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I am catching up on the blog this week. For our Fall Break after spending a day in Almaty, Kazakhstan, we flew Air Astana to Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates. We spent 4 nights and 5 days in the UAE and really enjoyed the desert sunshine and the remarkable transformation of a pearl diving village on the Persian Gulf to an ever-expanding metropolis.

Dubai is a fascinating place and one of the world’s global cities. It reminded me of Singapore or Hong Kong. Author Justin Marozzi sums up the city well in his excellent book, “Islamic Empires: 15 Cities that Define a Civilization” when he quotes a professor from a university in Dubai, “Find me a Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan, Sudanese or an Egyptian who doesn’t want to live in Dubai,…They all do.” 

I have mixed emotions about the city. I love the openness and tolerance demonstrated by the Emiratis. It is a model for the Islamic world. The city welcomes foreigners, and over 200 nationalities reside in the city. It has lifted the standard of living for many. Cities in the Middle East can learn lessons from Dubai Inc. The downside of Dubai is how large it has become. We fought traffic to drive across the city to the Dubai Mall and the scale can be overwhelming. The sheer scale of capitalism – hotels, apartments, restaurants, stores, etc. is dehumanizing. I was much more relaxed when we left the city for the Hajar Mountains in the Dubai exclave of Hatta. 

Another negative aspect is the vast infrastructure of Dubai is built by low-wage expatriates from Asia (India / Pakistan/ Nepal/ Bangladesh/ Philippines) working in tough conditions. The Emiratis only make up about 25% of the population of the country. Yes, these immigrants are there because it is better than where they are from and I would think remittances help their families back home, but watching the workers on these huge construction sites, showed they have a tough job in the hot. desert sun. Most of our interactions with “locals” were Indians and Nepalese.

The Maktoum Dynasty founded Dubai and Sheikh Rashid of the Maktoum Dynasty is the real force behind Dubai Inc. The emirate has had a smart strategy of making it easy to set up businesses in Dubai. They outcompeted other regional cities to dominate the Gulf Region. They did it by taking risks as well to build the infrastructure way ahead of the demand. This included taking out huge loans for dredging Dubai Creek, building two massive ports, an airport, an airline, etc. Time and again, Sheikh Rashid took bold risks that paid off. The growth is phenomenal and it is now a transportation hub for this part of the world. 

It is amazing to think that he took a place with high humidity, extremely hot sun, and a barren desert full of sand and turned it into a place that 15.8 million tourists visited in 2018. When we were thinking of where to travel for the Fall Break, Dubai was one of the easiest choices. There is no visa required, lots of flights and places to stay, and it was the most hassle-free vacation choice to make. 

We paid the requisite visit to the largest shopping mall in the region, the Dubai Mall. It is an absolutely massive palace to consumerism. After a long night of clothes shopping, we watched the famous Dubai Fountain Show, along with hundreds of others. The show itself was uninspiring, but looking at all of the tourists and the buildings, including the world’s highest building, the Burj Khalif, was interesting. We rented an Air B&B apartment near the JBR Beach. The views were cool from the 21st floor although the apartment was cheaply made, but comfortable. Hotels are very expensive in Dubai so the apartment was a reasonable $200 per night for a family of four.

Each morning we walked to the beach and went swimming. I miss the ocean sometimes, living in a double landlocked country. The water was a perfect temperature and it was delightful to spend time with the kids and Nadia. The cityscape background reminded me of Miami or Chicago (summertime!). We met a Russian woman who works in Dubai. There were a lot of Russian tourists and it was funny to keep hearing Russian on our holiday.

On our last night in the city, we drove over to the Dubai Marina Mall. The marina is another of the massive development projects and I appreciated the 7kilometer+ running trail. They built a mosque between the towering apartment buildings and the juxtaposition looked different. We ate at Pier 7, a building attached to the Dubai Marina Mall with 7 floors of restaurants, each with different cuisine. We chose Lebanese on floor 4. The lighted backdrop was spectacular and the food good, so a nice way to end our time in the city.

I finished reading A.J. Finn’s 2018 novel, “The Woman in the Window” on the flight to Dubai. The book jacket describes it as a “smart, sophisticated novel of psychological that recalls the best of Hitchcock.” I was not that swept away by the book, but I did enjoy the story and it helped me fall asleep at night. I like to read thrillers or murder mysteries and think about the plot to calm my racing mind in the evenings. 

I think the back story of the author is almost more interesting than the actual novel. Daniel Mallory uses the pen name, A.J. Finn and he is kind of a con man and liar. Mallory claimed he had a doctorate from Oxford, that he had cancer and his brother committed suicide. All of these are fabrications. I also read that he may have lifted the plot from a similar novel from 2016. He was fascinated with The Talented Mr. Ripley that is about a similar con man and he kind of lives his life like the main character in the novel.

The Woman in the Window centers around a mentally unstable woman suffering from agoraphobia. This is the fear of the outdoors and these poor people are confined to their homes and go into intense panic attacks when they leave. I knew one woman suffering from this when I lived in Belgrade many years ago. She could only go as far as the end of her street in her neighborhood. The main character in the novel is also an alcoholic and mixed with her psychiatric drugs, makes her an unreliable narrator. 

She often spies on the neighbors and sees a crime committed through the window of a house across the park. I won’t give away any of the plot twists and turns or the ending. The book was recently made into a movie on Netflix. It was Mallory’s debut novel and it made it to number one on the New York Times bestseller list. 

The book made an interesting reference to Cotard’s Delusion a mental disorder in which “the affected person holds the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs.” I never heard of this disorder and could go down a rabbit hole on the internet reading about it…

I was annoyed that we couldn’t find a direct flight to Dubai when we were making travel plans for our Fall Break. We have not been traveling much during the pandemic and with family visiting us over the Winter Break, we wanted to get out of Uzbekistan. We managed to get flights to Dubai on Air Astana, however, with a night in Almaty at each end of our trip. It ended up being really nice actually because we have not visited Kazakhstan. We had a pleasant autumn afternoon here today in the cultural and economic capital the country. 

I can see why Kazakhstan is the “older brother” of Uzbekistan (like Argentina is to Uruguay) and something Uzbekistan is striving for. I was really curious how the lifestyle of Uzbekistan compared to that of Kazakhstan. Almaty felt like an older, more established Tashkent. The roads and sidewalks are nicer with solid bike lanes on many of the streets. The parks are well-maintained and everything seems a bit more orderly. Tashkent now feels more of a frontier city after seeing Almaty. In my opinion, Uzbeks are the “country cousins” of the Kazakhs, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Tashkent is rapidly developing and with all the new construction, the buildings are much more modern, larger, and more varied. I didn’t see many impressive buildings in Almaty and the place felt more Russian or Eastern European than Tashkent. Tashkent is flashier than Almaty. In my little time here in Almaty, I didn’t see any women wearing headscarves and didn’t see any mosques. Tashkent is much more religious, specifically, Islamic than Almaty.  

The Kazakhs also look different than the Uzbeks. They have Mongolian facial features and the Uzbeks look more Turkish. Kazakhs were a nomadic people and that is similar to the Mongols. Uzbeks were always the city-dwelling, farmers and they have more of a Persian and Turkic influence. I bought a biography of Ghengis Khan as I want to learn more about the Mongols and the Turkic Golden Hordes of Central Asia.

We are stayed at the Hotel Kazakhstan, the equivalent of the Hotel Uzbekistan. It was the premier hotel during the 1970s and 1980s during the Soviet era. It is better maintained than the Hotel Uzbekistan and we had a nice stay. I would recommend it to visitors looking for that type of experience. We had a fantastic dinner on the 26th floor “BarFly” Restaurant. Gourmet food and drinks! This is in stark contrast to the 17th floor restaurant in the Hotel Uzbekistan. 

The main goal for my family was visiting franchises that have not come to Tashkent yet. Our first stop was Mc Donald’s, followed by Starbucks, and ending with a mall trip to H&M and Stradivarius. We hit all of these places and were surprised at the European city-like feel of Almaty. It is prime autumn color time and with so many trees, it didn’t feel like we were in the desert of Uzbekistan. 

My highlight was seeing Zenkov Cathedral, a colorful Russian Orthodox that is made of wood and does not have any nails. It was constructed in 1907 and was recently restored. The cathedral is in a large park with mature trees. It was a prime autumn day and with the yellow leaves and setting sun, it was a peaceful atmosphere. 

We were fortunate to get good weather yesterday. We awoke to rain and it was a gloomy taxi ride out to the airport. We’ll be back in Almaty this upcoming Saturday. I was impressed with the city and want to come back and explore the country more. 

My favorite building in Tashkent is the iconic Hotel Uzbekistan. Completed in 1974, it is an iconic Soviet-era grand building framing what used to be Lenin Square. Modern buildings are rectangular and mostly steel and glass. The hotel has a curved shape like an open book and an intricate concrete lattice. It would never be built today. It is a long way away from its heyday when it was THE hotel to stay in. People tell me that it was one of the most bugged buildings in the world.

If I was a billionaire, I would purchase and restore what is left of these hotels in the former Soviet Union and the capitals of the former Iron Curtain. They would need to be modern, comfortable, and with all of the amenities of a Hilton, Intercontinental, or Hiatt to convince people to stay there. I think the nostalgia of a bygone era mixed with luxury would be successful. I would really play up the Socialist characteristics of the building. Not a Disney-like experience, but tastefully done.

The Hotel Uzbekistan reminds me of the Hotel Jugoslavia in Belgrade, Serbia. I always thought the same thing about that hotel. My fear with the Hotel Uzbekistan is that it will be torn down because of its prime location.

Last night we took the kids to a new Asian/Japanese restaurant called Tanuki. Five years of living in Osaka, the food capital of Japan spoiled us regarding our food standards and we all judged it well below Osaka-level. We will not be returning as it was not worth the expense. It does have a good atmosphere and I hope they can improve with time.

After dinner, we went to the Hotel Uzbekistan to see the view from the 17th floor. The view is really nice as you can see, but it was a sad bar and restaurant that was about the level of a truck stop between Tashkent and Jizzakh. It definitely needs an upgrade.

I end this post with a photo of a Damas Deluxe. It is one of my least favorite vehicles common in Tashkent, mostly because of the reckless drivers that own them. It is made by the South Korean Daewoo Company. It is a cheaply made, pragmatic vehicle that is popular as a taxi or cargo transport. I was a passenger in a Damas in a drive up to the Chimgan Mountains and I felt like I was in a glorified go-cart. It struggled to go up the steep inclines. I find it funny that they have a “Deluxe” model of this car. One of the neighbors purchased on in our mahalla.

The host school, the Bishkek International School made a really nice video of the Central Asia Federation of Athletics, Arts and Activities (CAFA) Cross Country Running Championship last weekend. I captured this screenshot from the video which features both Oliver and Ocean. The four teams (U15 and U19) won 12 individual medals and 7 team medals. Below is the screen shot of Ocean’s medal ceremony.

I would like to thank BIS for hosting the event and providing such a good experience for our students! Below is the entire video which can be found on YouTube.

Last Sunday Nadia and I went shopping in the Tashkent landmark, the Chorsu Bazaar. She needed some clothing material for a skirt her seamstress is making for her. I went along to help with the weekly grocery shopping. The Chorsu Bazaar is one of the largest markets in the city and the most famous. It is the heart of the old side of Tashkent. When the Russians captured Tashkent in 1865, they built a new section on the south side of the main canal and the north side was the old Tashkent. Chorsu is like the center of the old city. Next to the bazaar is the Kukeldash madrasa which dates back to around 1570. The next time I go I’ll check it out.

Uzbek Travel has an informative historical piece on the Chorsu Bazaar. “Chorsu” means “4 waters” or confluence and it refers to the time when the city was divided into 4 dahas. Chorus was the meeting place of the leaders of the dahas. It is an appropriate name as people still gather here today to buy and sell an overwhelmingly vast array of goods, ranging from fruits and vegetables to carpets, kitchen appliances, clothes, etc.

The market is vast and easy to get lost with many buildings and outdoor areas. It is part of the fun and one of the best places in the city for people-watching. There are always interesting characters and photo opportunities abound. We found the prices cheaper than in our neighborhood Mirabad Bazaar. The iconic blue dome was built in 1980 during the Soviet era and is an homage to the great domes of the Silk Road trading markets.

Uzbekistan has delicious table grapes. On sale, last weekend were two popular varieties, the Kish-Mish Kora (Black Kishmish) and the Rizamat. It is funny that a country with such outstanding table grapes does not produce excellent wines. There are many varieties and they are some of the juiciest and most tasty grapes I have ever tried. The dry climate and strong sun produces tasty fruits and vegatables.

It was a delightful afternoon of soaking up the sights and sounds of the Chorsu Bazaar. I think Nadia and I will try to make a point of going more often. It makes the mundane task of weekly grocery shopping “exotic”. This is one of the benefits of living internationally is experiences like purchasing goods in a market that dates back centuries. It also struck me the differences between the Russian and Uzbek sides of the city. One feels like Eastern Europe and the other feels like Asia. If you want to get the pulse of Tashkent, this is the place.

One of my favorite aspects of Uzbek culture is the choyxona or Tea House. These are restaurants that serve more than just tea but are designed in the traditional Central Asian manner. It is tradition for men to gather to talk and eat without interference from family or other concerns in trestle beds under trees and usually near a river or lake. Today’s modern choyxona are more like restaurants but they maintain private rooms with small tables and pillows for men to dine together. Some of the local guys at school organize occasional choyxona dinners and invite foreign employees to join them. We have a lot of laughs and eat a lot of food! On Friday, we went to Choyhona 25 in the north part of Tashkent. On the menu was lamb neck which I never had. It is a slow-cooked meal that is quite hardy. Of course, it is accompanied by vodka, and the evening’s choice was Anor (pomegranate in Uzbek) Vodka, which was 10 times distilled. A higher number of distillations means a higher quality of vodka. This is what Anthony Bourdain calls in this region, East meeting West. The Russian tradition of vodka with the Central Asian Tea House.

One of the advantages of being an educator is seeing more of your children at school. On Saturday I was checking the Multi-Purpose Room for sound at the start of the SAT exam. I snapped a photo of Oliver while walking through the space. He was in deep concentration and didn’t even notice me. The school is a College Board Testing Center and we were hosting a Terry Fox Run and I was concerned about noise from the run interfering with the test. It was quiet in the room and we were able to have both events run simultaneously. Nadia and I ran 5 kilometers in the Terry Fox Run, a Canadian charity event to raise funds for cancer research. Both of our families have been touched by cancer so it felt good that the school raised $800.

It was Ocean’s birthday on September 26 and so after I got back from Finland, we took her out to Roni Pizza with her best friend Eleanor. It was funny that when the waiter learned it was Ocean’s birthday (he checked her ID) that he brought over 3 alcoholic drink shots for Ocean, Eleanor and Oliver to consume. Never mind they are 15, 15, and 17 years old respectively. These are the moments that remind me we live in a foreign country. Ocean is such a lovely young woman and we are so proud of how she is maturing and growing.

Ocean and Oliver left on Wednesday to run in the Central Asia Cross Country Championship 2022 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Ocean finished second in the Under-15 Girls competition and her coed relay team won the relay. Oliver, unfortunately, had an injured foot and was not able to run. I hope it will be healed in time for his soccer tournament next month. He went along with the team to support his teammates and with the possibility that he could run. I am so proud of Oliver and Ocean that they are cross-country runners. It is a good lifelong habit to have!

Nadia and I were not able to go because the school hosted our United Nations Day on Saturday. It is a huge event for the school and it went really well. I am amazed at the incredible number of different cultures we have at our school. There were over 40 nations represented in the parade on campus and the booths were amazing. I am fortunate to be working in such a rich, diverse community.

It was also special to watch international and Uzbek music legend Sevara Nazarkhan perform. We had many community groups perform and it made the atmosphere even more delightful.

Nadia and I attended our first professional ice hockey game in Tashkent together. The Humo Hockey Club resumed play for the first time since the pandemic canceled the end of the 2019-2020 season. They play at the Humo Arena and it is an NHL-like experience with cheerleaders, music during breaks, Zamboni-machine, fan cam, etc. It is an excellent night out!

Humo is playing in the Kazakhstan Hockey League this year. In 2019-2020, they played in the VHL, the Superior Hockey League of Russia. The VHL is just below the top league in Russia. I guess with the war in Ukraine and the international sanctions against Russia, perhaps they chose to restart their club at a lower level. 

Humo played host to the Astana Nomads. It was an exciting game going into the third period with the Nomads leading 3-2. Humo put on a lot of pressure to find the equalizer but the Nomad goalie was stellar. Nomads scored an open net goal in the waining moments to give them the 4-2 win. It was the first homestead of the season and we hope to go to another game when they return next month. I’ll be posting updates of the league and we’ll see how the Humo do. 

We were looking to buy season tickets but they do not have that option. Single-game seats range from $5-$10 and a luxury box is about $50/person. I might rent out a luxury box for the Christmas Eve or Christmas game when my brother and his wife are visiting us. It would be a nice gift to give him! He is an avid Detroit Redwings fan. 

We invited Oliver’s new girlfriend and her mother over for dinner on Friday night. She is a nice girl and a good influence on Oliver. 

The mosque in the neighborhood behind the school is almost finished. I remember them starting it maybe a year ago and it is much larger and in the Uzbek style of mosque, white with blue tiles. 

I am catching up on posting journal entries on my blog from September.

Uzbekistan celebrated 31 years of independence on September 1 and we had a 4-day weekend to mark the occasion. We stayed in Tashkent for the break and I did a lot of exercise. I wanted to go see the fireworks on Thursday evening but there was too much traffic. My friend Mukhtor shared this video of the LED drone light show that took place downtown. Congratulations to Uzbekistan as it finds its identity after so many years as part of the Russian empire. 

On Saturday I rode with the “Geriatric Cycling Club” on a 73-kilometer loop from the Grand Mir Hotel to the outskirts of the city. We rode to the village of Chirchik and came back around to Tashkent via the new airport road. It is almost cotton harvest season in Uzbekistan and the cotton fields were white with cotton fibers. I went into the field and picked some cotton. Cotton is a big industry here in Uzbekistan and now that they are certified child-labor free, they can sell cotton and textiles to a wider market. Unfortunately, when the Soviets decided that Uzbekistan would be the cotton-producing region for the USSR, they did not take into account the dry climate. A lot of environmental damage from inefficient and overuse of water reserves in this desert climate. 

One of our favorite stores in Tashkent is the leather and clothing store, Kanishka. Every time I go there I usually purchase something. This time I picked up a leather-covered journal I am using for my study of Russian. I like the fact that their clothes and accessories are Uzbek designed. They are also high quality and make perfect gifts for foreign family and friends. Malika Baratova describes the store perfectly, “Kanishka is one of Tashkent’s popular pioneering clothing brands. Since 2001, these locally-sourced and made accessories and garments have been catering to the self-expressions needs of fashionable youth, creatives, and those who want to support local production. Dedicated to natural and local materials such as cotton fabrics, leather, and pelts (typically sheep), their entire production cycle from raw material to finished item is completely in-house. The company employs more than 100 people in the production process, and no two items are identical. The cuts are updated once in a while, but the materials and prints change constantly – meaning you can often see the same item with two or three different looks!…One of the features that made Kanishka successful is the marriage of Uzbek and Central Asian ethnic motifs with utilitarian product forms. They also dip into rock’n’roll, popular culture, aesthetic movements like steampunk, art, and history. The nostalgia evoked by these designs is favored by both local Tashkenters and foreign guests. I always enjoy the tongue-in-cheek t-shirts sold by this brand, and the soft, light cotton is a big bonus for the local weather.Kanishka has two large stores, inspired by Socialist Modernist architecture.”

I took some photos of men heading to Friday prayer service at the Minor Mosque. Nadia and I took Obi for a walk/run along the canal. It was close to the 13:00 prayer time and so we encountered the crowds of men coming and going into the mosque. I didn’t realize that women are not allowed to attend the mosque prayer sessions. There are always police directing traffic and controlling parking during these times. There are lots of mosques under construction in the city and from what I notice, it is necessary. The crowds of the faithful spill over to outside the mosque. 

On Sunday, we had our last game of tennis with the outgoing US Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Daniel Rosenblum. For the past three years, we’ve played many times at the Olympic Tennis School. A group of us regularly plays on weekend mornings and it is such a delightful way to start a Saturday or Sunday. All of us are pretty much at the same level (intermediate) so the games are competitive whether we play singles or doubles. Lots of laughs and exercise on the grounds of the Olympic Tennis School. Ambassador Rosenblum is a great guy and down-to-earth and our group will miss him. He will be taking up the ambassadorship in neighboring Kazakhstan later this autumn.