I just have to make this post. So last night Peace Corps put us up in a hotel nearby the office here in Tashkent. Since the place we stayed at during our counterpart conference was kind of a dump (or as I dubbed it, Soviet Nouveau,) I was not expecting much. Thankfully, such was not the case. After a wonderful dinner at a place called the Greenhouse – where we sat in a wooden teepee – I headed over to the place. My supposed roomate had already checked in, but the guys at the front desk decided to give me my own room. Hey what the heck, I’m certainly worth it. I walk into the room and it is clean, the bathroom is not nasty, AND is stocked with western style toilet paper. To my dear little Peace Corps self this was quite the victory.
The next plesant surprise came when I turned on the little TV mounted on a shelf – Cable! But I was tired and went to bed. Turns out I wake up at 5 in the morning today, so I turn on the TV and flip through the channels. This is big time, folks: BBC World, CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, an English language German station and an English language South Korean station. So I spent a few hours blissfully in bed watching TV.
Now I must mention something here. Of course the cable lineup offered the standard Uzbek fare – i.e. the state run channels. So, after watching the incredibly slick German station’s newscast for a while, I flip over to 1TV, the gem of the Uzbek broadcast system. From the polished news anchor in modern Berlin I’m transported to the image of an 84 year old Uzbek woman, with about 2 teeth total, playing her little round drum. It’s amusing, and the contrast is still registering in my mind, so I stick with it. After she finishes playing her drum, it’s time for her to sing – yep, I said it, sing. Now imagine an 84 year old woman singing a song best performed by a much younger artist. On some of the high notes (dear old thing,) it sounded like she was being mauled by a pack of wild dogs – – I could not help but laugh.
Other TV experiences included the Jetsons in Russian (yes, the opening theme song was also in Russian,) a man in Africa feeding a giraffe from his 2nd floor bedroom window, plenty of info on the Michael Jackson trial and a touching story about children sans limbs on News Night with Aaron Brown. To top it all off, a delicious all you can eat buffet breakfast was included.
I know, to you folks back in the US or other 1st world countries, this hardly sounds like somthing to inspire great joy. But after three months here it was very well appreciated. And now I’m off, wish me luck.
I have always wondered. When it is said that cable has global reach are the channels translated into the local language? So when you are watching Aaron Brown’s News Night in Uzbekistan, are there Uzbek subtitles so the locals can understand (maybe this is obvious but I don’t know for sure).
“Other TV experiences included the Jetsons in Russian (yes, the opening theme song was also in Russian,) a man in Africa feeding a giraffe from his 2nd floor bedroom window”
That sounds so interestign to watch. I would love to watch a man feeding a giraffe from a 2nd floor bedroom window. When i think about that image, I see a giraffe walking up to a house and a man sitting in the window feeding the giraffe. I remember when I was in Yellow stone Park, people would walk up to the Bison and try to feed it. This is an incredibly dangerous thing to do but people did it anyway.
Random trvia: did you know that a Giraffe has a black tounge?
No, but that’s the kind of thing that’s good to know, BT.
And in response to the first question, again no. Most Uzbeks do not understand English. Those with the money to afford elaborate satellite systems are much more likely to.
Well then, that is very interesting. So, it is the images that have global reach, not what is said. Maybe that is why it is the material culture that is so widespread and/or desired and not the thinking aspect of American culture. Sooooooooo Happy 🙂 to hear from you. XXXXOOOO
I’m glad you got a decent hotel room with non-nasty toilets. That seems like a small thing, but I know how small details like that can make a difference. I bet it was nice to see those familiar channels again. And wow, Uzbeki rock videos sound pretty different from American ones. Did they have somebody try to rip off her babuschka at the end of the song?
Good thing you’ve got Tex to keep you up to date on animal biology. I would imagine that the color of a giraffe’s tongue is the first thing the kids would ask you about – I’ve heard that this is highly classified information 😉