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.

Update Dva (that's "2" in Russian)

Uzbek is out and Russian is in. After 3 days of Uzbek I, along with about 16 of the 65 other volunteers, was switched to study Russian because of the kind of work I'll be doing and the area of the country I'll be placed. [Of course, they have yet to tell any of us the kind of work we'll be doing or the area of the country that we'll be in, but it seems at least some of the higher ups have a general idea about it.] Russian is completely different and seems a bit more difficult than Uzbek, but I'm happy to be learning a language that should prove more useful at the end of my service. After my training ends in April, I can receive an additional stipend from Peace Corps if I want to hire a local language tutor, so perhaps I can learn two languages or really perfect my Rusky.

My living situation has changed, too. All the trainees moved out of "Hotel Sanitory" (a song I wrote and performed to Hotel California with altered lyrics) and in with host families. I'm staying in the house of Anvar and Maryam, a couple in their 60s who live in the city of Chirchik. They've both been very welcoming and try to help me with my Russian. Near as I can tell, the language barrier still being quite high, Anvar works in some kind of factory and is a small time farmer with 35 chickens in a coup in the back and small fruit trees on a terraced hill behind the coup. The house is small, clean, and fairly warm - as is my room in it. His cousin lives next door, his sister-in-law who always comes over lives about 5 minutes away, and his daughter and her two kids live in an apartment about a 10 minute walk from here. There is plenty of good food in the breakfasts and dinners we share - lots of potatoes, tea, bread, and veges - and this morning I had 2 fresh eggs from the chickens out back. Peace Corps issued us a portable, albeit clunky, distiller which provides about a gallon of purified water in 4 hours. Though I thought I might eventually want to live alone, it's hard to imagine giving up someone else's (good) cooking and laundry service (men usually don't do their own, and I'm in no rush to buck tradition). I may still opt for my own place, but for now I'm quite comfy. We'll see how things go with my next host family when I move to my worksite at the end of training in April. And to answer everyone's burning question, my bathroom actually comes in 3 parts: one indoor room with a toilet for #1 and a tub for washing your face, brushing your teeth, and laundry; a squat toilet outside for #2; and a GREAT homemade sauna and a bucket of hot water in a separate building adjoining the chicken coup out back for cleaning your whole body and relaxing.

The prices here are pretty good. Laundry is not included in the home-stay "contract," so it's suggested we give whichever woman does it about 2000 soms (2 dollars) per month. Yes, that's per month. Today I bought a loaf of bread for 15 cents. I take "marchutkas," minivan taxis that follow certain routes like buses, to and from classes - about a 25 minute drive each way - for 20 cents. And though I haven't had much time to do so during training, the Internet cafes run about $1 per hour. I got a haircut for 70 cents and a jar of honey for 60 cents and probably overpaid for both. All that being said, Peace Corps doesn't want you to live above the means of the average Uzbek, so our living stipend is in line with the reduced prices.

Classes are going well and I continue to be impressed with the level of organization and quality of training I'm receiving in the language, culture, and technical knowledge about the government, socio-economic status of the people, and local NGO community. Though none of the Uzbek or Russian teachers would be considered native English speakers, I can't help but wonder when they use words like "pessimistic" or phrases like "top secret," how did they ever learn those so well as to use them conversationally? I'm looking forward to getting to that point - or at least being able to get by without pantomime.

Alright, there's a host of other Peace Corps volunteers waiting to send out their respective updates. Hope all is well with everyone. Will write again when there's more to tell and time to spare. I've attached a couple of pictures - one of the street in front of my house and the other of my host mother and father in our kitchen.

ps - Maryam told me I could give out their phone number, which I think is below. Not really sure about the numbers, or what the country code is, and I'm fairly certain it's really expensive to call from the US. So, I don't really recommend calling. I won't be calling anyone or returning any phone calls from their house. But, if you do decide to call, please do so no earlier than 8:30am and no later than 9:30pm, and note I'm 10 hours ahead of EST.

pps - I saw the Superbowl (live) at 4am on Monday, Feb 7th at the US Ambassador's house. Go Pats!

Trust in Allah...

...but tie your camel.

That's how my Peace Corps service began - with an proverb ice-breaker game where two people with halves of proverbs had to find each other among the crowd of 65 Peace Corps Trainees in Philadelphia bound for Uzbekistan. I thought it a fitting start to my journey.

Since arriving, we've been staying at a hotel / fertility clinic / homeless shelter (don't ask, because I really don't know exactly what it is) while we receive briefings on medical services, Peace Corps policies, and take language and cultural classes. I must say I've been really impressed by the quality of medical care available to me and the ability of the language and cultural training staff. They really know their stuff. The rooms are actually pretty nice and we get three huge meals a day in the cafeteria - almost every dish involves meat, potatoes, and tea - plus two coffee/tea breaks with snacks. I've met some amazing people from all walks of life - ages 70 to 22, married and single, those who have traveled all over the world and those who have never been out of their home state, but all of them with a good head on their shoulders and hearts in the right place. On Friday, Jan 28, we all move out of this place and in with our as-yet-to-be-named host families for the rest of training. I think that's when the true Peace Corps experience begins. Right now it feels a little like a summer camp - I spend most of my time with Americans speaking English, which is fun but not ultimately what I came here to do.

Still no word yet on what I'll be doing or where I'll be going at training's completion in April.

Will write more when I get the chance and have some tales to tell about Uzbek culture

The Final Update

[I've decided to retroactively add my "pre-blog" email updates sent from Uzbekistan to this blog. I think this should allow folks (just like you, or perhaps completely different from you - but folks nonetheless) to get a little background on my experience. Others will follow in similarly titled posts, but here's the first one:]


Hey All,
So here's the final email before the big move. I leave Jan 16 for my staging area in Philadelphia. On Jan 18, I'll board a plane at JFK bound for Istanbul, Turkey and ultimately Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This last week in New Jersey promises to be full of attempts to pack as much stuff as possible into two bags and as much food as possible into one stomach.

During my initial 11 weeks in country, the other new volunteers and I will live with host families while we learn about the local culture and how to speak Uzbek and (hopefully) a little Russian. After that, we'll split up to go to our various as-yet-to-be-named locations and officially begin our 2-year assignment. I'll move in with a new host family in a new city/village, at least for the first 3 months. After that, if there are places available for rent, I may move out on my own or stay on with my host family for the remainder of my assignment.

My mailing address during the first 11 weeks will be:
UZBEKISTAN, 700015 Tashkent
4 Turkestanskaya Street
c/o "Halqaro Pochtamt"
Attn: "Bradley Dakake"

[If you're feeling particularly adventuresome, you can print out the attached Cyrillic version of the above address, tape it to your envelope instead of the English version, and then (in theory) your letter will reach me sooner - just make sure you write "UZBEKISTAN" in English somewhere on the envelope.]

I'll send out my post-training address once I get it. But in the meantime, think how by sending me a letter, you can impress your friends - not to mention your postal worker - when you receive letters back from Uzbekistan. Talk about incentive... I'll probably have intermittent access to phone and email, though there's no guarantee and I think they're relatively expensive - besides, letters are more fun and only take about 3 weeks each way. As mail can be held up by the occasional labor strike, lazy mail donkeys, or big events like the local postal worker's niece's birthday party, please date your letters (and I'll do the same).

During these past weeks and months, I've had the chance to see many of you to say "See you later," and I truly appreciate all the well-wishing I've received and I wish it right back atcha. See you in 2.5 years, though if anyone wants to visit you're most welcome (really). I hear Uzbekistan is lovely in the spring...

ps - Many of you have asked me where exactly Uzbekistan is, so there's a map of the region attached as well.