My visit to Uzbekistan coincided with the COS (Close of Service), for some PCVs. To mark the event, there was an unofficial dinner party at a local cafe which was an opportunity for people to blow off some steam and temporally escape the difficult daily grind of in country life.

The party was also my introduction to the vodka binge, which somehow caused me to fall asleep in a back room of the cafe for just bit. I will never forget being woken up by drunken voices of people singing "Hotel California," in the wee hours of the morning.

...Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell...