I went for a bike ride yesterday, the first time in a long time! It was a short ride along the Anhor Canal, but it was good to get out in the fresh air. I rode around sunset and had to stop to take the photo above of the recently opened Crowne Royal Hotel. It was a perfect reflection on the canal. It was nice to feel the sun yesterday after a week of gloomy weather. The high temperature will be 9C (48 F). January is the month with the most overcast weather in Tashkent, with almost 40% of the days being gray. The average high temperature is 6C (43F) and average low temperature is -2C (28F).
In the evening we took the kids to the Tashkent Food Mall. They have inexpensive meals from a variety of restaurants in a Food Court-style setting. There is a nice bar and the place has a good vibe due to Westminster University being nearby. Lots of college kids including a “cyber lounge” which is kind of a club for young people with a bunch of computers. I noticed a group playing the same game Oliver and his friends do, I think it is called DMZ.
My nephew Beau Kralovec made the local news as his ice hockey team, the Wisconsin Windigo defeated an Alaskan team. He is seen in the video giving a hard shove near the goal. The Windigo play in the North American Hockey League and Beau has played in 27 games so far this season. He takes after his dad, my brother, who was a stud athlete and former Division II American football scholarship player at Northern Michigan University.
I ran across an interesting article in the local news this morning. Many Uzbeks go to Russia to earn higher salaries than they can get here. Remittances from Uzbek dispora are a big part of the economy. A guy from Andijon, a city in the far east of Uzbekistan, was working as a butcher in Moscow. While there he was approached by an official or unofficial representative of the Russian military. They offered him $5,000 / month to go fight in Ukraine. He agreed and completed a 2-month training before being deployed.
In late July 2023, he was sent to Shakhtyorsk and Bakhmut in Ukraine, where he met Tajiks and other foreigners. During the fighting until November 2023, the defendant, by his own admission, killed more than 10 Ukrainian servicemen.
For his activity on the battlefield, he was transferred to a reconnaissance unit of the Russian troops. Then, for five months, he participated in hostilities in Lugansk. – Gazeta.uz (January 4, 2025)
He only received a portion of his monthly salary and when on leave back in Moscow in December 2023, decided not to re-up his enlistment and returned to Uzbekistan. He turned himself in and received 4 years of probation. The judge took into account he came to officials and showed remorse and sentenced him to four years strict probation. He is only allowed to leave his home for work and study. He could have received 5-10 years of prison.
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