KZBlog

Tag archive for ‘Culture’

• The Final Five

  Following up on this post about what Americans notice about life in Kazakhstan, Hilary has posted the top 5 cultural tidbits with links to her earlier posts. This final five post hits on some really tricky ones, probably the ones that really show the difference in mentality between Americans and Kazakhs. It is interesting to […]

  4/07/11 • (1)

• Giving Birth in Kazakhstan

  Not another post about medical services but about traditions and superstitions about birth in Kazakhstan. I recently heard that pregnant women are not allowed to eat camel meat because it can make the pregnancy longer. I had never heard that before so I started asking about other beliefs about mothering and children. Of course, I […]

  4/06/11 • (3)

• Plov Recipe

  I’ve been working on my recipe for plov bit by bit and I thought I’d share it here. Of course there are a million different kinds of plov (or pilaf as the Western version is called) and it’s hard to pin down exactly what makes plov plov. I am fond of the Azerbaijani style where […]

  2/27/11 • (6)

• Taraz Under Siege

  I haven’t heard anything about this through the grapevine, but I’ve seen a couple of items here and there. It seems like Taraz has some serious problems with criminal gangs of youth. NewEurasia.net posts a little about how the gangs work and even the local officials have had to admit defeat [RUS]. One wonders if […]

  1/28/11 • (6)

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  65 Year Old Acrobat

  Another shot of Astana Day. In the park, a group of Uzbeks set up a little circus which is my second favorite part of Astana Day. They’re usually there at other times over the summer too, so you may not have missed them. Pretty good for traveling carnival workers. They make their money by asking […]

  7/11/10 • (Comments Off on 65 Year Old Acrobat)

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  Riding Back Saddle

  Another shot from this year’s celebration of Astana Day. This trick riding looks impressive but is also an important set of skills in battle and hunting. From this position, the rider can avoid enemy arrows or swords and also lean back far enough to pick up a fallen colleague or lost weapon from the ground […]

  7/09/10 • (Comments Off on Riding Back Saddle)

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  Happy Astana Day

  Dzhigitkovka or perhaps Kyzkovka? at the Central Park in Astana on the 6th of July, which is both Astana Day and the birthday of Nursultan Nazarybayev.

  7/07/10 • (Comments Off on Happy Astana Day)

• Freestailo Lives

  Thanks to J’s comment on an earlier post for this update on who freestailo is: According to this YouTube Video: His name is Ernar Kaldynov, was born in Karoi, small village in Western Kazakhstan. in 2007 he took part as singer with dombra(Kazakh National Instrument) in SuperStar.KZ show (Kazakh version of American Idol), but did […]

  5/22/10 • (2)

• Driving Rules for Kazakhstan

  I was inspired by this post on driving rules in China to make up a list of driving rules in Kazakhstan: Ignore lanes. The lines wear off every year anyway because of all the salt and sand they put on the roads to melt the snow and ice. Instead, drive in the middle of your […]

  4/28/10 • (4)

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  Movie Review: Kairat – Champion. Virgin #1

  We bought Kairat-Champion. Virgin #1 the other day and watched it. Off-hand it’s a decent movie that still needs a lot of work. Obviously it’s trying to be a teen movie with lots of sex jokes à la American Pie and it falls into the same traps those movies tend to. A series of funny situations but no jokes. Little attention to the plot or characters making it hard to follow what is going on, or much care. But overall, not a bad first effort with some fun moments.

  4/15/10 • (4)

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