Thursday, May 26, 2005

COSing

Which means Close of Service. That's right, I'm leaving. As are the other 50some people in my group. Our CD (Country Director) asked the government to give us long term visas, or else. And the "or else" is upon us. We're all scheduled to convene in Tashkent by Friday morning, and we will begin departing in the days soon after (by the end of the month, when all our visas run out). There's still a hope of staying, but given the usual speed of the Ubek government, I'd say it is a slim hope.

What does that mean? Well, the CD said that we'd have the option of going back to the US, or maybe transferring to another country. I'm almost sure to do the former, and spend some time thinking about what I'll be doing. We'll get some more info this weekend, and there are some programs leaving in the fall that I might be interested in. But for now, I have no plans.

So if anyone wants to see me, let me know. I'll be heading to Minneapolis first. After that, I have no home to speak of, so whoever can spot me a couch or spare bed will be priveleged to my presence.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Farghana Troubles

Not much to report from my part of Uzbekistan. The uprisings in "the Valley" (Farghana Valley) are fairly distant from here, and unlikely to manifest itself in this area. If things progress into Tashkent (unlikely, IMHO) I'm sure they'll start whisking us away. FWIW, I'm not that far from a couple of (unofficial) borders.