Busy being unemployed

My year in Virginia was the first year of my adult life I didn't work a paying job. I loved it and kept busier than I thought I would. I accomplished alot and stayed pretty disciplined. I began being concerned that when I got to Tashkent I would relax too much and start sitting around. That's not happening and there are a few reasons for that.

The first reason is our social sponsor, Jennifer. Jennifer has invited us to more lunches and dinners than I can count. She had game night at her house which we went to and she took us to a bazaar to shop. Whenever we ride with her she acts as a tour guide pointing out landmarks to help us navagate the city and find our way home, good restaurants, suspicious restaurants and good hotels. Everyone really looks out for each other to make sure you aren't too lonely or bored.

Another reason is my friend, Alexandra who I met in Virginia. She took the liberty of signing me up for EVERYTHING. Thanks to Alexandra I have attended the Tashkent Tennis Open, had lunch at the Charge d'affair's home, and joined the Tashkent Women's International Group.

I go the Embassy with Doug in the mornings and exercise for an hour. After that I come home and clean up then go right back to the Embassy or one hour of private Russian lessons with Milana, a very patient woman. I am supposed to learn all the new words I was exposed to that day for the next day's lesson so some of my time throughout the day is study time. I am also able to get in plenty of writing time. Right now I'm working on a ghost story for Douglas for Halloween.

Doug and I plan on taking advantage of all the excursions the Community Liason Office at the Embassy offers. This past weekend we went to Nukus and Moynok - a port city during the days of the former Aral Sea. I'll share a brief story about the fate of the Aral Sea but if you're really interested it's worth looking up. Uzbekistan has always been an agricultural country with cotton being the main crop. The problem is that Uzbekistan is desert and water is difficult to get for crops. They saw two major rivers flowing into the Aral Sea and decided to divert one of them to use as water for crops. Eventually the Sea bean to dry up. It is not entirely gone, but it has shrunk to only 10% of its original size. There remains there a "ship graveyard" and a vast expanse of dry, cracked low vegetation bearing land. It's quite sobering and sad. Those who think the actions of mankind cannot affect the earth that much need to read about the Aral Sea. I wrote up a short article about our trip for the Embassy newsletter, "Uz News".

I am, perhaps, writing this entry prematurely as there are many things I plan on doing but have not yet done. This includes volunteering to do storytelling at the local international school. I look forward to leading a "Chai Chat". A "Chai Chat" is a gathering at the Embassy for local students to hear English, learn something about the United States and practice their English speaking skills. I plan on telling some stories and getting them involved in some storytelling. I really want to get out, meet local residents and learn some Uzbek folklore. My Russian skills must be much better before I can do that. One of the men who works with Doug - a foreign national - heard that I want to learn Uzbek folktales so he told me about a Russian language collection of them that is out of print but he said I may be able to find it at a used bookstore. Three days later he handed me a copy as a gift. These are good, caring people.

I am trying to take my position here as seriously as Doug takes his Embassy job. I am, after all, living off taxpayer money and those of you who know THAT side of me know how important it is to me that taxes are used smartly. Those of you who don't know that side of me - you don't want to. I feel a personal accountability to you for my time here and I will keep you posted as to my progress and experiences.

I came here to learn Uzbek folktales but, as I look at my situation I realize that, since this is our first post I think my real goal is experience.

I got some experience on the trip watching some Kazakh school children picking cotton and wanting their pictures taken with us. (In the picture to the left is my friend Alexandra and her husband, Terry, with a few of the children we met.) I experienced eating lunch in a yurt (a felt covered mobile home shaped like an igloo but kind of tee-pee like). I experienced in Uzbek art. Islam does not allow depictions of living things so their art is either thinly disguised people and animals or landscapes and still life. As we drove the two and a half hours to Moynoq we'd occasionally see a man squatting at the side of the road. This aroused my curiosity as there were no structures in sight. (See the above picture of the dry Aral Sea bed - the land we drove through didn't look that much different.) Where did he come from? Where was he going? How would he get there? There is a whole different world of experiences here for me.

After the roadtrip and staying in my first Uzbek hotel and seeing the yurt I was heartened that upon returning to our house here in the compound I felt like I was coming home.