Moving and Quaking

First, I apologize for taking almost an entire month to post. My goal is every two weeks. I haven't really had much to say. I could tell you that I'm still exercising and studying Russian, but I want you to keep reading so I waited until I felt I had enough news.

I am appreciating my non-job status even more these days. Jennifer is a friend of mine here in Tashkent and was Doug's and my social sponsor when we arrived. Social sponsors help the new comers learn their way around, introduce them to people and check in on them to make sure they are adjusting well. She did a great job. She's moving back to D.C. to go through training to go to Afghanistan. We will miss her. Pack out is a huge ordeal. This is when movers come in and pack up all your belongings into different shipments. Hopfully they do this correctly. I told Jennifer that I could help her on her pack out days if she wanted. She wanted. For Jennifer there were three shipments: long term storage (this is stuff you won't see for years), unaccompanied baggage (this is stuff of hers that is sent by plane to arrive sometime after she gets to D.C.) and Kabul (this is what she will have with her in Kabul when she arrives there). My job was to watch and make sure they packed well (they did), that they didn't mix up shipments (they nearly did) and I was to watch and note as many items as I could in each box on Post It notes. That last job was harder than I thought as I had anywhere from two to four packers to watch at a time. Sometimes they'd put an item in a box, I'd write it down then a minute later I realized that they had taken it out to fit something else in. Packing is a big game of jigsaw puzzle meets tetris, you know. I was grateful that I was available to give up a couple of days to help her. I was partly paying back and partly paying forward. I hope we have help when we have to pack out.

Speaking of packing out - that won't happen for another 14 or so months - Doug got what is called the Bid List. This is the list of upcoming available posts. There are 155 listed and Doug has to bid on 30. I'm not allowed to tell you what they are which is making me crazy! I will say that of the 30 he is looking at, I'm excited in different ways about 28 of them. I'll tell you more as I'm allowed.

Back to Jennifer. When people pack out they start to realize how much stuff they have accumulaed and they start selling it and giving it away. Since I helped Jennifer, she unloaded much of her wine and liquor on me - Oh, Boy! Well, we've been having Hump Day Happy Hour here at the Rose house for a couple of months so it will be drunk, but not by me. Not all of it anyway. About a week ago Doug and I were putting bottles of wine in our small, wrought iron wine rack. They sit slightly tipped forward which made us nervous. When we finished I jokingly said, "I sure hope we don't have an earthquake tonight!"

Three hours later - THREE HOUR LATER! - we awoke to the bed shaking. We were having an earthquake. I shot up and exclaimed, "The wine!" Yes, folks, I have disturbingly misplaced priorities at times. It turned out to be centered in Kyrgistan near the Fergana Valley and was 6.2 on the Richter scale. In Tashkent, it registered at 5.0. I've only felt two or three quakes in my life, but this seemed awfully gentle for 5.0. Then I later found out that we must have slept through the bulk of it. People were reporting hearing thunderous sounds and very large shakes. What Doug and I felt was what we used to feel in the roadside motel when you stick the quarter in the bed. Magic Fingers, was it called? Anyway, all is well; no damage. A long meeting was called the next afternoon at the Embassy to review emergency procedures. The meeting went quite late which made everyone late for our Hump Day Happy Hour.

I don't think I've told you about Hump Day Happy Hour. This was Doug's idea. When people walk home from the embassy to their house in our complex they walk right by our house as we are the first house on the corner near the guard shack and gate. We decided to offer people refreshments every Wednesday. So people are coming in for drinks like frozen mixed drinks, smoothies, wine, juice (Tashkent has delicious juices) and appetizers like homemade ice cream, mini quesadillas, meatballs in barbeque sauce, sausage and cheese and homemade cookies. This has been very welcomed by several of the single people who live here who would otherwise have to go out or stay home in an empty house. I'm glad I have the time to prepare for this every Wednesday, it's fun and I see what a service it is.

Understanding people's ways here continues to be challenging, but I'm glad to report a good attitude on my part. One of the workers here in the compound asked me if I'd spend time with his daughter and speak English with her. She's learning a little in school and he wants her to learn it well. I agreed. We have set up three different times for her to come over and she never shows up. The first time was understandable; she had a toothache and went to the dentist and that took longer than expected. The second and third times I was flatly stood up. I talked to Milana, my Russian teacher, about this to see if I could gain any insight. Her thought was that when I made the followup offer of a time for the girl to come over, he said yes because to say no would have been rude. What??!! I don't understand how it's rude to say, "Thank you. I'm sorry, but she can't make it that day, she'll be at her grandmother's." Is it not rude here to stand someone up? I don't know. It upsets me because I think ill thoughts of them before I think, "I hope everything is alright." I did mention a good attitude, didn't I? Yes. I pray for understanding. This includes understanding that somethings are not yet mine to understand. One reason it upsets me that she doesn't show up is that I agreed to spend time with her and I have not. I know that my conscience is clear because of my offers, but it remains that I agreed and it hasn't happened. That hangs over me. When she didn't show up last week, I made sure that I said a quick prayer that all was well then I went looking for her father. I found him and asked him how she was. Fine. I then asked him where she was. At her grandmother's. No apology offered, no reason as to why she wasn't at my house as planned. This is odd to me because, if you remember, when the young woman from the Chai Chat wanted to go shopping with me, she pulled out he blackberry and said, "Tomorrow?" "No." "Sunday?" "I'm hiking." "Monday?" And on and on until I agreed. If I keep up interactions, maybe I'll figure this mystery out.