The temperature cooled down by a few degrees this week. It's a relief. I've never lived in such sustained, scorching weather. It's supposed to heat up again next week but I'm thinking the evenings will stay a bit cooler....yes things are so exciting I'm talking about the weather.
I do think I've set some kind of world record for food poisoning. I wonder how that could be measured....maybe I'll just leave that alone.
After so many years learning Russian I still sometimes have trouble ordering food in restaurants. It usually happens when the server asks a question I'm not expecting and makes the rest of the interaction really confusing. This week myself and a couple of others went to an Uzbek place for lunch, wanting, or course, Uzbek food. The server came over, we started ordering and then she told us that they had, well hot dogs or hamburgers as well. At first she said hamburgers but then the offer changed to hot dogs. I was so confused that I was being offered burgers or hot dogs at an Uzbek place that the rest of the order got, well, very confused. It's not like those things are rare at all here, they're everywhere, just didn't expect to have them offered to us at an Uzbek place.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Puff the Magic Dragon, No Smoking
Not too exciting of a week this week, so just a couple of short anecdotes. People, at least the people in my office here, really really get into social events, usually in the form of singing and dancing. Friday after work our new boss organized a BBQ in the backyard of the office. So about 5 we all trooped back there and there was a nice spread of food and drinks. Actually really nice. After about an hour the first suggestion to start singing was made. Russian songs, which I don't know, so no problem. After a while though that got boring and there was a call for an Italian song, then a Japanese song and then Canadian and American songs. damnit. Italian and Japanese songs were no problems but the 3 of us (2 Canadians and 1 American) couldn't come up with a song that we all knew the words too. We decided to do a folksy-type song and eventually settled on 'Puff the Magic Dragon' which I found the lyrics for on-line. None of the local staff knew the song but I think it may have raised an eyebrow among the other western staff who did. Maybe not the best song considering what the office is. Anyway, fun times.
The building I live in here is an L-shape and my living room overlooks the inside corner of the L. On Wednesday evening I heard a big commotion, almost an argument coming from the inside corner. About an hour later I went out for dinner an saw the, well, loud discussion was still going on between about 20 of the building's residents. On Thurday night I came in after dark and found there is now a spotlight fixed on the side of the building, pointing at the corner and a big no smoking sign hanging from one of the trees. I guess some teenagers had been smoking by the building and bothering some of the people. The light doesn't shine in my window but I really don't know how the people on the first floor are supposed to sleep now. Maybe their bedrooms are on the other side.
The building I live in here is an L-shape and my living room overlooks the inside corner of the L. On Wednesday evening I heard a big commotion, almost an argument coming from the inside corner. About an hour later I went out for dinner an saw the, well, loud discussion was still going on between about 20 of the building's residents. On Thurday night I came in after dark and found there is now a spotlight fixed on the side of the building, pointing at the corner and a big no smoking sign hanging from one of the trees. I guess some teenagers had been smoking by the building and bothering some of the people. The light doesn't shine in my window but I really don't know how the people on the first floor are supposed to sleep now. Maybe their bedrooms are on the other side.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Staff Turnover, Wrong Numbers, Lady Gaga and Almaty
Well the first three are pretty short as I spent the week in Almaty, but just little things that made me go, 'huh?'. I have two regular places that I got to, one is a coffee shop (where I am right now) and the other is a pizza place. In the 4.5+ months I've been here I think both have had several complete turnovers in staff. I mean it's not like I'm at either one everyday of the week but I get to both fairly consistently, man I miss Starbucks, and people that were working there even a few weeks ago are nowhere to be found. I mean are they paying Gordon Campbell'esque minimum wage here? Oops, it slipped out.
People are sometimes very convinced they have dialled the right number. Very convinced. I went to buy milk this morning and left my phone in the apartment. I came back 10 minutes later and there were 4 missed calls from a number I didn't recognize. Sure enough 5 minutes later it rang again. I said, 'hello?'. The person said 'hello' back and hesitated. I said, 'who is this?'. The response was, 'what do you mean who is this?' I said, 'I think you have the wrong number.' The response, 'what do you mean?'. Understanding guy that I am I said, 'who do you want to speak to?'. The response, 'well this used to be my number'. I paused, thinking this could go on for a while and just hung up. No more calls since then.
In the taxi on the way over here, again with the taxis, my driver was about 60-65 years old. He had the radio on. About halfway here a Lady Gaga song came on and he cranked it. I guess she attracts fans from all age groups.
I spent the week at a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I drove with 4 other people from the office in one of this big, white, UN Land Cruisers. It was cool to travel in, I have to say. I think it definitely got us through the border crossings faster than if I had been on my own or if we'd been in a regular car. It's a long drive. Took 11.5 hours there and 13 hours on the way back. And even that is only because our driver was going FAST. At various points I noticed that we were going over 170km an hour. The driver did seem to know what he was doing but, well, those aren't exactly the best roads in the world.
Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan. I was there previously with a buddy in the Spring of 2007 and it rained the whole time. This time it was sunny and warm (not scorching like Tashkent) and that made all the difference. I stayed with some friends in great, central location and was able to walk to the conference everyday. The conference was what it was. Are conferences ever useful? But walking around in the evenings was great. It's a much more western city than Tashkent. By that I mean there are, for example, bank machines that works, cars that aren't made in a Uzbekistan, a better selection and quality of restaurants and, from very superficial observation, a much more diverse population. I mean just because it's more western doesn't make it better but after almost 5 months I definitely know what I prefer. Anyway, good trip.
People are sometimes very convinced they have dialled the right number. Very convinced. I went to buy milk this morning and left my phone in the apartment. I came back 10 minutes later and there were 4 missed calls from a number I didn't recognize. Sure enough 5 minutes later it rang again. I said, 'hello?'. The person said 'hello' back and hesitated. I said, 'who is this?'. The response was, 'what do you mean who is this?' I said, 'I think you have the wrong number.' The response, 'what do you mean?'. Understanding guy that I am I said, 'who do you want to speak to?'. The response, 'well this used to be my number'. I paused, thinking this could go on for a while and just hung up. No more calls since then.
In the taxi on the way over here, again with the taxis, my driver was about 60-65 years old. He had the radio on. About halfway here a Lady Gaga song came on and he cranked it. I guess she attracts fans from all age groups.
I spent the week at a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I drove with 4 other people from the office in one of this big, white, UN Land Cruisers. It was cool to travel in, I have to say. I think it definitely got us through the border crossings faster than if I had been on my own or if we'd been in a regular car. It's a long drive. Took 11.5 hours there and 13 hours on the way back. And even that is only because our driver was going FAST. At various points I noticed that we were going over 170km an hour. The driver did seem to know what he was doing but, well, those aren't exactly the best roads in the world.
Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan. I was there previously with a buddy in the Spring of 2007 and it rained the whole time. This time it was sunny and warm (not scorching like Tashkent) and that made all the difference. I stayed with some friends in great, central location and was able to walk to the conference everyday. The conference was what it was. Are conferences ever useful? But walking around in the evenings was great. It's a much more western city than Tashkent. By that I mean there are, for example, bank machines that works, cars that aren't made in a Uzbekistan, a better selection and quality of restaurants and, from very superficial observation, a much more diverse population. I mean just because it's more western doesn't make it better but after almost 5 months I definitely know what I prefer. Anyway, good trip.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Speaking Canadian, The Neighbour, Kazakhstan
Taxi drivers again. Seems like they're accounting for half my anecdotes. I have a very standard conversation, if you can call it that, in almost all of the taxis I ride in. It usually goes like this: taxi pulls up, we negotiate the price, I get in or wait for the next one. I then get a barrage of one word, or at least very short, questions until we get to where I've asked the guy to take me to. First question, 'German?'. As in, am I German. Always German, I have no idea why. 'Canadian' I respond. Usually followed by a pause as he tries to remember where Canada is. Then comes a varied combo of, 'why are you here?', 'are you married?', 'do you have children?' 'how much money do you make?' and 'Do you find Tashkent hot?' At this point I can almost answer them in my sleep. This past week though, one actually threw me off. The questions started out normally enough until the guy hit me with, 'Do you speak Canadian?' I mean I guess maybe in some kind of abstract way I do, and I almost said yes, but didn't and explained that Canadians speak English and French.
It's been a fairly uneventfull week, wasn't even sure I was going to blog. Sometimes though this place is just a theatre of the absurd and there was another installment last night. I think I mentioned back in March, just after I got here, that one of my neighbours came banging on my door quite late one night complaining that my radiator was affecting hers and her apartment was cold. Anyway, another incident with the same person last night. It was Friday night and my turn to host a dinner for the group I usually socialize with. There were 7 of us in total. We ate and chatted in the living room after dinner. About 11pm we were still there and one of the group was standing at the living room window, which was open, while still partipating in the conversation. Suddenly a stick, probably a broomstick, whips across the window and almost hits her. Someone swung it from the apartment next door. It didn't hit her, but we were all quite shocked. Myself and another guy ran to the window, and sure enough there was the crazy neighbour from back in march leaning out and yelling at us to be quiet. She went back inside before we really had a chance to respond.
We were all quite annoyed, but decided it was for the best to quiet the apparently loud talking we were doing down a bit. So we did and continued on. I guess I had forgotten to lock the front door when everyone arrived. About 10 minutes later this neighbour opens the front door of my aparmment (my friggin apartment!) and walks in with her dog (her friggin dog!) to continue complaning. We were all stunned. I will gloss over what happened next but suffice it to say she quickly decided she had made a mistake and left...quickly. I'm quite certain it won't happen again. Seriously though, who does stuff like that!?
Unfortunately, I won't be making it to Tajikistan this trip. One more 'stan for the future I guess. However, my 'work' needed to take an extra car to a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan next week so I get to tag along. It'll be nice to get out of Uzbekistan, I haven't left the country in 3 months. Geez, that's something I never thought I'd be able to say. Anyway, we leave on Monday morning and will be there till Friday. It's a long drive, that will be made longer because of me unfortunately. Foreigners (non-ex Soviet citizens) can only cross at certain border crossings. From talking to the driver on Friday we'll be going quite a ways out of the way to get to one where I can cross. Ah well, should still be interesting.
It's been a fairly uneventfull week, wasn't even sure I was going to blog. Sometimes though this place is just a theatre of the absurd and there was another installment last night. I think I mentioned back in March, just after I got here, that one of my neighbours came banging on my door quite late one night complaining that my radiator was affecting hers and her apartment was cold. Anyway, another incident with the same person last night. It was Friday night and my turn to host a dinner for the group I usually socialize with. There were 7 of us in total. We ate and chatted in the living room after dinner. About 11pm we were still there and one of the group was standing at the living room window, which was open, while still partipating in the conversation. Suddenly a stick, probably a broomstick, whips across the window and almost hits her. Someone swung it from the apartment next door. It didn't hit her, but we were all quite shocked. Myself and another guy ran to the window, and sure enough there was the crazy neighbour from back in march leaning out and yelling at us to be quiet. She went back inside before we really had a chance to respond.
We were all quite annoyed, but decided it was for the best to quiet the apparently loud talking we were doing down a bit. So we did and continued on. I guess I had forgotten to lock the front door when everyone arrived. About 10 minutes later this neighbour opens the front door of my aparmment (my friggin apartment!) and walks in with her dog (her friggin dog!) to continue complaning. We were all stunned. I will gloss over what happened next but suffice it to say she quickly decided she had made a mistake and left...quickly. I'm quite certain it won't happen again. Seriously though, who does stuff like that!?
Unfortunately, I won't be making it to Tajikistan this trip. One more 'stan for the future I guess. However, my 'work' needed to take an extra car to a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan next week so I get to tag along. It'll be nice to get out of Uzbekistan, I haven't left the country in 3 months. Geez, that's something I never thought I'd be able to say. Anyway, we leave on Monday morning and will be there till Friday. It's a long drive, that will be made longer because of me unfortunately. Foreigners (non-ex Soviet citizens) can only cross at certain border crossings. From talking to the driver on Friday we'll be going quite a ways out of the way to get to one where I can cross. Ah well, should still be interesting.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Chervak, Canada Day in Tashkent, The Osh Video
Chervak is a mountain area about a two hour drive outside out of Tashkent. There's also a dam and artificial lake area that, I believe, serves as Tashkent's drinking water. Anyway, there are not many beach/lake options around here so the reservoir also serves as a recreational area. Last Sunday myself and a couple of other hired a taxi to take us out there for the day. Man was that guy a talker. He spoke clearly at least but unfortunately I was the only one of the three of us who could really communicate so I got his opinion on pretty much everything during the drive. Good practice, just a bit tiring. Anyway, after passing through the border to get out of Taskent (seriously) it was a pretty easy drive.
Chervak, and I'm not sure if that's the name of the reservoir or the general area, is very scenic. Reminded me a lot of Lake Okanagan. Pretty decent crowd of people. There was a pay beach and a free beach. As the free beach was overly packed we chose the pay beach. The driver decided to spend the day with us, which was a little odd. I mean we weren't expecting him to wait in the car but we also weren't expecting to put on his speedo (so gross) and sit under our umbrella with us the whole day. Anyway, was still a good day overall and nice to get out of the city.
This Thursday was, obviously, Canada Day. As I've mentioned there is no Canadian Embassy in Uzbekistan but the Canadian Ambassador in Moscow, who is alo the Ambassador to Armenia and Uzbekistan (odd combo eh? why not add Belgium too?)decided to celebrate Canada Day in Tashkent this year. So the honourary consulate organized a reception at a local hotel. I showed up about 10 minutes late and was shocked to find probably a hundred people there- there are very Canadians in Tashkent. I soon realized though that it was the typical crowd of people that makes the rounds at these things. Within about an hour-and-a-half they had all cleared out leaving the, I think, 6 actual Canadians, including the Ambassador.
On my way to work from my morning Russian lesson on Friday I started chatting a bit to the taxi driver. He asked if I wanted to see a video on his cell phone. I said ok. It was taken during the violence in Osh a few weeks back. Just horrible. He asked if there was anything I could do with it, anyone I could send it to. I probably should have said yes, but was so shocked I just said, 'no, sorry, I wouldn't know who to send it to.' Seeing something like that though, I don't know how there can ever be any forgiving and forgetting in Southern Kyrgyzstan.
Chervak, and I'm not sure if that's the name of the reservoir or the general area, is very scenic. Reminded me a lot of Lake Okanagan. Pretty decent crowd of people. There was a pay beach and a free beach. As the free beach was overly packed we chose the pay beach. The driver decided to spend the day with us, which was a little odd. I mean we weren't expecting him to wait in the car but we also weren't expecting to put on his speedo (so gross) and sit under our umbrella with us the whole day. Anyway, was still a good day overall and nice to get out of the city.
This Thursday was, obviously, Canada Day. As I've mentioned there is no Canadian Embassy in Uzbekistan but the Canadian Ambassador in Moscow, who is alo the Ambassador to Armenia and Uzbekistan (odd combo eh? why not add Belgium too?)decided to celebrate Canada Day in Tashkent this year. So the honourary consulate organized a reception at a local hotel. I showed up about 10 minutes late and was shocked to find probably a hundred people there- there are very Canadians in Tashkent. I soon realized though that it was the typical crowd of people that makes the rounds at these things. Within about an hour-and-a-half they had all cleared out leaving the, I think, 6 actual Canadians, including the Ambassador.
On my way to work from my morning Russian lesson on Friday I started chatting a bit to the taxi driver. He asked if I wanted to see a video on his cell phone. I said ok. It was taken during the violence in Osh a few weeks back. Just horrible. He asked if there was anything I could do with it, anyone I could send it to. I probably should have said yes, but was so shocked I just said, 'no, sorry, I wouldn't know who to send it to.' Seeing something like that though, I don't know how there can ever be any forgiving and forgetting in Southern Kyrgyzstan.
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