a long winter

I am heading back to the US Friday, and probably won't be back out here until May. I am looking forward to a break from the cold, though I understand the cold snap that has had a grip here since mid-December has spread to the US.

We are hearing of food shortages in some countries in the region and more and more neonatal deaths due to the extreme cold. Organizations are starting to try to finance emergency heaters, but it's challenging due to shortages of electricity and gas. We're working on finding some solutions for some of our clinics.

When I came back from Ferghana, Uzbekistan where there the ambient temperature of the hospital I went to was about 35 degrees, I was telling my colleagues about my experience. No heat, no running water, no hot water....one man commented that when everyone was part of the Soviet Union, power outages/water shortages didn't exist. If power was low in Uzbekistan, they would take it from Siberia and send it over. (I'm not an electrical engineer so can't assess whether this is something that can be done.) He commented that shortages of such basic things would not be tolerated, and that heads would roll if power outages occurred. Others concurred.

I know that it's hard for people in other countries to understand why people in former Communist/Socialist countries talk about how it was "better under the old regime..." . We think about the Cold War, a police state, shortages of meat and other "luxury" goods, and think it has to be better now. But most of these countries---and definitely in Russia, there is a very, very lopsided distribution of wealth. There are a number of "Nouveax Riche" that have gotten that way through connections, graft, crime, politics, etc. And most everybody else is struggling to get by. Despite the Gucci and JLo and other stores, most people in Almaty are scraping by. And they have a lot more options than people out in the far-flung regions and rural areas of the country.

Sure, luxury goods weren't available back then (OK, with the exceptions of the political elite), but at least the masses had a moderate standard of living that left them warm, clothed, and reasonably well-fed. It's quite a statement that people had electricity and hot water in the 1950s, but they don't in 2007.

Sorry for the bummer post. It's the unfortunate reality here, however.

Random bits

So Sunday night my Air Uzbekistan flight lands in Almaty. (No, it wasn't some rickety Soviet-era two prop. It was a brand-spankin' new Boeing 757-200. With announcements in Uzbek, Russian, and English, and the drop-down video monitor safety briefing in English and Russian.)

As we're waiting to disembark, the disembarkation music goes on. As it starts playing and I realize it's "Summertime and the Living is Easy," I started thinking about the choice of music. Maybe they are subliminally promoting summer tourism in Uzbekistan? Perhaps they have some American or EU advisors on staff, encouraging them to seem worldly? Who knows? Regardless, the tune put a smile on my face. Yet another reason for people to stare at me because it is so painfully obvious (glasses, clothing, watch, shoes, lack of excessive makeup and shiny accessories) that I'm not one of them.

This morning I was running late, so hopped in a cap. The Gypsy King's "Volare" was on.

I would hazard a guess that I hear Kazakh music about 10-15% of the time I ride in a cab. The rest of the time it's either US Top 40, Russian pop music, or some other type of music. Globalization: good or evil? Tawwwk amongst yahselves.

Uzbekistan

I have had the pleasure of traveling back to Uzbekistan for the first time in 15 years. I like it here this time around as much as I did as a 20-year old college student. :) My study abroad group had an excursion to Tashkent, Samarkand, and Buhara. I remembering thinking this place was so exotic, so Eastern, so cool! I also remember drinking a lot. :-) Make that, vaguely remember drinking a lot...

If Almaty is like NYC with it's less-than-friendly people, fashionistas, and high-end cars, then Tashkent is like Chicago. Big city, but people have time to smile and say hello, and everyone is like "So where are you from?" when you talk to them.

I got chided by a cop in the metro for taking pictures, and when I said "I'm sorry, I'm not from here, I didn't know you were not allowed" he (of course) asked, "Where are you from?" I explained to him that I had never seen such a clean and beautifully-designed subway in America, and so he let me off easy. I tell ya, you can take the Soviet Union away, but some of the kooky regs they enforced during the Cold War to this day linger on in people's psyches. Trust me: I'm not a risk to your national security, mmmmkay? Geez Louise.

Tomorrow I upload pictures, tell you about shopping at the markets, and about going to hospitals in Ferghana where they don't have heat. And it's been the coldest winter in 40 years.

I {heart} Uzbekistan! Sorry, Kazakhstan, but this place kicks your ass. Maybe it's just nostalgia talking....maybe it's the Baltika 7 I've consumed. Or maybe it's the fact that I am in a kick-ass hotel with free wifi in your room, a breakfast to die for with homemade preserves and baked goods, and staff that are gracious and smiling and pleasant (instead of bored/surly/annoyed, as most workers I've encountered in Almaty are). All for the bargain basement price of $55.

Trust me, you want to go to Uzbekistan! Put it on your list of places to see.