In the coming days, I will embark on yet another adventure with DEN and my DEN friends. My first trip with DEN took me to Thailand, and that journey was fascinating and life-changing. This time I will be travelling to UZBEKISTAN, and what a mind-blowing destination that is. A central Asian country with Mongolian, Turkish, Persian, and many other influences sounds like it will have an incredible cuisine. I find it extremely important to fully immerse yourself in cuisine to better understand a culture. My DEN friends know I did not hold back as I familiarised myself with Thai culture. So one aspect of this trip I’m very excited for is all the delicious, potentially strange food I’ll get to try when in Uzbekistan. Another aspect of this country I am eager to explore is the Islamic culture. Similar to Iraq, Uzbekistan has been shaped by Islam for over a millennium, and some parts of Islam simply have to be deeply embedded in Uzbekistan’s culture. As my father was born in Iraq and having travelled to Iraq myself, among many other arab countries, I am quite familiar with the common cultural traits of Islamic countries. In this instance, I expect some parts of Uzbekistan to be familiar; however, as my family are all Shia Muslims, I am mindful of the fact that Uzbekistan might be altogether a completely different kind of Islamic country. Its overwhelming Sunni population, being completely removed from the arab world, as well as heavy soviet influence, this country and its people may be completely unfamiliar. Despite that, I intend to learn as much as I can about this country, its people, and their values while exploring Tashkent and Samarkand. Furthermore, I find myself very excited to meet and interact with Uzbek students at the MUN conference. An MUN provides a unique look into a country’s inner workings by showcasing students’ true work ethic, approaches, and research capabilities in a competitive academic setting. I believe education is one of, if not the most important, building blocks of a functioning modern society, and getting to work closely with and debate against Uzbek students will be the closest look into the real Uzbekistan as I can get. Lastly, I want to express my deepest gratitude to DEN for creating incredible opportunities such as this, the Westminster bursary for funding this journey and TIMUN for inviting us to your home.
Ramzi Hikmet