Month: August 2021

• 

• 

• 

I went on an adventurous hike with long-time guides Boris and Vladimir near the mountain village of Yangiabad. We explored the Chilten River Canyon and as is typical on a Boris hike, it was a full-body workout. We started the morning by taking the upper trails, looking down upon a series of waterfalls cascading down the canyon. We walked about 3 kilometers on steep, narrow trails before moving down below. We climbed down and through the Chilten River, stopping for lunch and swimming as we went along. Scrambling over the rocks provided exercise for the whole body and I admire Vlad and Boris, both in their 70s, that they still can do these somewhat risky hikes and trails. The water temperature in late August was perfect and the views of the rocks, grasses/trees and blue sky were soothing for my soul.

We had a bonus added to the day when we were joined by Elena, who is from the town of Yangiabad. The town during the Soviet times, was a “secret city” because of the nearby uranium mine. She led a tour around the town and even brought us up to one of the entrances to the mine. Authorities had closed the mine, but the locals opened it up and there were a couple of guys there. I am not sure what can be found in the long tunnels that can be found all around the town and into the hillsides. The tunnel we toured goes for approximately 4 kilometers and is full of side tunnels and drop-offs. Quite dangerous in my opinion. I was reading about the old uranium mines on native American reservations in northern Arizona and the radioactivity problems. I need to bring a Geiger Counter up with me the next time I go up there. A short visit is not dangerous, but long-term exposure, especially the dust, can have health effects. The temperature in the shaft was cool, probably in the 60s and reminded me of the abandoned iron ore tunnels and shafts of my home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

It was such a nice day and I always feel refreshed after a day in the outdoors. A special thanks to Elena for showing us her village and the mine.

We completed Teacher Work Week (we need a better name for the prep week) and are ready to receive students next week. I am trying to get back into long distance running and am trying out different routes in the city in the early mornings. Saturday we ran the 1km loop at Eko Park. The track is in good shape and provides enough shade and green to make it a pleasant run. I find it a bit tedious going around in a 1km circle, but working on my speed and then combine it with running outside of the park makes it tolerable. After a week of running, I am starting to feel my groove again and recovering from the bike accident in June. The stretching of yoga has helped and need to do more of it.

We went for breakfast at Breadly afterwards and then shopping at Kanishka, a high-end leather shop on the boulevard of the bakery. I bought a new wallet and computer bag, as my current bag is over 20 years old and is falling apart. The prices for leather in Tashkent are inexpensive and hopefully, it will last as long as my last bag. I love walking in that part of the city close to NBU stadium. There are lots of mature trees and old apartment blocks with interesting facades. The Uzbek sunshine creates beautiful lighting. The extremely high temperatures of last week (100F+) are cooling this week and as I write this at 8:30 AM, it is a perfect 72F. I drove Oliver to his friends and back, did some grocery shopping and took Obi for a walk in the late afternoon.

• 

• 

• 

I appreciate life in Tashkent and am trying to capture moments in my regular day. There is a small bakery and somsa restaurant (middle) that I walk by on my way to school in the mornings. We buy bread there and when it is fresh and hot, delicious. I spotted this car hauling plastic and paper for recycling. Because of the low incomes in Uzbekistan, plastic and paper recycling is viable and you see people collecting in garbage areas all over the city. A Luli (Roma) family was in the car (right) and it is a vital source of income for many Luli. The Soviet era apartments are quite small and people need to be creative to maximize the space. I liked the bicycle storage in the windows of the third floor.

I end this post with a photo of the Sacred Heart Cathedral (aka The Polish Church) at night. I usually only see it in the day and didn’t know that they light it up in the evenings.

I love the architecture of the Hotel Uzbekistan, one of the best examples of the Soviet’s fascination with Brutilism. This term comes from the French language meaning “exposed concrete”. The style was popular with architects from the 1950s to the 1980s. Besides the exposed concrete look, it also specialized in geometric shapes. The Hotel Uzbekistan is in the shape of an obtuse angle, and the distinctive building completed in 1974, has interlocking cement squares which provide shade to the facade. It was a classic Tashkent stifling hot August afternoon on Sunday and near sunset, Nadia and I took Obi out for a walk. The setting sun on the facade of the hotel contrasted with the blue skies and green of Amir Temur Square combined for a splendid view.

• 

• 

• 

Summer is my favorite season and swimming and lounging in the pool with my wife and daughter was pure heaven. We are fortunate to have a nice pool in our patio and it is the best way to beat the heat. As you can see by the global Mediterranean climate map, Tashkent actually has a similar climate to southern California and my former home of Perth, Western Australia. The “holy trinity” of Mediterranean crops, grapes, olives and wheat, grow well in this climate. Tashkent differs from Los Angeles however, with cold winters with significant snowfall.

As you can see from the chart above, Tashkent summers are dry and hot. Most of the precipitation falls in the winter and spring. We basically get, the opinion of someone who grew up in Northern Michigan, three months of winter (December, January, February) with off/on months of April and November. October and AprilMay are perfect weather

I am always extremely busy in the weeks leading up to the start of school. We just completed 10 days of welcoming the new faculty to Tashkent and finding accommodation for them. I have not had much time to blog.

One of the nice discoveries this week was the shashmaqam, an ancient Central Asian music genre that originated in the Uzbek city of Bukhara. The two musicians above were playing in the dining room of the Ichan Qal’a Hotel where the new teachers were staying. The music sounds exotic and vaguely from the Middle East and a bit sad. The lyrics of the classic songs come from Sufi poems of divine love. The guys were nice to oblige my request of recording them and they chose Turgun Alimatov’s song, “Nasri Segoh”. He was a celebrated Uzbek classical musician and traveled the world on solo tours, taking Uzbek music to the world.

I finally played tennis, the first time since my bicycle accident in June. My shoulder felt almost normal and I had no problems with my forehand and backhand, although I didn’t hit it as hard as I could. I am not ready to serve yet. Summer mornings on the court with my sons are heaven for me and the chance to hit with Oliver and Coach Igor was one of the highlights of my week!

We are eating about 1 watermelon (арбуз) and/or 1 torpedo melon (диня) every two days. Uzbekistan grows the best melons in the world and you see temporary stands all over the city. I snapped the photo above this morning on the corner of the street of the hotel. The guy covers the melons overnight and sleeps right there on the street! Because of the dry desert climate, there are little bugs in Tashkent, but it can’t be too comfortable, especially with temperatures in the 80s F overnight. It reached 100 F this afternoon! I love the heat of summer and taking a short dip in our pool to refresh myself. Melons and swimming are two of my many loves of summer, my favorite season!

• 

• 

This morning we took some of the new teachers to the flea market of Tashkent, Yangiabad. I’ve blogged about it before. Today I explored the animal dry market and of course, Wuhan came to my mind. There were all sorts of parakeets and song birds, chickens, turkeys, turtles, etc. close together in unregulated conditions. I quickly made my way through, but did want to save the cute hedgehog and release on our school grounds. It seemed to me as prime conditions for a viral species jump, although I didn’t see any slaughter of the animals on site.