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 Kyrgyzstan. The event was apparently caught on video taken by a motorist on a Sony video camcorder. More…
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 appeals to me, but it is logical. It was New Year’s Day under the old Julian Calendar which Russia clung to until after the Soviet in 1917. More…
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 to the title. What’s more, Kyrgyzstan was also home to several Muslim holy men who are often equated with Saints, particularly those associated with the Sufi tradition – but more about those another time.
Let me start with the Kyrgyz Saint – Irakily. That’s not a name that runs easily off the tongue and few people will recognize it. He’s not one of the Catholic Calendar of Saints … but belongs to the Orthodox tradition. Of course not, he belongs to the Orthodox tradition: a priest and a monk. More…
In the middle of December I started to receive the usual collection of Christmas and New Year cards bearing greetings and best wishes for the approaching holiday and the coming year. This year, two of the early greetings I received were particularly interesting ones, not cards but sheets of A4 paper with photographs pasted onto them. As usual there was a printed message and a handwritten one. The photographs and handwritten message was from people I haven’t met but with whom I have a relationship, of sorts. They are “adoptees”, pensioners whom we support through the good offices of the charity Babushka Adoption.
Babushka Adoption is one of my favourite charities and I have mentioned them before in some of my postcards.
It was born out of an initiative of a Swiss consultant working in Kyrgyzstan. He noted that the collapse of the Soviet Union had caused an economic and social crisis for many people and that elderly people were among the most heavily affected. More…
We’ve added three new spherical panoramas to our website www.see.kg …
This is quite a long postcard but I hope that, (especially given my background), you’ll bear with me. I have been asked some questions about the educational system here in Kyrgyzstan … so, here are some notes and some thoughts on the subject:
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The first thing to say is that “Education is a highly prized commodity in the Kyrgyz Republic.” More…
Who would have thought that what is normally a quiet week for news as the world celebrates and recovers, that so much would have happened … More…
I had fun on Twitter this morning. One organization had sent belated Christmas Greetings to everyone, apologizing that they were late. I replied saying that, on the contrary, it was just in time as today is Christmas Day – here in Kyrgyzstan. There were a couple of other tweeters who referred to “Three Kings Day”, a reference to Epiphany when the Magi are supposed to have finally discovered the infant Jesus in the stable … all those nativity plays that have the shepherds and the Kings gathering around the manger together are probably mistaken. Luke’s gospel has the angels announcing the birth to the shepherds on the actual night of the birth, but Matthew has the Kings arriving some time later after having been delayed by Herod the Great. Anyway I wrote to both of them saying that to them it might be Three Kings Day, but to us it was still Christmas. More…
When I was a boy growing up back in Malvern, we used to have a newspaper delivered to our home each morning: The Daily Mail. More…
The other day I had to have a meeting over lunchtime. We decided that we would go out instead of sitting in the office which can be quite crowded and sometimes a little noisy, and where I can be interrupted by someone at the drop of a hat. It seemed a good opportunity to try a local bar which has only recently opened just around the corner and which neither of had yet visited. I was particularly keen to try it because the Bar I used to use as my “local” closed down over the summer and has become a Video Game Arcade. I was interested to see if this would be a suitable replacement.
So, off we set. More…
