Hard to believe that it’s the end of 2016. How many famous people died so far? Can we preemptively connect Betty White to a ventilator just in case?
To flash ourselves back to better times, I did a little digging into my site stats to see what your favorite posts were this year. Without further ado!
#10: 16 Young Women, 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence
This partnership post with my friend and colleague, Josefin Åström, photographed and profiled 16 young women going about their everyday lives in Osh to learn about them and their aspirations. It was really cool to put together the photos and the post, and even cooler when the post was picked up by a few outlets, translated into German, then sent across Germany. This may be my only post that is more popular in translation than in English!
#9: We Won Blog It Home! I’m Going To DC!
This post was really just a big excuse to use Miss America gifs in a serious blog about being named one of the 8 winners of the 2016 Peace Corps Blog It Home Contest. I had a lot of fun pulling together this post, and it showed how much fun it is to put gifs and math lady into posts to express my emotions.
But yes, Blog It Home was a huge honor for me. You can read about my week in DC at the Blog It Home conference here, and about the other brilliant winners here. I also did an interview for my hometown radio station that you can listen to here. If you’re interested in blogging, I highly recommend checking out resources available on Blogging Abroad. You, too, could win the Blog It Home contest!
#8: Kyrgyzstani Movie Night: “Kurmanjan Datka: Queen Of The Mountains”
Kurmanjan Datka is an awesome hero warrior woman who united the Kyrgyz people. This film about her is a great way to learn a (slightly fictionalized) version of her life and her story. If anything, it’s also a great chance to see some incredible views of Kyrgyzstan and some views of traditional Kyrgyz culture and clothing. And lots of horse stunts that would never be allowed in Hollywood! I highly recommend reading the post, learning the history, and watching the film about the “Queen of the Mountains.”
#7: Apps For Life In Kyrgyzstan
In the US, the phrase “there’s an app for that” usually rings true, and usually, most of those apps also work overseas in Europe and other places. In Kyrgyzstan, though, there’s no Uber, Google Maps is wrong sometimes, addresses make no sense, and I’m pretty sure most developers in Silicon Valley (except Sergey Brin and Paul Eremenko) have never heard of a marshrutka. Luckily, enterprising entrepreneurs here have created things like an app for the Bishkek marshrutka system, mobile apps for banking and cell phone providers here, a maps app that even has the address of every building in Bishkek, and even Seamless and Uber clones. If you’re visiting or moving to Kyrgyzstan, it’s worth looking into downloading most of these apps before you arrive.
#6: 72 Hours In Bishkek: A Destination Guide
Nearly every visitor to Kyrgyzstan stops in Bishkek for a night or five, so I thought it would be useful to throw together a list of my favorite stops in the city along with an organized Google Map of all the places to help guide visitors.
#5: The Secret To Kyrgyz Taxi Fares
I hate taxis. It’s a fact. In fact, most people I meet here hate them too. In fact, I hate them in all countries. Most people do. Anyway, I’ve often found myself having to negotiate taxis for myself and others, and I discovered the secret: know the fare structure. You can learn more in the original post!
#4: Why I Joined The Peace Corps
I worked on this essay for several months before finally uploading it to the blog. Ever since, it’s a post that a lot of people stumble upon through search engines and reddit as people search for information about the Peace Corps. Peace Corps has had a lot of challenges, but it has ultimately given me a lot of valuable experience and skills.
#3: My Peace Corps Application Timeline
Another post a lot of people discover looking through the Google machine, this post talks about how long it took from the time I submitted my application to the time I arrived in the Peace Corps. Thanks to the new system, the turnaround time is shorter than ever.
#2: 72 Hours In Osh, Kyrgyzstan: A Destination Guide
Ever since I put together my insider’s guide to my beautiful home of Osh, Kyrgyzstan, I’ve been getting a constant stream of visitors, both foreign and Kyrgyzstani, as well as messages from readers planning to visit! Thanks to this post, I’ve had the chance to meet a ton of really cool people from all over the world, all brought together by their interest in this amazing place. Even if I’m not here, this guide is a great way to see beyond the main sights of Osh and get inside the lives of people here in my town. And, of course, to eat ALL the good food.
#1: Hang On To Your Hats: An Exhaustive Guide To Central Asian Headgear
This post took me two entire days to research, photograph, and write, and it seems like it shows: it was named one of the Best Cross-Culture Posts Of 2016 by Blogging Abroad, and it even went viral on places like Reddit and a few other forums. My own host family even told me that they learned a lot about Central Asian culture from it – and they’re Central Asian! Definitely one of my favorite and finest posts, and with nearly 3,000 visitors this year, far and away my most popular.
Thanks to you all for reading and supporting me this year! I can’t wait for 2017!
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