Extreme Hospitality or Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Today, I had a very, very Uzbekistan experience – the very best of the country.  On Tuesdays I take the boys to a playgroup at a house with a wonderful yard and tons of fun but a bit off a main road.  Craig is working hard to figure out our transportation system, but this is not settled yet.  I am still taking “gypsy cabs”, anybody driving by that wants some extra money.  I always negotiate for a drop-off and a pick-up since I can’t get a taxi directly from the playgroup location.  In my cave woman Russian, I thought we negotiated before I got in the car today.  However, once in, I realized that he was a professional scientist, and he was on his way to work.  I understood his situation and he understood mine.  Instead of being like, “Too bad American lady.  If your Russian was better you wouldn’t be in a pickle”, he found a solution.  He decided to go to work and then leave work to pick us up and take us back home at the end of playgroup.  When I walked out of playgroup he was there waiting.  He had a colleague with him, so they could work while he drove.  He was so kind, asked me not to pay (I did anyway), gave me his business card, and asked me to please call any Sunday so he could take our family and show us the city.   That is hospitality at its best and most extreme.  I often feel like I don’t have much of a safety net here, since I do things that I otherwise wouldn’t, like get into strangers' cars, but this makes me so immensely more grateful and aware of the extra kindness of others.  

Two Buckets of Fun

Yesterday was warm, almost hot.  In the morning we met some other families to play at a playground.  In the afternoon it was too gorgeous to stay inside.  So, we made fun.  I filled two trashcans with water and let the boys play in the courtyard/yard.

Vic spies a bird.  Like every other animal, he just says "arf, arf".

Are you serious?

Yes, here the law says you must let everyone know if you are a young driver (Y) and/or a female (high-heel).  I think the "y" may have some legitimacy, but the high-heel?  I need to ask around and see if the women here think anything of it.  I found this combo parked on our street.  You can't make this stuff up.

And, by the way, this is the most popular car in Tashkent.  There is a GM factory here, and this tiny model is everywhere, though usually in white.

The Bread Man -- "Pyekar"

A "pyekar" is someone who specifically makes bread.  In our neighborhood there is a bread man who sells non, the local bread, out of what looks like a small garage.  He works in a space about 3'x6' every day, making 700 or so loaves a day.  He is so very nice, and he always lets Seth take a peek behind his curtain to see his work.  Vic starts saying "nana", his mantra for food, whenever we walk close to the bread garage.  We don't buy it everyday, just every time we walk that way.  It is 600 Uzbek syum a loaf, or about $0.25.  We have also bought the dough and made pizza.  Each loaf has the imprint of a flower in the center of the top and bottom.  It is lovely and delicious.

Non is, by definition, baked in a clay oven.

A Final Taste of Germany

Tomorrow marks one full month in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  I have a few posts to come, but before I move on I wanted to share our last day in Germany before we flew.  We (Craig, boys, and myself) hiked to a guesthouse/farm, Alpengasthof Gschwandtnerbauer, and had wonderful food, views, and time together.  It was perfect weather with that first taste of spring thaw in the air -- at last. 

The yummiest, homemade German version of apple cheesecake.