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Kyrgyzstan
Travel

Aug 29, 2019
4 min

Intertwined Memories of a Seed-Seller and Mosque

Preserved in wood, stone, and brick are thousands of years’ worth of ideas in the shape of domes, steeples, and towers. In the whispers b...

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Stitching Together an Identity Fragmented by Time, Politics, and History

Toby A. Cox

Aug 28, 2019
3 min

Stitching Together an Identity Fragmented by Time, Politics, and History

For centuries, artists have been trying to capture the turbulence of the human soul through art, using different mediums to embody differ...

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Bishkek Artist Getting to the Root of Kyrgyz Culture

Toby A. Cox

Aug 27, 2019
2 min

Bishkek Artist Getting to the Root of Kyrgyz Culture

Sky and earth, water and fire, mountains and lakes – All are common themes in early philosophies in (seemingly) unconnected human societi...

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A Woman’s Spiritual Journey to Tengriism

Toby A. Cox

Aug 26, 2019
6 min

A Woman’s Spiritual Journey to Tengriism

Life is a journey made up of a series of events brought about by timing, our choices, and our environment. This journey often leads us dow...

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Women, Kyrgyzstan, and Challenges in Identity Expression

Toby A. Cox

Jul 30, 2019
5 min

Women, Kyrgyzstan, and Challenges in Identity Expression

When I entered the café on that breezy afternoon, I looked around, searching for the three young women meeting me there. On the patio out...

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Uniting a Community to Protect, Educate, and Define a Region’s Narrative

Toby A. Cox

Jul 28, 2019
4 min

Uniting a Community to Protect, Educate, and Define a Region’s Narrative

Through education, Umma fights back against misinformation about Islam and the stereotypes that haunt Muslims across the globe.

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Breaking Down the Barriers of Kyrgyzstan’s Traditional Storytellers

Toby A. Cox

Jul 11, 2019
2 min

Breaking Down the Barriers of Kyrgyzstan’s Traditional Storytellers

Kyrgyzstan's traditional storytellers are usually boys but once in a while, a girl will step up and accept the challenge.

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A Year of Lessons Learned and Seeing It All Come Together

Toby A. Cox

Jul 29, 2018
1 min

A Year of Lessons Learned and Seeing It All Come Together

Public speaking has never been my most favorite thing in the world ... but it's growing on me. Last Thursday I presented my project on th...

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Turkmenistan: Mirages of the past, visions of the future

Toby A. Cox

Jun 27, 2018
4 min

Turkmenistan: Mirages of the past, visions of the future

Turkmenistan is the eleventh least visited country in the world (I Googled it). Maybe this is why it always seemed like the most mysterio...

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Toby A. Cox

May 6, 2018
2 min

An Ode to Continuity

Our existence is often viewed in cyclical terms – beginnings and ends strung together to create individual lifetimes that add up to gener...

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Toby A. Cox

Feb 26, 2018
2 min

Zigs, zags, and a photo with Gandhi

If I asked you to think of a person from India, chances are you would have said Mahatma Gandhi - a man known throughout the world as a ch...

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Toby A. Cox

Jan 9, 2018
6 min

The Secrets Our Breath Holds

Through your nose, take a deep breath in and hold it for 10 seconds. 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... almost there! ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ...

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Toby A. Cox

Dec 7, 2017
1 min

Ice Skating Without Railings

Right outside of Almaty, Kazakhstan is Medeu, an outdoor ice skating rink that sits at 1,691 meters above sea level, making it the highes...

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Two small leaps and a hop towards a new perspective

Toby A. Cox

Sep 18, 2017
2 min

Two small leaps and a hop towards a new perspective

"Don't be afraid, I've done this a million times" said the parasailing instructor before we took off. I must have looked a little uneasy;...

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