We had a wet snow storm on Wednesday afternoon. It was not enough to delay or cancel school . The subsequent melting caused wet conditions which is a hassle when walking our dog Obi. We need to wash the dirt off his paws, legs, and belly after every walk. We celebrated Nadia’s birthday this week. I got her a really nice gift. One of her friends, Nuriya, gave her a custom family photo puzzle that Ocean put together. It was a thoughtful gift!
I had two off-campus meetings this week. Yesterday I visited British Management University, one of the many new private, English-language universities that have opened in Tashkent over the past few years. With 60% of the population under age 30, higher education, and K-12 schools, are taking advantage of the growth students. Unlike the USA where universities and schools are closing due to less young people, Central Asia is a growth area. I snapped the photo below from the fifth floor of a building on campus. It shows the incredible growth of homes in the flat, east part of the city. None of those homes were there when I first arrived to Tashkent in 2019.
The highlight of the week was Novak Djokovic’s victory over Janik Sinner in the Australian Open Semifinal. We lived in Belgrade for 6 years (2008-2014) and are Serb-philes! Nadia had her sister in the Gold Coast on Facetime (she is dating a Serb), Owen in Costa Rica and Oliver in Green Bay on WhatsApp, and Ocean and me in Tashkent, watching the game. It was an amazing feat to win at age 38 years old against the #2 ranked player in the world. We are going to be glued to the television on Sunday for the final. Owen sent some photos from attending Raphael Nadal’s tennis camp in Costa Rica. He is an strong tennis player and loves the sport. One of the coaches was from Santa Cruz, Bolivia!
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