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Oh my it's back to the grind! R and I are having a meeting with my old Uzbek teacher, Ruslan aka, to discuss having some additional lessons for R. Ruslan aka doesn't speak English, which is why I approached Norkhol opa about teaching R first. She is so busy with her newly adopted baby, that R isn't quite getting as many lessons as he wants or needs. 2 a week from Norkhol opa and 2 a week from Ruslan aka should give R a better communicative base.

Then I really do need to go into the institute at some point today. I should have a look at some of the manuscripts in the archives. I haven't finished reading the book I have out on loan though. I'm not sure when they will want it back - I will have to negotiate with the archivist.

I have 3 lessons with Malika opa this week, to make up for the 1 that we had last week. My fingers are sore from working on all the pitch bends in the new piece and I'm starting to get a sexy callous on my middle finger to go with the really nice one on my index finger. (The middle finger callous only appears when I'm really working on something - yeah TMI, I know - but they are a tangible sign of progress).

R is going to help J, one of our American friends, take apart his bed - he has moved for the second time this month - he's a bit loony with indecisiveness, but his sweet demeanor makes it worth hanging out with him.

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wow - today has been productive and surreal enough that I had to log on and post about it.

We've successfully negotiated 2 more lessons a week for R with my former teacher, Ruslan aka. He was very sweet and when negotiating lesson price he said, "I'll take $5 an hour, but on one condition: that Merchimerch sings and plays the dutar for me." It was very sweet and he and R seem to have a good rapport even if he is going to be a lot more hyperactive than R's other teacher, Norkhol opa.

After Ruslan aka left I had some vareniki for breakfast (like pirogies but Russian instead of Polish) and headed to the insitute for an hour or 2 of archival research.

I love it when archival research actually results in something new and interesting - I love it love it love it!

So much of my time is spent wading through Soviet era blather on the chromatism and symphonism of Uzbek composers I want to cut my eyes out with a blunt spoon. But this time, amidst the Soviet blather I saw and entry on the card catalog by Viktor Beliaev, a musicologist who worked in Central Asia in the 30s through the 50's. Beliaev's teacher, Vikor Uspensky is who I thought was the first musicologist to work in Central Asia. I found out today that I was wrong!

Beliaev made a collection of the works of a German violinist named Avgust F. Eikhgorn. Eichgorn apparently lived in Tashkent from 1870-72 and again in the 1880s. He wrote works on Kyrgyz and Sart (what is now called Uzbek) music. I dug up Beliaev's collection of his stuff and am really fascinated.

I want to know who this guy is, and what his real name is - The cyrillicization of his name is especially challenging, since the letter H often becomes G when Russianizing, the 'ei' combo could actually be 'ai,' and the 'x' charachter in Russian transliterates to 'kh,' but I think the sound maps the the German 'ch.' So far as I can tell this guy's name is August Eichgorn or Eichhorn, I will have to do some googling or something to try to track down more.

His descriptions of Uzbek music are interesting, amusing, and telling of Western attitudes about the music - he wrote that all Uzbeks, old and young sing in the highest register, like screaming. I guess we living in a more culturally aware....or at least PC era.

After heading from the institute I went to the Mir supermarket and they had Doritos and Cheetos. I was floored and bought a bag of each (for 330 sum a pop - about $.30) Turns out the Cheetos are peanut flavor and it was the only flavor they had in the store. I just bought them without looking too closely. Apparently in Turkey (the country of origin of these cheetos), they list 4 Cheetos flavor - Cheese, Ketchup, Beefsteak, and Peanut. The taste is too odd for words.

On my way home I picked up my weekly Uzbek Literature and Art newspaper, and browsed my way down the used book kiosks on my way to the metro. I hit a jackpot there too. Something caught my eye that turned out to just be a dictionary, and the bookseller asked me what I was looking for. I answered that I was looking for material on Central Asian music and he shouted back to the guy behind him, asking whether they had anything. Turns out they have a book on dance in the Ferghana valley published in the 70s. He was asking $5 for it, I ended up paying $3. He said he has more at home and I agreed to come back next week to see what else he's got. What a find! Old books here are really hard to get ahold of so I am always looking for Soviet Era books that I can buy.

After the metro ride home I stopped by the veggie truck that was outside our building for the first time in over a week. As I was passing the shoe repair guy, he called to me and said "hey sister, I got your boots ready." I balked for a second and looked as he was waving my boots at me. It clicked and realized R must have given them to him to put some tread on. I said that my husband would be by to pay for them (because after buying the book I had all of 400 sum in my pocket). Then I went to the veggie truck and asked if they had any potatoes today. They guy said that they did, but that my husband (actually he used the word hojain, meaning host or master which I HATE) already bought some. I realized that R had already done pretty much everything I needed for the day, so I headed home.

It's so nice when things work out.