shaken, not stirred - The regular weekly postcard looking at events here in Kyrgyzstan during the previous week – - 04/01/14
• Why not? … Why not Kyrgyzstan?? - Why? is a powerful question … but so is Why Not? … so Why Not come and visit Kyrgyzstan? - 05/01/14
• A Merry Little Christmas  - Christmas may have come and gone in the West … but it’s not too late to wish people a Merry Little Christmas … January 6th is known – especially in Ireland – as “Little Christmas” – 06/01/14
• Make it Snappy - 7th January may well be Christmas Day for the Orthodox … but it is also an important anniversary in the history and development of photography – 07/01/14
• Jumash Dudusaliev – Happy Birthday! - Jumash Dudusaliev is a young violinist busy making a name and reputation for himself … and not just here in Kyrgyzstan – 08/01/14
• Alternative anniversaries …  - It may not be have been a “birthday” but for me Thursday was a personal milestone of sorts – the 32,000,000th … – 09/01/14
• Going to pot- Colorado has passed a law legalizing Cannabis (under certain conditions) … and so has Uruguay … should Kyrgyzstan follow suit, after all we grow the stuff here!  - 10/01/14
• Winter Wonderlands - The regular weekly postcard looking at events here in Kyrgyzstan during the previous week – 11/01/14
• Soviet Tourism - Tours exploring Kyrgyzstan’s Soviet heritage – 12/01/14
• Off your trolley ??? - The trolleybus, one of the mainstays of Bishkek’s public transport system, was introduced on 13th January, 1951 - 13/01/14
• Unwelcome guests - Maybe a hotelier shouldn’t say this … but there are some “guests” that are particularly unwelcome – 14/01/14
• Elebaev – Founder of Kyrgyz Literature - Birthday to Mukai Elebaev – probably! – the “founder of Kyrgyz Literature” – 15/01/14
• “I apologize profusely to all Beatles fans everywhere” - The Beatles crop up everywhere – even here in Bishkek – 16/01/14
• The Kyrgyz Khanate - A new set of collectible coins for numismatics focus on a moment of Kyrgyz history – the Great Kyrgyz Khanate – 17/01/14
• A Bear of Very Little Brain - The regular weekly postcard looking at events here in Kyrgyzstan during the previous week – 18/01/14
• Because Kyrgyzstan - The Oxford University Dictionary may have declared “selfie” as the word of the Year for 2013, but some Americans have decided that a better candidate for the title is “because” … which led me to suggest a possible new marketing strategy for Kyrgyz Tourism – 19/01/14
• Artnapped - Some more information about the picture that got stolen from the Museum of Fine Arts last week … and the artist who painted it – 20/01/14
• Time to get close - National Hug Day … and the question of “personal space” – 21/01/14
• What do you do when you’re at the end of your tether? - statistics about the number of suicides led to this postcard … which the kids advised me not to post … but as it’s a matter of “life and death”, (literally), I decided to go ahead anyway – 22/01/14
• Write it down - To commemorate National Handwriting Day, I decided to look at the role played by writing as far as the ancient Kyrgyz were concerned … it wasn’t just a culture of “oral tradition” – 23/01/14
• Count your blessings – name them one by one - It’s easy to be critical … in a negative way … but one journalist asked us to be positive and consider what there is about Bishkek to love – 24/01/14
• The best laid plans … - The regular weekly postcard looking at events here in Kyrgyzstan during the previous week – 25/01/14
•  Double or nothing – well almost - A recent survey found that the average person in the UK has visited seven countries in their life … a trip to Central Asia could more or less double that – 26/01/14
•  The Siege of Leningrad - Seventy years ago saw the end of the worst siege in human history … – 27/01/14
•  Jenishbek Rayimbaev - Who is Jenishbek Rayimbaev? – the sad story of Kyrgyzstan’s tallest man – 28/01/14
•  Those annoying little emails – Spams and Scams. - I think the title says it all – 29/01/14
• Ferghana Valley - Cities in the Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley – 30/01/14
• Could This Be Kyrgyzstan’s Year – The Year Of The Horse? - Chinese New Year is here again … it’s the Year of the Horse – and the Kyrgyz have a particular affinity with the horse – 31/01/14