Well, really, the countdown has already begun. We leave Tashkent in less than two months. It's difficult to believe, but we're now looking at what we have around our house, and trying to figure out what we will give away or sell, what we will put into long term storage, what we will need while in the States for three months, and what will ultimately follow us to our next post, which will be Chennai, India. I don't know that I've posted that in the blog, but, yes, we will be in south India from late September, for a similar two year stint.

Celebrating Christmas halfway around the world presents its own challenges. Christmas trees are hard to come by (we bought a small artificial tree at rather a high price). Most people here don't mark Christmas in the same way (New Year's is bigger).

It’s been seven months—seven months—since I last posted a blog entry.

So much has happened in 7 months. 

The biggest being that I lost my younger brother, Stephen, to suicide. Not a day has gone by that this hasn’t affected me. Blogging about life in Uzbekistan pales next to that. It seems so unimportant, really.

But, sola resurgit vita—Latin for “life alone goes on.” This is a line from an obscure Cat Stevens song that has always resonated with me. It seems especially meaningful these days…

Quick entry, after another long-ish break.

We were out on Sunday, having lunch and then going to the Japanese Gardens here in Tashkent. Two little things:

Welp, another long break in the blog. I guess I'm just not cut out for this whole blogging thing... 

Good god, but a lot has happened since I last wrote (and I won't go into politics).

We went to the Czech Republic over Christmas break, which was fabulously beautiful. Alex liked it so much, he announced he wanted to move there when he grew up. There were a lot of castles everywhere, and it was magical, with the trees crusted with a shimmery frost that lent a fairy kingdom feel to everything. It was cold, though!