2003-02-26 - 1:02 p.m.
Buvijon, my counterpart Kasimjon's two year old daughter, knows two English terms. One is "Kevin-aka", or Kevin my brother. The other is "Monopoly". Yep, monopoly has taken Xisarak by storm. About a month back I received the Parkers' Brothers game in a package from home. I gave it to Kasimjon and his family. Since that time I have not visited without the game being pulled from its storage under the tableclothe. Then we push back the non (bread), move the tea off the table, pull up the table clothe, and deal out the money. Kasim, his sons, and two daughters are all well versed in the rules. Sadoqat, the nine year old, always calls the top hat, and Kasim takes the apple pie. I usually go with the Liberty Bell. This is the special American addition, so some names and pieces are different, but the game is the same. For Saodat's birthday, Kasim's older duaghter, she and her 13 year old freinds played. Then last week for my host father's birthday we played. And when some American guest came to Parkent, new trainees who were visiting sites, and we played. Kasim won, and put the Americans in their place.
But his comment the night before was what stuck me. He was telling me that Holimboy, our physics teacher and another man, the director of Xisarak's local school, stopped in at Kasim's house the night before. He said, not to my surprise, that they played Mononpoly. He said that because he has played before, he knew to buy property and build houses. But, although he explained the rules repeatedly, Holim and the director did not buy, but kept their money, try not to spend it on anything. And of course in the end they lost. "But now they know that they must invest in property to win," he said. It was amazing. This is a concept not easily expressed in a former communist country. But Kasim got it, and Holimboy was learning. So on Sunday, we were invited to Holimboys home for dinner and monopoly. We ate palov, the national dish, played monopoly, and only took a short break to turn on the TV (one channel) and watch the Uzbek lotto drawing. Holimboy's second job is to sell lotto tickets at the bazaar. He also sells some out of his apartment. So as we watched, seconds before the drawing, neighbors knocked at the door. Holimboy's children gathered around the TV with a pen, a book (hard surface to write on) and a ticket. As the numbers were read, they crossed off the numbers. After 15 minutes, we had four losers. So we returned to the game. I made perhaps the greatest comeback in Monopoly history, owning only one color set, and wiping the others with more out. But it was midnight before Kasim and I left, having finished the game late. As I dragged myself through school the next day, I saw Kasim talking on the phone in the office. He was laughing. He looked at me and said that Holimboy did not show up for work this morning, and the calls to his home were fruitless. But we had our suspicions that Monopoly might be being played as we spoke.
