Kyrgyz Girl Out in the World

Hello Steemit!

I am new here!  Let’s get acquainted; my name is Aselya and I come from a small and sunny country in Central Asia named Kyrgyzstan.  My name has many different interpretations and originates from Arabic.  The first interpretation, my name means “honey”, “sweet”, “like honey”, or “Eastern dessert”.  The second interpretation is “twilight” or “evening”.  And lastly, my name can also mean “soft”, “smooth”, or “delicate”.  Aselya is a Muslim name and I am a Muslim as well.  Sometimes, my name can be hard to pronounce for people from other countries, and they will say “Aselia” instead of “Aselya”.  

When traveling, people are always curious as to where I come from.  Conversations always seem to go like this:

“Where are you from?  China?  Japan?  Korea?”

“I am from Kyrgyzstan.”

“Ohh, Kajikistan?”

“No, from Kyrgyzstan.”

“Kazakhstan?”

“Kyr-gyz-stan.”

“I’ve never heard of that country.  Where is it?”

So it goes every time….

There is a lot I would like to tell you about my country.  First, we are primarily a Muslim country.  Before Islam, people of Kyrgyzstan worshiped Koko Tenir and practiced Tengrianism (or Tengriism).  You may not have heard of this religion before, but you probably know of one famous Tengrist – Genghis Khan.  There are some people in the rural areas of Kyrgyzstan who still pay heed to Tengrianism, its signs, beliefs, prejudices, and superstitions.  Tengrianism played a huge role in the daily lives of our ancestors, but it did not compete well against religions that followed it.  

In Tengrianism, there are no powerful concepts, such as heaven and hell, which can be found in other religions like Islam and Christianity.  There is only guidance – good versus evil, clean versus dirty, and what is just versus what is unjust.  Therefore, despite the fact that Tengrianism is one of the oldest known religions in the world, it did not spread much beyond Central Asia.  In later times, it was mostly replaced by Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity.

For those who don’t know where Kyrgyzstan is, here is a little bit about our neighbors.  To the north is Kazakhstan – the largest landlocked country in the world.  To the east and southeast, you can find China, Tajikistan in the southwest, and Uzbekistan in the west.  

From 1936 to 1991, Kyrgyzstan was a member of the Soviet Union and proclaimed its independence on August 31st, 1991.  While most of the population is Muslim, we are still a secular state.  Our population of about 6 million people has many different ethnicities, with Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Russian being the most populous.  

Kyrgyzstan is an amazing mountainous country with a variety of attractions, both natural and man-made.  We are famous for the mountains of Central Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai, to which many tourists, outdoors enthusiasts visit every year.  There are also picturesque lakes, turbulent rivers, frozen glaciers, endless green forests, and an abundance of wildlife.  Among the wildlife here is my favorite animal, the snow leopard and it is depicted on the medal of “Erdik”, which is awarded to those who have shown great bravery in our country.

Nestled between the mountains is one of our greatest attractions, lake Issyk-Kul, a warm lake that does not freeze even in winter.  The mountain air, unspoiled nature, and the presence of a multitude of hot springs give a curative effect, and the beautiful scenic views can cure any depression.  Issyk-Kul is not just a summer destination, but is just as popular in winter, where towns like Karakol on the eastern end of the lake serve as ski bases for those heading up to the mountains.  For those who love winter sports, it’s a paradise.

My second mother country is Russia and I love it as much as I love Kyrgyzstan.  My family moved to Yekaterinburg, where I went to school and started university.  Now that I live again in Kyrgyzstan, I still miss Russia and have many fond memories of it.  There, I met many friends and found many mentors.  

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, but I think many people have the wrong idea about it.  So let’s go over some stereotypes:

Vodka - In Russia, vodka is like water.  Everyone drinks it, from newborn babies to the elderly.  Anywhere, any reason, any time.

Bears - Millions of them.  In Russia, bears walk the streets, wearing caps with earflaps, drinking vodka (like I said, everyone drinks vodka), and smoking.

Winter - Winter is not coming, because it is already here.  It is always snowing in Russia, and wolves can always be heard howling in the distance.  

Fur caps and boots - Everyone owns these.  If winter ever stopped, people there would still be wearing their fur caps and boots because they don’t own anything else to wear on their head and feet.

I’m joking, of course.  Russia is a beautiful country and even has more than one season.

Now for a little more about me.  I am 21 years old and have just graduated from the Kyrgyz State Law Academy, specializing in International Law.  Sometimes, I think that there are two people living inside of me.  My serious side wants to become a lawyer, help my family, and start my own family someday.  The other side of me wants to travel the world, never staying in one place for more than a month, taking beautiful pictures and meeting new people.

The most important person in my life is definitely my mother.  It may sound cliché, but she is not only my mother, but also my closest friend and confidant.  She is wise and beautiful, and serves as my role model for everything I do.  She is a diplomat, professional and precise in her work, but gentle, loving, and caring at home.  Although we are currently separated by thousands of kilometers, she is always in my thoughts and I talk to her and the rest of my family as much as possible.  If anything were to ever happen to me, I can always count on the support of my mother.  Never failing, she has always aided me through adversity and rejoiced with me in my achievements.  

My principles in life are simple:

• Family first
• Be honest with myself and others
• Set a goal and achieve it
• Be kind and merciful
• Never give up

For me, happiness in life can be represented by cake – a huge cake.  Each slice of cake is an element of life that brings happiness.  Family, friends, and work are all different, delicious slices of cake.  And of course, one cannot do without a helping of hobbies.  For me, hobbies are a reflection of one’s soul.  My hobbies include singing, cooking, photography, photo editing, reading books, watching TV shows, listening to K-pop, and traveling.

Singing is perhaps more than a hobby for me.  For as long as I can remember, I have always been singing, even as a little girl, singing for guests in our home, pretending that the TV remote was a microphone, and our guests were a vast audience before me.  Later, I picked up a real microphone, and spent my school years entering competitions and festivals.  Upon entering university, I began working in a restaurant as a singer.  It was wonderful, and I was happy every day to be singing even when I was tired.  Now I rarely sing in the presence of others, more often in my room alone or just in the shower.  But when I really feel like it, I still will burst into song, no matter who is around.

Cooking, on the other hand, didn’t start as a hobby.  In Kyrgyzstan, girls are educated from childhood to prepare them to take care of their future families.  Cooking is something I learned very early on, but it became something I loved to do and not just a preparation for my future responsibility to my family.  Now, I almost constantly think about how best to prepare and arrange meals and when I encounter new food, I am interested in learning how to make it, too.  Fried bananas, I had never heard of this before a week ago, and I absolutely must try making it myself.

Photography I dearly love.  I think of every photograph as a different story and I love to take photos and turn them into something even more interesting and original.  Being able to capture that special moment, or finding that hidden smile brings such an amazing sense of satisfaction to me.  Then 

TV shows maybe a guilty pleasure sometimes, but how can I not indulge?  Magnificent Century, Game of Thrones, Desperate Housewives, Friends, Devious Maids, and many more.

And lastly, K-pop.  Before, I used to hate Korean music and TV shows, and I could not understand those that loved it.  But then I heard AoA, and away we go.  Now my playlist is filled with K-pop.  More and more people are starting to listen to K-pop now, and it seems like it has become a tsunami, threatening to cover the world.

As you can see from my pictures, I love experimenting with my hair.  For a long time, I dyed my hair black, then red, and finally blonde.  Yes, I am the mythical Asian girl with blonde hair.

Right now, I am traveling with my two friends through Southeast Asia.  We started our travels in India, staying there for over two weeks in New Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.  We are now sitting by the beach in Sri Lanka, and will continue on to Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Russia before going back to Bishkek.  We had wanted to go to Thailand, but had troubles getting visas.  The embassy in New Delhi kept asking for more documentation and we had already booked our flights to Sri Lanka, so we have changed our plans.  

I heard about Steemit through a friend, who said it might be something interesting to do as we travel to record our journey and thoughts about the places we visit.  In my next post, I would like to talk more about Kyrgyzstan and the things to see and do in my country, as well as Russia and the kindness of the Russian soul.  I would also like to be able to tell all of you about our travels in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, namely, the food, places of interest, and my personal experience with these new countries.

I hope that my little introduction was interesting to you and that you will join me for my next post.  

Do svidania!