Settling in...

Ok, so I have arrived in Ferghana (it can be spelled about ten different ways). Actually, I arrived on Oct. 8, but who's paying attention to details. It's a small town of a little over 200,000 people. It is nice here in comparison to Bishkek. The roads are paved, the sidewalks are tiled, the streets are lined with trees and flowers and the buildings are painted in somewhat bright colors. People here are friendly and I don't fear for my life when I walk down the street at night. My two months of Russian aren't all that valuable here, as most speak Uzbek. Makes conversation a bit difficult. People are still friendly just the same. There are very few expats living here; a few peace corps people (and half of them are leaving or left) and 3 or 4 others that work for NGOs. It's taking a little bit of time to adjust to living in such a small town. Things here are quiet and since it is Ramadan, even more so.

I like the house I picked, but it is a lot of room for one person. Hopefully people will come visit and take up some space. Judging by what other volunteers got, I've got it pretty good. I'm so happy not to be on central heat. Not only that, but I have climate control for every room that works by remote control. Come to think of it, I'm spoiled with convenience for this part of the world. Microwave, washing maching, 2 phone lines, satellite with 400+ channels and lighting with battery backup (for those times the power goes out - about once a day). Let me not forget the sauna... excellent for relaxing or drying clothes. One last thing that most Americans would find amusing, a bidet. If the food doesn't agree with you and all you have is sandpaper (that people claim is t.p.) to use, then you will understand why this is almost a necessity.

It is kind of interesting being a minority for the first time in my life. Half the time people just think I'm Russian. If I wanted to, I could probably pull it off since their Russian is about as good as mine. Most of the time I tell them where I'm from and I get one of two responses: 1) "Oh, the governator Schwarzenegger" or 2) "Oh, sin city, casinos and mafia." The second response confused me for a second the first time I heard it, then I realized they thought I said Las Vegas and not Los Angeles. Now I just say Hollywood (or Gollyvood as it's pronounced in this part of the world). I stand out a bit, but it really depends on how I dressed or if I'm talking. It isn't like I'm the first ghostly white person they've seen. On the other hand, black people are still somewhat of a mystery/attraction to locals. Some want to take pictures my black friends, while others just point and whisper.

I'm still undecided about using this site for blogging, but I figure I can always copy things over later. If I don't start writing now, I'll never get around to it. If they ever fix the download issues here, I'll have get a copy of Moveable Type or something running on my own site. I've got a lot of random observations, now if only I could remember them...