I Want It All!

It was last winter when my boss first asked if I’d be interested in traveling to Bangkok to be trained as our post’s Equal Employment Opportunity counselor. A topic that interests me and a chance for #yourtaxpayerdollarsatwork to send me to Thailand? I enthusiastically filled in the paperwork.

And then…”due to the government shut down all trainings are postponed until further notice.” Which was a total bummer. But also meant that I was free to go to Astana/Nur-Sultan to work and see more of Kazakhstan.

When they finally reinstated trainings in August, albeit in D.C. instead of Bangkok, I was already scheduled for another Nur-Sultan work trip, so I opted for the September training instead. No sooner had I registered for that then…BOOM! I was offered a totally different training opportunity the exact same week as the EEO training. Training #2 would happen in Bahrain. And I had to say no.

UGH. Sorry to be a common Veruca Salt but…

OK, perspective. No Bahrain or Bangkok is sad. But in just one year I do get D.C., Nur-Sultan (twice), and even Dushanbe.

Instead of focusing on what I can’t do, how about I prioritize what I can do? For me, priorities start with Samarkand.

“Samarkand” sparked my interest in Central Asia when I read an offhand reference to it in a novel, paused, and thought “I don’t actually know where that is.” A few minutes on Google later and I both knew where it was (Uzbekistan) and was ready to go!

But I didn’t go. Those were ancient days of 2012 when all of the ‘Stans had different and intimidating visa requirements and travel logistics seemed daunting for someone like me who’d mostly done European travel. Even the alphabet intimidated me.

Fast forward to 2019 and I’ve had 27 months in Morocco that left me mostly unconcerned about travelling while illiterate. Plus, I’ve learned the cyrillic alphabet (sorta), both of the K’stans now allow visa free travel, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan introduced glitchy but workable e-visas, and Turkmenistan…well, we can’t have everything.

 

 

Don’t let me fool you into think I’ve got it all figured out though. Parts of travel in this region continue to bedevil me. So when a colleague spoke enthusiastically about a travel agency she used, I was quick to get a referral. Someone else managing my point A to point B? Please. A tour guide to provide historical and cultural context? Actually yes. Sure, my favorite tour guide is myself, dramatically reading aloud from a Rick Steves book, but this isn’t Europe! Reading material about Central Asia is scarcer than anywhere else I’ve travelled.

I asked for an itinerary that would take me to:

• Tashkent: the capital of Uzbekistan, and non-negotiable starting point when arriving by air.
• Samarkand/Samarqand: Onetime capital of Tamerlane’s empire.
• Bukhara: Central Asia’s holiest city and home of the infamous bug pit.
• Khiva: Dark history as the home of Central Asia’s largest slave market.

I did have to push back a bit on the original itinerary they prepared which, in an overabundance of concern for my well being or a throwback to days when the Soviets assigned all western visitors a minder, assigned me a tour guide for every waking moment.

We finally settled on an acceptable mix of alone time and tour guide time, all for a friendly price.

Admittedly, it’s all extra easy because #yourtaxpayerdollarsatwork already hauled me as far as Kazakhstan, leaving me free to arrive in Uzbekistan without the jetlag and credit card debt I’d get with a flight from the U.S. Still, I hope someone from the USA reads this and thinks, “I too could travel to Samarkand!”

I finish my two weeks in Nur-Sultan in a couple days, after which I’ll fly to Tashkent via Almaty. From there it’s planes, trains, and automobiles across Uzbekistan.

I’m a little (a lot?) nervous about putting myself in someone else’s travel planning hands, but excited about finally seeing these cities. Wish me luck, watch this space for updates, and look me up if you’re in D.C. in September. I will not be in Bangkok or Bahrain.

Do I Know What I Did This Summer?

While the first rule of Foreign Service Facebook Club seems to be don’t talk about FS Facebook Club, (a recent leak to the Washington Post recently caused a mini-scandal) I think it’s ok if I share that there is such a group where FS people trade advice and insights and that a recurring theme is the struggle with friends and family back home who are totally disinterested in, or even hostile to, this life.

Crikey! I am very lucky that, at least for now, many people in my “real” life show genuine interest in what I am doing. With such a supportive and interested audience I should blog more–or do more things worth blogging about. But it’s been a lazy summer.

Which is such a difference from last summer. I get daily reminders of “one year ago” as I’m inundated with emails like, “Time to retake your annual online cyber security training!” or “Time to pay the annual premium on that insurance we scared you into buying during last year’s orientation!”

Indeed, it’s now been over a year since my life was packed up and moved into a government warehouse. I made it through the whole moving across the country, blazer-wearing, choose your favorite “so you’ve died overseas and don’t want body retrieval to be a burden to your family” insurance options, here’s your temporary home right off of “Jefferson Davis Highway” experience. Then, did you hear? I also moved to Kazakhstan! Say what you’d like about that process but at least it kept me busy.

This summer has been one long nap in comparison. But I’ve had a few active days.

Lake Issyk

Kazakhstan is full of natural beauty to enjoy. The consulate organized a day trip to nearby Lake Issyk (not to be confused with the similarly named Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan). This lake was created by a natural dam many eons ago but a landslide in the ’60s destroyed the dam and caused massive flooding, and in turn I think many deaths. The current incarnation was remade with human assistance and is a popular weekend getaway spot.

En route to the lake is the Esik Kurgan museum, near where archeologists in 1969 unearthed the body of The Golden Man, a circa 2nd century BCE Scythian warrior recovered from a burial mound (“kurgan”) and decked out in a full suit of golden armor. “The Golden Man” has become a major symbol of Kazakhstan, depicted on statues and currency. If you’re in the lesser Washington, you can see a Golden Man statue outside the Kazakh embassy.

Burial mounds still litter the area but alas, the contents within have long since been plundered. 

Lake Issyk

Golden Man Armour

Real mountains in the back, burial mound in the front

Lake Issyk

Lake Issyk

 

London

Over the 4th of July I embraced the yoke of British oppression with my phenomenal relatives in London. I am very very lucky, not just to have people who welcome me into their home time and time again, but also that I’ve had the resources and opportunities to take advantage of their hospitality. I’ve visited enough times now that instead of feeling like I MUST SEE ALL THE IMPORTANT SIGHTS, I can chill out a bit and see a select few things. Although anyone who knows Chris knows we still kept plenty busy.

I asked if I could get a family portrait to put on the family and friends picture wall I am building. Of 11 snaps I took, I had ZERO where everyone was looking at the camera with their eyes open (Andrew was the most consistent about looking at the camera. His parents? Well…) So I decided to choose this one for my wall. While no one is looking at the camera, I think it captures the fun and friendly banter they enjoy with each other so it makes me happy to look at!

I mentioned I’d recently read Orlando by Virginia Woolf, so might be interested in seeing Knole House, the ancestral home of Vita Sackville-West, as that person and place partially inspired the novel. Of course Chris did one better and arranged we go to Knole and nearby Sissinghurst Castle Garden, where Vita made her home after “having lady parts” legally prevented her from inheriting Knole.

Knole House: ancestral home of Vita Sackville West

Knole House staircase

Carved Screen in the Great Hall

Sissinghurst Castle Garden, home of Vita Sackville-West

Back in the city, which was beautifully decked out for London Pride, we went to two different plays (one serious and feminist, one hilarious and feminist) and stopped at some monumental tourist sights like the bookshop from “Notting Hill”, Portobello Road Market, and The Kensington Wine Rooms. 

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Bruce and I visited a lovely Van Gogh exhibit at the Tate Britain, and then Chris gave me tips about how I could get into the sold-out Dior exhibit at the V&A.

The line for “day of” Dior hopefuls

If you get a squidgy “this feels like cultural appropriation” feeling, it’s a safe bet this was from John Galliano’s years with Dior.

 

Too few days, but nonetheless a mini-break filled with excellent company and enjoying the atmosphere of one of the world’s greatest cities. I returned to Almaty with four new books plus several more book recommendations courtesy of my cousin Bruce, which perhaps contributed to subsequent weekend decisions to stay holed up in my apartment for at least one whole day. Those books won’t read themselves!

In 2012 I read a book from this shop that made passing reference to Samarkand. Where’s Samarkand? I thought. That was the beginning of a journey that landed me in Central Asia!

 

Goodbyes and Hellos

While the things that made up my life were packed up and moved last summer, the people (and places and beer selections) were not only not moved but they continue on without me there, showing up in Facebook posts featuring people I love enjoying the lakes and parks of the upper midwest and the outdoor decks at Pacific Northwest brew pubs. I’d be lying if I said homesickness didn’t creep in.

But at least I can take comfort in some of the great new people I’ve met since then, right?

Sigh…

People come and go from the FS all the time. And while it happens throughout the year, “school’s out for summer” tends to be the busiest transfer season to accommodate families with children. Thus, the tidal wave of goodbye parties. Depressing.

But let’s turn that frown upside down. In addition to goodbye events, there have been several welcome events, excursions to restaurants like the all you can eat Brazilian meat festival, and meetings of The Almaty Manhattan Club, organized by a colleague for the purpose of teaching Almaty bartenders what a Manhattan even is. It’s daunting work but you know I am civic-minded.

Before the Almaty Manhattan Club

After the Almaty Manhattan Club

Next I head back to Nur-Sultan for TDY (temporary duty) after which I plan to go to Uzbekistan for a bit of vacation. Then my first summer will be over and I’ll be staring down my one year anniversary in Kazakhstan!