Everything you read on the interwebs is true!

Words can't describe the feeling when you experience something you read on the internet about a specific culture. Case in point - Toasting in Uzbekistan. It's worth noting that this toasting procedure is applicable to almost all of the former soviet union.

Anyways, while doing some research before this trip I came across toasting/business lunch customs for Uzbekistan. Without fail, the first three toasts over lunch will be for 1) To Health, 2) To the women/any women who are present, 3) To the families of the people present. So, while at lunch yesterday (as in June 4th) we went out to lunch with the Deputy Director of the institute we were visiting and someone else. Quite frankly I don't actually know the title of the other person, but you could tell he was a subordinate of the Deputy Director. Anyways, we ordered a bottle of vodka. Within 5 minutes he was proposing the first toast - for the health of everyone present. A few minutes later the waiter came around and refilled the shot glasses. (An interesting side note is that he warned me he was drinking 'bottoms-up' and said I could follow along if I was comfortable.) After our glasses were filled back up be quickly moved to make another toast. This time to the women - specifically Miss Parker. Once again, bottoms up. (I'm drinking bottoms up - Miss Parker is sipping her vodka - I think she only claims to be from Bella-Russia.)

Also worth noting, is the reason why the deputy director claims vodka is important with meals in Uzbekistan. Traditionally the food is cooked with a lot of fat. The food we ate had a lot of fat on it, so I can attest to the truthfulness of his comment. He claims that drinking amounts of vodka is a way of naturally encouraging the stomach to start working so that it's ready to break down the fat with the meals. While I'll give some credence to this theory, the man had a bit of a pot-belly, so I assume he wasn't drinking enough.

Anyways, back to the drinking. Knowing that it's customary for the guests to make at least one toast, and seeing that the bottle was getting towards the bottom - I moved to make the next toast before he did. As is with custom, it was to the families of everyone involved. Little did I know that he was going to order ANOTHER bottle of vodka after we finished that one.

End of the story - I had 5 shots of vodka at lunch while I was working yesterday. Fortunately I was able to keep drinking water and eating bread and meat in between them. I think it served as a great warm-up for my trip to Cancun in the coming days. Although that's typically tequila, and that stuff is the devils water.