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Stories and Reflections

0 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Stories and Reflections

Across the border to Jordan we go!

The bus system in Israel is efficient, relatively cheap, and they even have free wifi (which is a hot commodity in Uzbekistan and you better believe I used every minute of it). After a few relaxing days in Tel-Aviv we boarded the Egged bus for the southern resort town of Eilat.

We took the bus on a Sunday so it was nearly filled with soldiers going back from their weekend leave. I’d recommend keeping this in mind when planning your trip. The landscape going south was dry and arid. As we reached closer to the border with Jordan, it looked like some sort of lunar landscape. Although we had boarded a bus to the Israeli town of Eilat, we had our sites set on the small town of Aqaba on the Jordanian side of the Red Sea.

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0 In Israel/ Jordan/ Middle East/ Palestine/ Stories and Reflections

Away we go: from Central Asia to the Middle East

A year ago I fell prey to one of those silly internet bucket lists. You know, the ones titled “10 Things Every 25 year-old Should Know” or “96238347 Places to Visit Before 30”. At first you feel inspired and then you just feel like a couch potato doing nothing while everyone else figures out all the bullet points to being a real adult. I hate those. Around the same time I read an article about how writing down goals makes you more likely to accomplish them. Feeling both inspired, agitated, and in a bit of a standstill with life I decided to write down 25 things I’d like to do while I’m 25. I’m stubborn, so as I wrote down numbers one, two and twenty-one I knew I’d do them even if friends thought it was a bit overly ambitious. Now folding 1000 paper cranes, I don’t know how I ever thought I could actually do that.

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0 In Central Asia/ Stories and Reflections/ Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: Adventures in Home Appliances

I should start this off by saying: I’m a horrible cook and I have no interest in becoming a better one. I wish that cooking interested me, and it slightly does in the company of friends, but mostly I just like to eat good food…..prepared by other people. It’s a shame, and I’m sure hugely disappointing for my mother. I should also say, that while I have somehow managed to work my way through some challenging situations, I often don’t have common sense in the most obvious of situations.

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0 In Central Asia/ Stories and Reflections/ Uzbekistan

Culture Shock in Central Asia

Well, I’ve arrived. And I officially now live in Central Asia.

I can’t really remember the past 3 days of my life. I remember leaving on Thursday, spending a short bit in Istanbul, and now I’ve seemed to land myself in an apartment in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Of all the distances I’ve gone, traveling to Central Asia has been the longest and most exhausting. I slept all of Saturday and still feel in a bit of a daze. Teaching starts tomorrow so I better snap out of it quick. I’m starting to have the normal first day jitters—although I have walked far into the unknown already.

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