It's All About the Hat

About a month ago, for the equivalent of $11 I purchased a very warm "shopka," the traditional Russian hat that you see in all the movies. Mine is black and made of muskrat. I have to admit I was rather pleased to discover my hat was made of muskrat because a few hours after I purchased it I asked my host father what kind of fur I was sporting on my noggin, to which he replied "big Mighty Mouse." Looking up the Russian word in a dictionary from the 1960s confirmed it was actually "rat." But, a better dictionary and my own desire to believe that I'm not showcasing a rat on my head leads me to conclude that my hat is, in fact, muskrat.

I've been told that I now look Russian, particularly in my black coat with gray gloves, black pants, black socks and shoes, gray scarf, and a black sweater underneath. [No one can actually see the sweater, but it's good just to know it's there.] Anything that is not black, gray, brown, or at least so dirty that the original color has become black, gray, or brown tend to stand out, so needless to say my Rainbow Bright toboggan and matching mittens have yet to see the light of day. I do feel like I fit in more, now. When I wear my hat kids don't stare and scream, "Gut mooring" no matter the time of day. The other day a guard in the metro mistook me for one of his friends and several fellow trainees have been shocked to find me standing next to them - one brushed my hand aside as I tapped her on the arm in the bazaar because she thought I was some machismo Russian trying to hit on her, or at least that's the reason she told me...

My days during training are pretty full - up at 6:30 or 7, start language or NGO class at 8:30, finish at 5, eat dinner at 6ish, then study for a couple of hours. In my remaining hour or two before I go to bed I either play the guitar, write, read, take a bucket/bowl shower if there's hot water, or try to exercise with an odd combination of a loaded backpack, the Rocky soundtrack, and furniture gymnastics - it's quite a sight to behold. During the week, I only see the 3 other students of my language class and the 12 other NGO trainees. Only on Fridays do all 60 or so of us get together for a medical or security training, followed by a rousing (or pathetic) round robin basketball tournament. Weekends usually start out free, but get filled quickly with birthday parties, exploratory trips to nearby villages or Tashkent city, etc. For example...

I've been on several trips since I last wrote. There was a day trip to Chimangan, a "ski resort" in the mountains that is a unique combination of wealthy Euro-trash in bright pink snow suits and dirt poor Uzbeks selling fresh honey or pumpkin seeds along the side of the road. I took a 12-hour overnight train for a weekend tour of the ancient Silk Road city of Buchara. And today, I just returned from a 4-day trip to Nukus, the western-most major city, about 3-4 hours taxi ride south of the shrinking Aral Sea. I stayed with an excellent PCV, Graham, who is half-way through his service. We roamed the bazaars, hosted a dinner party for other local PCVs, went to a museum of banned Soviet art (see the Nov. 19, 2001 Newsweek for an article all about it), and took a 2-hour trip south to Urgench and Khiva.

Which brings me to my BIG NEWS! In early April I'll be moving to Urgench to work with an NGO called the International Scientific Society (or Al Khorezmy-Vambery). While in Urgench, I surprised my NGO with a quick visit - we don't really meet our NGOs until April - and I'm pleased to say it's a big, clean office with 7 friendly staff, two of whom speak English. Al Khorzmy is part of IREX's (the International Research & Exchange Board) Civil Society Support Initiative. What that jargon means is that IREX, a very big world-wide donor who gets a lot of money from USAID, funds these centers in the major cities of Uzbekistan for other NGOs to use as a cross between a Kinko's, internet cafe, library, and legal and programmatic consulting firm. The centers usually have the latest on what grants are available and offer trainings to and consultations to other NGOs on everything related to improving the abilities of NGOs, and thus society. [Just in case there's any confusion about what I'm doing - and forgive me if I mentioned this before - but only in America do we call NGOs "non-profits." So basically, I'm working for a non-profit over here.] I'm very excited to get there and start my work and I think this assignment should be a good way to meet the whole NGO community and find interesting secondary projects.

The weather here is much warmer now than when I first arrived. My long johns, coat, sleeping bag, (and sadly the authentic shopka) are packed away. I usually strip down to a t-shirt during the day when the temperature is around 70. I think I may melt during the approaching summer.
Hope you're all well and I'll try to send out the next update once I meet and am settled with my new as-yet-to-be-met host family out west.
ps - I now have very slow dial-up Internet at my house, so email is a little easier - but please, no attached files larger than 2-300KB or it will take forever to access them. Because of the slow speed, I can only attach dumbed-down versions of some shots I took on my most recent trip - one of a very bad pontoon bridge over the Amu Daria River and the other a typical bazaar scene, this one from Nukus. I should have decent access to the Internet once I get to Urgench, but "should" is definitely the operative word.