High Rollin' in Dushanbe

So maybe someone heard my complaining about the lack of holiday spirit in Dushanbe because things were looking up this weekend. It all started on Friday, when Stephanie and I went for our monthly lunch at the Hyatt. I ran into someone I know who works there and he gave us an invitation to an event that night. He mentioned that the entertainment was coming from Moscow and that it would be a great evening.

We were interested, of course, but I had to proceed carefully to ensure that there would be no ethical concerns about my attending. Fortunately, this event was unrelated to work in any way, so we were able to go. And talk about fortunate – this thing was incredible. Whoever sponsored it had flown in an incredible variety of food that we haven’t had access to in some time – oysters on the half shell, steamed shrimp, foie gras, lobster bisque (with actual chunks of lobster), smoked salmon with caviar, monkfish with mushrooms, ribeye steak, artichoke hearts, fresh sushi and sashimi, varied meringue cookies, fresh made tiramisu, hand-dipped chocolate truffles, and about 20 different artisanal cheeses. That doesn’t even touch on the variety of beverages - I mostly stuck to the wines – including some nice ports – and the hot saki. It was all we could eat and drink and we ate and drank all we could. To my contact’s credit – the DJ, (also flown in from Moscow) was also excellent and we just had a really good time.

An event like this would have been outstanding even in New York City (and probably not something we could have easily afforded for one night out). And in fact, it reminded me of some of the swankier dos that I had the pleasure of experiencing during my advertising days. But to have something like this in Dushanbe, was out of this world. It was just so different from anything else we’ve seen here and so unexpected. I think what made it even more fun was just the pure delight on the faces of the other people there. Everyone was so pleasantly surprised, and evidently pleased. I think in many places, people feel that to “oooh” and “aaah” over something like this is somehow inappropriate or low-class. It was fun to see adults practically running from station to station and asking each other “Oh my gosh! Did you try the bisque yet!”. I thought such scenes were reserved for kids talking about the rides at Disney World, but no one even tried to put on the pretense of not being impressed and thrilled. What a fun evening!

Needless to say, both of us were feeling the effects of our gluttony on Saturday morning. And even though we weren’t really hungry, we still experienced that disappointment that you get after a really good meal, where you wish you had eaten more even though there was no way you could have had another bite. Once I got myself moving, I went for a haircut and then did some shopping for stocking stuffers. This is where I discovered that the holidays are alive and well in Dushanbe even if they aren’t putting it out on the street this year. While making my rounds I saw Christmas ornaments and Santa Clauses, and some of the gaudiest Christmas trees imaginable, but it was nice just seeing something that reminded me what time of year it is.

That said, these Santa heads with the long dangling beards were fairly disturbing.

We got even more in the spirit by going to a few holiday parties on Saturday and Sunday, which were really nice. One party even had homemade egg nog, which was a great treat. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish the weekend on such a strong note. By Sunday evening neither of us was feeling well. Stephanie had a headache and I was getting that warning feeling that a cold is coming on. Stephanie, I’m happy to say, is feeling better now, but I seem to be getting worse. I’m hoping that since it’s early in the week that I’ll get over whatever it is before Christmas Eve!