Bill's Blog

For 13 years, South America was my home, with five of those years spent in Colombia during the tumultuous 1990s. This experience provided me with a unique lens through which to view Ahmed’s book on Mexican drug cartels. While the level of violence I encountered wasn’t as extreme, I witnessed firsthand the profound impact of powerful drug cartels and the resulting lawlessness when criminal organizations rival or surpass the authority of law enforcement.

Living in this environment, I developed what I dubbed “third-world eyes” – a gradual desensitization to the substandard infrastructure and pervasive crime that surrounded me. It’s remarkable how humans can adapt to almost any situation, often at the cost of losing perspective on the severity of their circumstances. Our annual summer visits to family in Michigan served as stark reminders of the contrast between life in South America and the relative safety and stability of the United States. These trips would temporarily lift the veil of normalization, revealing the true extent of the challenges we faced in our adopted home. The decision to ultimately leave South America was influenced, in part, by our children’s growing accustomed to the constant presence of armed guards – a normalization of danger that we found unsettling.

While I paint a somber picture, I must emphasize that my experiences in Barranquilla (Colombia), Anaco (Venezuela), and Santa Cruz (Bolivia) pale in comparison to the harrowing accounts described in Ahmed’s book. Nevertheless, the shadow of violence was ever-present. I knew friends and acquaintances who fell victim to armed robberies, home invasions where families were bound as thieves ransacked their homes, and even kidnappings of family members.

My sole experience in Mexico came during my university years, on a geology field trip to Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico – a border region a few hours upstream from Brownsville on the Rio Grande. While brief, this visit offered a glimpse into the complex dynamics of the U.S.-Mexico border area. I recall sitting in hot springs coming out of the banks of the Rio Grande, and swimming back and forth between Mexico and the USA. That was way back in probably in the spring of 1989, and I am sure the situation has changed.

In reflecting on these experiences, I’m struck by the resilience of those who live under the constant threat of cartel violence, as well as the profound impact such environments can have on one’s perception of normalcy and safety. Ahmed’s book serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by many in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, where the influence of drug cartels continues to shape daily life in ways that are often incomprehensible to those who haven’t lived it.

The part I liked best about Ahmed’s book, Fear is Just a Word: A Missing Daughter, a Violent Cartel, and a Mother’s Quest for Vengeance is that he described the historical development of violence in Mexico. I always wondered how societies can get to this point. How can organized crime become so powerful that only a nation’s military can protect its citizens? I also ask why there is so much violence? Why are murder rates so much higher in Latin America than in other parts of the world? He traces the increasing levels of violence that, in retrospect, makes for a logical sequence. In the center of the story is the Gulf Cartel. Juan Nepomuceno Guerra founded the cartel in the 1930s during the Prohibition Era. He was a bootlegger and smuggler in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas. The border city in the USA is Brownsville, Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico. After Prohibition, he switched to smuggling many kinds of goods, going both ways. N. Guerra developed the infrastructure to protect his business, with almost everyone on the payroll from customs officials and the police, to ordinary storekeepers, judges, and politicians. With everyone included in the system, people were incentivized to keep it going.

His nephew, Juan García Ábrego took over the business after his death. He upped the ante by switching to smuggling cocaine instead of appliances. This increased the levels of violence as the cartel competed for market share. He eventually was brought to justice when he threatened US officials. He started serving 11 consecutive life sentences in 1995 in federal prison. Osiel Cárdenas Guillén then murdered his way to the top of the Gulf Cartel and hired ex-military, bodyguards, enforcers, etc., and called them the Zetas to support the Gulf Cartel’s operations. They brought even more violence as they were highly trained, highly armed, and ruthless. When they split from the Gulf Cartel and started a war between the two groups in the early 2000s. It is an absolute, medieval bloodbath, with massacres, torture, etc. taking place on a daily basis. It reminded me of ISIS in Iraq/Syria. I noticed that Cardenas Guillen was recently released from prison after serving 21 years. I wonder if he will be sent back to Mexico to face charges there.

Azam Ahmed does in-depth reporting in the small town of San Fernando, near the Mexico/Texas border. It starts with the kidnapping of Miriam Rodriquez’s daughter, Karen in 2012. The family paid the ransom, but Karen was murdered. Miriam takes it upon herself to track down every single one of the Zetas involved in the kidnapping to bring them to justice. She would make a great detective! I was taken aback by the sheer inhumanity of the people in the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas. Ahmed’s book gives context to why people would choose to leave Latin America and try to immigrate to the USA. Drug cartel and gang violence can also be found in Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, Venezuela, etc. Until they establish rule of law with an organized and well resourced law enforcement and/or military, people will continue to flee violence.

It was a short week starting on a Wednesday after the Independence long weekend. I felt tired yesterday despite the short week and I sensed other teachers were as well. Could it be the change in our schedules and sleep? Not sure. One of my highlights is to drop Ocean off at school on Thursdays in the morning for girls soccer practice. The team practices before school and it gives me a chance to run my dog Obi at school and watch Ocean play soccer. I can’t wait for the games!

I also like that Nadia signed up for morning duties this year. It gets us to school earlier this year a couple of times a week. She still looks elegant in the playground duty vest! Uzbek schools started on Wednesday. They are heavily influenced by the Russian school system with a strict calendar ending date in May and not starting until September. The first day of school is also a day of pageantry and students dress up and bring flowers to their teachers. It is a nice tradition and one of the ways Russian and Uzbek society shows respect to the teaching profession. The USA could use some of this. The streets in front of the public schools on both sides of our house were crowded on the first day. There are no school buses in Uzbekistan. Most students walk to school or their parents drive them.

I always enjoy a nice ice bath! Today I went to a new Russian Bathhouse in the city, The бани and it was fantastic. It is located in Central Park, just across the highway from Eco Park in the center of Tashkent. During the USSR times there were many Russian Bathhouses in Tashkent, but they fell out of favor after independence and only now are making a comeback. A big thank you to my friend Phillip and Victor for coming with me today!

We started the day off by entering the group sauna. At the top of the hour, they put on a little show with a different flavor of steam. We all gathered in the huge sauna and the attendant waved a large paddle to push hot air and steam over us. Russian traditional music or Russian rock music played during this time. We went from the hot sauna to a cold pool. After the show, we went back in for a second round without the music and theatrics. I loved the cooling options, which were two pools of cold and very cold water, a snow room (-10C with manmade snow), and an ice bath.

We ordered a traditional 20-minute birch leaf steam sauna/massage and a scrub-down with a birch oil soap and salt. It was totally rejuvenating. There is a Russian saying that a day in the sauna is a day you do not age! I agree! They asked us to wear a bathing suit due to Islamic culture in Tashkent, but the traditional Russian sauna is nude and there were a few naked Russians. There is a women’s section on the top floor that is open on Tuesday and Thursday. I would like to bring the whole family next time and we will rent a private room this winter when Oliver and Owen visit.

I highly recommend visiting the spa, it is not cheap, but worth the experience. I bought a felt hat and crocs so I am ready to go next time I attend.

On a side note, I was reading about the Slavic spirit of the sauna, Bannik (illustration below). He is an old man that hides behind the steam and is part of Slavic mythology. He is mischievous, and can tell your fortune by either caressing your back (good) or pinching you (bad).

Sunday afternoon we drove up to our favorite camping spot near Tavaksay Canyon. It was another beautiful, late summer evening, after the strong winds calmed down. It was difficult to set up the tent and until sunset, we were concerned that the winds would ruin our camping experience. Fortunately, they died down and we had a delightful evening of camaraderie and looking at the stars. We bought a tent in a Kazakh-owned outdoor shop for Ocean. I am impressed by the quality of materials and design. It was the most aerodynamic and sturdy of the tents in our group. The design is a little different with setting up the fly sheet first and then connecting the inner tent to the fly sheet. It resulted in a sturdier design in my opinion.

On Monday morning Aaron, Owen (my friend’s son, not my son) and me took the dogs for a long walk in the sun-baked hills. The fabulous views and making our own route along the ridges and through the ravines and depressions, made for great hike. Being out in nature recharges my batteries and getting out of the city of a couple of days does me good. Nadia likes camping too now, so it is something we can do together. It was fun learning how to set up the new tent and using all of our camping gear. We hope to go a couple of more times before it gets too cold to camp.

We are celebrating Uzbekistan’s independence with a 4-day weekend in Tashkent. President Mirzoyoyev declared both Monday and Tuesday, September 2-3 to be national holidays. The actual day of independence is September 1. Uzbekistan declared independence on August 31, 1990. This was after the failed coup of communist hardliners in the Soviet Union led by Mikhail Gorbachev. The first secretary of Uzbek SSR communist party Islam Karimov was elected the new president and led the country until he died in September of 2016. His longtime Prime Minister, Shavkat Mirzoyoyev took over in December of 2016 and is still in power 8 years later.

I had a nice day of yoga and riding my bicycle. I rode the main canal in the city. Cooler temperatures are finally here with mornings in the 60s and highs in the 80s. I also caught up on yard work and taking care of things around the house. Our big activity was eating at a new restaurant in the city, Kaspiyka. It is a Russian-owned seafood restaurant with restaurants in Moscow, Baku, Kazan, and now Tashkent. Russians have improved dining experiences here in Tashkent. It is nice to have fresh seafood in a double-landlocked country. It must be flash frozen. My favorite dish was солянка (Solyanka) which is a traditional Russian sour soup. We finished the night with drinks at the Hyatt rooftop bar.

Through the years I have been on some incredible trips with students. The secondary school starts the year at the Tashkent International School with Schools Without Walls trips to various sites in the Tien Shan Mountain range. I had a board meeting on Wednesday so I couldn’t go on the first day, but on Thursday morning, I drove up to the grade 9 campsite to join the freshmen for the last two days. It allows me to connect not just with the students, but also with the teacher-chaperones. I was so impressed with the comportment of our students, they are sweet international school kids who come from good families, and the dedication of the teachers, who on these trips are on call 24/7. I increased the number of students that I know at the school. It is my goal this year to know every student (500) by name.

The students went through four activities over the three days. The Grade Level Coordinator Victor assigned me to two sessions of horseback riding on one session of hiking. I can’t remember the last time I rode a horse. The time that comes to mind was a horseback trip we took in the Andes of Venezuela when the kids were very young. I remember Oliver falling asleep in the saddle with me! So it was over 15 yeas ago. After watching Yellowstone and the new Costner movie, Horizon, I was excited to be a real cowboy. Author Chuck Klosterman said the other day in a podcast that he thinks horseracing’s popularity waned when most Americans lost contact with horses through the 20th century. Horses are such a huge, muscular, majestic animal and I see why some people just fall in love with them. They are beasts and could be dangerous. I learned to have a strong hand in directing the horse. They constantly wanted to stop and eat while we were making the way up the canyon. It would take a lot of practice to get used to riding a horse that is galloping. It was thrilling to ride while they trotted a bit faster than a walk. Going for two rides was good for me and I felt more comfortable the second day. I learned Uzbek horse calls, “high-ya” and “chee-yeh” to get the horse to move ahead instead of stopping for grazing.

We hiked up to the top of Mount кызылджар (1866 m) on Thursday afternoon. The six-kilometer hike led us to the cell towers on top of the hill. We were afforded gorgeous views all the way down to Charvak Reservoir. It would be a nice walk all the way from the top to the reservoir. It was a dusty walk

I end this post with a photo of my daughter Ocean getting her tetanus vaccine. In preparing for her grade 11 trip, we were asked if we had a tetanus shot in the past 10 years. Her immunization booklet showed a June 28, 2012 DpT vaccine, so on the morning of the trip, I took her over to the clinic on our campus. It was a nice bonding moment as I left my morning gate duty and walked her over to the clinic. It is so convenient to have a family medical practice on campus. It was a sweet moment for Ocean and I as she went off with her grade 11 classmates.

We had a delightful evening camping in the mountains above the town of Tavaksay Saturday night. It is our favorite camping site because it is convenient, only an hour’s drive from our home and you can drive, stop, and put up your tent right outside your car. There are several flat camping sites along the dirt road leading to the big canyon and waterfalls. My favorite aspect of camping is it brings people together. You are away from the distraction of mobile phones, the internet, and the different rooms of our large home. It was Nadia, Ocean, Obi, and me and a tent.

The night was delicious with a warm breeze and a sky full of stars. We listened to music, talked, watched satellites and shooting stars, ate and drank well, and overall had a great bonding experience. We slept OK without any interruptions from sheep dogs, foxes, etc. It is awesome to walk on the ridge, overlooking the town, with a breeze on my face, and looking up at the wonderful universe. It is so different from being at home and a refreshing break from Tashkent. Nadia purchased the complete “glamping” gear, ranging from a set of Hydroflask camping dinnerware to Russian brands of air mattresses and tables. We did not want for any home conveniences.

A funny incident occurred on Sunday morning when I went out looking for birds with Obi. I went down into a gully because there was a small creek there and I found a shoe. It happened to be a friend’s lost shoe from August 2023 when a big group of us camped. An animal must have taken the shoe from outside his tent and carried it to this place. He couldn’t find his shoe last year and donated his remaining shoe to an amputee organization. We all had a laugh when I brought back the other shoe a year later.

I read author and activist Jamie Metzl’s book, Eternal Sonata, a science fiction thriller set in the near future (2025). If you want to read it, come back to this blog post later (SPOILER ALERT). The book follows the investigation of Kansas City Star reporter Rich Azadian of the disappearance of an elderly, terminally ill cancer patient from a hospice. The investigation leads to a renegade scientist who is using DNA from a rare Arctic jellyfish that can reverse aging of cells in humans. It made me think about immortality. The 8 people who underwent this process, slowly go back to the age of the stem cells used in the procedure. The negative aspect is they forget everything about their past life and need to start fresh again. I think that is good and bad and I guess they could always refer to the digital record of their past life or lives to learn from the past and keep memories of loved ones. I wonder if humanity will ever reach this stage… The book becomes a thriller involving big pharma, Israeli intelligence, and a secretive aircraft carrier in international waters of scientists that does cutting-edge research beyond the reach of any government control. The novel was not life-changing, but it was a page-turner and allowed me to fall asleep, sorting out the plot in my mind.

I found Jamie Metzl through his interview on the UK podcast, Disorder. I highly recommend subscribing it as it explores how we are dealing with or not dealing with the big problems facing earth and society that need coordinated, global solutions. They tackle things like climate change, AI, cyber security, war outbreaks, Neo-Populism, religious fanaticism, etc. Metzl is the founder of OneSharedWorld, a movement of individuals and organizations that are attempting to bring powerbrokers together to solve these global crises. I am also going to check out some of the other podcasts besides Disorder, that the parent company, Goal Hanger, produces.

One of my pleasures in life is walking my dog Obi in the evenings. I am moving to more walking than running these days, but the idea is that I keep moving. Tashkent is a pleasant city to walk in with wide sidewalks, many parks, good weather, and variety in different parts of the city. The crazy drivers make me nervous sometimes, but overall, it is a walkable city. Unlike American cities, there are always plenty of pedestrians and people outside. I think it is because most people live in small apartments and they like openness of public spaces. The “third space” (not work or home) is alive and well in Central Asia and is a channel for people to connect.

I went for a bike ride last weekend out towards Parkent and noticed the progress of the “Olympic Village”. The government is building a sports complex in preparation for the Asian Youth Games 2025 that will take place in Tashkent from September 10-25, 2025. This will be only the third Asian Youth Games. Singapore hosted the inaugural games in 2009 to show the International Olympic Committee they could host the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. Nanjing, China picked it up in 2013, but the event was cancelled in 2017 due to the disorganization of the host, Jakarta and in 2019 due to COVID. There are 13 sports and the previous two games have been dominated in the medal tallies by China and South Korea. They are called “Youth” because they are for athletes ages 15-18. After the successful Paris 2024 Olympic Games which I absolutely loved following, it should be fun to have them in the city. Athletics, tennis, soccer, handball, and swimming will be the sports I will be following. I wonder if they will expand the games. Uzbekistan may want to add the sports they excel in, including boxing and wrestling. I can’t wait to see the finished site. I see there are several Chinese construction companies involved in the project.

I also noticed the upgrades to Central Asian University, which is across the street from the Olympic Village. Someone or some organization is infusing resources into the campus and its programs. Hosting conservative commentator and author Jordan Peterson does not come cheaply. I think they are trying to become a higher education hub in Central Asia.

It was a bit of an emotional week for us as our middle son Oliver earned his driver’s license, moved into his dormitory, and started his orientation at Saint Norbert College. It was sweet that our eldest son was able to drop him off and get him started as well as good family friends, Mark and Donnell. We miss Oliver dearly and are excited for him to start life on his own.

I end this post with a classic Central Asian motif. I appreciate when the Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev visits Tashkent because the traffic circle near the park named after his father and the Azeri neighborhood in Tashkent gets an upgrade. This time, they planted grass, flowers, and trees in the circle and put up a new photo billboard of the host, Uzbek President Mirzoyoyev and President Aliyev. There were a few traffic delays as the official delegations moved through the city, but the visit was mostly uneventful. I see the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus region coming closer together. They are also being pulled in different directions by the big players in the region, Turkey, China, and Russia. It is fascinating to see how this will play out.

Nadia and I love tennis and we played for the first time this school year last Sunday. We played on hard courts at the Yunnusobod National Tennis Club. We’ve played on the indoor courts there in the winter, but never on the outdoor courts in the summer. We reserved Court #2 which is literally under the iconic Tashkent Television Tower. After watching Novak Djoković win gold in the Paris 2024 Games, we were ready to hit the courts. You can see in the video below, we got a good workout in and had a lot of fun.

I need to comment on Djokovic’s accomplishments. He completed his career “Golden Slam” by winning Olympic Singles Gold, a tournament that has eluded him for many years. He did it against his latest arch rival, up-and-coming superstar, Carlos Alcaraz. Both players were at the top of their game with no service breaks and three tiebreakers to win it. I love the format of 3-set tennis with the third set being a 10-point tiebreaker. I think tennis should move to that format more often on the ATP Tour. It is great when your favorite player is the greatest of all time and he has undoubtedly proved it. He has the most Grand Slam Titles in the Open Era (24), the most Masters Series Tennis Titles (40), the Most Weeks Ranked #1 (404), most ATP Tour Finals Titles (7), the highest overall career winning percentage (83.8%), and now he can add an Olympic Gold to his Davis Cup Title representing our beloved Serbia!

What else does Djokovic have left to play for? I guess he can overtake Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams. She won 13 of those at the Australian Open in an era when the best professionals didn’t go to Australia to play. She was the dominant player of her era and one of the best female tennis player ever, but her accomplishments do not come close to what players like Federer, Serena Williams, Stefi Graf, and Nadal have to do more recently. I would like to see how long he can stay at an elite level. He has not won a Grand Slam since the US Open last fall at age 36. The oldest Grand Slam winner was Ken Rosewell (age 37, 1 month, 24 days) at the 1972 Australian Open. Federer had to retire because of a knee injury and Rafa Nadal looks like he will soon be joining him. I would put Novak still in the top group of current tennis players. There are Alcaraz, Sinner, and possibly Medvedev that can beat him, but no one else on the tour can, especially at the big tournaments. If he can avoid playing 2 of the 3 in a tournament, his chances are good for another Grand Slam.

I end this post with giving a shout out to the Uzbekistan Olympic Team. They won 8 gold medals, finishing in the #13 in the gold medal tally. They won an additional 5 medals to finish with 13 total medals. Uzbek specialize in combat sports and all of their medals came in boxing, wrestling, judo, and taekwondo with one medal in the related sport of weightlifting. Pretty good for a country of 36 million people! All medallists won a house, car, and cash prize from the government.