28
August 2001
Chirchik, Uzbekistan
Dear friends and family,
Assalom Alaykum from Uzbekistan. A letter already? I’ve only
been gone a week or so! Trust me, it feels like several months,
at least. And nothing is more comforting right now than writing
home to all of you. I apologize for the mass e-mail, but I have
one shot today to use e-mail, and I don't know when the next opportunity
will be.
So Uzbekistan is umm...a really interesting
place. I'll try to tell you what I've been up to so far. On August
15, I met all the other trainees in Chicago. There are 59 of us
in Uzbek-12 (we're the 12th group of volunteers in Uzbekistan).
We had one day of briefings on all sorts of Peace Corps policies,
safety issues, etc. Oh and there were plenty of ice-breaker games
and flip charts with markers (those of you with Peace Corps experience
should understand). Anyway, the other volunteers are all really
cool. Our ages vary and we have one senior, but for the most part,
we are a pretty young group. Most of us are in the 22-27 age range.
The next day we all set off for a very,
very long journey with plenty of complications (lost luggage in
Istanbul, etc.) to Uzbekistan. Finally, a couple of days later,
we landed in Tashkent, the capital. It was about 4 a.m. by the
time we reached the sanitorium in Chirchik, where we had a 4-day
orientation. Chirchik is a smaller town about an 45-50 minutes
away from Tashkent. A sanitorium is something like a resort/inn
where sick people stay to rest after they get out of the hospital,
or something like that. They have them all over the country. We
stayed there during orientation because it was the only facility
large enough to handle a group of 59. Orientation was like summer
camp (or Cherubs for those of you who were with me this summer).
We had crash courses in Uzbek, vaccinations and all sorts of other
fun stuff. But we were living in this big dorm-like place with
other people who were staying at the sanitorium and it was the
only time for the whole two years I guess that we were all together.
I got to know many of the other trainees and I’ve already made
some good friends. When you know that these 58 other people are
going to be the only Americans you can talk to for the next two
years, you become friend pretty quickly. Or in Peace Corps-ese,
you start to build a support system with the other trainees right
away.
After a few days in the sanitorium,
we all split up and moved in with host families. My family is
really nice and welcoming, and despite my limited knowledge of
Uzbek and nonexistant knowledge of Russian, we seem to be communicating
all right. I have a 10-year-old host brother named Akmal and a
14-year-old host sister named Ra'no. Their parents, Roziya and
Hasan (Sayipova), are both 40. They've hosted one volunteer before
a year ago, and they constantly compare me to her. So I've come
to know a lot about the other volunteer, Stephanie. She likes
sugar in her tea (I don't). She doesn’t drink milk (I do). She
never studied during training, she likes to dance and she cooks
tacos. I hear her name in the house all the time, but most of
the time, I don't know what's being said about her. Anyway, they
are used to crazy American habits like drinking lots of cold water
and showering every day. So they know how to deal with me and
everything is pretty comfortable. They have also been instructed
to double as my in-home Uzbek teachers. So they will often speak
slowly and point to things and tell me what they are in Uzbek.
No one in my family really knows much English, so my Uzbek is
coming along pretty quickly. My host sister is an amazing teacher.
She doesn't know English, but somehow, she understands most of
the things I say or ask her. She knows when I'm confused and exactly
what I'm confused about, and she quickly teaches me a new word
or phrase or explains to me what's going on. It’s great. I really
like the kids a lot. So the family situation is going well so
far, and we haven't had any major problems. Minor problems? Well,
my water distiller machine-thing caught on fire yesterday, but
apparently that happens often. It was just a little fire, and
I got a new distiller, but it doesn't work. Fortunately, another
volunteer is my downstairs neighbor so I can get water from her
distiller. The local water apparently has tons of lead in it,
and we have been sternly advised to drink only boiled, distilled
or bottled water.
Training is kind of crazy right now.
They''ve given us lots of information and several big books. Our
training is what's called Community-Based Training. We're all
trained in little groups and we have to travel from town to town
for different sessions on different days. My language group has
four people, and we all live in the same neighborhood in Chirchik.
We always have language classes together 3-4 times a week, for
about 4-5 hours every day. (Emily: Jared Boggs is in my language
group. Nice guy. He hated being a trader, but he says your company
is the best place to be to learn the business.) We are all learning
Uzbek for the first half of training. Then, after we find out
where in the country we will be placed, we will begin to learn
other languages if we need to, in addition to Uzbek. And there's
plenty of others to learn: Russian, Tajik, Khyrgyz, Khazakh, to
name a few. Uzbek is a pretty simple language. It’s not nearly
as hard as Russian. And after studying French and Arabic for so
long, Uzbek seems kind of primitive. The grammar is very, very
simple. I just have to work on learning more vocabulary. Many
of the words are derived from Arabic roots, and since there was
a strong Persian linguistic influence that came up through Iran,
Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, there are many words that are the
same as words in Urdu, but they are pronounced a little bit differently.
So basically, I'm hearing a lot of words that I already know from
other languages, but they are all tweaked just a little bit, and
that's Uzbek.
Two times a week, we have what's called
cluster sites, when people who are doing the same job meet for
technical training. So two times a week, I get to see the other
secondary English teachers. Most of the Uzbek-12's are secondary
English teachers, some are university English teachers, some are
business teachers, and a few will work with local NGO's. Then,
once a week, the whole group meets for a whole day to discuss
anything and everything. Starting next week, we will all begin
practicums. I am assigned to a specific school where I will conduct
English classes two times a week for five weeks during training.
My school is a Russian school, so it won't matter how much Uzbek
I've learned by then. Am I scared? Just a little bit. I'll let
you know what happens.
Besides teaching English, we will also
be expected to do secondary community-based projects throughout
the next two years. And we have to do one in our communities during
training as well. It has to be a need-based project. The other
trainees in my neighborhood and I have come up with a few ideas.
I live in an apartment building that is part of a community of
several apartment buildings. They're pretty dilapidated as is
everything I've seen so far in Uzbekistan (Today is my first time
in the capital, which is much nicer than Chirchik). Anyway, all
the kids play outside all day in the dirt and dust. They're favorite
activity is flinging cow dung off the top of a metal shed with
sticks. How does cow dung get on top of a metal shed? Well, they
take it up their with their sticks, then they fling it off. So
many of our ideas for community activities focused on getting
the kids involved in something more exciting (not that cow dung
isn't exciting). We thought of organizing a neighborhood variety/talent
show or something like that. I feel like they just need something
better to do. The past few days, Tamar (the volunteer downstairs)
and I played frisbee with them until the sun went down (there's
no light after that). They seemed to really enjoy it. And we've
been teaching them songs and games and stuff. It's fun for us
too. The more people in our community start to recognize us, the
less we'll get harassed. And boy, do we get harassed. There are
no other Americans in Uzbekistan except Peace Corps volunteers.
I've learned that Uzbeks, like Moroccans, are quite fond of Indian
films. Is there anyone in the world besides me who doesn't like
Indian films????
So that's pretty much what training is
all about. Sorry for all the detail, but I think (I hope?) some
of you might want to know what exactly I'm doing over here in
"where-the-hell-is-it-istan." So now you know. I'll
try to keep you posted. Although now it seems as if snail mail
will be more of an option than e-mail. Today is our first trip
to Tashkent and my first opportunity to check e-mail. I don't
think it’s available in Chirchik. But whenever possible I will
try to send out some e-mail. It would be great to get some real
mail too, although it takes a few weeks.
So hows Uzbekistan? I didn't have many
expectations when I came here, and I'm glad, because they would
have all been shot down. This country is technically classified
as a second-world country, but it seems pretty third world to
me. I spoke to my mother and brother on the phone last week, and
my brother asked, "What color is it over there?" Great
question. Answer: dusty brown. It's very, very dusty everywhere.
But in Chirchik, while there are dilapidated buildings, dust and
dirty children in the foreground, there is a beautiful horizon
of mountains in the backround. It's still pretty hot these days,
but the evenings are nice.
The culture is very interesting. It's
hard to generalize because in some regions, the culture is very
Russian, while in others, it's very Uzbek, and still in others,
the culture is very Tajik, or Khazakh or whatever else. But I
can tell you about Chirchik. The Uzbeks are primarily Muslim,
but they don’t really know anything about Islam except what they
might have memorized a long time ago. The'’ll say a prayer after
meals and then take shots of vodka. It's kind of a Russified Islam.
But from what I understand, there are other regions of the country
where Islam is stronger. I've heard that the president right now
has closed down all the Islamic schools and banned the girls from
wearing hijab because he doesn't want to associate with the IMU
(Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan), the rebel group from neighboring
Tajikistan, Khyrghystan and Afghanistan that is trying to win
control of the Fergana Valley region in the eastern part of the
country. Don't worry, the Peace Corps goes to excessive measures
to keep all of us safe, and there has not been any rebel activity
for about a year. Sept. 1 is Uzbekistan's Independence Day, and
we are all strictly forbidden to go to the capital or participate
in any celebrations anywhere.
Uzbeks eat a lot, but I'm not too fond
of the food. There are a lot of vegetables and meats, but mostly
they like grease and gristle and fat. The food is kind of bland
and it will take some getting used to. It'll be awhile before
I taste the boiled goa'’s head on a plate. I have to get used
to the pit toilets first before I start trying the really sketchy
foods. Anyway, I could go on and on about Uzbek culture, but I'll
save some stuff for later letters.
Many of the current volunteers we've
met so far seem to have a sort of love-hate relationship with
Uzbekistan. They all seem jaded and frustrated, but they won't
ever leave early. Well, I guess some do, but they’re not here
to talk to us. I'm not sure, but I think this might how all Peace
Corps volunteers feel in all countries. I met one really jaded
volunteer the other day. He's been here a year, and he's pretty
grumpy these days. He told us that Central Asia is the most difficult
region to serve in and Uzbekistan is the most difficult country.
He said while the living conditions in Africa might be much worse,
it's the mentality here that makes it more difficult to be a Peace
Corps volunteer. In Africa, the locals are so happy to have volunteers
in their country helping them out. Here, they expect our help
because the Russians were here helping them for so long. Apparently,
Uzbekistan didn't really want to be independent, and all the development
that was happening during the time of the Soviet Union has completely
stopped since 1991, and Uzbeks just didn't what to do. So they
expect people to come in and help, and the government doesn't
quite fully support the reforms that the Peace Corps is helping
to achieve. Yet the government asked the Peace Corps to help.
Everything here is like that. Things almost make sense, but not
quite. I guess all this is part of the mentality that makes it
difficult to serve here, according to this volunteer. Other volunteers
have disagreed, and they really enjoy it here, although they can't
wait until the'’re finished.
Anyway, those are some of my beginning
thoughts about this crazy place. I'll share more with you as I
start to figure it out, if I figure it out. This letter got a
little long, and I apologize, but I wanted to let you guys know
what's going on. I miss everyone a lot, and I'm not just saying
that to be polite. Usually, I can keep my emotions in check, but
the Peace Corps does crazy things to a person. My whole world
changed overnight and it will take some time for my body and my
mind to settle down in this new environment. I feel very comfortable
here in my host family and in classes with the other trainees.
But the other day when I was showing someone pictures of my family,
friends and students from the summer, I felt like crying. It's
just hitting me know that I won’t get to see everyone again for
two years. Tha'’s a damn long time. So write me lots of letters
of encouragement because I might really need it. I miss everyone
very, very much and I would love to hear from you. Okay that’s
enough, or as they say in Uzbek: Boldi.
Peace and blessings,
Sofia Javed
P.S. Of course letters are the things I will look forward to
the most, but if anyone feels like sending anything else, here
are some things I've already started to miss:
1: TOILET PAPER. You can always send me toilet paper. If you
want you can even write your letters on toilet paper. then i can
read them AND have soft toilet paper. what they consider toilet
paper here is what we would wrap parcels in.
2: any type of comfort foods. I haven't had any really strong
cravings yet, but you can surprise me.
3: some sort of newspaper or magazine. i can't find any news
anywhere. i'm still fiddling around with my shortwave radio.
More later,
Sofia
