Living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for nearly one year has been both exciting and informative. Meeting the local people in the city streets and the bazaars has been an adventure. To travel through this complex country to Samarkand, Khiva, and Bukhara and seeing with our own eyes the cultural diversity, has been rewarding. To walk through the Bazaars and experience the flavors and odors of dried fruit, wonderful spices and exotic fruit and vegetables, is a lesson in life not easily forgotten. These warm, friendly people with their exotic dress,and be welcomed by their golden smiles, as they invite you into their homes, makes the experience worthwhile. Seeing the 'Old Silk Road' for me has been a wonderful learning experience, so different from life in a western country.