Yippy for Watermelons!

I survived what I think was my 20th winter in a row. My holiday breaks are always in the summer in the northern hemisphere which leaves me travelling back to the southern hemispheres to enjoy yet another winter. I've been back in Uzbekistan for 5 days now. Things have changed in the 8 weeks that I was gone. The little garden shed outside my apartment block that housed a shoe repair man has disappeared. I hope he pops up somewhere in the neighbourhood as he did a fantastic job of fixing my sandals for less than $1. I was also hoping that he'd redo the straps of my tired old backpack. The weather seems to be kinder in August than what I remember from June. The days are warm - about 34 degrees but the evenings are perfect with temps in the mid 20's. There are piles of watermelons being sold on most neighbourhood street corners. I picked up a rather large one for 500 soum yesterday (that's less than 50 cents USA). Hauling it up the 3 flights of steps to my apartment isn't much fun but I am rewarded with the sweetest, juiciest fruit. I think they're my favourite thing about living here.