A Happy Ending

The great thing about a week that starts bad is that it usually ends better. This one was no exception.

As it turned out, another benefit to not having a car was that I didn't have to drive in the heaviest snow we've had so far this year, which fell Wednesday night and Thursday. It only amounted to about 4-5 inches, but I saw enough people fishtailing on the roads to be glad I wasn't behind the wheel.

When I went out to go running Thursday morning it didn't look like it was snowing that hard or that it was sticking to the roads. But when I got to the place where I usually meet my running buddies, it was becoming a bit much. My running buddies, being more astute than I, stayed home. By the time I got back (moving much more slowly due to the increasingly slippery conditions), it was snowing so hard that a pile had accumulated on my head. Good times. As always, the snow was very pretty and Stephanie was nice enough to take some pictures for me since I can't do it from the embassy.

On Friday, we were invited over to the Ambassador's house for a night of poker with a couple of other folks from the embassy as well as the Russian Ambassador and one of the folks from his trade section. Aside from having a great time, it was interesting for several reasons. First and foremost, neither Stephanie or I really knew how to play poker so it was a learn-as-you-go sort of thing. Second was that I, along with the help of one of my colleagues had to try to figure out how to explain the rules of various games in Russian to the trade advisor as he didn't speak English and the Russian ambassador was at the other end of the table. It was great practice for my Russian skills.

As I said we had a great time. Stephanie lost all her money, (it wasn't a high buy-in as we were playing for somonis), but I ended up with the highest take for the night, beating out the Russian trade advisor by about 70 dirham (100 dirham per somoni). I won enough to almost make up for Stephanie's loss. I'm thinking I only did so well because the Ambassador (ours) went easy on us. Apparently he's quite good and has even played in tournaments. Regardless, I think we'd both enjoy doing it again.

On Saturday I went for a run with one of our security officers, who I'm friends with. It was a nice run and we went down along the river with great views of the snowy mountains in the distance. Coming back however, we had another first. We were finishing up our run through the big park near the President's palace when some police officers started blowing their whistles at us. Not knowing what infraction we were guilty of, we went over to talk to them. They were perfectly pleasant to us, and seemed impressed that we had been running. They asked where we worked and we told them we were with the embassy. The whole time, they were kind of sidling us over behind the park gate so we were out of plain view. This was apparently so they could make their request for a bribe more discreet. Again, they were very polite about it, and when we explained that we aren't allowed to pay bribes, (not to mention the fact that I don't run with money), they took it in good humor. And that's the story of my first shake-down in Dushanbe.

On Saturday evening, we met some friends for a show at the opera. It was Russian, but I had trouble hearing clearly so I only understood bits and pieces. Regardless, it was a nice show with the most elaborate set I've seen so far. Finally I was able to take some pictures...

After the opera we all went to the local Hispanic Restaurant for dinner. It's always a nice change of pace from the usual cuisine. We wrapped up the night at our friends house. They introduced us to a game called Frustration, which is a lot like 'Trouble' for those of you who are familiar with that one. We also got to sample some delicious brownies with candy bars baked into them.

Today, (Sunday), is shaping up to be a nice day around the house. The mechanic brought the car over and I'm going to wash it later after doing some work in the garden. I'm also planning on incorporating some significant R&R. All in all, it seems that the next week should be starting out much better than the last one!

Not the Most Stellar Week

I suppose all weeks can't be great. And this week has certainly taken advantage of that fact. In addition to being rainy and disgusting the whole time, on Monday I noticed that one of my tires was looking pretty low. So I decided to drive down to the motor pool on Tuesday to check on a few things and get some air in the tires while I was at it. And while I got to work OK on Tuesday, when I was driving to motor pool, the steering was suddenly very difficult to manage. Not as if the power steering was out but as if it was getting stuck on something. Needless to say it was a tricky drive.

Now, I've been waiting for some replacement parts for the steering and they were supposed to come in this week. So I assumed this was related to an existing problem and it was just that the car decided it couldn't wait a few more days. However, when I got to the motor pool the mechanic said that the engine mount was broken and needs to be welded back on. Nothing too major, but one more headache. Needless to say I was nonplussed to have to call for a car to pick me up and take me back to the work. Or about the fact that I'm taking a marshrutka to and from work for the rest of the week.

Other than that, it's just been a crazy week and I'll be well shut of it when it's over. On the bright side, (yes, there's a bright side), the parts came in today. And I've discovered that I can read quite comfortably in the marshrutka, which greatly improves the trip. We also have a fun weekend planned so that's something to look forward to.

Like I said, they can't all be good, but at least the prospects for near term improvement are good.

Heck of a Haggis

It was a good Friday. Relatively quiet and appropriately brief. The only minor hullabaloo at work is the upcoming change of our cafeteria contract, which will be final on Monday. For most of the American staff, it is a rather joyous occasion as we occasionally experience rocks in our plov or servings of meat that are mostly bone, fat and cartilage. The new contract will also feature a wider variety of cuisine.

The hullabaloo comes from a good portion of the local staff, who feel that the prices are too high, (they're the same for Tajik-style dishes, which is all we've had until now, and only slightly higher for foreign dishes.) There has also been some complaint about the fate of the now former cafeteria workers - which is also unfounded as the majority of them have been given jobs by the new management. But even if that weren't true, it's a good demonstration of the lingering soviet mentality here - that people are somehow entitled to their jobs whether they perform well or not. The process for choosing the cafeteria service provider was open and fair and conducted by a committee comprised of both American and local staff. There, I've said my piece. Now it only remains to be seen whether there will be picket lines outside the cafeteria tomorrow morning.

On Friday night, we went out to the local Ukrainian restaurant with a group of friends from the embassy. The food was great as usual, but we had an odd experience with the mojito that Stephanie ordered. As far as any of us could tell, there was no alcohol. So one of our friends asked the waiter if they could add a splash more. This brought the bartender out to defend his mojito - rather angrily explaining that it shouldn't taste like alcohol. He grudgingly sent out a small carafe of watered down rum and charged us extra. After dinner, we received our charges for the next several weeks - we're dog-sitting three dogs for friends who are out of town. It's nice having the additional company.

On Saturday we were out and about. We went to the gym and I stopped by the embassy to check on the new cafeteria crew, which was setting up. Then in the afternoon we babysat for some friends of ours for a bit and had a pretend picnic with their daughter. We also were introduced to some delicious cookies that are reminiscent of the Girlscout Samoa's. Of course, we had to pick some up on the way home and during that shopping trip we picked up some pickled herring so I can try to make my own version of a popular appetizer where you eat the fish with potatoes and onion. I'll be thrilled if I can make it at home as good as the restaurants.

Saturday night, of course, we attended the much talked about Robert Burns dinner.

This dinner is celebrated all over the world and is the quintessential Scottish culture event. The event was fun with readings of Burns' poetry, some limericks, and the presentation of the haggis.

The spread was great. We had haggis (of course), neeps & tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes), and scotch whiskey.

The evening was also a charity event with money going to support aid organizations in Tajikstan and Haiti.

After dinner, the disco lights came on -rather unexpectedly the ceiling started flashing different colors.

And then we got to show off our Scottish dancing skills, which you can see in the following pictures.

So far, Sunday is looking rather dreary, but if the sun comes out we may go for a hike or to the embassy for tennis. And so another week passes in Dushanbe.

When In Doubt, Act Drunk

So I've been enjoying a rather leisurely week... until today. Of course, we had Monday off, which was great. And then a short week at work, which has been busy but has gone fast because of that. Wednesday night we went to Scottish Dancing practice for Saturday's event and had a good time. The event sounds like it will be fun.

But as I said, that was until today, or this morning to be precise. I got up to go to the gym and Stephanie came with me. We picked up a couple of our friends along the way. But when we got to the gym at 6:30, the front gate was locked. So we had to pick our way around to the back to see if there was another way in, and there was, sort of.

One of my friends had to climb over some sheet metal to get into the gym compound and then pound on the door to wake up the guard. But the point is, we got in. Afterwards, Stephanie took the car to get gas and run errands and my friend and I decided to take a marshrutka (think miniature mini-van too with up to 8 passengers).

Now, riding in a marshrutka is an adventure in itself, but this one was particularly interesting for two reasons. One was that my friend and I had to squeeze in with all our our gym stuff and his seat was the one that flips up to let people in and out of the back, so we were constantly moving to accommodate that little maneuver. The second was the guy in the front seat who was wearing a shiny black vinyl coat with a fur-lined hood. I have to admit I was a little jealous.

But what topped off the whole experience was our little accident. There we were, gliding along in our little sardine can, when out of nowhere comes this big ol' van squeezing us toward the side of the road and eventually crashing into us. No one was hurt, but it was a bit of a jolt. Then, as we're pulling over, we see the driver of the offending vehicle is laughing hysterically and from all appearances, was drunk (although my Russian teacher later assured me this wasn't the case - how she knows is a mystery).

And when our driver got out the other driver, still laughing, was putting his arm around him and acting like he hadn't just broken the guy's mirror and scratched up the car. I don't know what happened out there, but our driver was apparently appeased and got back in the car and drove on. The little old Tajik woman in the front seat was not appeased at all and went on and on at some length. Not speaking Tajik, I didn't understand a word, but I like to think she was cursing a blue streak.

In the end, we survived our first accident in Tajikistan and learned a valuable lesson... If you get in an accident, act drunk and chummy with the guy you hit and everything will be fine.

Glad tomorrow is Friday.

A Long Weekend to Recover From a Long Week

Following up on last week's post, Stephanie and I had a great time at the Scottish dancing class. It was nothing serious and the dances aren't too hard. It's kind of like skipping around the room, which turns out to be a pretty good workout. We're planning to go to another lesson on Wednesday to prepare for the Robert Burns charity dinner.

Last Wednesday was also officially the old Russian New Year, but we celebrated it on Thursday. Boy did we celebrate it. The entire management team from the embassy got together at a local restaurant and had a great spread with salads, pickles, cold cuts (including horse), shashlik, and of course, copious amounts of vodka.

After many toasts, everyone was dancing and singing. I got some lessons on how to dance like a Tajik. It was a real blast and we stayed until around midnight. Of course, on Friday I payed for it. Fortunately, Tajik vodka is relatively kind and I wasn't hung over as much as I was still intoxicated on Friday morning. It certainly made my Russian lesson interesting. By lunch time I had more or less sobered up, but needless to say it I turned in early Friday night.

On Saturday Stephanie and I went to the gym, where I was confronted with yet another oddity of local custom. The guys at the gym said I had to change my shoes before I could work out. Having only gone in the mornings so far, I hadn't encountered this obstacle before and therefore didn't have a change of shoes on me. I think my annoyance showed pretty clearly and they let me work out anyway. I understand the custom in people's homes since they eat on the floor here. But I've yet to see anyone eat off the floor in the gym.

Saturday afternoon was a really nice day - around 60 degrees - so we met up with some friends to play tennis at the embassy. For some reason, they removed the net, but I would say that helped the game more than it hindered it. Saturday night I had some of the guys over to watch Eurotrip. We had the four P's of refreshment - peanuts, popcorn, pizza, and pivo (beer in Russian). One of my friends even brought wasabi flavored peas so it was technically the five P's.

Sunday started out a bit dreary, but started clearing up in the afternoon, so Stephanie and I went for a walk. I decided to take the camera along and capture some of the more day-to-day aspects of life in Dushanbe...

Narrow streets

Kids playing...

A monument to historical Persian figures...

Then we noticed the mosque off in the distance, and not having been there, decided to go find it.

It was pretty easy to locate the mosque, and while not amazingly impressive, it is a nice looking building.

On the way home, we noticed some nice mosaics near the Vastan Disco Club (haven't been yet),

and I also thought I'd get a shot of the local Shwarma place, advertising ice cream, hamburgers, cheese burgers, and such.

I don't know what the kangaroo has to do with anything. If you want to see more pictures from our little excursion, follow the link.

Sunday Stroll in Dushanbe

Today (Monday), we're celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day by being lazy. It was raining pretty hard this morning and then changed over to snow around lunch time. We spent some time reading in the attic room and just watching the snow fall out the window. I'd call it an excellent use of a day off.

Dushanbe Socialites

The past few days have been rather busy and we've been getting out and about a lot. We went to an artists' colony just outside of town on Saturday morning to check out the scene. There were some interesting pieces but nothing that we really felt we had to go after. Surprisingly the prices are pretty high as well. But one of the nice things about being here for two years is being able to take our time when it comes to buying mementos and the like in order to find the right ones. There were some interesting statues around the place including some of Lenin.

After the art tour I dropped Stephanie off at the gym and headed over to the bazaar to pick up some food. Other than that, we pretty much took it easy for the rest of the weekend.

Of course, now that I've started getting up early to work out on a regular basis, the weather decided to get ridiculously cold. This is where having running buddies comes in handy since I feel like I have to go. And I'm grateful for it as I get rewarded with an extra boost of energy in the morning and some really amazing sunrises – some of the same reasons I enjoyed rowing in college.

Stephanie has been busy becoming something of a social butterfly. She created a Yahoo Group for spouses and others who want to get together for lunch from time to time. They had been doing it informally for a while, but I think Stephanie's idea is great as it makes it more of an institution. The group is called the Dush Lunch Group – which caused one of my friends to point out that it's a good thing they don't do bag lunches…

Don't fear, early mornings haven't dampened our social life. Last night, we went bowling with some friends – this time at a different place. Stephanie won both games; my performance was inconsistent as usually. Then tonight, we are going to a Scottish Dancing class to prepare for the upcoming Robert Burns charity event, where they will have a celebration in honor of the famous Scottish poet and raise money for a charity group. And that's not all, on Thursday; we are going out with a large group of the local staff to celebrate the Old New Year, which is based on the Julian calendar. I'm sure there will be plenty of stories from both of these events.
Today was a little crazy at work as aside from the usual business I had my first meeting with government officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Obviously I can't talk much more about it, but let's just say I was very diplomatic.

A Hodgepodge

The first full week back at work after two consecutive shortened weeks is bound to be tiring. This week has been doubly so because I'm finally getting back into a workout routine. Miraculously, Christmas gluttony seems to have finally put a stop to my relentless weight loss and now I find I'm packing on the pounds. Fortunately, I've made some friends at the embassy who are similarly inclined to stay fit and that definitely helps with sticking to it.

Some mornings we run outside, but even better is the fact that just before Christmas, we discovered a real gym in town. It's located about halfway between the embassy and downtown Dushanbe, and so is quite convenient. And the rates are good too - about 100 somoni, less than $25, for three workouts a week. The odd thing is that there are no membership cards or sign in. Apparently they just remember who paid.

They have a good selection of equipment, and since Tajiks abhor the idea of getting up early to work out, we usually have the place to ourselves in the morning. In fact, we usually end up waking the security guard who sleeps on the floor. Mornings are also a good thing because the place is apparently packed in the evening and it saves us for having to pay more than double for the less crowded VIP area. There are also stories about a guy who dances by himself in front of the mirror, which I can definitely do without.

The only thing that isn't so nice is the showers, which are lukewarm at best and rather…fragrant. Luckily, we have showers at the embassy that were built for the unfinished pool and they do quite nicely. Of course, this all means getting back into the habit of packing all of my clothes and breakfast the night before. From this transition, I've learned that boiled eggs take longer to cook here than at home – around 7 minutes to get them soft boiled here, vs. 5 minutes there. I think this is due to the lower boiling point of water at this altitude.

In other exciting news, Stephanie received her new computer for work this week. Her old one conked out just before Christmas. Her company shipped it via DHL to get it here quickly since the pouch mail has been slow recently. Despite the fact that we were expecting it, it's still a rather bizarre occurrence to have something delivered that doesn't come through the embassy. Somehow, we can't quite get over the fact that it's possible to send something to Tajikistan.

Last night, we also had a nice little snow storm. The rainy day changed over to snow around 4pm and by the time I went home there was a nice dusting on the ground. I spent some time at a friend's house helping him to brush his dogs' teeth – oh the things we do for entertainment around here – a process neither we nor the dogs enjoyed very much.

This morning was very beautiful. When we came out of the gym the sky was light purple and all the trees were outlined by the snow. When we got to the embassy to shower, the sun was just coming up behind the clouds and it lit them up bright pink. It was really amazing. And after all that, here we are again at the start of another weekend.

New Years Extravaganza

Well, here we are in 2010, and the transition was quite an event. We got out of work an hour early and by the time I got home, there were firecrackers going off all over the neighborhood. I parked the car under the overhang to protect it from errant fireballs. Our security officer told us to avoid the local celebration at the plaza in front of the parliament building because things have been known to get crazy around midnight.

We figured it would be safe to go down early and check out the scene before things got going, so we went down with some friends to take a gander. It was a fairly impressive set-up and even at 7:30 it was already getting crowded, like a little Times Square in Dushanbe. I was impressed to see that they had actually set up controlled access and were patting people down, etc... before they entered. There was no place to set up my camera but I managed to get a few good shots.

As we walked past the park there were amateur fireworks going off everywhere. Probably quite dangerous, but definitely very festive. Later, as we were all walking over to take the bus to a friend's house, it was like passing through a war zone with firecrackers going off non-stop. The bus wasn't any quieter as it seemed kids had taken over and were throwing firecrackers out the window at people.

Nonetheless, we made it safely to our friend's house where we enjoyed good drinks, good food, and good company. My friend's wife is from Kazakhstan and her mother, who is visiting, brought some smoked horse meat. Another first for me, and quite good. The evening was made even more exciting by the fact that the neighbors were shooting fireworks over the wall. It was like having our own private show. Looking out the upstairs window, we could see it was pretty much the same all over the city.

After counting down the new year, we all gathered 'round for a rousing set of karaoke and before we knew it I had lost my voice and it was pushing 4 am. The streets were pretty much empty at that point, but luckily, the roving patrol happened upon us and gave us a much appreciated ride home.

New Year's day was pretty much a wash, but we did have some friends over for a New Year's ham, courtesy of my sister and cooked by Stephanie. It was a wonderful change of pace from beef and chicken. We spent the rest of the evening playing Blokus and watching E.T. On Saturday, it was time to get my hair cut. And in addition to the usual fingers in my ear and blowing on my neck, I was treated to an old beggar man coming in and letting loose a stream of 'prose' until the barber gave him some money. The speech was in Tajik so I didn't understand anything besides 'New Year', but it was still interesting to watch.

Saturday afternoon, I went for a hash for the first time in awhile. This was a fun one despite getting my foot wet while trying to cross a small river, and an encounter with Cujo's Tajik cousin. We were running up this steep hill and this scary dog was standing on a wall over us snarling and barking, and slobbering. I was relieved when he didn't pounce on us, but then the little girl who lived with him opened the door and let him out. We all froze, and fortunately, the girl got the hint and dragged him back in. Fortunately after that, the run was uneventful, except for some more great scenery. When the weather improves, I have a long list of places to go hiking. But now it's Sunday and I'm not quite able to come to terms with the idea of having to work an entire 5 days, but at least we have a few more hours to enjoy.