Wanderlustress

October Update

I was about to settle into a bowl of fresh popcorn and a DVD, but thought I'd write a long overdue post…

There is a lot to tell – work has been immensely interesting, and seasonal changes are forcing more adjustments to everyday living. Over the past month, I attended two very useful conferences. The first was an International Organizations Network (ION) meeting of representatives from around the Ferghana Valley region. We addressed common concerns regarding the shift in the government’s attitude towards NGOs, the barriers this creates and how we cope with them. For me, this was a great opportunity to make more contacts and learn about other development projects. And it was at this ION meeting that I got invited to attend a four day conference on economic development, more specifically on Business Development Services (BDS) – a more holistic approach of fostering economic development through promoting services that support micro-enterprises. It’s a mouthful, but well worth learning. The field is in its nascent stages and I feel like I have a good opportunity to be that early bird.

It is a lovely fall season now, and with temperatures dropping in the evenings, my apartment surprisingly remains quite warm (at least after I stuff myself into a –5 degrees down sleeping bag with sweatpants, wool hat, and a cashmere sweater on!). Being on the fourth floor and exposed to bright sunshine helps a bit during the daytime. Gas and water supplies have not been a major problem so hot showers are still a luxury. My site-mates even have a set of my spare keys for when they need a good washing. A small miracle occurred and my telephone is working, but in typical Uzbek fashion, it only kind of works – I can receive calls but I can’t call out. How frustrating is that?!? On the bright side, it is saving me from raking up huge phone bills, especially calling long distance to Nukus and to other good friends out west.

The food supply is rapidly changing. Tomatoes are dwindling, eggs are more expensive, eggplants are much smaller, red and green peppers are in mountainous supply, still lots of grapes and melons, apples are wormy, persimmons are yummy, and walnuts and pumpkins are now in season. Strangely enough, I think winter spinach is also coming in – not sure how different they are to spring spinach. Thankfully, the cooler weather helps to refrigerate meat. I’m less skiddish about the possibility of finding maggots in my hamburgers.

On the cultural side, its Ramadan this month – an Islamic holiday punctuated by fasting, prayer and charity. Over a 30 day fasting period, families wake up around 4.30am to eat before the sun rises and the fast is broken after sundown in a ritual called “Iftar”. I’ve been told that all things enjoyable are to be avoided during Ramadan. This includes watching television, listening to music, kissing, sex…just about anything that gives you pleasure. The strict discipline reflects a love for Allah and proves one’s ability to adhere to other disciplines of the Islamic faith. Special evening prayers from the Koran called “Taraweeh” are recited each night. The Koran is divided into 30 parts so that by the end of Ramadan, the entire Koran has been recited. As for charity, Muslims are supposed to share their blessings by feeding the poor and giving to mosques. What I’ve personally experienced is more aggressive begging on the streets and nightly pounding of my apartment door by troops of children asking for money in the name of Ramadan – sort of Halloween like. I resent the intrusion and snuggle deeper into my sleeping bag. So much for my cultural assimilation.

Looking forward, there’s a 99% chance I’ll get a Small Projects Assistant (SPA) grant from Peace Corps in December for the youth leadership program my NGO wants to start. We have another In-Service Training (IST) in November. This time for NGO Development technical training as well as more language training. I’ll start working on getting a Kyrgyz visa for our cross-boarder project work (and a few social outings to Osh now that I’ve made some friends over the boarder). And there may be a little vacation in Southeast Asia over the holidays if we can figure out how to get a flight out of this country during that peak period.

So that’s all for now. Hope everyone is well and happy!

…back to the popcorn!

Top 10 Absurdities (so far)

#10
I don’t think road improvements are a good idea in Uzbekistan. It makes people drive faster and more reckless, especially towards pedestrians. Before, I could at least stand behind a pothole or open manhole and not have speeding cars careen towards me like they do now.

#9
Speaking of manholes, most of the ones here are missing covers, which is why I don’t walk around at nighttime. Where did they go, I wonder? And who takes them all? I fully expect to fall into one…at some point.

#8
Uzbek food is bad for your teeth. My back molars have fissures from stones in the rice, bones in most meat dishes, and chips of fruit pits found in jam. There is also no fluoride here to save your pearly whites. Thus, the golden smiles.

#7
Hamburgers are pronounced gamburgers (because H in Cyrillic is pronounced like a hard “g” – never mind). But if you order one, you will get a chicken sandwich – because that is what they are called. Beats me.

#6
Whenever I feel like eating a salad, I go for an Uzbek hot-dog (pronounced got-dog. see above). Buns are filled with shaved carrots, cabbage, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, and – if you can find it – a hotdog. If you order a salad in a cafÈ or restaurant, it will always come mixed with lots of mayonnaise. Better to get yourself a got-dog to be healthy.

#5
You can only buy pieces of frozen chicken here, even then, only the leg attached to the thigh is for sale. Where are all the other parts? I don’t know. It’s all a mystery to me – just like the manhole covers.

#4
Ice cream bars are readily available here, but not cold drinks, nor ice. Hmmmm.

#3
There is no such thing as a “quick” hello here because it takes you five minutes just to finish the common greeting, which is spoken continuously and simultaneously between you and everyone else present. The trick is never try to answer their questions. Just continue to say your greeting until everyone stops, then answer the last question you heard and then say, “And you?”. Translated, it goes something like this: “Peace be unto you. (And also with you) Are you fine? How are you? Are you healthy? Is your health fine? Are you working? (or…going? coming? – whatever they/you are doing) You’re not tired, are you? Is your family fine? Are you healthy?…(repeat if not everyone is finished yet)” And the whole thing ends with everyone saying, “Fine, thank you.” “Fine, thank you.” “Fine, thank you.” “Fine” “Fine” “Fine” repeatedly, until everyone finally stops.

#2
And in familiar settings, when you arrive or just returned from someplace, people say, “You came?” Sometimes I’m tempted to answer, “No. Actually, I didn’t!”

#1
I am 36 years old, but Uzbeks still call me a “girl” = “kiz”. That’s because I’m not married and, therefore, I must be a virgin. Only married non-virgins are called “women” = “ayol”. But any waitress, virgin or not, are called “good girls” = “yakshi kiz”.

Ok, I guess there are 11…but this one is my favorite…

The word that means “empty” is the same word for one’s “head”, which makes “brainless” = “bosh bosh” and aptly describes the powers that designated such synonyms.