Friday morning, I bundled the kids - complete with masks - into the car, and we left the house. As we drove through the neighborhood, everyone started commenting on how different everything looked with leaves and flowers. I realized that the last time we had been in the car together - and the last time several of them had been in a car - was a Friday morning six weeks ago.
Ten minutes later, we pulled into the stable parking lot, and everyone jumped out of the car and practically sprinted to the stable to greet their favorite horses. It was good to be back.
Uzbekistan continues to do well with their COVID situation, with only ten deaths for the entire thirty-three million population, and so the government has begun easing restrictions. They have allowed more businesses to open up, including plant sellers, construction materials, dry cleaners, bakeries, and (just in time for Mother's Day this weekend), florists. On April 30, they allowed private cars and taxis to operate in the mornings and evenings. Uzbek Air announced that it will resume international flights on June 30.
As I've been around town, I keep seeing more cars and more people about, as everyone has grown tired of being home and the weather has grown more pleasant. Tashkent is not the ghost town it was a month ago.
This hasn't made a big difference in our daily life, other than our return to the stables. Brandon and I have stopped playing taxi driver for our household help, which has been nice. He is still working from home, and will be working from home until certain benchmarks have been met.
A lot of our friends are still in the States, and nobody is sure when they'll return. We're hoping that we can see them this summer and be able to meet again together for play dates and parties. Some of my children are eagerly looking forward to the explosion of sociality and some are dreading it.
We're glad that things are getting better here. We'll take what we can get.