Anniversary Excitement

Last weekend wasn't so eventful, but what a week so far! Since our anniversary was on a work day (Tuesday) we decided to spend the weekend more or less relaxing together, sleeping in, etc. We did freeze some more produce, and visited some friends who just arrived, but other than that we just had a relaxing weekend.


Work has been mad all week, with the end of the fiscal year being the main culprit (my office being the one that handles purchases, we had to process all the last minute requests before the cutoff), but I am still enjoying myself. Even though I am often worn out by the end of the day, I'm always able to cross a bunch of things off my to-do list and it just feels good to be DOING something.


As mentioned, it has been an exciting week. Of course Tuesday was the big day - 2 great years of marriage! And while our anniversary was by far the most important news that day, it wasn't the only news. Tuesday was also the 70th anniversary of the release of The Wizard of Oz. (true, but not what I was going for). Then, thanks to the help of some of the local staff at the embassy, the workers filled in our trench so we could have access to our driver (although today, they dug a trench through the only road that has reliable access to ours - more on that later). I also got notice of my administrative promotion - which was scheduled to happen automatically as long as I didn't screw anything up. But hey, I didn't screw anything up! And then as though the stars aligned, we got our car registered! On the same day they fixed our driveway! Amazing. After I talk about the rest of our anniversary celebration, I'll have to talk about actually driving in Dushanbe.


But first, our anniversary. I get up pretty early for work, so I cut some roses from the bush outside our house and left them for when Stephanie got up. Then I could hardly wait for work to be over so we could go to dinner. After work I went home to get Stephanie (in our car) and we drove to the Hyatt for a romantic and delicious dinner. Unfortunately, in my excitement at our anniversary and about our car, I forgot the camera at home. Dinner was delicious - we had salmon and veal cheeks and assorted savory pies (pirozhky) and creme brulee and warm chocolate ganache with pistachio gelato, and wine, of course. I'm really sorry we didn't get a picture. Stephanie was beautiful, as usual, and the ambiance at the Hyatt is very nice. It was easy to forget we are in Central Asia and we could almost imagine we were back in New York. Overall it was a great anniversary.


So now a bit about driving in Dushanbe. I can sum it up in one word. Terrifying! Actually, it was only terrifying driving home for the first time. It's gotten better each time since and now is only scary. I'm sure before long it will be fine. For all you New York readers who are scoffing, New York got nuthin on Dushanbe for bad drivers. I've already mentioned some of the craziness that takes place on Dushanbe streets. But it's one thing to see it, and another to drive in it. People all over the road, not paying attention to lights, pedestrians who appear out of nowhere, cars parked in the middle of the road... I am not exaggerating. And when you're driving, the roads are really wide and the traffic lights are dim and tend to be hidden behind trees, signs are barely visible. You basically have to just be hyper-aware of what's going on around you all the time and just kind of go with the flow. I pulled one of my staff members aside this morning to make him explain why there is a 'left-on-red' rule in front of the old presidential palace. Apparently, the red light is only for people who want to go straight and doesn't apply to people going left. There's no sign or lighted arrow to indicate this, it's just 'known'. Then there's the fact that the roads are like the surface of the moon - dusty and heavily cratered. It makes for quite an adrenaline rush in the morning.

The other thing is that our car is the smallest SUV I've ever seen - we didn't realize how small until we saw how it was dwarfed by a RAV4 when we parked next to it. I'll try to put up a picture this weekend. Of course, even with such a small car, I still had to arrive in style on Wednesday morning on my first commute to work, so I pumped 'Gangsta's Paradise' when I rolled into the embassy lot. Don't ask me why, it just felt right. The black and red pleather seat covers defintely help the image. Everyday gets a little less scary and I'm sure I'll continue to pick up on it and it will get easier as I go, but I'll never think that driving in New York City is challenging after this.


Till next time...