It was an unusual week for me. Last weekend I came down with a fever and missed school on Monday. I was diagnosed with influenza (no COVID!) from my low-grade fever, muscle aches, headache, and cough. I felt better by Tuesday and was in the mountains for three days. Due to a postponement from last week, I ended up chaperoning two student ski trips and one day of exploring possible mountain campus sites for the school. I am thankful that I got a flu vaccine this year and was able to recover relatively quickly. I am also thankful to get the week to be in the great outdoors, surrounded by snow, mountains, and fresh air. It is so nice to have the mountains be easily accessible from Tashkent. Air quality in the city during winter at times can be poor, but the elevated land of Chimgan Mountains is always fresh.
Skiing with the students is not the same as just going up with my family. It is rewarding to teach young people to ski and develop self-confidence to make it down the mountain by themselves. I joked I felt like Matt Damon in the movie Martian, continually solving problems (adjusting bindings, collecting poles, tightening boots, finding lift tickets, etc.) to keep students upright and moving in the right direction. We had one sunny day and one foggy day at the Amirsoy Resort, and a morning of gorgeous, fluffy snow on the exploratory walk. A great week of the TIS Adventure Program!
I finished off the week with a retirement dinner for a good friend of ours followed by a visit to The Bani, the Russian “banya” (spa) to warm up! It was a nice way to end January!
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