Salom! is one way to say “hi” in Uzbekistan as well as well as many other places in the world!! No matter how this word is spelled or pronounced or the particular language a variation of it is from,  we understand this greeting as a universal acknowledgement of one another – it translates literally into  “peace”  or “the absence of conflict”.

Each week is very different from the previous and this week is a lively and enthusiastic group of campers . . . perhaps because they have been waiting ALL summer for this week to come! So – today camp whirled into a surprise magic carpet ride, sweeping us to Bukhara alongside storytellers, Robert and Kelly. Accompanied by a trusty guide and Bactrian camel, Pistachio, we traveled ancient trade routes making up the heart of The Silk Road.

For thousands of years these trade routes aided in the eventual global exchange of material goods, spices, foods, stories, religion, architecture, language, and all other forms of creative endeavors.  Many elements found in Central Asian cultures from language, religion, food, and art are from other parts of the world, and vice versa – in much the way that peoples’ lives in the United  States are infused with elements from cultures all over the world. . . . and vice versa.

Color groups joined a caravan through camp to sample studios – Dance & Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Fibre Arts, Glass, and Ceramics, as well as getting to know each other. Tomorrow, campers will hear the first of four installments of The Amir who Became a Weaver and continue to learn the Persian song we all learned today that translates as “I’m happy and I’m laughing and I’m grateful for the life . . .!” 

Khodahafez!
(a Persian and Arabic word meaning “farewell” and translated as “may god protect you,” or  “may the universe protect you.”