Our trip to Uzbekistan was mainly characterized by pre-Soviet structures. The tours we went on highlighted remnants of fortresses and towns, old mosques, and the old parts of modern cities. The sites…
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Posts written as Blog Posts
A Whole New World: The Magic of Uzbek Silk Carpet-Making
You might think the best part of Aladdin is the love story between Aladdin and Jasmine, but after traveling to Uzbekistan, I think the real story might be how a worm’s cocoon…
Remembering the Horrors: ALZhIR Gulag Camp
The Soviet Union was known for many things, communism, Stalin, the color red, but one of the scariest things as a person living in the Soviet Union at the time would have…
Who is Uzbekistan? The Conflict Between Profits and Heritage
Just as labyrinthine and seemingly convoluted as the old cities themselves scattered throughout the desert of Uzbekistan, are the priorities of the Uzbek government when it comes to cultural preservation and the…
Девушка!
The cultural experience of the Uzbek bazaar The bazaars we saw in Uzbekistan were like nothing that I have ever seen back home. The culture, setting, and social expectations of the bazaar…
An Ode to Hardworking Worms: Exploring Silk in Uzbekistan
Stretching as far back as 114BC, documentation of the Silk Road describes the vital role of trade routes and the production of silk throughout Central Asia. Although these ancient roads cease to…
“Painted” Rock, “Mulberry” Paper, “Silk” Scissors: The Entertaining World of Ethnic Crafts in Uzbekistan
In America our passion for artisanal workmanship has suffered in the face of growing technology, but in Central Asia ethnic craftsmen provide visitors with the ability to see firsthand how products are…
Qazaq Trains: Two Drunk Men, Cramped Hallways, and a Poem
For our third weekend in the country, we went from Almaty to Astana by rail, the most popular way to get between the two cities. The two largest cities in Qazaqstan are…
A rainy day at the ALZHIR Remembrance Museum
Our trip to Astana was full of eye opening contrasts. We saw the somewhat forgotten Soviet right bank of the Ishim River and the futuristic left bank. We saw the way that…
What Do You Get When You Combine an American Film, a British Play, a Russian Classic, and a French Novel?
Towards the end of our first week in Almaty, our professor spammed us with texts about different events and exhibits, saying she would buy the tickets for us if we were interested….
