The Steppe and The Law

Travels in the Kyrgyz Republic

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Bride kidnapping revisited

June 14, 2016by Meghan McCormack 1 Comment

Three years ago my roommate was bride kidnapped. Now it’s my youngest sister-in-law. E turned 18 a few weeks ago, right before her high school graduation party. She’s now in the […]

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4 a.m.

December 1, 2015by Meghan McCormack 1 Comment

In the black, frozen pre-dawn of 4 in the morning all Semetei wants to do is stare out the window and suck his hand. This is baby logic. So I’ve been […]

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Crabs in a bucket

May 22, 2015by Meghan McCormack 2 Comments

G was born in 1967. At 19, she married. Bride-kidnapped by a man she’d grown up with. Not an actual brother, but a boy-man who had had the same babysitter as […]

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Folk medicine, sex ed. and lies

February 28, 2015by Meghan McCormack 2 Comments

A desperately needed to see a doctor because of pain in her “woman’s area.” 18 years old, she didn’t know where to go. So her older sister, older brother and male cousin […]

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ISIL in Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz in ISIL: Is the threat real?

February 1, 2015by Meghan McCormack Leave a comment

So far, more than 200 Kyrgyzstani citizens have joined the fight in Syria and Iraq, including some 30 women. Roughly 150 of these fighters are ethnic Uzbeks, according to the Kyrgyz government. To […]

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Stakes in the ground

January 21, 2015by Meghan McCormack Leave a comment

My main reason for being in Kyrgyzstan is to research conflict along the un-delimited Kyrgyz-Tajik frontier. The area has never had a fully agreed-upon international border and it saw increasing tension over 2014, […]

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Highway robbery

December 18, 2014by Meghan McCormack Leave a comment

The Ak Keme Hotel, nestled in Bishkek’s mountainous outskirts, is an inoffensive, boilerplate, beige kind of a place. It’s the kind of place where middle managers confer over their ‘success […]

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When you imagine your wedding day…

November 17, 2014by Meghan McCormack Leave a comment

This is about weddings. I’m not talking about weddings as they once were or as Kyrgyz custom dictates. I’m talking about weddings as practiced here and now by the Kyrgyz middle […]

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When you believe in things you don’t understand

November 7, 2014by Meghan McCormack Leave a comment

I’ve been running into a lot of superstitions lately, as in people keep telling me: “Don’t do that! It’s bad luck.” So I’m keeping track of the superstitions here, if only […]

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Kyrgyz schools take $46 million in bribes annually

November 6, 2014by Meghan McCormack Leave a comment

On a cold Monday in December, my sister-in-law came home three hours early from school. “They stopped classes because we have no heat,” she explained. She and her parents were not happy. The […]

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Recent Posts

  • Bride kidnapping revisited June 14, 2016
  • 4 a.m. December 1, 2015
  • Crabs in a bucket May 22, 2015
  • Folk medicine, sex ed. and lies February 28, 2015
  • ISIL in Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz in ISIL: Is the threat real? February 1, 2015

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Goat Roast

A man prepares a goat head for eating. Different parts of the head - its eyes, ears, cheeks, tongue - will be parceled out among guests according to their age and station, in line with longstanding custom.
A man prepares a goat head for eating. Different parts of the head – its eyes, ears, cheeks, tongue – will be parceled out among guests according to their age and station, in line with longstanding custom.
Women boil goat meet in the Kyrgyz mountains. In the background a Russian samovar, a special type of multi-serving tea kettle, has boiled.
Women boil goat meet in the Kyrgyz mountains. In the background a Russian samovar, a special type of multi-serving tea kettle, has boiled.
Preparation of besh-barmak, a Kyrgyz national dish of boiled noodles and goat meat in an herbed goat fat sauce. Its name translates to "five fingers," because it takes all five fingers to grasp the fat-covered noodles and meat.
Preparation of besh-barmak, a Kyrgyz national dish of boiled noodles and goat meat in an herbed goat fat sauce. Its name translates to “five fingers,” because it takes all five fingers to grasp the fat-covered noodles and meat.
Members of a Kyrgyz village's government take a joint retreat in the mountains, eating the Kyrgyz national dish "besh-barmak."
Members of a Kyrgyz village’s government take a joint retreat in the mountains, eating the Kyrgyz national dish “besh-barmak.”

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