A trip to Tashkent Zoo

Our Apartment (please excuse the mess)

Exploring our neighbourhood on International Women's Day

Uzbek Update

We arrived Tashkent almost three weeks ago and it's been pretty hectic ever since.  The following are some of the highlights:

• We have been warmly received by the MSF team.  There is always a settling in period for new expats and we felt well supported and truly welcomed.
• Alex picked-up a fever the night before our departure from Phuket and got worse as the week progressed, eventually developing a slight case of pneumonia.  A visit to the International Health Clinic put on the path of recovery and he is fine now.  The Clinic was also interested in whether Thipp might be interested in doing some skill development work with their nurses.
• The hand-over with my predecessor, Cam, went very well.  I have inherited a well functioning department with a strong team.  This is good because there will be some challenges for me to focus on.  The staff found it mildly interesting that we are both from the same part of Canada and have Asian wives.  Adding to the coincidence Cam and I both lived on the same UVIC residence floor (1st SAC) seventeen years apart.
• Using a property agent Thipp found us a nice two bedroom apartment in a great part of the city and only about a twenty minute walk to the office.  The building looks somewhat decrepit from the outside, but the inside is probably nicer than the carriage house we rented in Vancouver.  As the Financial Coordinator I was pleased that she didn't select the most expensive place that she looked at.
• During my first week Cam and I went out for dinner with two partners from an accounting firm  we deal with.  It was a stereotypical Uzbek experience, including a restaurant inside a yurt, a folksinger playing local classics on his guitar, and many speeches and toasts of vodka. I lost count of the number of vodka shots (my best guess is nine) and I was surprised that I felt okay the next morning.  I guess those years at UVIC paid-off.
• Last weekend was a holiday.  Tuesday was National Women's Day, which included flowers, cake and a day off of work.  National Men's Day was the week prior and we got cake.
• Alex started pre-school yesterday and seems to be happy to go.  Thipp thinks that this school will be better than the one he attended in Phuket.
• Tashkent is even nicer than expected.  There are plenty of impressive Soviet era buildings and wide boulevards.  People are reserved but courteous and it is very safe.

Uzbekistan