Starting to feel like work...

I think I've already reached my first TGIF - which is qualified by actually thinking to my self "Thank god it's Friday". Nothing terrible about the week, just a long one with a lot going on. With a new Ambassador arriving and the end of the fiscal year approaching, not to mention just learning how to do my job in general, things are busy busy. It also looks like I'll now have a hand in managing the cafeteria at work. I kind of like the idea because it's food ('nuff said) but I wonder if I'm the best one for the job since I'll eat just about anything and like it. It will probably be best to make sure I get input from a broader selection of my colleagues. Facing the ever mounting to do list, I'm all the more grateful for my staff, who are definitely helping me to learn the ropes as I go.

On a brighter note, yesterday evening, some of the Hashers went on what's called a 'fun run' (basically a friendly jog without all the ceremony - and no wasps!). Actually, we went to the Botanical Garden around sunset - it's not too far from where I live - and it was a really nice place. Quiet, lots of trees and birds, etc. I'm looking forward to going back and exploring some more. It's also nice to have a safe place to run. To call Dushanbe non-pedestrian oriented would be something of an understatement - something I got to experience myself today when a couple of my staff members took me to some furniture stores on a work-related excursion. The thing is, people just walk out into the road whenever and wherever they want. Not that it's entirely their fault -there are no real crosswalks and a red light here is taken more to mean "Close your eyes, hit the gas and say a Hail Mary" than "Stop!" And even when one car does stop to let you cross, three or four will try to drive around it -even into oncoming traffic - and try to run you over. I dunno, maybe it's some form of population control?

Also yesterday we received the rest of our belongings. Amazing - all of our stuff in two weeks. Must be some kind of record. Now that we have everything, we're trying to find a place to put it all. Our basement is starting to look like a general store with all of our consumables and we're actually running out of space in general. I don't know how the belongings of a 2-bedroom Manhattan apartment managed to fill up a 4 story house, but they did.

Anyway, the jog was nice and today, one of my coworkers gave me some fresh local honey she got while on a trip to another part of the country. It's delicious -and when I say fresh, I mean FRESH! So fresh there are still bees floating in it! I didn't get any bees in my portion (for Stephanie's sake) but I did take some satisfaction in seeing some of the buggers meet their demise.

So now it's the weekend, and we have quite the line-up planned. A little sightseeing and shopping tomorrow morning, Hash tomorrow afternoon, and a hike on Sunday - assuming I don't find some other way to put myself out of commission. On Monday, we're planning to follow up on the cars we saw last weekend and then maybe a trip to the botanical garden. No doubt there will be stories - and hopefully pictures!