Month: December 2023

Ocean Becomes a Certified Scuba Diver

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Dad and Ocean – Indian Ocean

The last time I went scuba diving was in 2001 in the Western Australian Aquarium shark tank in Perth. My daughter Ocean completed her PADI open-water certification diving course and it was awesome for me to go on her first dive together as a certified diver! I did a refresher dive practicing all of the skills of diving and the safety precautions. Ocean is a natural in the water, it might have to do something with her name.

Ocean and her friend Oygul

I earned my certification in 1991 with Dawn’s High Desert Divers in northern Nevada. I remember my first dive was in a geothermal hot pond in the Great Salt Desert. I continued diving on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, earning an advanced diving certification. Since then I’ve done quite a bit of snorkeling and swimming, but not much diving. Part of it was in Colombia I suffered from seasickness and hated all of the preparation to dive. My motion sickness has diminished as I am getting older, one of the only nice things about being in my 50s. I am not crazy about diving, but I think everyone should do it in their lives. The earth is 2/3 ocean and for those people who do not dive, they are missing out on a wonderful part of the planet.

I did six dives during the week, some with the students, some service dives, and others, just with the other teachers. The coral reefs of the Indian Ocean Tanzanian coast are making a comeback. Efforts of conservation and restoration of the reefs are taking place all up and down the coast. Country officials are realizing the economic value of ocean biodiversity. We helped the restoration of the reefs by planting cement shells that serve as a medium for coral growth. Local fishermen use dynamite to fish which destroys the coral. This is not prohibited, although it still occasionally occurs. Our school is establishing a relationship with Fish Eagle Point and others in the region to support their conservation and rehabilitation of the Tanzanian coral reefs.

I am proud of Ocean! She found time to complete the online course before leaving for the trip. She has a busy academic schedule and Ocean was not entirely enthusiastic about going. She had a little trouble equalizing her sinuses on the first couple of dives, but after that, excelled as a diver. She is now a certified PADI diver. I would love to get Owen and Oliver as divers as well so we could all do a Lake Superior dive this summer. We’ll see.

Placing the sound recording device anchor in the boat

Mkomazi National Park – Tanzanian Majesty

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Our friendly crew at the Mkomazi Campsite

I completed a lifelong dream of going on a safari in Africa. My daughter Ocean and I visited the Mkomazi National Park located on the border of Tanzania and Kenya. It is adjacent to the Tsavo West National Park on the Kenyan side. Mkomazi is little visited compared to the more famous Tanzanian parks in the Serengeti region. However, I was swept away by the majesty of the African savannah and Acacia-dry woodlands all the same. The park features breeding programs for Black Rhinos and the African Wild Dog. It was patched together through combining reserves and somewhat controversially, evicting pastoralists and local villagers without giving adequate compensation. During the long drive from Fish Eagle Point to the park, we saw many poor villages all the way up to almost the border of the park. We also saw the occasional Maasai herders, walking along the side of the road. I have mixed emotions as a rich foreigner able to visit the rhinos and celebrate the success of conserving a big piece of land.

The majestic African Baobab Tree Adansonia digitata

I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the park. It is slightly larger than my home of Iron County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (over 3,000 square kilometers). We didn’t start seeing large concentrations of animals until the interior of the park. It is the end of the dry season and many of the animals concentrate near watering holes. The Black Rhinos were used to tourists which was good that we got to see them, but bad in that it was a bit more of a zoo than a park.

The Black Rhinocerus

Our campsite was beautiful. The views of the mountains in the background, the immense Boab trees, and the clear night skies were dreamy. We were definitely not “glamping” as it was a school trip. We all had basic tents with sleeping bags and mats. We had a delicious dinner on picnic tables. We paid extra to visit the rhinos and wild dogs’ breeding areas. I was disappointed that you just can’t go on an unaccompanied hike through the park. Part of it is for safety and part of it is not to disturb the wildlife.

Dad and Ocean

I see the economics of tourism and national parks in Tanzania. I am glad my tourist dollars go to the local employees and government to give them a good life and conserve the incredible wilderness of Africa. The trip really opened my eyes to the beauty of Africa. It is similar to South America in many ways. It is a bit poorer with less infrastructure, but the nature of the tropics is on par with the Amazon, Pantonal, Andes, etc. I feel so fortunate to experience a safari. I remember Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins as a kid (1963-1988). Growing up in a little town in northern Michigan, I always wanted to visit the exotic locales and see the wilderness that they featured on the show. I hope to go back and experience more of African wilderness.

Family Journal: December 12, 2023

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Oliver and Ocean December 12, 2023

Tashkent received its first major snow of the winter on Monday evening! I was awake at 5:00 AM on Tuesday checking road conditions to make a call regarding school closure. We kept school open and I am glad we did. The students enjoyed playing in the snow and everyone made it to and from school safely. It is always interesting to hear from students experiencing snow for the first time in their lives. Snow brings out the kid in all of us and less snow on the planet is one of the sad consequences of global warming. Snow and cold always remind me of growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Combined with Christmas music, it brings back memories of my childhood in Caspian and my parents. I always miss them at this time of year. Temperatures stayed well below freezing all week and the local Amirsoy Ski Resort is opening on Saturday. Winter is in full swing!

Nadia on Recess Duty

Yesterday I got a tooth pulled. I discovered a large crack in the tooth and after x-rays, the dentist needed to take it out as the root was infected. He drilled the implant base into my jaw and sewed the incision. My mouth is swollen on the left side and I have a headache today. While he was taking out the tooth, the neighboring tooth cap fell out so I am missing two teeth this weekend. I go back Tuesday to put the cap back on and take out the stitches. I always think about what people did before anesthesia and modern dental tools. Pain, pain, pain…

X-ray of my tooth

Family Journal: December 10, 2023

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Beaders!

I had a relaxing long weekend before we headed into the final week of school before Winter Break. Uzbekistan celebrated Constitution Day. On Saturday Ocean and I attended a beading workshop at school. A classmate of Ocean led a workshop on bracelet making for her Personal Project. Of course, Ocean’s bracelet was perfect and beautiful and mine was not so perfect and not so beautiful. It was fun to spend time with her and I was proud of my sense of accomplishment in making a bracelet for my wife Nadia. We all had a lot of laughs over it! I chose turquoise and orange, Miami Dolphin colors, which Nadia did not have any matching outfits for. She wore it anyway to be nice to me.

Evidence of First Snowfall – December 9, 2023

Tashkent received its first snow of the year on Friday night (December 8) the latest since I’ve lived here in 5 years. The snow hung on through the weekend but was only around in patches by Sunday evening. I hope we get more this week as it makes it feel more like Christmas.

Bozsuv Canal – State Museum “In Memory of the Victims of Repression”

Nadia hosted a Christmas Cookie Swap on Sunday evening. My highlight was going with my son Oliver and his girlfriend Nicole to buy Kirkland sharp cheddar cheese at Alay Bazaar. I took Obi out for several long walks over the three days to get outside and enjoy the city views. (above)

A Golden Horde Feast

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Mukhtor, Bill, Oybek, Noah, Ahmed, Rashid, Sean, Walid, and Ahad

I had a quintessential Central Asian experience Thursday evening, courtesy of my friend Oybek. He took a group of us to a Kazakh restaurant to celebrate the start of the long weekend.

Beshbarmak is the national dish of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and is a traditional meal of the Central Asian nomadic steppe tribes. It is called “five fingers” because it was traditionally eaten without utensils. The dish is a combination of beef, horse and/or lamb meat wrapped in flat pasta noodles in a broth. I recently read a Genghis Khan biography and this was a meal of the Mongol armies. They were reliant on their animals while traveling and their diet was rich in meat and dairy products. Both the meat and dough are boiled. It is a heavy meal but delicious. The Kazakh nomadic tribes were probably similar to the Mongols. You can see Mongolian DNA in Kazakhs with their Asian eyes which differ from the Uzbek eyes, which are rounder and more Turkic.

Noodles
Kumis – Fermented Mare’s Mik
Horse Sausage

To make the experience even better, the restaurant (Shilpildoq) was in a village about an hour out of Tashkent halfway between the villages of Parkent and Chirchiq. We also were served the traditional shorpo (mutton broth) and kumis, fermented mare’s milk. We reserved one of the yurts. It was a cold night and the wood stove made it cozy inside.

I was really curious about the fermented horse milk. It tasted better than I expected, slightly sour, and carbonated, but not an overwhelmingly bad taste as I was expecting. It is served cold and has an alcohol content of about 2% so it would take you quite a few drinks to become intoxicated. One of the guys Rashid said that it was a different kind of buzz, instead of vodka that goes to your head, getting drunk on kumis is more of a body buzz with a clear mind. I had two cups so I didn’t feel anything. Horse’s milk is high in lactose, closer to human milk than a cow’s. I remember drinking a bottle of Nadia’s milk when she was nursing and it was surprisingly sweet. The sugar is a good medium for fermentation to occur. I would drink it again, especially in the summer.

Entrance to our yurt
A cold December evening

I was quite gassy Thursday night as my body is not used to so much meat. The pasta in broth was tasty and the meat was OK. Horse sausage was served with the meal and it was salty. It was a special evening for me. I love the friendship and camaraderie and felt honored that Oybek shared his ancestral culture with us.

Family Journal: November 30, 2023 “Christmas / New Years Season Is Here”

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It finally feels like winter is here after an unusually warm autumn. Temperatures are dipping down to 4C (39F) at night. Temperatures in the afternoon peak between 10-18 (50F-64F). The months of October and November in 2023 were fantastic and probably some of the warmest months experienced here. Below you can see temperatures were well above average for both highs and lows for the month of November in Tashkent. Tashkent has a Mediterranean climate with rain/snow falling mostly November to March. I am turning into my father, very interested in the weather…

Chart courtesy of Accuweather.com

Nadia and I attended a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony hosted by the German Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Tilo Klinner. He has a beautiful residence and upon arrival, a full choir was singing in the atrium. His wife lit candle lights on the tree and he treated everyone to a delicious, Christmas dinner. I devoured the ham and scalloped potatoes. That is one of the perks of being a director of an international school is invitations to social events of the diplomatic community. Thank you Ambassador Klinner!

Choir
Дед Мороз
Bill and Nadia

We had dinner at a colleaugue’s home last night which is the second of the New Year’s parties we attended. There are many more to come. Now all we need is snow. I hope to decorate our home this weekend.