This is the last week of my winter vacation, so that I'm trying to do the things for my soul. I can never afford it at busy time. So, see the collage I've just made being driven by nostalgia for the wondeful city of Istanbul.

This weekend I have attended January Meeting (JAM) of AIESEC Moscow in Povorovka. We had planning sessions, president elections, and trainings. Well, it all seemed a boring to me for many reasons, but at least I enjoyed the long-awaited Russian Winter.

I've just watched a talk show about "design as the most important art". I totally disagree with those who consider design something fine, but empty inside.

To my mind, it is just beauty around us. When primitive men painted some cows in caves or when women put flowers in their hair, design was born. So, art is a part of it, as it is an attempt to create beauty.



We all are designers! Clothes, behaviour, speech, behaviour, blogs, etc. It's everything! Surprisingly, in Russia it is believed that intellectuals don't care about design.

Why?

Sasha

BBC: Ashgabat New City

Controversial, but at least there is something to be proud of...

Today I suddenly found a friend who I hadn't seen for 7 years! We studied together at Children's Art School named after Basim Nurali in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. I can hardly remember the time when I had so much fun like there: painting and laughing all the time.

I did it!

For about 3 months my brain was cracking from time to time in order to get words for my essay to apply for 37th ISC-Symposium at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland in May 2007.

May be I will be invited there or even win the prize, but it is not so important. I'm proud that I've been able to combat my laziness and brainstorm on the unfamiliar, but challenging topic for me: Natural Resources. So, my essay is:



Actually, I want to go to St. Gallen to see my Uzbek friend, who is a student there.

It's becoming a tendency: the best people of the world are killed for efforts to reveal the truth, one by one...

• Paul Khlebnikov, Editor-in-chief, Forbes Russia tried to analyze the philosophy of Chechen barbarism.
  
• Nikolay Girenko, Scientist and Anti-Fascist tried to analyze and prevent the development of neo-fascism in Russia.
  
• Andrey Kozlov, Deputy Chairman, Central Bank of Russia try to stop money laundering by Russian banks.


• Anna Politkovskaya, Journalist and Human Rights Activists tried to reveal the truth about the war with Chechnya and help its victims.


• Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian Editor tried to understand whether the questioned genocide of Armenians took place.

"I will not leave this country. If I go I would feel I was leaving alone the people struggling for democracy."

Hrant Dink in July 2006

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!



On Friday I passed the last exam in this semester. It has been easy, but only now I can feel that 2006 is over. It must have been one of the brightest years in my life for a number of events:

- Arrival of 8 foreign trainees to my AIESEC project. I have realized what responsibility means, learned how to solve problems and work with different mentalities.

- Decision to leave AIESEC. I have analyzed my values and capabilities to create a long-term vision of life. It's difficult to suppress your ambitions and oppose everybody's expectations.

- Traineeship in Istanbul. I have tried to be a role model intern. As a result, I obtained friends for life, as well as problems with my national and religious identity.

- Internship in Finansbank. It's one of the failures that teaches me to be more skeptical about people's promises. A two-year contract could have been a big mistake.

- Death of Turkmenbashy. I have been shocked. The time when I can go back to Turkmenistan is not so far, as there is a chance for positive changes in the country.

Best regards,

Sasha

I like painting characters from Eastern mythology, for example, divs. According to Wikipedia, a div (earlier Persian dēv, Middle Persian dēw, Avestan daēva) is an evil spirit that loves to cause harm and destruction. However, some divs may be benign, actually helping the protagonist.



A div is usually pictured as a being with combined human and animal characteristics; they have two arms and legs like a human, but they may be dark blue, bright red, chalk-white or spotted; they are often hairy, and have a tufted tail like a lion; their faces are bestial, with sharp fangs, horns, and animal-like snouts, or in some cases the beak of a bird; for feet they might have clawed talons or hooves (though ordinary feet are more common); and though they are fond of gold ornaments, they wear very little in the way of clothing, and often display enormous genitalia.

Tolkuchka!

This is one of the biggest markets in Central Asia located near Ashgabat. To get there, you have to get up at 4.00 a.m. and take a rusty bus packed with old woman. Otherwise, your brain will get baked at 50 C. Here you can meet strange people and buy everything you need to be a real Turkmen: carpets, jewelry, china, emroidery, fur, etc.

This is my vision of Tolkuchka:

Salam maleykum!

Today I've met Natasha Bogdanova, the girl who shared the same school desk with me for about 3 years. We haven't seen each other for 5 years. Walking around Kitay-Gorod District we chatted about life paths of our classmates.

Definetely, obstacles make people stronger and more goal-oriented. But it depends on how you look at them. Turkmenistan experience has been very useful for us!

Having had a cup of coffee in Coffee House, we went to the fantastic Museum of Ocean Fish in the basement floor of a house at Chistye Prudy.