It's All Becoming a Blur

September already - wow! My time in Washington flew by as well and while I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see, I did get to spend visit with some of my family and friends. I also made the most of my culinary opportunities from Sushi to McDonalds and Tollhouse cookie dough to Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. For some reason, I didn't adjust to the time change like I usually do and was up before 5 every morning. On the bright side, that gave me time to keep up with things at work back in Dushanbe, (of which there were plenty), and the chance to Skype with my lovely wife.

Training wasn't anything to write home about, but I learned what I needed to learn and passed all of my tests before heading back home to Dushanbe. The trip back was pleasant and relatively uneventful, I had rows to myself on BOTH flights and got to relax a bit. Back in Dushanbe at the airport, I had arranged for expediter service as usual to avoid the crush of humanity at the passport line and customs clearance. Unfortunately, the expediter couldn't save me from vindictive people who weren't really interested in getting out, just getting in front of me.

We were trying to make our way through the exit - where you have to have your luggage x-rayed - and I was almost there when this guy edged his way in front of me, blocking my exit. At 4am, I wasn't in the mood to tussle with anyone so I figured I'd let him go and be on my way, but no, he just stood there. I'm quite certain his only goal was to slow me down. Well as they say, 'when in Rome...' so I did as the Tajiks do and shoved my way past and got home to my wife.

We actually slept till after lunchtime on Sunday - an unheard of event - so the day went by in the blink of an eye and it was back to work on Monday. The week has mostly revolved around the fact that our procurement system got messed up and has brought that section to a virtual halt for three weeks and there's only a month left until the end of the fiscal year. We're working it out, but it couldn't have happened at a worse time.

Tonight we held a representational event for some of our local contacts and that was a nice break from the norm. A very productive evening as I got to speak to a lot of people from different walks of the local and expat community, some of which might lead to interesting new projects. As successful as the event was, it also took time for my other ongoing project - our upcoming trip to the Pamirs with my family.

With the unexpected trip to Washington, I've been scrambling to arrange transportation to/from the airport, as well as the final details of the trip itself. As of the writing of this blog, my parents should be in the air over Eastern Europe, and given that they'll be getting to the house around 4 or 5 am, I should be getting to bed. Wish us all luck!