my Australian guilty pleasure

I have managed to live in Bishkek for nearly two years with very few requests from abroad. I get great, freshly roasted coffee from Sierra, Beta Stores stocks locally produced peanut butter, and I’ve managed to procure most other products and food items without having to have them physically transported from abroad. But there is …

on (not) being a feminist in Kyrgyzstan

I have never considered myself a feminist, at least not in the stereotypical, I-hate-men-and-I-don’t-want-to-shave-my-legs kind of way. It could be apathy, it could be that I love the idea of staying home and baking cookies for my dashing husband, and it could be that when you’re married by 22 and pregnant by 24, people don’t …

going to Issyk Kul

After an uneventful weekend of lounging in my pool, baking a cake, and calling around to get the Oxus International summer intern out of custody from the Karabalta police station (what? I’ll explain below), the whole office is heading to Karakol (and nearby villages) for a few days to conduct some research and workshops. Hopefully …

the end of Plov for Two?

After a last-minute venue change (Sweet 60s was suddenly sold by its owner), Plov for Two held their last show at Zeppelin (Цеппелин), a “rock bar” in Vostok-5. Axel, everybody’s favorite Swedish frontman, is making his way back to his homeland by scooter (what? yeah, through Kazakhstan, Russian and Finland by scooter) this week, marking …

Kyrgyz Music Friday

Kyrgyz Music Friday is a weekly feature in which I post a pop music video from an artist in Kyrgyzstan. It could be catchy, annoying, funny, insightful, brilliant, awful, or anything in between. It’s what’s playing on the radio, what all the cool kids are listening to these days. Kyrgyz Music Friday is not trying …