Winter Returns to the Fargona Valley

The weather was cold but everything else was warm this week.  On Wednesday we celebrated Men's Day.  From what I understand this was a Soviet holiday that they still celebrate.  The women of the office made traditional Uzbek Osh.  It is known in Russia as pilov and elsewhere as pilaf.  It is similar to dirty rice but with different spices.  There was non, which is the round loaves of bread you see everywhere, marinated salad of cabbage and carrots as well as some sliced fruit.  It was very nicely done and wonderful to eat.

When I awoke on my birthday I had to trek through an inch of snow to get to Cottage K4, where the workout equipment is located.  Yes I did start working out again.  That is a good thing as I have more energy even though we still work dark to dark daily.

My birthday was fun.  I did post a picture of me and my cake that day.  I know most everyone saw it because of the number of FB posts.  The ornaments on the sides and the shavings on top were chocolate.  The cake was similar to a spice cake.  It was triple layer with cream between the layers.  The balls were also made of cream.  It was very delicious.  It was cool that a bunch of guys from all over the world wanted to celebrate with me.

When I was getting ready for bed I noticed that my phone had lost it's signal.  I thought, that might not be such a bad thing as I figured there would be some FB posts wishing me happy birthday and commenting on the picture I had just posted.  That was a good call.  When I enabled my phone service again after I woke up the day after my birthday, there were 40 texts queued up.  Most FB posts, others just texts.  Lesson of the day: If you are ever on the opposite side of the world of most of your FB friends on your birthday, put the phone on airplane mode or you will not sleep well.

We ended the week by actually making schedule two days in a row and on Saturday produced enough to catch up to the number required for the month.  Baring a catastrophe, we will make the February number.

Today we had some fun.  We started out with a little time in the plant.  It was good that we did.  There were some mistakes in the system, which lead people to believe that we were out of a part to build the Matiz.  When we did some digging we found enough for a couple of weeks.  We have been fighting to clean up bad data from the day we arrived.  After a couple of hours there, we went to the cottages to drop off our stuff and pick up one more guy.  We packed four into the back seat of a Lacetti.  That is a car the size of a Chevy Cruze.  You do what you have to sometimes.  When we got to Andijon, our driver dropped us in town.  We told him to enjoy the rest of his day and we would find our own ride back to the cottages.

We started with a money transaction.  Our Korean friend had done it before and had a broker.  He spotted us on the street and approached.  We made a deal for 2350 cym per dollar.  That was good enough for me so I changed a hundred.  Remember the exchange rate published by the government is 1648.  The variance is certainly worth having a broker on the street.

Next we headed into the Yangi Bizarre to do a little shopping.  We went to see our favorite fruit vendor.  She remembered us, as I expected she would.  We bought our fruit with only a little negotiating.  She did charge the first guy, who did no negotiating, 500 cym/kg more than the other two, for the same apples.  She gave another guy a tangerine, in compensation.  I guess she saw him coming and knew my Indian friend and I were not as much of a push over.  She just put the lower price into the scale without saying a word.  I told him as we walked out what had happened.  He was not surprised.  It was a difference in reality of about a quarter.

There was a crowd around us when we were doing business with her.  Hard to understand why three Americans, a Korean and an Indian negotiating with a young Uzbek female fruit vendor would draw a crowd.  One of the older ladies, maybe her Mother, was pushing me toward our vendor friend.  It surprised me.  When I looked at her she held up her left hand and with her right index finger and thumb stroked her left ring finger.  I think the message was that I should be marrying this young girl.  I put my arm around her and tried to let them know I already had a wife.  The guys really teased me about what I was really in the market for today.

After the fruit purchases we went to get some nuts.  The almonds are so good.  We keep them in the office for folks to munch on during meetings etc.  The merchant we generally do business with quoted us a price higher than our Indian friend was willing to pay.  He is without question the best negotiator of the bunch.  The guy started at 22,000 cym/kg.  The counter offer was 16,000.  We ended up buying a total of 3.5 kg for 17,000 cym/kg.  It was a pretty brutal negotiation that could have gone either way.  I am pretty sure when we first purchased these highest quality almonds we did pay 22,000.  At any rate, we now have plenty of nuts, for a while.  My friend who was taken by the fruit vendor did no better here.  He paid 22,000 for a kg of raisins.  The next guy got them for 16,000.  Some people like the sport better than others.

After the fruits and nuts we all wanted some beverages.  One loves the juice.  One needs the coke.  One got some tea and some beer.  For me, a couple of bottles of a dry red Uzbek wine.  Once we had all of our purchases, it was time for lunch.  We were surprised to meet up with a guy from the plant, who had been sick much of the week.  He joined us for lunch. UZ Turk was really packed today.  I had something like chicken wings and some salad.  Another guy had a spiced meat loaf.  Our Korean friend had a barbecue chicken wrap that was excellent.  Actually all of it was really good.  It is an excellent place to eat.

Our friend from the plant, who is from Asaka, was in town for a haircut.  I told him I really wanted one too.  He called his barber and worked me in, even though it is a very busy day.  We put the other 4 guys in a cab to the cottages and the two of us headed to the barbershop.  When we stepped inside it was hot and humid.  My glasses fogged up immediately upon entry.  I felt a little disadvantaged as it was a new place full of people that I could not see.  I got my glasses clear by using a shirt tail.  Once I could see, I found myself not in a barbershop full of men but a salon full of women.  The room was entirely pink with red and burgundy decorations.  It was about 10 feet wide and 60 feet deep.  The air was thick with the chemicals women use in such places.  There was a manicure station and four stations for hair stylists.  The only guy in there was working on a lady in the very last station.  I waited near the door as my Uzbek friend went to speak with his "barber".  He asked us to come back in 30 minutes.  We agreed and went back outside.  We just walked and talked.  He and I know quite a bit about each other as he and I often lunch together.  We did use a public bathroom.  It cost 200 cym and you do not breathe through your nose in there.  Real, real, real bad.... 

When the time came for us to return, we did.  To our surprise, the guy we had made the appointment with just 30 minutes earlier was gone.  There were no less than a dozen women in the shop.  Many of them worked there and a few were customers.  They were talking to my friend and he was translating, for me.  He said they were excited about an American being in the shop.  He said to me that he had told them I was married.  He said one asked if I wanted another wife.  It has really been a long time since I received two proposals for marriage, in one day or one anything.  I gracefully declined, again.

A young lady offered to cut my hair.  I agreed.  She was meticulous.  She used an electric clipper and a comb.  There was no guard on the clipper.  She did a good job but it took a long time.  When she was done she brushed me with some talc and then washed my hair.  Then she sat me in a different chair and blow dried it.  Once dry she rubbed my head with some product called stick up.  My friend said to give her 10,000 cym and she would be happy.  She tried to give me 4,000 back.  I refused and thanked her.  Katta rahmat is the way you say thank you very much, in Uzbek.

I will post pictures again soon.  Today the Internet was so slow I could not do my banking and I wrote this in MS Word hoping to be able to paste it into the blog writer.  When you think your computer is slow you simply have no idea.  It is time for me to head to bed.  Since we have no gas I expect it to be a little cool in here tonight and a clod shower tomorrow.  I have the window closed for the first time since I have been here.  I tell you all this so when I tell you to be grateful, you understand why.  You and I are blessed in so many ways that we do not even appreciate.  Take time after you read this to think about how good your life really is and be grateful!