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Today, Roza Otunbaeva has been inauguration as President of Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan has had a traumatic few months. In April there was a second revolution; President Bakiyev fled the country. In recent weeks there has been terrible violence in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad; thousands have fled as refugees. There is much in our news about a [...] In 2005, when I was living in Bishkek and experienced the Tulip Revolution, Kurmanbek Bakiyev was the hero of the people. He was their great hope, the man who was going to lead them out of the oppression of the Akayev years. Sadly, five years on, his people have ousted him, accusing him of corruption and [...] In March 2005 I stood in Ala Too Square in Bishkek and watched angry young men climb over the fence and storm the presidential White House, causing regime change in Kyrgyzstan. My husband M was furious – he was back in our flat with baby T and had seen me on CNN. “You’re a mother now” he [...] Okay, so it’s quite hard work getting children in and out of coats, hats, gloves and boots, but I’m quite enjoying living with snow. It’s beautiful; cold and crisp, huge crystals glittering in the sunshine. We are finally experiencing the stereotypical images of winter that are usually only seen in Christmas cards and history books. Maybe [...] Last week I travelled to London to attend the inaugural meeting of the Kyrgyz-British society. It was great. Stepping out of the train and across London I felt an exhilarating sense of freedom. London is different. It smells different. It has a vibe. There’s a constant hum of traffic. There are so many people talking [...] Sweating on the cross trainer in the gym I noticed a headline about Kyrgyzstan scrolling across the bottom of the Sky News screen. Sadly it was not a positive one; an England football fan had been shot in the leg. Great, I thought, now news channels will be negative about Kyrgyzstan. Having lived there for three [...] If you are thinking of visiting Kyrgyzstan I can recommend the Odyssey guide to the Kyrgyz Republic. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kyrgyz-Republic-Heart-Central-Odyssey/dp/9622177913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222266223&sr=8-1 The third edition has recently been put together by dedicated authors Rowan Stewart and Susie Weldon and was launched last week at Daunt Books in London. I am especially excited about this guide because some of my photographs have been [...] For anyone who is interested in experiencing a flavour of Kyrgyz life I can recommend Jamilia by Chingiz Aitmatov. It is a short but poignant love story, wonderfully evocative of Kyrgyz rural life. His descriptions transported me back to the huge expanses of valley, sky and mountain in Central Asia, the true remoteness and stillness [...] One reason I hope this baby isn’t too late is that I’m speaking at a Kyrgyz evening on Wednesday 14th May. The event is at Stanfords travel bookshop in Bristol where I will be joining Rowan Stewart and Susie Weldon, authors of the Odyssey guide to the Kyrgyz Republic in talking about Kyrgyzstan. We will be [...] After years of hard word and fretting over writing Revolution Baby: Motherhood and Anarchy in Kyrgyzstan it’s always very rewarding when people contact me to say how much they’ve enjoyed reading it. Carole very kindly sent an extremely detailed review and it was especially gratifying to see that she had enjoyed and interpreted the book [...] |
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