TheMilwaukeeChannel.com
November 7
efore United States troops were sent to support efforts in Afghanistan, few Americans had ever heard
of Uzbekistan. But one Waukesha couple has intimate knowledge of the area.
Rogelio and Tracy Quintanar had been working in Uzbekistan for the Peace Corps for more than a year, until the events of Sept. 11 forced them to return home.
"We probably immediately began to wonder how this was going to affect our work in Uzbekistan," Tracy Quintanar said.
As word of the terror attacks in America filtered through to Uzbekistan,on the northern border of Afghanistan, two former social workers from Waukesha knew everything was changing.
"You felt more vulnerable, even if there wasn't a direct threat. You'd walk out of our apartment and you'd feel American, and you'd feel the eyes looking at you," Rogelio Quintanar said.
Though Rogelio and Tracy Quintanar heard nothing but sympathy from the locals, the Peace Corps wasn't taking any chances -- evacuating them in secret.
"Not to have everyone knowing that 150 volunteers would be on a plane. So that was a little unnerving for us because we didn't know if that really meant that we were unsafe," Tracy Quintanar said.
The Quintanars lived with the risk of terrorism because of periodic bombings in the capital of Tashkent.
"After a while we even got used to that. It didn't ever directly affect us, but we knew it was there. So now coming back here, it's very surreal," Tracy Quintanar said.
They said they found the people in Uzbekistan actually reassuring because they've endured life under the cloud of terrorism.
"They've been through it. You had this support there from people saying we know what this is about, we're sorry, and if there's anything our country can do, we'll do that," Rogelio Quintanar said.
They've been in contact with some new friends in Uzbekistan. They said things seem pretty much the same since the arrival of America troops because the troops have been keeping to the bases.
The Quintanars said they would go back if they could, but their families are glad they're staying put for a while.