Week 3: A Melting Pot of Thoughts

August 17, 2023

Week 3: A Melting Pot of Thoughts

Going on our third week in Uzbekistan. It already feels like a lot longer to me. Maybe because every day we are learning and experiencing so many new things. I was telling a friend recently, seems as if every night I go to to bed, my brain feels like an oversaturated little sponge. Constantly soaking up the newness around me. New culture, new city, new neighborhood, new ways of transportation, new foods, new people we have met, new challenges, new dependency on Google Translate, the list goes on and on.

A few days after we moved into our permanent house I ventured out to the neighborhood supermarket alone for the first time, and I got sooo overwhelmed/overstimulated that I forgot to even look for most of the things on my list and when I got home I just started crying lol. It sounds so silly, the simple task of grocery shopping sending me over the edge like that, but it doesn't feel like a simple task when you don't know where anything is, don't know or recognize at least half of the things on the shelves, don't speak the language to ask anyone for help, can't read the languages on the labels, Russian radio announcements are blasting on the speakers, etc.

I felt like a little kid who gets lost in a store and is just wandering around looking for an adult to help. Only to realize that I am the adult in the situation and I have to figure it out. 😬 I knew I would feel that way eventually, but wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. And the last time I experienced culture shock, it was not that level of intense anxiety, so it definitely caught me off guard in more ways than one.

After a good cry, I woke up the next day and decided to try again. I didn't want to let too much time pass by and really get in my head about it. This time I remembered most of what I needed to buy and actually enjoyed seeing all the things there that were so funny and different and some things that were just plain weird. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

I probably will have more moments where I feel overwhelmed or just really unsure of what to do, but I just keep gently reminding myself that everything is hard the first time. And I'm having a lot of "first time" experiences almost every day, so gotta give myself a lot of g r a c e.

Towards the end of the week, the embassy offers two opportunities for people in the community to come and practice their English. On Thursdays, it's Reading Club and on Fridays, it's Speaking Club. I started volunteering to help with both while I'm here. Most of the people who showed up last week were high school or college students, but there were a few middle-aged professionals and parents as well. (Side note: I am not going to be working for this next year since we will be traveling for weeks at a time all through out the next 12 months. But I am super grateful for the volunteer opportunities I have gotten connected with so far and am keeping an open mind to whatever else may become available while we are here :)

I really enjoyed getting to talk to every single person that I met. Loved getting to hear their stories and their answers to questions that ranged from "How is your relationship with your mom?" to "What would you do to improve your city?". We even delved into some ethical questions like "Is it ever okay to lie?". These clubs are definitely going to be a highlight of the week for me!

The students are so motivated and such hard workers. One young woman in particular really blew me away. She's only 17 years old, already fluent in five languages and has only been speaking English for one year but has the vocabulary of someone who has been speaking for ten. She has such incredible goals and aspirations for her life. I felt inspired listening to her share her dreams and plans with so much passion. She has the work ethic to make these dreams a reality too.

Other students also shared their plans to continue their education and pursue occupations that will enable them to be proponents of positive change in Uzbekistan and beyond. One ninth grader says he is already planning on getting his master's degree. That was not even close to being on my radar in ninth grade. These students are not turning a blind eye to the problems of society, they are facing them head on and want to be a part of the solution. Watch out world-- this next generation is going to be doing big things. Things that matter. Things that will outlast them.

On Saturday the embassy offered a field trip to Hast-Imam Complex, a religious center of Tashkent. The mosque we got to walk through was built in the 14th century! That was impressive to say the least. Hand carved wood work, domes decorated with pure gold, 500 year old stone flooring with the workman's finger marks still visible in it. We learned that they used camel's milk instead of water for mixing the mortar they laid the stones in, which is what they attribute its longevity too. The craftsmanship of every building was absolutely stunning. At one time, the cities in this region of the Silk Road were the wealthiest in the world.

We also got to see the Ottoman Quran, the oldest Quran in the world, the first copy of Muhammad's original writing, dating back to the 7th century. It was written on deerskin and laying open it was about 4 ft long. Pretty remarkable that it has been preserved so well all this time.

After the field trip ended, Carson and I ventured to the biggest market in town, Chorsu Bazaar. It is a massive maze of markets selling a huge variety of items. The whole experience was so different and really fun, an absolute cacophony of noises, smells, so much to look at and take in. There's nothing in America I can think of that it would compare to. Except maybe a flea market? A flea market on heavy duty steroids. We bought some herbs, tomatoes, lemons, loose leaf tea, the Best Bread we have had since we got here, and a few other things.

We are grateful to have found a community of other Christ followers here. It's a small church but such a picture of what I can only imagine Heaven will be like. There are Christians there from India, Chicago, Indonesia, Great Britain, Afghanistan, and Nairobi and those are only the people we have met! Unified in Christ, all belonging to one Body.

This past Sunday, several Indonesian women led worship, and they sang the last song in Indonesian and invited everyone to sing in their preferred language or as they called it, "heart language". Wow. That small gathering of less than 40 people filled the room with the most beautiful symphony of everyone singing together in different languages. No instruments, no fancy lights, the most simple and minimum equipment and Karaoke sing-a-long tracks. And yet it was one of the most powerful times of worship I have ever experienced. I could barely get words out, just had involuntary tears streaming down both cheeks. It was such a reminder to me that God is not impressed with any of the things we can get so caught up in thinking "church" and/or "worship" has to include.

It's all about our hearts. Always about our hearts. ♡

Praying that God will use us there to encourage our brothers and sisters, to serve and give our resources, and to contribute to this community however we can.

This city is such a paradox. So ancient and modern at the same time. Cool and trendy in one corner, run down and out-of-date in the next. So many layers of its 2,200 year history. So many cultures and ethnic groups represented in Tashkent and in the country as a whole. Whenever people find out where we are from, they light up with big smiles appearing on their faces and they say something about how they love America. Almost always followed with a genuine and warm exclamation of "Welcome to Uzbekistan!"

The people really are so kind here. Especially considering that this is the biggest city in the country and I think we subconsciously expected more of a big city Hurried-And-Very-Busy vibe from the locals here. Well, now that I think about it, the taxi drivers can give off that vibe for sure, as they drive like they are in a high speed chase down these massive boulevards. (My life has flashed before my eyes sitting in the backseat of more than one Chevy Spark since we got here 🙈.)

This week I have gone on a couple solo adventures while Carson has been at work. I explored a beautiful botanical garden as well as a lovely park in the city. I'm getting more comfortable using the taxis here and trying to use the tiny Russian and Uzbek vocabulary that I have. I need to work on growing that tiny vocabulary but it does not come easily that's for sure.

We are checking out an area four hours east of Tashkent called the Fergana Valley this weekend, so I'm looking forward to getting out of the city and seeing a more rural part of the country. If you made it this long, thanks for reading my melting pot of thoughts. So long for now!

Below (next 4 pics): The Hast-Imam complex