It has been a really good first year in this place we now call home. Tashkent continues to grow on us, and we feel as though we have settled in nicely. The local coffee shop baristas know our drinks (double espressos with milk, please!), and the Italian restaurant waiters can put in our order before we find a seat. Driving in what seemed like utter chaos has now become rather normal and even fun at times. We also found a great place to hike, a lovely river about 1 1/2 hours from Tashkent. Jumping over boulders, sitting by the rapids and hiking among the cows reminded us of our hikes in Eastern Oregon.
Of course, not all has been peaches and cream, but that comes with the territory and it's easy to find humor in all of it. I mean, how hard can it be to find a shower curtain without purple and pink dolphins gliding through a pale green sky? Pretty hard as it turns out. But when you find that plain white one you've spent 3 weeks searching for, it's all the sweeter.
We're looking forward to year two and the experiences it brings us.
