Long, Rainy, Weekend

Here we are at the end of a nice long weekend. Friday was Constitution Day in Tajikistan, so we had the day off. With Veterans day next week, and then Thanksgiving, November turns out to be quite a nice month. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the weather. From sunny and 75 last week, we've gone to highs in the 40s and several days of rain. It's actually a nice change and feels very seasonal, but it has had the unfortunate side effect of slowing down the road work.

Thursday night, coming home from work, I had to stop and get out of the car 5 times in the last 1/2 mile or so to argue my way through in order to park my car in the driveway. But I have to feel kind of proud about it because I got through while even the British Embassy had to park outside of the street. Once I got home, I walked to meet a friend of a friend who's visiting Dushanbe. We had a very good dinner at a Ukrainian restaurant. Stephanie busied herself by going to a free piano concert at the conservatory.

On Friday, the weather wasn't too bad and we went to the bazaar for some food and so that Stephanie could buy a scarf to match her dress for the Marine Ball next weekend. Pictures will be a must. We spent Friday night hanging out with friends.

Saturday morning, we just relaxed in rainy-day mode until it was time for the hash. To get there, I had to drive down a dead-end road and jump the curb onto the main road - no one seemed to mind. Thank goodness for four-wheel-drive.

This weekend it was my first time to be a 'hare' and lay the trail. Due to the weather, the leader of the hash asked us not to lay the trail in advance, (lest it wash away), and for me and my hare partners to be 'live hares' and lay the trail on the fly. It was a lot of fun doing it that way, but a little scary as we were threatened with being covered in flour as well as beer at the naming if we were 'snared' (caught) during the hash. Fortunately, we weren't caught even though we got slowed down a bit when a local man inquired as to what we were doing and then offered us a loaf of bread from a wedding he had been to (very nice, but we politely declined).

After the hash, we circled up for the usual ritual and my, and my friend's, naming. We did the circle outside an Indian restaurant this time, rather than at a person's house. This had the effect of drawing a rather large crowd of local spectators. It must have looked rather strange to see this circle of foreigners drinking, singing, and dancing. We even involved them at one point, turning and charging as a group. We really scared the 'bejesus' out of them, but all in good fun.

Finally it was time for my naming. No, I will not share it here. It just isn't appropriate. And as always, the naming was followed by a dousing with beer and a cooler of ice dumped on our heads. Fortunately, we each brought a change of clothes and were able to warm up over dinner in the restaurant.

Today (Sunday) was mostly low-key. I wrapped Stephanie's birthday presents and started work on designing this year's gingerbread house (almost time!). I also took advantage of the cold rainy weather to start up the sauna for the first time. Very nice!

Tomorrow starts my last week as the sole GSO at the embassy! My soon to be counterpart arrives on Thursday, which should make life much easier once he gets on his feet. Work has certainly been busy, so it will be good to have an extra pair of hands.

So, much to look forward to over the next week. I'll keep you posted.