Greetings

The editors
ZOOM CA: Thank you.

First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Olga Kubrak and I am 17 years old. Although I was born in Tashkent I have spend most my life abroad, in the Sultanate of Oman to be exact. After a very long break I came to Tashkent this summer to visit my grand parents, and it just so turned out that I decided to stay and study here. A lot of people question this decision, so let me justify myself.

Living in Oman, walking along the shore of the Arabian Gulf and sun tanning each season of the year, I still couldn.t get my childhood memories out of my head. I missed the simplest things the most, such as wearing huge warm jackets during the winter, taking the metro or eating Uzbek cuisine. When I came for a visit this year, I was astonished by how much my country has achieved in the short period of time that I was away. I was surprised to see the new roads, new businesses, and new universities and of course the huge environmental awareness that Tashkent now engaged itself in. When driving around the city you see school children planting trees, posters that caution citizens about pollution are visible and cleaning up schemes are taking place everywhere. All this makes me proud of my country.

Living abroad you tend to take for granted the fast food chains, the international brands, the monstrous speed of the internet and the everlasting sunshine. Upon my arrival, I felt like a child who experiences something for the first time and stands watching it, eyes wide open. I was overjoyed and stunned; when it rained, when I first heard the thunder, when I got my shoes wet in a puddle, when my fingers froze during the winter, when I took the overcrowded metros and even when I bought freshly made bread in the market.

I watched the seasons change from summer to autumn to winter like a 2 year old would watch cartoons on the television. With the same simple curiosity and bedazzlement. I loved the sound of autumn leaves crunching below my feet, watching the birds head south in September, watching the playful snow flakes fall around me and the fog consume the familiar streets.
If you ever question the imprint that a visit to Tashkent leaves upon an expatriate, you ought to know that the memories are nothing but those of the good times and newly made friends. The rich culture of the country, its famous and delicious cuisine and especially the responsive and caring citizens all contribute to an unforgettable stay in the capital of Uzbekistan.

The editors
ZOOM CA: Thank you Olga for such a lovely letter! We look forward to your future letters.
Who's that Man?

In the last edition of Zoom you might have noticed a white man wearing a tubiteika and glasses juggling a piece shashlik and a piece lepeshka very intensely. The man pictured is none other than the American journalist Kevin Grubb, and this photo was taken in the fall of 2003 in the Ferghana Valley. Later on that year, sadly I lost contact with Kevin. I had long wondered what Kevin was up to. On May 20, I stopped wondering. On this date in Cafй Demir there he was! To be honest, he recognized me first, and, after we had caught up on old times, he asked me if I had heard of a magazine which had published his photo. In response, I proudly took out of my handbag the very April issue of Zoom in which Kevin appears on page 28 and presented it to him. Well, I happy to report that Kevin was so happy that he immediately suggested becoming our correspondent in Tajikistan! This time, I was the happy one! Thank you Kevin so much for your kind offer. We look forward not only to seeing more of your face in our magazine, but also to reading your thoughts on life in Tajikistan.

To all of our readers, we welcome you to send us any of your letters and photos related to Central Asia. If you have a photo of a spitting camel or a meditating Mulla, a sparking mosque, or a questioning police officer send it to us. In short, send us any letter or photo you have that captures a moment in the life of Central Asia and we'll be happy to publish it.

The editors
ZOOM CA.

Dear readers, I am so glad that I got a chance
to tell about my trip to
Washington D.C in April 2005.

My trip to Washington D.C was organized by the Exchange organization PIE (Pacific Intercultural Exchange). There were a lot of exchange students (about 36 or 38), from many different countries such as Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil and of course from different former USSR countries.
We traveled in the bus. It was a lot of fun - I really enjoyed this trip. The most interesting was when we got there and visited White House right next day. Guess what? We went in side the visitors center of White House and there was amazing art work and architecture. First I could not believe that I was there - it was my dream to see the White House. Then we went to Embassy row which was through Pensilvaniya avenue. I was so proud to see my country's flag vapor in the wind among all these other countries flags. Then next day we went to visit a few museums of which I liked Holocaust and Spy museums. It was a good opportunity for me to get to know more about Ameri can history and its role during the World War II.

Later we headed to Lincoln's statue - it was quite big and high. After that we took pictures with my international friends. Our chaperons prepared us and told us not to get excited and to keep quite when we go to the next place which was Kennedy`s grave sight and we had to keep silence in respect of veterans and Kennedy`s honor. Kennedy wasAmerica`s youngest president. It was quite difficult not to communicate becouse we had only three days to know and talk to each other; we just did not want to loose a time. Next day we had to be in the bus by 6:00 am. Obviously everybody was so sleepy, becouse our chaperons gave us all night to socialize with each other as we were leaving and never going to see each other again. So at the bus all of us were in a hurry to get each other`s e-mail addresses. And I just could not believe that it was over - three awesome days and now we had to leave. Everybody was crying, hugging promising to write to each other. What I gained from this trip was that I made friends from several countries and nationalities. I socialized with these people and I have my own point of view about this countries and nationalities. But most importantly my dream has come true. I saw Woshington D.C and almost saw the president of United States - he was passing by in his car. The person who made this possible was my mother - she is my mom and friend and my perfect fan. She was so excited for me and ready to give her everything for my success. Thanks to her support i made it to America. I thank everybody and FLEX staff that prepared me for this programm.