SaigonNezumi.com » Central Asia

Ever had a Russian Tortoise?

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:59:27 +0000

(Russian Tortoise – Image Source: Wikipedia)

The other day I was surfing online which somehow brought me to the Wikipedia article on Russian Tortoises. It brought back memories of the 1990s in Seattle. As a student at the UDub, I actually owned 3 Russian Tortoises. I think I bought my first two in 1993 if I remember right. I had a UV lamp and made a small pen for my two tortoises I named Gorby and Tatiana. An older Russian tortoise, Katya, joined the duo later.

Russian tortoises are quite easy to take care of. I just fed them bok choy and romaine lettuce everyday. During long weekend trips, I could leave them in my pen with a head of romaine lettuce. For longer trips, my gymastic’s coach and his girlfriend would take care of them.

These guys are fun. I let them roam my room when I am home. You will be amazed at how much water their bladder can hold. If they are scared, they can soak an entire pant leg which has happened to me on one occasion. Most of the day they just soak under the UV lamp. At nights, I would turn the UV lamp off at which point my tortoises would start to burrow underneath my wood chip bedding. Since they were in my room, it would be annoying to hear their feet scraping on the wood floor of their pen but I think I got used to it.

Sadly in 1996, I had to sell them back to the pet store owner who sold them to me 3 years earlier. I moved into an apartment complex that did not allow pets of any kind including fish. I lost contact of my gymnastic’s coach so I had to let Gorby, Tatiana and Katya go. Yeah, I do miss them.

Ironically, in the summer of 1998 which I was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Karatau, Kazakhstan, some Kazakh students brought a couple Russian tortoises to me. It turns out that in the Karatau area, there are many wild Russian tortoises.

In Vietnam, though, I have not seen any. They are not as popular as the turtle.

Watch some funny YouTube videos on Russian Tortoises.

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Another great Shahzoda Video

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:06:10 +0000

I really like this video by Shahzoda, a famous singer from Uzbekistan. Shahzoda puts some Islamic influences in her videos which tell a good story. Enjoy this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The 10 Conditions of Love (Rabiya Kadeer)

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:16:28 +0000

Here is a documentary that I do not see making it’s way to Vietnam. Need to find a way to get a copy back in the US.

The 10 Conditions of Love looks at the life and struggle of Uyghur activist Rabiya Kadeer. I first learned about Rabiya Kadeer when I was a graduate student at Indiana University. At the time, I learned about her plight and bought some Uyghur Human Rights buttons from the Uyghur Human Rights Coalition. Rabiya Kadeer was in prison at that time but she was later released and exiled in the US.

It is amazing that the world knows so much about the Tibetans but very little about the Uyghurs. As you can tell, this documentary has been very controversial to the Chinese government. They unsuccessfully tried to convince the Taiwanese from showing the film next month.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Eternal Home Kazakhstan (Documentary)

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:09:12 +0000

Just watched an interesting one hour video on Kazakhstan. Made me a bit homesick for the country. This independent documentary reminds me so much of the life in Kazakhstan. I was surprised to see not much has changed in the 7 years since I left the country (the film was produced in 2006).

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Uong Bi, Vietnam

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:45:21 +0000

When we visited our client, Vietmindo, over a week ago, we stayed at a hotel in Uong Bi, a small quite mining town about 45-50 minutes from Halong Bay and Hai Phong. This town reminded so much of Karatau, Kazakhstan, my Peace Corps site.

Uong Bi, which I gave up trying to pronounce, is a very quite town. It is a place I would not mind retiring someday. Below are some relaxing photos of Uong Bi.

(View from my hotel of Uong Bi)

(Main road through Uong Bi)

(Uong Bi is a good walking city)

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News from the Former Soviet Union

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:57:19 +0000

As many of you are aware, I lived in the Former Soviet Union for over two and a half years visiting the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan. Thanks to Facebook, I still can keep in touch with my former students and friends from the region. I was offered a job in Almaty, Kazakhstan, that would have started next month. I decided against it so I can focus on my new company instead. It was a tough decision but at least I can still keep up with the region through the various blogs and news sites.

English Russia is by far one of the best blogs for the Former Soviet Union. The posts are just interesting, I wish I could be as good as the site owner in finding similarly really interesting photos. Today’s post makes me glad that I live in a brick house that, in theory, is more protected from fire. “In Theory” in quotes actually

Fires seem to always happen in Russia such as the one below:

(Source: English Russia)

See more Fire Photos here -> http://englishrussia.com/?p=3982

From NewEurasia.Net, there was an interview of an Expat on living in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Read it, if Expats in Vietnam heed to his advice, their experience could just be as enjoyable as the Canadian interviewed.

By the way, Osh is one of my favorite cities in the world. I spent nearly two weeks there back in 1999. A really nice city with some of the best Central Asian cuisine in the world. Cafe Osh, I miss you…

(Source: NewEurasia.net)

Read the entire interview here -> http://www.neweurasia.net/culture-and-history/interview-when-in-kyrgyzstan-do-as-kyrgyz-do/

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Falcon Hunting from Kazakhstan

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:22:53 +0000

From English Russia. Falcon hunting is part of the Kazakh culture and traditions in Kazakhstan. Though I lived in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from 1997-1999, I have not been lucky enough to see any actual falcon hunting. Maybe in the future.

See more pictures of the Kazakh Falcon Hunters at: http://englishrussia.com/?p=2253

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Turkish Airlines – Memories of Turkey

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:19:54 +0000

Turkish Airlines is another one of my favorite airlines. I flew with them several times since 1999. I would choose Turkish Airlines in a heart beat if they started offering flights straight to Saigon. Turkish hospitality is one of the best in the world. Here are some good Turkish Airlines commercials:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here is one of my favorite videos promoting tourism to Istanbul:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Skies of Almaty, Kazakhstan

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:04:51 +0000

Here are some more beautiful pictures of Almaty, Kazakhstan. These pictures are taken of the sky around the city of Almaty. Southern Kazakhstan can get around 300 plus days of sun throughout the year. It makes for some beautiful scenery shots like the one below:

(Altay Mountains – Source: NewEurasia.net)

I was offered a job in Almaty for September of this year but I turned it down. I am slowly regretting it

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Alikhan Tura and the Uyghur People

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:24:51 +0000

Recently there has been a lot of ethnic clashes between the Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the Xinjiang, China, putting this region in the news. Historically, the Uyghurs have resented China’s rule over their lands. The Han Chinese migration into Uyghur-majority areas can be perceived similarly to the American migration into Native American Indian lands in US History by the Uyghurs. The Uyghurs feel that all of the economic development and investments are just favoring the Han Chinese. They are angry and rightly so…

My connection to the Uyghurs started when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan. My Kazazkh language instructor was Uyghur who I really respected. She was the first teacher, ever, that could teach me a foreign language. Back in the US, my graduate school Kazakh instructor was Kazakh from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. While at Indiana University, I supported the Uyghur Human Rights Movement.

During 2002 on a trip to Istanbul, Turkey, I met up with Dr. Kutlukkhan Shakirov, a fascinating guy. I learned that his father was the famous Alikhan Tura, the first President of the Eastern Turkistan Republic. In short, Alikhan Tura, an Uzbek, declared independence for the Eastern Turkistan Republic, now part of Xinjiang. He became the first president and remained in power until 1946 when the KGB kidnapped him and exiled him to what is now known as Uzbekistan. At the time, the Soviets were quite terrified that their Turkic Soviet Republics would want to join the Eastern Turkistan Republic for obvious reasons.

I later met Dr. Shakirov’s son, Satarkhan, in Seattle. At the time, I promised to create a web site for Alikhan Tura back in 2004. With my trip to Vietnam I forgot. With the recent events in Xinjiang now, I felt this would be a good time to post something about Alikhan Tura to help people understand the Uyghur and Turkic people in Xinjiang. Below is a picture and short article about Alikhan Tura written by his son.

(Alikhan Tura – President of the Eastern Turkistan Republic)

About Historical Role And Significance Of Alikhan Tura In The Liberation Movement Of Eastern Turkistan

Dr. Kutlukkhan Shakirov (Uzbekistan and Turkey)

Extreme lack of information in the existing specialized literature has made a question of defining role and significance of Alikhan Tura (1885-1976) a “white spot” in historical analysis of National Liberation Movement of Eastern Turkistan in the 40s years of XX century.

Our research has discovered that even before entering the struggle against Chinese invaders he was an established social activist who possessed all attributes of political leader, analytical mind, experience, rhetorical skills, and charismatic influence.

Alikhan Tura played a determining role in giving an organizational structure to National Liberation Movement. The following activities, such as the establishment and successful activity of national “Freedom Organization”, thoroughly planned armed rebel in the city of Kuldja (also Gulja) on 12th November of 1944, and coordination of this movement, are closely related to his name.

Alikhan Tura was the one who declared independence of Eastern Turkistan and was unanimously declared the first President of Eastern Turkistan Republic. He dynamically led formation of the government, state departments, and implementation of rapid economical and social reforms.

He set up a widespread activity for creation of a modern army, provision of unanimity between army and people, formation of officer’s corps; he also participated and commanded all decisive battles. He was awarded the title of a field marshal.

Alikhan Tura held an uncompromising position with China on questions pertaining to the independence of Eastern Turkistan. His policy was to maneuver and to use disagreements between the great empires. With creation of the communist block China?USSR his activity was forced to be stopped (on 16th June of 1946 he was secretly kidnapped to USSR).

To summarize, we can say that in the studied movement Alikhan Tura played an outstanding role. His activity reflects important stage in the newest history of Eastern Turkistan. Some of his concepts like “Growing Chinese Threat To The World”, “Buffer States Around China”, and other works, are still essential today and deserve a deep research study of specialists.

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