Assalom Alaykum!

Salom! 

This trip has been QUITE the experience...if anyone (including myself) thought I was coming on a trip along the lines of a vacation, you were wrong-o!  Think more along the lines of a completely immersed immersion program on a solo study abroad accelerated semester.
Everything---and by everything, I mean everything---is different.  While there are many things that are similar to my American way of life, even those things, understandably, have their differences.  Has this experience been a good one?  Yes!  Has it been difficult?  At times!

The biggest challenge has been the communication.  Especially in the first 2 weeks, I was having a pretty hard time not being able to understand anything or speak to anybody.  Since Murod hadn't been home in nearly 6 years, he had a lot of people to see and a lot of things to take care of, and much of the time I was left without him, proving how little my self-taught 4 chapters of Uzbek really got me.  However, his mom and I were able to figure out a communication style based on a lot of grunting noises and simple gestures :) 

The first 1.5 weeks, we were in Tashkent and then came to Murod's home town, Khazarasp, on 9/18, where I felt for the first time I was REALLY in a different place.  We're talking years before Greenfield Village mixed with what you see on TV of super rural middle east or Central America.  Donkeys pulling carts everywhere.  Cows parked on the curb.  Outhouses with a hole cut in the ground allowing you to get your squatting exercises in.  Electricity going on and off throughout the day.  Running out of water from the barrels in the backyard being hosed into the house and going down the road to the well for more water.  Dirt roads with the hugest holes, forcing drivers to swerve erratically while driving.  A runaway sheep in the backyard I caught.  A cow head brought out for the dogs to feast upon. 

From Tashkent to Khazarasp, everybody is incredibly shocked, surprised, amused, and interested at the American bride.  From the day we arrived in  Khazarasp, I was put into "bride mode"...dressed as an Uzbek bride sent to bow to many people.  Dozens of people came to see me between the 18th-21st and it is customary for the new bride to wear a specific coat and veil and bow 3 times and serve tea when someone new comes.  Also, when people come over, they are never, ever left without food.  Fruits, snacks, soup, a main dish, tea, and melon is also brought out.  The day before the wedding, Murod had his party, where all of his guy friends come over and eat & drink, and there were musicians and a dancer.  There were about 30-40 guys all outside, and silly me to think I was staying inside for a quiet night!  20-30 women were inside, along with 20 kids.  It was a good time...especially when the musicians and dancer came inside to entertain us too!

The wedding was on the 21st and attracted 1,000 people.  It was so much fun though...we didn't really have to do anything.  Everybody was coming behind us at the table the whole night to take pictures and they had dancers and musicians.  I ended up not wearing my wedding dress and instead looked like a true Disney princess...(long story)...although I was able to still wear the veil (mom's).  Near the end of the wedding, Murod & I went onto the dance floor for one song where people gave us money and shortly after that, we had our exit.  In the days since the wedding, Murod said people have been telling him it was the best wedding they've been too (but I think that sentiment is caused by their excitement over "the American bride).  They have been saying nobody stands up when the couple has their entrance, rarely do the guests dance, and people typically leave after the 1st hour (ours was about 4)...also, very funny...the videographer had been asking if we would give them our American wedding video so they could sell it, which we didn't do, but they did put our picture up in the wedding venue!!

The date we leave Khazarasp to go to Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand keeps changing, but it looks now as if it will be on the 30th. 

So there's an overall rundown...I will try to post more later!

So Long, Farewell!

Although we had a spectacular time leaving Nashville to get to NY on just 1 hour of sleep at 3:30am after completing the move in, running around trying to figure out where/how to drop the rental car off, blumbering through the airport with our 9 stuffed bags, and etc., I'll leave that portion to your imagination.

After staying overnight in NY, we set out again with the luggage (who knew we carried so much baggage?) and made our way to JFK where we were greeted by a ticket agent that either hates what she does, hates those she does what she does for, or hates that she does not know what she is doing and I had to give her answers to her dilemmas a handful of times. Whichever the case, we eventually finished with her, waited a while, and got on the plane. Lo & behold, we were seated in business class (opposed to the economy we were expecting) fit with fully reclining seats, several meals/snacks, entertaiment tablets, and our flight attendant, who was the first Russian I have ever seen that is a lover of the art of Smiling. The happiest Russian I have ever seen.

We are now on hour 8 of 16 of our super fun layover...but, at least it's nice and cozy & warm in here (sarcasm?)!!

We are obviously and of course very anxious to get to Uz, where Murod's uncle and mom are waiting for us!

Plov!

**Note: Blogger does not make formatting pictures easy!  The pictures below are numbered in correspondence to the numbered directions above, but the pictures may show up all over the place!!!  Click on a picture to enlarge it.**

Plov, or in Murod's dialect, Palov (Uzbek dialect is Osh), is probably as traditional as Uzbek traditional food can get.  It takes attention to detail, time, and a love for oil, but it's really not too difficult to make and sooo easy to eat.

Murod never measures anything, but I forced him to make a pot of plov with measurements.  There are a TON of versions of plov, but this one is customary in Uzbekistan's capital city, Tashkent.  It has carrots, raisins, cumin, and chick peas, where other versions may have other spices,  just rice & meat, etc.

Note: You can make this without meat - just skip over the meat part.  Begin with the onions in the oil.

This recipe takes about 90 mins and made about 10 cups.

To begin, you will need:

• A wide, deep pot
• 1cup vegetable/corn oil (Absolutely no EVOO...sorry Rachel Ray!)
• 3 Carrots (We used 2 fairly large and 1 medium)
• 1 large tomato
• 2 medium, white onions
• Meat (Typically lamb.  Beef is fine, it's just drier)
• 1.5cups/15.5oz chick peas/garbanzo beans --- canned & drained or soaked overnight
• 1cup raisins
• 3cups Uncle Ben's Long Grain Rice (other rices don't seem to do the job)
• 5cups cold water
• 2tsp salt
• 2tbls cumin seeds

 How to make the good stuff:

1. With pot on burner, turn burner on Medium
2. Pour vegetable oil into pot
3. While oil is on the burner, prepare the carrots, onions, and tomato
• Carrots: Clean, cut off ends, cut each in half.  With each half, cut length-wise into wide, vertical strips.  Cut each strip length-wise again making thin, vertical strips (think "french fry" style).
• Onions: Cut into "half-moons"
• Tomatoes: Cut in slices
4. Put meat into oil and fry "well" - turn heat to High and watch out for splashing oil.  Turn the meat over when the underside is browned and continue flipping sides every couple minutes until it's near done.
5. After approximately 5 minutes, or when the meat is very browned, add onions and mix together.
6. When onions are turning soft (about 1-2 minutes), add the carrots and mix together.  Cover the pot with a lid (heat remains on High).  Mix every few minutes.
7. About 15 minutes later (when the carrots begin sticking to the bottom--but still able to be easily scraped/pushed off with the spoon), add tomatoes, mix, & cover.  Lower heat to Medium-High.
8. 5 minutes later, smooth out everything in the pot to prepare for the final ingredients.  Everything will now be "layered", hence the smoothing out process.
9. Add the chick peas and raisins.  Turn heat to Medium-Low
10. Sprinkle in the rice & smooth out
11. Add 3 cups of the water, being sure to distribute evenly.  After the 3rd cup is added, smooth out again - not mixing.  The top should look soupy.  Add remaining 2 cups of water.
12. To be very Uzbek, you need to check if the correct amount of water has been added.  Do this in several places in the pot by placing your middle finger into the top of the water so you touch the top of the rice.  The water should come just below the 1st knuckle.
13. After the water is added, turn the heat up to High & be very sure the heat is directly in the middle of the pot.  The plov should boil.
14. When the boiling starts, sprinkle & evenly distribute the salt and cumin.  Do not mix, but gently smooth into top of rice.
15. Taste the liquid on top to check seasonings & salt.  Adjust as needed.
16. Use the spoon or the handle to poke in many places into the bottom of the pot, allowing the seasonings to go through.  Do not mix.  The rice should not be sticking to the bottom.
17. As the water is getting soaked up, move the rice away from the edges of the pot and lower the heat to Low.  Cover.
18. After 15 minutes, remove the cover (flipping the lid quickly and dumping out the water so the H20 doesn't get in the plov).  Flip the top portion of rice so the other side is facing up.
19. After about 10 mins, plov should be done.  Turn off the heat, mix.
20. Take the meat out and cut into small pieces to put on top of the rice.
21. Eat!




  



1. Wide, deep pot necessary for plov goodness

  



3. Carrots: Clean, cut off ends, cut each in half.  With each half, cut length-wise into wide, vertical strips.  Cut each strip length-wise again making thin, vertical strips.  This picture is cutting into the thin strips.





3. Cut up the onions



4. Add meat - flip while browning

5. Add onions and mix

6. Onions getting soft

6. Add carrots

7. Tomato Time

7. Tomato Time Taste Test

7. Add tomatoes and mix

9. Add chick peas & raisins

10. Sprinkle in rice

10. Smooth out rice

11. Add 3 cups water

11. Add remaining 2 cups of water and smooth out

12. Check water level



12. Check water level in another spot



12. Final water level check - all even!

14. Sprinkle in salt



14. Sprinkle in cumin



15. Smooth out seasonings & taste test





16. Use the spoon or the handle to poke in many places into the bottom of the pot, allowing the seasonings to go through.  Do not mix!

17. As the water is getting soaked up, move the rice away from the edges.

18. Flip top portion over

19. Done!

20. Plated for eating!!