December 30, 2019. Uzbek Mafia; Mar a Lago in Tashkent; Markets; Mosques

Greetings from Tashkent on the 30^th of December

Where to begin…. First, a few pieces of information I didn’t mention in previous notes:

The Metro (pronounced “meeetro” – so now we can ask to find the station; Uzbekis do not seem familiar with any variations to pronunciation) is amazingly clean (almost immaculate) and very safe. Every station has at least two policemen (so far only males) at the entrance and every platform there are two more cops (sort of transit cops) inside the station (mostly they seem to chat with one another all day). There is no litter, no gum on the floors, no graffiti, no begging, no one sleeping in the station. And there is at least one babushka-clad sweeper on each platform — bending down with a small whisk-style brush and an antiquated dust bin made of metal. I think by now we’ve been in more than half of the stations and platforms and I can say with confidence that the above is true. The stations are a bit like museums.

Anyway, we’re quite proficient now changing trains and moving about without hesitation. There aren’t any elevators or escalators – only stairs, So, not sure what people with disabilities do. Clearly we haven’t seen any on the trains.

So, last night we asked the hotel for a recommendation for a local restaurant, with good food, casual, and located in a neighborhood. They suggested strongly that we go to Obi-hayot, which was about a 20-minute taxi ride from the hotel. The further we got, the more we thought we were truly headed into an interesting neighborhood and a small local restaurant. Alas, we finally arrived at Obi-hayot which is huge! We walk in and there was absolutely deafening music blasting.. but we learned there was a wedding going on and the music was in a private area (wedding looked like about 200 guests at least – the tables were set in a stepped fashion so that everyone could see the show. So we were escorted into a small supposedly quiet restaurant area. There were about 10 tables set for four to six people at each. About four tables were occupied. As soon as we sat down we knew we were in for an unexpected evening. There was a constant show going on… very loud.. with performers changing about every 10 minutes. It was like a bad cabaret; many of the performances were 1920-flappers and gangsters wearing striped zoot suits!

We’re pretty certain, based on two of the tables that this restaurant is part of the Uzbeki mafia. Two of the tables had men in their 60s with “dates” in their late 20s or early 30s. They were ordering up a storm, dancing from time to time… and the 60-year old guys were trying oh so hard to be cool. Then a Santa-style performer came out and tried to engage the audience, including us… in a strange set where he would sing (or scream) something and then he brought the mic to a table and you were supposed to copy.

We feigned ignorance and tried to ignore it all, but when the mic was in our face and everyone else (by now the only people left were the two tables of mafioso who had participated in the game)… we uttered something. The 60-year old guys were wearing tight jeans and tee shirts (with large bellies overflowing their belts); the women were all in very tight very short skirts with 4” spiked heels (needle-thin) and low cut tops. (I was clearly over-dressed in a black turtleneck sweater.) One of the guys wore a tee shirt that said “Working Hard at Hardly Working” in English. He was at a different table with his two dates… one a tall slender platinum blonde with a giant tattoo on her left shoulder that looked like a dragon.

Mike says that even the Sopranos would not find these guys classy enough to be part of their “family.”  Two of the guys looked like they probably have met up with Giuliani… and maybe Trump would be eating here if he were visiting Tashkent. It had a bit of a mix of the Catskills, Mar a Lago, Las Vegas. All of this group was vaping at some point in the evening.

Actually the food was good, and the evening could have been enjoyable. We were also hit up with a fee for the performance! We headed out as soon as we finished dinner (an eggplant appetizer salad; two kinds of manti; kebabs; and a sort of cheesecake for dessert).

Lots to say about today’s exploration of Chorsu Bazaar.. and I’ll try to write about it when we get back from tonight’s dinner.. at a restaurant we read about called National Food… which the hotel says is not really the name, but that’s how it’s written up in all of the guides we scanned.

More to come in a few hours.

Fern