Gulzhahan’s Birthday

  As we enter our own gift giving season, I’m posting this “Bonus Scene” because the experience helped me look more closely at the gift-giving parts of my own culture that I’d never thought about before.          … Read More

Versions of Kazakh History

Our Bonus Scene this week takes us back in time to Kazakhstan’s earliest years, featuring Genghis Khan and his descendents.  And, oh yes, there is a beautiful white steppe goose too.      As happens whenever Kazakhs gathered, the animated conversation … Read More

On the Train to Zhezkazgan

  This could be Kansas. It could be any of my familiar Great Plains states except there are no crops. I see nothing growing at all — no wheat, no soybeans, no corn — no life of any sort except the … Read More

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