Turkmen Video #2
Written by Peter on Saturday, 21 July 2007
Turkmenistan, Videoblog5 Comments
Turkmenistan, Videoblog5 Comments
This is a jaunty little number that gives visual evidence that puts lie to a claim made in Paul Theroux’s article in the New Yorker, where he dubbed Ashgabat the “city without benches”. Indeed, the Turkmen capital has, if anything, a perverse surfeit of public seating.
Malys & Toylyska – Igde
UPDATE: It transpires, as revealed in the comments section of the youtube page that this was posted on, that the song is a cover version. The slick Uzbek original is here. And for real masochists, here is a stomach-turning cover version by a pair of midgets.
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I guess it’s like some people in Turkmenistan thinking all Americans drive black Beamers because they’ve seen a 50 Cent video.
This video shows the shiniest, newest and model parts of Ashgabat. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan, my friends and I can attest to the lack of seating in the capital, and even more so in the rest of the country. Most of the places where there actually are benches are situated so they are constantly under the gaze of a soldier. The message is “move on.” There is no sign of a homeless population either.
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I hate to be a contrarian. but as of last week (when I was in Turkmenistan) there was plenty of public seating in Ashgabat. There is also a noticeably lower military presence than when I was last there. Anyhow, given that Turkmens (like all Central Asians) are adept squatters, I am not sure there is an awful lot of significance in this. What is more telling in the city’s public gardens, which are also abundant, is that nobody walks or sits on the grass, making the places largely pointless in my opinion.
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Vadim few times tried to tell the story about bird you found on the street in Moscow, but every time he couldnt help laughing non stop and we still dont know what happened with that bird.
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