Flying to Uzbekistan

This has been the most difficult and lonely part of my trip. Don’t take that as an Oh my gosh, Renee is struggling message, but rather an, Oh my gosh, Renee is learning message. The English speakers are far and few between in this part of the world, and there are few tourists, so having a conversation even as far as ‘How are you doing today?’ is rare. It’s been a real opportunity for me to sit back and be with my own thoughts, something I was able to do in the first part of this journey because I wanted to, but now because I simply have no other choice. All of that being said, I should note that I’ve passed by a handful of English schools in Uzbekistan, so perhaps there will be more in the next few years. As I’ve written and questioned before though, what does globalization do to a culture, and how are we taking away the special things about each place in the world by injecting a common language?

I took a short flight from Kazakhstan to get to Uzbekistan. The Yandex Go (Central Asia’s version of Uber) cost me less than $3 to get to the airport, which was a 30-minute drive. Everything is incredibly, incredibly cheap in this part of the world. At the airport, as I was pulling out a very ragged covid mask, a man waiting in line handed me a fresh one from his packet. We smiled at each other and as I was putting on his much more functional mask, he handed me about six more. Not a word was exchanged, he just smiled, and took my old mask over to the trash can across the room. He has no idea I’m writing about him today – of course, he wouldn’t – but I want to remember this strange man who ultimately was sending a message of “I want you to be safe and well.”

Meeting Irina

Once I arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, I met a woman who has been a part of my journey for the last four days. We smile together, we fight together, and we don’t speak any of the same words. This woman, who I believe is named Irina (quite ironic given that Renee stems from Irina), is probably in her 50s and might be the hardest working person I’ve ever met.