At the Winter Universiade, the talk of Almaty and indeed all of Kazakhstan was a young singer who had performed at the opening ceremony: Dimash Kudaibergen. And not long after, he also became my new Central Asian musical obsession after I shared a plane ride with him from Almaty to Astana. Continue reading “Central Asian Musical Obsession: Dimash Kudaibergen”
It’s the end of the month and time for another look at my favorite photos from the past month! Some are prompted, some are spontaneous, and some are some throwbacks. Take a look, read about it, and click to enlarge if you want to see more closely. Continue reading “February 2017 Photo Roundup”
February is the shortest month of the year, so that might be why it seems like I spent half of it in Kazakhstan with a few stops in Osh along the way. See, after the office rejected my plans to visit my friends and host family in Tajikistan last summer, I wound up with just shy of two weeks of vacation time with no way to use it but to burn it up before our COS conference, so I saved some of my local money (yes, I am able to save a little bit on an income of $250 a month living in the big city) and went on some adventures. Continue reading “Mile 22: A Whole Lotta Kazakhstan (and a little bit of Osh)”
Kyrgyzstan is usually marketed as a summer destination, the time of year when you can climb mountains or ride horses up to yurt camps in the summer pastures. Well, that’s all completely true, but what they fail to mention is that Kyrgyzstan actually is a fantastic place to come for an affordable winter vacation as well.
Now, my story today isn’t going to appeal to the Aspen Jet Set, but it does appeal to my populist belief and love for things that are so cheap that you can’t say no. Continue reading “A Tubular Weekend In Chiyrchyk Pass”
Are you considering a trip to visit Central Asia? Are you planning to move here? Or are you curious to read more scholarly and better-researched and better-written stories than I have here on my blog? Fear not, because I’ve spent enough time here now to be able to give you a reading list of my 10 favorite books about Central Asia that can help you better understand it and get pumped up about visiting. Continue reading “My Top 10 Books About Central Asia”
As my service continues to draw to a close, that means that a new group of volunteers is preparing to arrive. I’ve received a lot of awesome emails from newly invited PCV’s (both to Kyrgyzstan and to other countries), and I wanted to put together an FAQ to help answer some of the questions you asked (and that you didn’t know to ask)! ALL of this gets covered during your Pre-Service Training, but I know I had all these questions ahead of time and wanted to know everything there was to know. Continue reading “The Ultimate Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan FAQ”
I got to spend a few days last week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the largest city and former capital, to explore and experience the 2017 Winter Universiade, a spectacular event that left an incredible impression on me.
The cafeteria is lively and buzzing. Kyrgyz music videos blare out of a nearby television as a few ofitsantkas run back and forth to the kitchen carrying plates overflowing with lagman, mastava, samsa, and pirozhki. I sigh heavily as I pour another cupful of green tea into the small bowl called a piala that is used as a teacup here in Osh. People come and go as nearly every table remains full, people wrapped in faux fur coats and hats, with several pieces of luggage by their side, each carefully wrapped several times in plastic wrap.
It’s 2am, and I’ve learned a very important lesson about flying in Central Asia: your flights are scheduled at the airline’s convenience, not yours. Continue reading “Midnight At A Central Asian Airport”
It’s the end of the month and time for another look at my favorite photos from the past month! Some are prompted, some are spontaneous, and some are some throwbacks. Take a look, read about it, and click to enlarge if you want to see more closely. Continue reading “January 2017 Photo Roundup”
Well, January came and went quickly. January is usually a very slow month in Central Asia because there’s a bunch of holidays and school breaks. With students out of school and universities closed, a lot of regular work stops as parents stay home with kids and people return to their villages from the city. Despite this, the month was still lively thanks to some beautiful snowfall and time with friends and a major work breakthrough. Continue reading “Mile 21: A Quiet Winter”
