Reunited

Oct. 12, 2023- Tashkent, Uzbekistan- Reunited At 3 AM our guide, Yura , was informed that our luggage had arrived. He called us after breakfast and we cabbed our way through a sea of white Chevys to the airport. Evidently, Chevrolet has factories here. White is popular because of resale in this 90% desert country. Oh, and although equipped with rear seatbelts, they’re never used. Found that out when the driver got upset that I was trying to fish mine out. They also use propane. More smog, more fuel smell, more explosive, less toxic. Yura is Christian, his wife is Muslim, and his three children (19, 13, 4) are deciding. His parents were S. Korean and Russian. He speaks 9 languages, but his children only speak 5. His wife was a pediatrician, but is teaching primary school now. Both jobs are similarly poorly paid. Most people speak at least three languages and read three alphabets. Originally, everything was written in Arabic. When the Soviets took over it was Cyrillic. In recent years the government has declared the written word be in Latin letters. The airport was crowded with hundreds of people going on pilgrimage to Mecca. This was not Haj. The Saudi government doubled the cost of Haj after Covid. It now costs $6,000 to $7,000 per person. The waiting list is 15 years or longer. Yura said the Saudis could make it free. Now it was for the privileged class. Yura wasn’t permitted into the airport for reasons he and we didn’t understand, but we had no trouble locating the lost and found. There they were in their purple and red glory. Our two bags festooned with more “Priority” and “Rush” tags than I’ve ever seen. It was a happy reunion. We had a group meeting at noon where Yura laid down the rules. He told us it was forbidden by him for us to discuss American politics. He had an ugly incident where he had to break up a fight between tourists throwing dishes at each other. There are twelve in our group. As far as we determined, eight are Jewish. One woman from San Francisco knew of my Aunt RIta Semel from when she was on TV doing a Q & A program. Lunch was at a lovely place where we were introduced to some local fare: mushroom broth, pilaf, borek (cheese filled fried roll-ups), and bean salad. The main was thinly sliced tough looking steak that turned our to be tender. It was served with fries and bbq sauce. For those of you who are interested in food, you’re welcome. For those who could care less, skip the food references. The real touring began after lunch. We headed for the old city where houses of straw infused stucco with fire brick foundations survived earthquakes for centuries. We walked to a plaza where typical mosaic embellished buildings housed a mosque, former madrassa, and museum for ancient books. There rested the oldest and most intact Koran, written in 644 CE, a gift from Tamerlane to the Uzbek people. Tamerlane ( 14th-15th century) was a Turcic-Mongul conqueror who ruled a century after Genghis Khan. We walked to dinner as a group. Why cities build boulevard sidewalks with steps every few feet beats me. I’d be inclined to stroll and window shop if I didn’t have to constantly check my footing. Dinner was less than Uzbek fare: pizza appetizer and pasta carbonara (beef bacon). Facts: Uzbeks hope to keep the separation between religion and government as long as possible, but there has been an infiltration of conservative Islam into schools and more women are choosing to wear scarves or hajibs. David is not the slowest person in the group. Yay! There are at least two who need help with steps and seem to have stamina issues. Yura’s pace is blessedly moderate. This is a cash society. US dollars are welcome for all transactions. They will give change in the same. There is no drug problem. The penalty is 25 years for buying or selling. They don’t believe it’s an illness. BTW, the word for hippopotamus in Uzbek is “hippopotum.” Everyone is on alert. If you’re new to my travels, our granddaughter, Rylee, collects them. We’ve brought her one from everywhere we’ve been. Toby