an Uzbek civic lesson

Sherzod was a delight to ride for hours with, both going to and coming from yurt camp. He was willing to discuss any aspect of life in Uzbekistan, and was just as happy with silence. He was ideally suited to answering questions about current events and politics in the region, based on his education, his language skills and his having lived under Soviet rule and then independence.

Babies are born in hospital, not at home (except gypsies). Education and healthcare are provided free. Sherzod's opinion is that their education and health care is better than of the other former Soviet republics, but not as good as the Baltic states. Home ownership is the norm here, even in flats or apartments. In a village, when a couple gets married, they build a house, with help from the community. In the city they must buy rather than build, but it is common to do so.

I asked if anyone still works with camels, and he said that there are nomadic people deep in the desert who still use them regularly.

Sherzod seems to have a good grasp of what is going on in the Ukraine. He explained, but I did not follow it well, the division that has been present historically. He talked about the first snow happening there recently, and the country has been without gas (natural gas) for heating and other purposes for months. Russia is refusing to sell them more until they pay some up front, because they already owe something like $6 million, I can't recall the number now, it might have been in the billions. That's in US dollars. He was talking about something happening now that winter is here.

We talked about the US too, he is well informed about world affairs and like much of the world, he keeps up with US politics. He said too that the mass migration that took place after independence was mostly Jews, and while some went to Israel, most went to New York City. "No one who goes to the US ever comes back" he said. Surprisingly he felt there was no anti-Semitism in Uzbekistan, and hadn't been. Hard to say, I know that Russia did some forced resettlement of Bukharan Jews, but I have never read whether Uzbeks did too.

Sherzod is fairly well traveled, and has a quite balanced world view in my opinion. I don't know how representative he is as a Uzbek, but I feel fortunate to have spent time with him.