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nYounhave to love a holiday that honors a national leader who wrote poetrynrather than fought battles!
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MagtymgulynPyragy lived in the 1700s. Much of his life and even his poetry isnlost to us because there was violence and theft within his countryn(Turkmenistan) and war and take-over from without, such as thenRussian takeover in the 1900s. We think that he had a very toughnlife: he was forced to marry a woman he didn’t love, rather than thenone he did; he was taken prisoner in Iran; his brothers disappeared;nand worst of all, his children died early.
MagtymgulynPyragy lived in the 1700s. Much of his life and even his poetry isnlost to us because there was violence and theft within his countryn(Turkmenistan) and war and take-over from without, such as thenRussian takeover in the 1900s. We think that he had a very toughnlife: he was forced to marry a woman he didn’t love, rather than thenone he did; he was taken prisoner in Iran; his brothers disappeared;nand worst of all, his children died early.n
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nAndnso his poetry reflects struggle. It is very personal, but it’s alsonuniversal, dealing with the suffering of the common people caused bynselfish actions of those in power.
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nExplorenTurkmenistan
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Mostnof us don’t know much about all the “-stan” nations, such asnKazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but these Asian nations were all part ofnthe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for almost a century, andnthey all have populations of people who worship Islam and speaknvarious Turkic languages. n
Mostnof us don’t know much about all the “-stan” nations, such asnKazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but these Asian nations were all part ofnthe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for almost a century, andnthey all have populations of people who worship Islam and speaknvarious Turkic languages. nn
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Turkmenistanncannot be an incredibly easy place to live. It is covered mostly bynblack-sand deserts, and its major products, natural gas and cotton,naren’t enough to solve the unemployment crisis. (In 2004, thenunemployment rate was about 60%!!) Yet there are beauties there, andnglorious architecture. This tourism video says that Turkmenistan isn“the land of white buildings,” and this other video showsnbeaches, mountains, rivers, and poppy fields as well as deserts.
Turkmenistanncannot be an incredibly easy place to live. It is covered mostly bynblack-sand deserts, and its major products, natural gas and cotton,naren’t enough to solve the unemployment crisis. (In 2004, thenunemployment rate was about 60%!!) Yet there are beauties there, andnglorious architecture. This tourism video says that Turkmenistan isn“the land of white buildings,” and this other video showsnbeaches, mountains, rivers, and poppy fields as well as deserts. n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nBirthday of the Ringling Brothers Circus
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nMalcolm X Day
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