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www.groovekorea.com / February 2014 54 DEsTInATIOns Edited by Josh Foreman (joshforeman@groovekorea.com) Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, was a modern city in the Soviet era. By the time I got there, that era had passed. Buildings had fallen apart, like the regime. The next morning, not wanting to waste mon- ey on bus fare, I decided to walk to the Uzbek National Bank. New cities are best explored on foot, at a leisurely pace, but I was on a mission. After inserting my card, the UNB’s machine buzzed until the screen read “no means.” Now, I am certainly not rich, but I do have a few means. The machine could not recognize my Kore- an-issued Visa card. Maybe because it did not have an electronic chip? The same setback had happened before, in Cuba and on small islands in the Philippines. It was not a big deal then, as a bank clerk had always solved the problem by plugging directly into my bank account. Inside the bank, the un-automated teller in- formed me with a blank expression that my ac- count had “insufficient funds.” “Try another card,” he said. “Do I look like I have several cards in my wal- let?” I wanted to reply. But I abstained. I didn’t want to piss him off; I needed cash. “I do have sufficient funds,” I said. “Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. I left. Walking along the street aimlessly, I spotted an omen. A beacon. A sign. An adver- tisement, for Korea Development Bank. “My people,” I thought. “They’ll help me.” I asked to talk to the manager. He was not Korean. Not that it would have helped, nec- essarily, but at least I could have flashed my Shinhan Bank card, my E-1 Korean residency card, anything Korean down to the last won in my wallet. “Sorry, there is nothing we can do for you,” he said. “How about borrowing against my card?” I said. “Your card, no good.” That was a bit harsh, but I did not take it per- sonally. On the way out of the bank, a Korean man was walking down the stairs behind me. He was not in a group tour — no floppy hat or ex- pensive nylon trekking clothes. Obviously not a tourist. I stopped him. “My wife is a designer for Samsung,” he told me. “She is relocating to the Tashkent office. I came here to help her settle down. I’m a ‘kirogi’ father.” Kirogi is the Korean word for crane — the bird kind — meaning he lives in Korea and flies out to see his family abroad. “Any problem with the ATM?” I asked, hopeful he knew something I didn’t. “OK,” he replied. Feeling helpless and poor in a city that I want- ed to escape, I wondered what I was doing. I’ve had worse moments when traveling, like getting robbed or getting sick. I tried not to let the setback depress me. At the Chorsu Bazaar, a saleswoman called me to her stall where she sold cheese, the sec- ond and last item on my meager shopping list. “You, handsome,” she said. “Well, thank you.” I replied. “You’re very nice, too.” I didn’t want to say “you are good-looking, too” because she reminded me of a matryosh- ka doll, the outer layer. “You, American?” she asked. “Kind of,” I replied. “You marry me,” she ordered. “We hardly know each other,” I said, smiling. The smile was misinterpreted; she took it for a proposal. She stood up from her chair and walked outside her stall, sideways. Her hips did not fit in the space between her two tables. Clasping my arm, she recommended some cheese while poking my ribs with her pump- kin-sized left breast. “I like small ones,” I said, pointing at little cheese balls, but thinking about breasts. The woman who sold flat round bread by the train station was on my mind. She had a natural elegance and her smile made me melt when I bought loaves from her. I wished I had enough, well, bread, to buy her whole basket load and give it away to the paupers on the street (like me). Enough to whisk her out to dinner and buy a bottle of wine. I could not afford dinner with the few crum- pled som in my pocket, but there were other stumbling blocks. Wine was out because she was Muslim, and although she kept smiling and nodding, she did not understand a word I said. Dreams are the luxury of poor people. There are many monuments and buildings to