Finding the real Kazakhstan
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, whose Kazakh alter ego Borat Sagdiyev has been dissing this Central Asian republic since 2000 in the TV series Da Ali G Show (which originated in Britain), catapulted into the global zeitgeist with his new mockumentary Borat:Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The film's real targets may be American bigotry and xenophobia. But what rankles real Kazakhs is the depiction of Borat's homeland — including, among other insults, the fact that he shares his village home with a cow and is so unfamiliar with indoor plumbing that he washes his face in a toilet bowl.
This former Soviet state pulled the plug on Cohen's website, and threatened legal action after he showed up at last year's MTV Europe Music Awards in an Air Kazakh prop plane controlled by a one-eyed pilot clutching a vodka bottle. Officials have since backpedaled, inviting Cohen to visit and discover that "women not only travel inside buses but also drive their own cars, that we make wine from grapes, (and) that Jews can freely attend synagogues." Sayat Tour, a local travel agency accustomed to sending Kazakhs out of the country for R&R rather than welcoming foreign tourists in, just launched a nine-day "Jagzhemash!!! See the Real Kazakhstan" itinerary that promises to "greatly inspire, hearten and energize you" and "hopefully bring our peoples closer together."
A land of startling contrasts
Thanks to its massive reserves of oil and gas, Kazakhstan boasts one of the region's fastest-growing economies. In the cultural and financial center of Almaty, a city of 1.2 million sprawled at the base of the snow-capped Tian Shen mountains near the southeastern border with Kyrgyzstan, crumbling Soviet apartment buildings stand next to garish casinos. City markets sell fermented camel milk and horse sausage, while European designer boutiques hawk $1,400 sterling liquor flasks and $4,000 leather jackets. Nearly devoid of private cars a few years ago, its tree-lined streets are now clogged with vehicles — which, in turn, have created a perennial shroud of smog.
Most Almaty residents have never heard of Cohen's Borat and his assaults on Kazakh pride. Though English is taught in public schools, Russian language and cultural influences still hold sway, and home-based Internet access remains a rarity. But among those who have, the reaction to their newfound notoriety is nearly universal: dismay at Cohen's depictions of Kazakh life, and worry that gullible foreigners will accept his outrageous assertions at face value.
"We don't live in yurts, and we don't drive camels. This is modern country, but many people in America think Kazakhstan is in the Middle Ages," sputters Almaty college student Dias Murzakhanov.
An hour from Almaty at the 10,000-foot Chimbulak ski resort — which lost a bid for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games but will host the 2011 Asian Winter Games — Kazakh public relations executive and former BBC producer Daulet Zhumadil notes that new slope-side homes are fetching upwards of $1 million and invites a visitor to "breathe the freshest air in the world" (fresher than Almaty's, at any rate).
Pointing to a trio of babushkas (Russian for grandmothers) waiting for their young snowboarders to return from the slopes, Zhumadil breaks into a sly grin: "Sacha Cohen was not correct," he says. "We don't use these women to power our ski lifts."
There are several theories about Borat, Zhumadil says. The film could be "a plot of Hillary Clinton to discredit George Bush by making Americans look bad." Or maybe someone in Kazakhstan's opposition party "tries to make the black PR to show Kazakhstan in negative colors." Or, he says, Borat's homeland "could be just accidental. (Cohen) sucked it from the finger and said, 'Let it be Kazakhstan.' "
In fact, says Almaty-based Summer Coish, co-editor of a new magazine about Central Asia called Steppe, Borat's creators were on to something: Kazakhstan is a "blank spot on the map" to even the most educated and peripatetic travelers.
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This former Soviet state pulled the plug on Cohen's website, and threatened legal action after he showed up at last year's MTV Europe Music Awards in an Air Kazakh prop plane controlled by a one-eyed pilot clutching a vodka bottle. Officials have since backpedaled, inviting Cohen to visit and discover that "women not only travel inside buses but also drive their own cars, that we make wine from grapes, (and) that Jews can freely attend synagogues." Sayat Tour, a local travel agency accustomed to sending Kazakhs out of the country for R&R rather than welcoming foreign tourists in, just launched a nine-day "Jagzhemash!!! See the Real Kazakhstan" itinerary that promises to "greatly inspire, hearten and energize you" and "hopefully bring our peoples closer together."
A land of startling contrasts
Thanks to its massive reserves of oil and gas, Kazakhstan boasts one of the region's fastest-growing economies. In the cultural and financial center of Almaty, a city of 1.2 million sprawled at the base of the snow-capped Tian Shen mountains near the southeastern border with Kyrgyzstan, crumbling Soviet apartment buildings stand next to garish casinos. City markets sell fermented camel milk and horse sausage, while European designer boutiques hawk $1,400 sterling liquor flasks and $4,000 leather jackets. Nearly devoid of private cars a few years ago, its tree-lined streets are now clogged with vehicles — which, in turn, have created a perennial shroud of smog.
Most Almaty residents have never heard of Cohen's Borat and his assaults on Kazakh pride. Though English is taught in public schools, Russian language and cultural influences still hold sway, and home-based Internet access remains a rarity. But among those who have, the reaction to their newfound notoriety is nearly universal: dismay at Cohen's depictions of Kazakh life, and worry that gullible foreigners will accept his outrageous assertions at face value.
"We don't live in yurts, and we don't drive camels. This is modern country, but many people in America think Kazakhstan is in the Middle Ages," sputters Almaty college student Dias Murzakhanov.
An hour from Almaty at the 10,000-foot Chimbulak ski resort — which lost a bid for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games but will host the 2011 Asian Winter Games — Kazakh public relations executive and former BBC producer Daulet Zhumadil notes that new slope-side homes are fetching upwards of $1 million and invites a visitor to "breathe the freshest air in the world" (fresher than Almaty's, at any rate).
Pointing to a trio of babushkas (Russian for grandmothers) waiting for their young snowboarders to return from the slopes, Zhumadil breaks into a sly grin: "Sacha Cohen was not correct," he says. "We don't use these women to power our ski lifts."
There are several theories about Borat, Zhumadil says. The film could be "a plot of Hillary Clinton to discredit George Bush by making Americans look bad." Or maybe someone in Kazakhstan's opposition party "tries to make the black PR to show Kazakhstan in negative colors." Or, he says, Borat's homeland "could be just accidental. (Cohen) sucked it from the finger and said, 'Let it be Kazakhstan.' "
In fact, says Almaty-based Summer Coish, co-editor of a new magazine about Central Asia called Steppe, Borat's creators were on to something: Kazakhstan is a "blank spot on the map" to even the most educated and peripatetic travelers.
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Www.Toys'R'Us.Com.
Flypen Games
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Windowbreaker Film Festival
Women Seducing Men Erotica -.Edu
Ted Haggard
Free Romeo Adn Juliet Mp
Pets R Us-boston Terrier Puppies For Sale
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Http://Flypen.Blogspot.Com
Sister Seduction Password
Elizabeth Dole
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Seducing Sister+movie+film
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Adriana Lima Gateway Computer Catalog Cover
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Report Spam Shakiranudeworld
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With Ghandi Poster/Wallpaper
Tunisia "Peace Corps"
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Tejano Awards Selena Youtube
Best Educational Toy
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Buy Flypen
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Photo Of Trish Sratus In A Cowboy Hat
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Flypen Blogspot
Chris Ullrich And "Wachovia"
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Beckhams
Email Address-ted Haggard
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