The Gunpowder Plotters
In Britain we have a children’s rhyme which runs …
Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot …
Sometimes, people get a little confused when they come to see me in my office. There are the things you might expect to see in an office: computers, papers and so on, but the decoration is, I admit, a strange and eclectic mix. As well Traditional Kyrgyz crafts, represented by a Shyrdak and a Mongolian Tush Kiyiz, there are photographs and an oil painting of an old women sleeping on the floor of a yurt. One item that seems to attract a lot of attention, however, is a small icon .
It’s a small travelling icon, about 6 cm square, in a blue velvet lined case. The case opens to reveal two images: on the tight is an image of Jesus and on the left is a Madonna and Child – a copy of a famous icon known as the Theotokos of Kazan or Kazanskaya Bozhermateriy - “Our Lady of Kazan”.
This icon has led to several people asking if I am “Orthodox” – a member of the Russian Orthodox Church to which I have to reply, “No” – and then explain that the icon was which was given to one Christmas me as a present by Tatiana, our accountant. More…
November 1st is Police Day!
Police Day is another one of those peculiar “unofficial”, “professional” holidays that seem to abound here in Kyrgyzstan, it marks the creation of the Kyrgyz Police Force, some 86 years ago, although the Criminal Detection service was apparently established six years earlier! . More…
At the end of 1941, a new American “romantic comedy”, Sullivan’s Travels, was released – starring Joel McRae and Veronica Lake. It wasn’t a great success at the box office and enjoyed mixed reviews. With the passage of time, however, it’s reputation has improved and is now considered to be a classic.
I remember watching it as an impressionable teenager on our small black and white TV one Sunday afternoon. To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy it … it seemed to me a depressing and unreal. However, it was basically about escapism and, as I say, I was impressionable and I was impressed by the overall message at the end – about the value and importance of being able to laugh. More…
During the week the “baseball kids” have been making plans for the weekend.
Sunday – October 31st, Halloween – seems to have caught their imagination. Katya, for example, is a member of a dance troupe and they had a show in one of the city’s youth centers, (but as I was in Naryn for my monthly visit to the guesthouse, I couldn’t go). She got her costume sorted out for the party that was to follow – she went as a vampire. More…
Some of you will know that one of the charities that I support here in Kyrgyzstan is the Karakol Orphanage.
I was introduced to the orphanage by a British (Irish) consultant, Hugh Coulter, who was working on an EU project which was based up in Karakol. You can find out more about how he came across them – and the two Microfinance projects that he supports on the postcard that I wrote about it last year.
There were lots of things about the orphanage that appealed to me, one of them being that they issue a quarterly newsletter giving news about what is happening up there, and about their fundraising efforts and how the money is used.
This week, the latest newsletter arrived in the email – a little late – it was supposed to arrive in September, but there have been a few delays – but as Jean, (Hugh’s wife), says – “better late than never”.
Those of you that know me will know that one of my favourite pastimes used to be playing “Trivial Pursuits”. I have that sort of mind that “collects” trivia … I loved the Geography questions but I also enjoyed History ones as well.
Although I am interested in History, my knowledge of the subject is fairly limited and episodic. At school, although we spent about six weeks looking at the opening of the American West, (and the only thing I remember about that is having to write an essay about the Louisiana Purchase – I have no idea what I wrote), this was very much the exception and virtually all of our lessons were really about British history – and by British, I mean the history of England. What’s more we basically stopped at the Glorious Revolution of 1668, (otherwise known as the Bloodless Revolution), when King James II was overthrown in favour of of William and Mary More…
A couple of days ago the postwoman arrived and plonked a small packet onto my desk.
Now, we don’t get that much post, so it there is usually a sense of excitement when we do get a letter. Usually it is a formal notification of something, like a summons to appear in court as a witness … in which case it will be in a small envelope and be Recorded Delivery – requiring a signature as proof that it has been delivered.
This time, however, it was clearly a small packet rather than a small envelope, addressed to me in English, and so I had an idea of what the packet contained before I opened it. Sure enough, there inside was a copy of the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Guide to Central Asia.
This is the fifth edition of the book, published in 2010. In the past the arrival of such a packet would have been greeted with great excitement and anticipation. In fact, we had already seen a copy of it because one of our clients was clutching their copy a couple of weeks ago, (they must have bought it in the first few days after publication), so instead of putting all else aside and devouring every word, I simply scanned a few sections to see if there was anything particularly new, and then passed it to Svetlana to review. More…
The word of the week for this week seems to be “Transparency”.
This is the result of two international reports that have been issued: The Open budget survey issued by the International Budget Partnership and the Corruption Perceptions Index issued by Transparency International.
The word “Transparent” can have several meanings. The obvious one is that you can see through something, but it also means that something is obvious, open, frank or candid, or that something operates in such a way that it is not perceived by users – and in a social sciences it is used to convey openness, communication, and accountability. More…
A week ago, I received an invitation to the regular monthly Open Meeting of the International Business Council, (IBC).
Now, I get a lot of correspondence from IBC – after all, I serve on the Management Board, and have done so, (with two short interludes), ever since it’s inception in 2000. That might change this month, because I am up for re-election and who knows what might happen.
Indeed, the inaugural meeting was held in the conference room at the Silk Road Lodge, but it soon became apparent that the conference room was too small to accommodate the numbers involved. There aren’t that many of us left in Bishkek who attended that opening meeting, but despite the constant turnover of personnel, the organization has gone from strength to strength and is recognized as one of, if not the, leading voice of business in the Republic.
The regular monthly Open Meeting is just one of the activities it runs. Normally it is a quiet affair … a couple of hours in which two or three speakers make a presentation introducing a topic followed by questions and answers and a general discussion. More…
