The other day, Aiza, an older friend, told me that her son just arrived from Almaty. Oh, how’s your son? I ask. Well, he wants to move to Almaty, she said, clicking her tongue a bit, and shaking her head. Aiza is forty or a bit older, with fresh…
It’s Sunday morning soon before church in September. Lana, a Russian friend, is just setting down with a cup of tea, a new tin of sweetened condensed milk, and fresh crispy toast on a small platter. She pulls her bibles (!) to the side of her, neatly folds her…
In working at Atameken* University, I’ve had the goal of getting to know the expat community, so that these connections might help me more easily travel and find work in the future. But as a librarian on local pay, I’m also a bit segregated from the faculty. But I’m…
Eating with people is clearly the way to get to know people here. Sitting at a nearby cafeteria one day, I found Gulnar sitting in a corner and asked to sit with her. A pretty professional woman in her middle years, with layered black hair and a fitted jacket,…
So I made the tremendous error of renaming my blog “The Dumpling Cart,” in honor of Central Asia, and my friend Richa. This of course got me searching for a good picture of manti. Which got me hungry. Below are the best recipes I found, and I’m hoping to…
It has been interesting to see WikiLeaks unfold, and while I’m concerned about the potential harm, it also has me thinking again about what it means to have data be accessible, and online. When we talk about open access to anthropology, should that in some way include letting our colleagues…
I really liked this film… and this review essay is kind of long and spoiler-y, but I still recommend that you see it! Here’s the trailer, and you can get the movie on Amazon or Netflix… “You didn’t impress her,” Asa is told after trying to charm Tulpan, a…
An extended essay processing on fieldwork from summer 2010, started while tired and reflecting, and posted a year later. 1. The Single Eye When I was a homeschooled and rural child, one of my favorite books was Richard Foster’s Freedom of Simplicity. Over and over, I read the yellow-paged…
— Never write “crazy” in front of anyone’s name in a genealogy. This causes lots of trouble. — If it smells bad, it might be the rotten meat. — If someone seems like they have an ulterior motive, they probably do… and they will ask you for something. Multiple…
Below is one of my favorite sets of interview notes from the summer, in which Professor Sarah* took notes and I wrote about the context. We were assisted by two local women, “Sunlight” and “Flower.” We are sitting in the side room of the mosque interviewing a man. There…