Camel from Kyzylkum

AFTER WE WENT TO WORK in the Kyzylkum Desert, for the first three years our young family lived in the little settlement of the geological expedition with headquarters in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Our settlement was simply called Geological Party #10. There were two dozen barracks houses under the blistering sun, in a barren area of the landscape that was lacking vegetation, offering hostile living conditions for human, plant, and animal life.

We worked and lived literally in the middle of nowhere. The closest civilized city, Navoi, was 200 kilometers (124.3 miles) away. The winter of 1968-1969 was unusually severe, even for a wild desert climate. Our little habitation got cut off from the entire world because of the severe weather. At night, under a wide canvas of the open sky, the wind flitted along the vast expanses of desert, picking up speed and ferocity, growing into a growling, tumbling sand and snowstorm. I could not fall asleep for a long time, as I was listening to the howling sounds outside. It was one of those winds that made the nerves jump, curl hair, and make skin itch. Our little aircraft stopped delivering products and food to us. Water and goodies did not come for days, sometimes weeks, as the passage in the sands was covered by snow and ice. We ate canned meat with macaroni and old, dried pepperoni sausages from our store’s reserve. I stopped eating canned food and pepperoni after that winter.

We melted snow and filtered it from the sand to make water for our drinking needs. I dreamed about milk and apples. The fact that I was pregnant during that time made everything even harder. I think we survived only because we were so young and ignorant. Eventually, everything ends, and so did that unforgettable winter.

I could not see a doctor during my pregnancy because there were no doctors in our geological party. In fact, it was almost my due date before I saw a doctor for the first time. As my due date approached, we were ready to head to Navoi, where I was supposed to stay with our friend until my delivery date. It was the end of May. Sparse vegetation scorched by the desert sun had already turned brown and dry, the temperature was unbearably high during the day (around +50C/122F), and air conditioning was not available, at least not in the desert of the Soviet Union.