Snob's Platinum

6/20/07
Before you think too hard about what that blog title actually means, I’ll help you out. Yesterday (Tuesday) we were driving in to town (Tashkent) from Andijon and the Fergana Valley. There are loads of billboards here and some nice big signage for some westernish stores. But there was one that caught my eye. It looked to be a men’s clothing store and there was a big sign which said “SNOB’S” and running through the middle in smaller squatter letters it said “platinum.” Do you think they know what a snob is? Or is that the look and attitude that they’re aiming for? Either way, I had a good chuckle.

We had an interesting day in Tashkent. It started out by us looking for the old city, but we didn’t have much luck. So we gave up on the old city and decided to pursue Tashkent the Weird.

First stop: We were looking for some mosque (I’m not sure why, as I’ve mentioned I have tile fatigue), but instead what we found was the official religious offices of Uzbekistan and its affiliated mosque and medrassah. Apparently it’s where the state appointed grand mufti has his office. Women aren’t allowed in one building. Westerners in another.

Second stop: Museum of the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan. This jewel of a museum is set in a large garden, which is adorned with statues of presumably famous Uzbek national military heroes and old artillery and tanks. Inside is even better. The ground floor is dedicated to Amir Timur and his campaigns. There are some cool spears hanging from the ceiling, including ones that have horse hairs tied to them…they are actually called Spirit Banners and hail from a Mongolian tradition. Genghis Khan by Weatherford had a good description of them, which is why I could recognize the spears as Spirit Banners rather than mere spears. Ok, second floor (or first floor depending on how you’re counting) is completely devoted to the Great Patriotic War. Medals, artillery, machine guns, bombs, and much much more all available to see (and touch). There were also great big murals of important campaigns, such as the Battle of Stalingrad. Of course English would have been helpful. The top floor is devoted to the Uzbek military of today. Partnership for Peace photos, more weaponry, and lots of awards from other militaries all adorn the cases. What was missing (and what I had read was there) was information about Frunze’s campaigns in Central Asia. Not that I would have understood the exhibits anyway, but still.

Next stop on our tour was the Railway Museum. I have many nieces and nephews who would have thought this was super cool. It is an old rail yard with dozens of Soviet trains just sitting there. Brightly colored. And just waiting for me to climb on them. So I did, because they wanted to be climbed on. Our driver thought we were crazy in our choices of where we kept on going. He called his boss when we asked him for the military museum to make sure he had understood us.

Our last stop for the day as the Chabad Lubuvitch Synagogue in Tashkent. Nothing to write about other than they thought we had come to have a meeting with the Rabbi and we had to listen to a guided tour of the museum without a translator. Or rather the docent talked and talked and the translator couldn’t translate fast enough or well enough. It was hot. 105 in Tashkent today (or so my mom tells me).

That was pretty much Tashkent for today. Oh, how could I forget?! Tonight we went to the Muqimi Musical Drama Theatre. Tickets ran at 1,500 Sum (just over a dollar) and it was well worth it. In a theatre that can hold 400 people easily there were maybe 40. There was supposed to be lots of singing and dancing. Sadly there was very little dancing, some singing, and a lot of standing and shouting at each other. The story revolved around Babur, the great great (I don’t know how many greats) grandson of Amir Timur. He was also the first Mogul emperor in India. He is venerated here, but I can’t figure out why: after all he lost in battle to the Uzbek tribes and had to flee to India. So why make him so great if he lost to your own people, the Uzbeks? It doesn’t make perfect sense, but I suppose it has something to do with Amir Timur/Tamerlane. So some highlights included: the intermission where I went and bought water and Simba, “sweetened Styrofoam” as my mother described it. It’s a snack in a bag and is basically air and sugar as its two main ingredients. Everyone was buying a bag so I did too. I had three pieces and gave the rest away. Another highlight: there is a theatre employee inside to show people seats, etc. She also would tell people they were talking too loudly. But here’s the kicker: we asked if we could take a picture during the intermissions, so for the rest of the show she would come over and tell us that this was a good scene to photograph and my mom and I had to oblige by photographing most of the second act. She would only leave once we took the picture. And then return five minutes later. After the show we had to oblige the locals once again and pose in family portraits. I’m sure it didn’t help that my mother and I were wearing matching shirts.

Going back to yesterday, Andijon was interesting. The bazaar was quite lively and we purchased some famous Fergana pink rice. I look forward to seeing what color it actually is after cooking. Supposedly it’s very good. I’ll let you know, I bought a kilo. So walking around the bazaar was going very well until we started being followed by a teenage boy who kept on asking questions, which is totally normal here, except that he wanted papers to come to America. Weird. So we left. I went to check out the square in Andijon (surreptitiously) where the riots happened. It was much larger than I had imagined. Not going to write anything more here.

I really enjoyed traveling in the Fergana Valley. There are so many interesting handicrafts that come from that region, it’s just interesting to see them all. Here I’ve been traveling the Silk Road for over the last two weeks and I finally got to see the Silk in Margilan. It tied everything together nicely. We searched for a while in the city of Chust to find the knife factory, but to no avail, it is in hiding.

I think I mentioned the reverence here for Tamerlane but the general abhorrence for Genghis Khan, even though the later is generally thought responsible for the wealth and prosperity that the Silk Road produced. Anyhow, on Sunday morning in Samarkand, we went to the Museum of Regional Studies. It had two side by side display cases. One talked about how Genghis Khan was evil and terrible and the other referred to Tamerlane as a great diplomat and statesmen. Neither statement was true, but I find it interesting how national myths are woven and identity created.

That’s all for now, I’m sure I’m forgetting things, but I’m absolutely exhausted. I’m in Tashkent for one more day and then I’m off to Kyrgyzstan for two weeks. I’ve decided to skip Boratistan for some more time in the mountains.

Dinabek