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I love this colorful Soviet mosaic on Taras Shevchenko Street in Tashkent. The mosaic is on the wall of School #110, which also bears the name of the Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko. The large mosaic panel was made by artist V. Kutkin and was dedicated on June 1, 1970. Many Ukrainians settled this part of the Tashkent and the mosaic and park was part of the rebuild after the 1966 earthquake. A statue of Shevchenko in front of the mosaic was dedicated in 2002 and the then Ukrainian president attended the ceremony.

You can see Shevchenko in the left center of the panel, playing a kobzar, a traditional Ukrainian guitar. I am not sure what is taking place on the left side. I see a muscled worker with a newly forged sword and some fellow workers saluting his work. To the left looks like some people suffering, but I am not sure what is the cause of their suffering. As one moves past Shevchenko, spear-carrying soldiers appear to be marching by a muscled women holding both arms up. On the far right, Uzbekistan is celebrated by its rivers, cotton production and golden sunshine

Who was Taras Shevchenko? He was a artist and author who lived in the 1800s. He is regarded as the “father” of the Ukrainian literature and the modern Ukrainian language and had strong views of Ukrainian independence and often ridiculed the Russian royal house.

The art of the Soviet Union is fascinating and I hope city officials preserve them. In the late Soviet times, all building projects had 5% of the budget dedicated to “artistic elements”. It is part of the history of the city and as we get further away from the Uzbek SSR times, there will be pressure to modernize and demolish Soviet art and architecture. I feel it is one of the charms of the former Soviet sphere for foreigners. I understand not all people would agree, but I also think that all periods of history of a country should be preserved in part. This is a good website that gives a more in depth history of Soviet mosaic panels.

This is another 1970s Soviet building. It was completed in 1970 to celebrated the centennial of Lenin and was a museum dedicated to him. For 20 years, middle and high schools in the city led mandatory field trips to the museum. After independence, it was changed to a museum of Uzbekistan.

In 2001, the Japanese Embassy and the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations built a park near the Tashkent Tower. There were quite a few water fowl in the large pond.

UPDATE – My friend Mark H. sent me a photo of the original mosaic on the Pravda building. I am not sure why the current building owners would block out the Russian Cyrillic script. I think it would be a loss of the city’s historical heritage if Soviet architecture is slowly being lost. However, considering the Russians invaded and suppressed the Uzbeks for such a long time, I can see why government officials and citizens would want to get rid of this part of their history.

I have not been feeling well recently with a strong chest cold and sinus inflammation. I went for a long walk Sunday afternoon to clear my head. On my explorations of Tashkent, I always discover an interesting facet of the city. On this walk, I noticed this Soviet era mosaic (above) of a newspaper delivery person. In going around to the front of the building, I saw that it was the offices of Pravda Vostok (Truth of the East) the official Russian language newspaper of record of the Uzbek S.S.R. I was surprised that it still functioning as a media outlet. I believe it is still owned by the government.

Further on I stopped at the Crying Mother Monument and the eternal flame. The site commemorates the 400,000 Uzbeks who died in World War II. The Germans never reached Tashkent, but many Uzbeks were conscripted into the Soviet army. I need to read more about Uzbekistan’s role in World War II.

Finally, after my walk in the late afternoon, Nadia, Alejandra and I went for a cup of tea. It was another gray, wet day and the hot jasmine tea made me feel a bit better. Breadly is a really nice coffee place with gourmet-level food and sour dough and multi-grain breads. I highly recommend a visit.

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The boys love to go to Black Star Burger, an American-style hamburger chain owned by Russian Hip-Hop artist, Timati and businessman Yuri Levitas. It has a cool vibe and some distinctive features that make it worth a night out. With every meal comes a pair of disposable black rubber gloves. The burgers are very juicy and it is convenient at the end of the meal to peel off the gloves and leave the table with dry hands.

The decor is similar to Shake Shack, with an attractive font for the signs. Another interesting feature are the tattoo-sleeves servers wear under their black t-shirts. Timati looks like Drake, but he is not African. His parents ar Tartar (Turkish ethnic group) and Jewish and he grew up in Moscow. Politically, he supported Vladimir Putin in two elections and came under some criticism for the pro-Putin music video he starred in. I’ve listened to his music and definitely not my style. The restaurant market in Russia has room for different kinds of food and they seem to be successful. I see they are selling franchises in other parts of Russia besides Moscow.

It was a quiet day. I dropped the kids off at Ice City. Nadia made carrot-cake cream cookies, pan de jamon and a beef stir fry. She was busy in the kitchen. It is nice to have family here for Christmas! The boys got a haircut from Oleg, who comes to the house. He always does a nice job.

(I am catching up on my blogging this week.)

We hosted 22 people for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and it was such a delightful evening. Our school gave scheduled only a half-day of classes so we (I mean, Nadia and Deliya) could start cooking the turkey. We had an extremely large Butterball turkey delivered from Ramstein Air Base in Germany (thanks US Embassy commissary!) Nadia had a masterful performance and after 20 years of cooking turkeys, she has become a top chef and the turkey is always moist and delicious!

Thanksgiving is an uniquely American holiday and we are lucky to be able to share it with friends from all over the world. It was funny that our Israeli friends reflected on their first Thanksgiving that it was the opposite of Yon Kippur, a day of fasting and saying sorry, while Thanksgiving is a day to eat until you are uncomfortably full and be thankful for all the good things in your life.

Both my father and grandfather died of heart disease. My grandfather had rheumatic fever as a child which weakened his valves. He died in his 40s, peacefully while taking a nap after lunch. My father told me he had an argument at work, a factory where he was the foreman. He came home for lunch and my father thinks that the stress from work, may have been what pushed his heart over the brink. My father, Charles Kralovec, survived his first heart attack. He had bypass surgery and a surgical stent placed in one of his arteries. He lived for another 10 years and passed away from a heart attack while serving as a lector at a funeral at St. Cecilia’s Church in my hometown of Caspian, Michigan at the age of 78. Even though I am not biologically related to them (I am adopted) I’ve always been aware of heart disease.

I really enjoyed reading Dr. Haider Warraich’s State of the Heart: Exploring the History, Science and Future of Cardiac Disease. Dr. Warraich is a Harvard Medical School cardiologist and Pakistani immigrant to the USA. He uses his patients to introduce all aspects of heart disease. It is amazing the medical advances that have prolonged the lives of millions of people. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the USA and worldwide. Heart disease is almost double the rate of cancer as a cause of death worldwide and slightly higher than the rate of cancer in the USA.

Heart disease has been on my mind lately because my doctor and I decided for me to start taking statins after my yearly physical this summer. I always score “borderline” risk when it comes to total cholesterol with a 14-year average score of 225. Warraich made me feel much better about this choice as he is very enthusiastic about the wonders of this class of lipid-lowering medications. It is the most commonly prescribed medication in America with soon, 1/3 of all Americans older than 40 will be taking a statin. Atorvastatin, Lipitor is the bestselling drug of all time. I liked that a Japanese doctor, Akira Endo, was one of the key researchers to discover statins. Warraich ranks Endo’s discovery with Fleming’s discovery of penicillin.

“…the most important means to improve and prolong life we have ever developed as a species”

I hope my daily 10mg tablet will lower my LDL cholesterol, which commonly leads to atherosclerotic plaques lining blood vessels. I was glad to see that Warriach’s research showed raising HDL likely doesn’t change risk for heart disease. My average score of 38 for HDL is just below the at-risk range (>40). I will continue to watch my weight, exercise and not smoke to see if my HDL can stay above 40. Some other aspects from the book I would like to remember are as follows:

• Heart disease is just as common in women as men. Estrogen does offer protection to women, so they experience more heart disease post-menopause.
• High blood pressure is the real threat for heart attacks, more so than cholesterol as a risk factor.
• Work stress is linked to higher rates of heart disease.
• The coronary arteries, the vessels that feed oxygenated blood to the heart are the most common vessels for heart attacks.
• Cardiology is the most competitive field among internal medicine specialties.
• Often medical research is just as flawed as educational research. I think it is for the same reason. It is difficult to treat humans like lab rats and conduct unbiased experiments.
• Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack. Doctors also can do an EKG or check for troponin levels in the blood.
• “Patients older than 65 with heart failure in the USA admitted to the hospital live for only an average of 2 years.”

The book helped me realize the amazing structure and role of the heart. It is amazing that the heart can generate electricity. The pacemaker section in the lining of the heart is controlled by a small electrical charge that is transported cell-to-cell. It is such a small amount that it would take 70 hours of heart operation to collect enough energy to charge an iPhone. The heart is also one of the few organs that you can see working. Most organs do their business on the microscopic level.

The future of treating heart disease will be very interesting. Warraich predicts we will eventually have a 100% artificial heart that distributes blood through the body. Doctors are advancing in this area, with Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) a battery-powered implant that pumps a damaged heart.

I suggest listening to the interview Dr. Warraich did with NPR’s Terry Gross to learn more about the book.

It was a monumental effort to get Ocean, Oliver and Nadia out for a training run along the Ankhor Canal. There is a picturesque 5 kilometer trail running along the canal. We ran from the parking lot of La Terasse Restaurant to the Menor Mosque and back for a 10 kilometer training run. We are preparing for the Samarkand 10KM in two weeks. This was the furthest Ocean has ever run, normally she runs up to 5 kilometers on her cross country team. Oliver was the strongest and he is such a good runner! He and our friend Shannon, finished well ahead of Nadia, Ocean and I. It was a perfect autumn afternoon as we are soaking up the final luxurious days of Fall Break.

Yesterday we drove up to the Charvak Reservoir and the Chimgan and Beldersoy Mountains. I wanted Nadia to get out of the city a bit and it reminded her of the mountains of Sucre, Cochabamba and Potosi of her native Bolivia. We checked out a couple of the hotels in Beldersoy in anticipation of ski season. The views were beautiful and it was nice to spend time with Owen, Nadia and Ocean’s friend Josh during the drive. I really want to ride my bike around the reservoir!

On Thursday I went on a 50 kilometer ride with my friend Matt. It was a bit busy as we got off to a late start, but the route back was quite pleasant. I love cycling and am happy to get out occasionally for morning rides.

Nadia and I also played several tennis games this week. We also took a lesson from Jasur, the tennis pro at the Yoshlik Sports Center.

On the flight to Istanbul last weekend I finished Oleg Steinhauer’s spy novel. The trip gave me over 9 hours of reading time. (5 hours 20 minutes flying west and 3 hours and 40 minutes flying east thanks to the jet stream) I picked up the book in the bargain bin at Barnes & Nobles this summer. Reading novels set in the world of expatriates are always interesting to me; however, spy novels are usually not on my reading table. 

The book centers around the wife of the deputy consul at the US Embassy in Budapest. Working in international schools, I’ve spent a lot of time in American embassies around the world. The book is a murder mystery as she tries to find who killed her husband as they were having dinner together in a restaurant. They had recently transferred from Cairo, where most of the action takes place. My former residence of Serbia also is featured in the book. A Serbian spy plays a prominent role in the intricate plot. There are also flashbacks to Serbia on the eve of the start of the Yugoslavian war in the early 90s. The main characters are my age. 

It was an entertaining book to read during bouts of insomnia and on the plane. The plot got a little confusing towards the end as there are a lot of characters. My general take away from the lives of spies are there is a lot of deception and lies. It would be tough to live in a world like that, always evaluating information to check for its truthfulness. Some reviews claim he is the next John Le Carre, who was recently criticized by the head of the British Secret Service. My son Owen is considering a career in the foreign service or intelligence. It would be good to have a book that depicts how it is working in the secret service. I would think most of the jobs deal with the analysis of information and not being a spy. 

Having lived in Serbia and having spent a lot of time in Vojvodina, I see that he has been to the place. I had to laugh when he mentioned how pleasant the countryside is in the Fruska Gora National Park. We spent many an afternoon having picnics and hikes around one of the monasteries. It was one of our favorite places in Serbia. That is the beauty of Flickr that I can find a photo from those picnics in a couple of clicks. Nadia and Oliver are below – lots of happy memories!