The Barnetts Go to China

China 2010 JPGS

This is one of the longer blog posts I've had in awhile, so if you're here for the pictures, go ahead and click the above links. If not, read on...

Our China adventure was exactly that - an adventure. Thrills, chills, and spills (at least chills from the cold weather and spills from the soup). It all started out well enough. We decided to tackle the Dushanbe airport without an expeditor this time and it was a surprisingly smooth process. The one hiccup was when we went to board the plane and the scanning machine made a loud "UH-OH!" sound when they tried to scan our tickets. It kept doing it over and over again and it was so embarrassing that we both started laughing. We braced ourselves for some bad news, but in the end, they just let us on the plane.

Once on board, the only real excitement was when they brought on a sick Chinese man in a blanket and laid him on the row across from us. We were breifly concerned that he might have something contagious, but so far neither of us has come down with anything. Our concerns were quickly put aside when we saw the incredible views as we flew over the mountains that stand between China and Tajikistan.

When we arrived in Urumqi, the largest city in northwest China, we had a strange disembarkation where the flight attendants insisted that the people in the rear of the plane exit first. It was maddening to sit there while all those people went past. When we were finally allowed to leave the plane, we got through passport control easily enough, although the guy spent a long time looking at our passports. The only drama was this evil old Tajik woman who pushed to the front of the line in customs and then shoved us out of the way to let herself and two other travellers go through.

On leaving customs we found our guide right away and he was very friendly and informative. He got us settled into our hotel right away, which was in the center of the town and had a nice view of the surrounding buildings.

He gave us directions to find an atm and pointed out a couple of good restaurants and we set out to conquer Urumqi on our own. The air pollution was noticeable and it was quite cold, but we warmed up soon enough...

On our way to the restaurant, we saw a street vendor selling some interesting looking square things, but when we tried to ask how much they cost, we realized that we had no ability to communicate in Chinese. I guess after living in a foreign country where I can easily switch between languages, I've been desensitized to thinking about that particular hurdle. Nonetheless, I'm well versed in the international language of pantomime and we eventually worked things out and tried some of his fritters.

At the restaurant, my pantomiming skills were really put to the test. It was the type of restaurant where you have to order at the counter and then they bring the food to you. The problem was that the pictures of the food were on the other side of the restaurant. I was eventually able to communicate that

I needed someone to go with us to the pictures to take our order and then we were seated. Urumqi is famous for its noodles, and rightly so, but we had no way of knowing how spicy the food we ordered was. Despite the heat, we enjoyed our meal and at least we were no longer remotely cold.

Thus fortified, we headed out to take in the night lights and the street vendors.

They had just about anything you could want on a stick.

We tried some of the things on display and ogled the rest. For desert we got candied fruit on a stick. We weren't able to identify the main fruit they used but it was delicious. So ended our first night in China.

One of the strange things we encountered is that Urumqi, while only 1 hour ahead of Dushanbe, generally observes Beijing time, which is three hours ahead. It got very confusing at times and made for some really bizarre jet lag. The next morning, we woke up early and went for a walk to see things in daylight. We could see the signs that Urumqi has only recently risen as a major city, like this small shack serving as a depot for fresh produce.

On returning to the hotel we went down for breakfast, which consisted of many things we wouldn't think of as breakfast food (spicy noodles, beef, really pungent cheese), but enjoyed it nonetheless. We spared a few minutes back in our room to enjoy the view at sunrise and then went down to meet our guide at 10am, which was really 8am.

Our first stop was the archeological museum of Urumqi, where we learned about the history of the region from the time before the Han Dynasty first unified China, all the way through the present. It was particularly interesting to hear about the early interactions between China and Central

Asia through early exploration and trade along the silk road. There were also some incredible mummies going as far back as 4,000 years. One of them gave a great example of cultural exchange that was happening long ago. A wealthy merchant was buried dressed in a variety of silks. Our guide pointed out that different pieces showed styles from other civilizations. For example, one had angels with wings. Our guide mentioned that in Eastern cultures, people fly without wings, so this pattern must have come from the west, probably Greece given the date. The only disappointment at the museum was that pictures were not allowed.

From there, we drove off into the desert to the ancient city of Turfan, which also happens to be the second lowest place on Earth, after the dead sea. On the way, we saw impressive evidence of Chinese development, including huge wind farms and instant cities being built in the desert.

We had a noodle lunch in town and then went to visit an 18th century minaret, which was built by a local ruler to express his gratitude to the Qinq dynasty, which entrusted him with the rule of the province.

Interestingly, the minaret was constructed in 1777, during the American Revolution. It's interesting to see what was going on in other parts of the world at that time. Given the scarcity of wood, the tower is all the more impressive for being almost entirely of unbaked mud bricks. The dry climate helps to preserve it.

Then we transitioned from Islam to Buddhism, heading into the fire mountains to see the Thousand Buddha caves.

I'll let the pictures of the fire mountains explain the name. Unfortunately, the Thousand Buddha caves no longer live up to their title thanks to centuries of destruction by muslims and plundering by "archeologists" from Western countries. Still, the caves themselves were interesting.

Our next stop was the Karez underground irrigation system, considered to be one of the great works of ancient China, along with the great wall. Since it wasn't practical to direct water through the sands of the desert, (the tendency to sink in makes it unprofitable), people dug an enormous underground tunnel by periodically digging wells down to the clay under the desert and then connecting them with tunnels. The system runs from the feet of the mountains all the way under the desert.

It isn't very impressive to look at because it's impossible to get a sense of the scope by looking at the tunnel, but this 2,000 year old construction is still used today, which is amazing in itself.

We reached the ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe around sunset.

It's a huge complex, which probably rivals Pompeii in size if not in the level of preservation. Still, we enjoyed walking among the ruins and seeing the remains of the main Buddhist temple.

Jiahe had already been around for 1,500 years when it was sacked by the Mongols in the 14th century.

We headed back into town for dinner and sampled yet another style of plov, this time Uigar-style - the Uigars are the largest minority group in Western China and are similar in appearance to Central Asians. So with full stomachs, we transferred to the train station to catch an overnight train to our next stop in Dunhuang.

There were no private cars, so we were sharing with two other guys. I slept ok, but Stephanie didn't make out so well because the guys took turns snoring on and off. We met our guide in Dunhuang at around 5am and then took a quick nap in the hotel before starting our next day of sightseeing.

We didn't think we'd have time for breakfast, so we stopped in a supermarket to get some snacks - I picked up something that looked like it might be camel jerky.

At least there was a picture of a camel on the front. It turned out we needn't have worried, because our guide took us for a quick breakfast of spicy noodles before we headed out into the frigid morning.

I didn't even know about the first attraction of the day because it wasn't on the itinerary. We were driving south out of town and all of a sudden there were these huge sand dunes on the horizon.

Our guide told us that they extend about 40 by 20 kilometers and get as high as 1800 feet. He then asked if we wanted to take a quick tour by camel - and of course we said yes. I mean, they had two humps! We didn't realize it until we saw the pictures, but my camel was significantly smaller than Stephanie's, no idea why, but I felt sort of slighted.

Our camels led us to the Crescent Moon Lake, an oasis in the desert. The pagoda in the pictures is a reconstruction, but still beautiful.

Our guide told us that there used to be numerous temples around the lake, but they were destroyed during the cultural revolution.

For lunch, we had the local specialty of donky noodles - donkey meat with noodles. I can't say the donkey had any particular taste, but it was something new anyway. We then headed out to the Murgao Grottos - another system of Buddhist caves, but much better preserved. We got there a little early so we had time to take in the museum. That was good because they had constructed replicas of the caves and I was able to take pictures of those - pictures weren't allowed in the actual caves.

We also got to see some interesting buddhist sculptures on display.

There are over 430 caves dug into the cliff face at the Murgao Grottos. Only 10 are open to the public at any given time, but that was plenty. They are incredible, and the guide pointed out to us how the style changed over the centuries - from a very Indian style in the early days, which the Chinese slowly adapted to their own styles. Some of the caves are almost 2,000 years old and they are amazingly well preserved. The highlight was the big buddha.

When we entered the cave, we were a bit perplexed, because all we saw was a rock wall. But then we looked up and realized that the wall was just the Buddha's clothing. At over 100 feet tall seated, the Buddha was almost overwhelming to look at. I would have given almost anything to take a picture, but no dice.

This structure was built over the exterior of the cave, just to give you and idea of the scale of this thing.

From the outside, we could also see the remnants of some of the paintings that adorned the cliff face before an earthquake destroyed much of them.

Since we were done with our sightseeing for the day, we asked our guide to show us to the market area for a little shopping. We visited a carpet store, that had some fantastic carpets with up to 1200 knots per square inch that have to be made with a magnifying glass, (which were also way out of our price range), and then just wandered around taking in the sights.

One thing I found interesting was the mosque, which is nestled among the very Chinese architecture of the city center.

Just a neat example of the mingling of culture at China's border areas with Central Asia. It was also in the market that we were both surprised to see that our guide had a second thumb on his right hand. I like to think that something like that wouldn't phase me, but honestly it was creepy. I restrained myself from taking a picture though.

We had dinner on our own and then decided to take in the night lights before turning in. Dunhuang is a nice town by day, but beautiful by night.

We really enjoyed taking it all in. On the way back to the hotel, however, we had a bad scare when we turned a corner and were confronted by a couple of muggers! It turned out they were only mannequins, but I have no idea why they're dressed so aggressively.

The next morning started with the battle for breakfast. We went downstairs and were seated at a large table and were soon joined by other guests. But when they brought the food, everyone started trying to spin the lazy susan in their direction to get the food. We had to really work to get enough to eat. Especially vexing was the older couple at our table. They were fierce and made no bones about spinning the lazy susan in their favor, even if we were in the middle of taking some food.

In the end, we were able to get enough to eat, which was good because we had a long drive into the Gobi Desert ahead of us. The flat, barren plains seemed to stretch out forever. It's hard to imagine that people crossed that huge expanse on foot or on camel for thousands of years in the frigid winters and blazing summers. After awhile, we came to our first stop, the Hecang fortress, which used to be an important supply depot for the military forces that guarded China's western frontier and the silk road running through it.

From there, we went to the Yunmen Guan Gate, which served as one of two main points of entry/exit into the ancient chinese empire along the Great Wall.

Behind it, we took in some beautiful views of the nearby salt marshes.

And at last, we got to see the Great Wall itself.

Considering it was built out of sand, stones, and reeds, it's incredible that anything is left of this 2,000 year-old construction. It was originally 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide at the base. It's hard to believe that this stretched from where we were all the way to Beijing.

The Yunmen Guan Gate was the western entrance in this part of the wall, and our next stope was the Yang Guan Pass, which was the northern entrance. On the way, we broke out the snacks we had picked up for lunch. I eagerly broke into what I thought was camel jerky, only to discover it was a fist-sized chunk of camel meat in a pungent sauce.

Once I got past the smell and appearance, it was actually quite good. And I added another meat to my list. The Yang Guan Pass itself is not particularly impressive, but the views from there are. You can imagine the commanding view the defenders would have had.

Our guide told us that this was a major disembarkation point for caravans on the silk road and that it still holds a very special place in the minds of the Chinese people. We also toured a nice museum at the site and learned more about the way of life at the time the gate was active. It all helped to put things in perspective.

We headed back into town in late afternoon to see the White Horse Pagoda. On the way, I was able to get a picture of one of the vineyards that are scattered all over the region.

Grapes made thier way here on the silk road, but the region is now famous for them and the raisins they make from them. I was also interested in the decorations on the front doors of many of the houses we passed. It's interesting to see how traditional decor is incorporated into modern dwellings.

The White Horse Pagoda was built in the 4th century by a Buddhist monk in memory of his horse. Legend says that the horse was actually a dragon who was tasked with protecting the monk on his journey back to china from faraway lands. The pagoda itself isn't very ornate, but the walkway that was constructed to get there was very beautiful.

With our sightseeing at an end, we asked to be taken somewhere where we could see some art. Our guide took us to a very shady looking place that turned out to be an art dealer who supplies local stores. It was a neat way to shop and we eventually got a painting on silk, but I didn't get a picture. I was also intrigued by this Tibetan style painting, but the price was a little more than I was willing to through down.

For dinner, we went to the market place itself for a hot pot and noodles and then enjoyed another night on the town. We got some dried goji berries but passed on the hacked-up pig.

On the way back to the hotel, we were trying to figure out how to spend the little bit of money we had left and encountered a local tea shop.

Bingo! We got some really nice smelling tea and can't wait to try it out as the weather gets colder in Dushanbe.

On our last morning, (or so we though), the hotel put us at our own table for breakfast. I think it was because they had a large group coming, but it felt like segregation. At least we didn't have to fight with any old people for our steamed buns. All too soon it was time to head to the airport. When we got there it was strangely deserted and Stephanie wondered whether it was closed.

It turned out that it was indeed open, but it's a very small airport and our flight was the only one scheduled. We got all checked in and were sitting in the waiting area when an announcement was made in Chinese. We then realized our folly in sending our guide home because we didn't know what they were saying. Luckily, one of the ladies at the airport seemed to notice our plight and came to explain in broken English that the flight was delayed due to weather problems in Urumqi - they called it fog, but I think smog was more likely. We had 4 hours between our scheduled arrival in Urumqi and our departure for Dushanbe so we weren't too worried - until the girl made another announcement and all the other passengers started to leave the airport. She told us to follow them and get on the bus, but couldn't explain why.

Needless to say we were bewildered and concerned. But once on the bus, one of the flight attendants came to us and explained that because of the delay, they were taking everyone to lunch. How nice! But with that, we started to worry about our connection - there are only three flights per week to Dushanbe, so if we missed this one, we'd be stuck until Thursday instead of Monday. The flight attendant was very understanding and promised to help us. Lunch turned out to be at an extremely nice restaurant, with very good food. The only downside was another homicidal grandmother who shoved us out of the way getting off the bus and also commandeered the lazy susan during the meal.

The nice thing was that the captain came by to speak with us and promised that his airline would assist us once we arrived in Urumqi. Oh, and lunch also gave me the chance to snap this excellent mistranslation across from the place where we ate!

We were bussed back to the airport and eventually got on the plane. We expected the flight to be about an hour and figured we'd have just enough time to connect. We were enjoying aerial views of the desert on our way when they announced that the flight would be an hour and a half and we got worried again.

We asked the flight attendant if they could check the status of our connecting flight to Dushanbe, hoping it would have been delayed too, but she came back with more disturbing news. The weather had not improved and we were turning around!

That pretty much killed our hope of getting home as planned. Back at the airport, we were fortunate to be able to be able to contact both the travel agency in China and our travel section at the embassy and they were great at keeping us updated. As we waited, more and more planes were diverted from Urumqi and had to land at the tiny Dunhuang airport, which was quickly filling up. Then they started sending people out on busses again and we assumed they were feeding people in shifts, but were puzzled as to why no one was coming back.

Eventually, our group was sent to the busses, but no one told us where we were going. To our delight, we pulled into a familiar parking lot - it was a beautiful building built to look like an ancient fortress. Our guide had pointed it out before as a 4 star resort. We were taken to a lovely dining hall for dinner and were a bit disappointed when we had to get back on the bus. We were pleasantly surprised again when the bus dropped us off at the hotel lobby and we learned that we'd be staying there for the night. This gave me a chance to snap a great shot of the crescent moon over the desert.

We were well taken care of during our stay. We got a call in the morning inviting us to breakfast, and then spent the morning relaxing and enjoying the views of the sand dunes from our windows.

At lunch, Stephanie was startled when she was dishing up soup and a chicken claw came up in the ladle. We were both startled when a man came in with a bullhorn and shouted at us in chinese. Fortunately, some of our fellow passengers were in the room and indicated that it was time to go back to the airport (thank goodness I speak pantomime). We collected our things and, with some regret, got back on the bus.

At the airport, the fantastic service continued. A flight attendant from a different airline came over to explain that we would be switched from our small plane to a larger plane to make sure we wouldn't be worried. I was impressed with how efficient the whole operation was.

From then on everything went smoothly. We enjoyed some nice views from the plane -

- and when we landed, we discovered that they had even though to move our luggage from the first plane to the second without us asking. Kudos to the chinese airlines!

We got from the domestic terminal to the international terminal without incident, but the departure hall in Urumqi was chaotic with everyone trying to get where they were going after a full day's closure. We managed to stay out of the way and were in touch with the embassy travel section who confirmed that the flight from Dushanbe had been cancelled on Monday, but was now en route.

When it came time to check in, we started getting that old familiar feeling of being in Dushanbe. There was no order, and the amount of stuff that people were trying to check in was tremendous. Apparently, a lot of Tajik merchants come to China to buy goods to sell in Tajikistan. We forged ahead and got in line for customs. Of course, it would have been too easy if that had been straighforward.

The guy at the customs desk asked us where we got the tickets because there are no flights to Dushanbe. After a momentary flutter of panic, we realized that he was misinformed, not us. But no matter how many ways we explained it, he wouldn't believe us. Luckily, his shift finished in mid-argument and the person who replaced him let us through.

At the gate, the Tajik shopping spree continued. They were stocking up on all sorts of things - including crates of fruit, that they apparently intended to take as carry-on. Stephanie and I made a point to get on the plane first when it boarded and it was a good thing. The cabin was like the bazaar on a busy day. People were shouting and pushing and looking for places to stash their goods. It was like being back already.

Finally things settled down and everyone took their seats. And then we sat. And sat. And sat. I was alarmed to see it had started snowing and visions of a night at the Urumqi airport started dancing through my head. I was under no illusions that Tajik air would take such good care of us as we experienced with the Chinese airlines. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded and we took off with no problems, arrived in Dushanbe around 10pm, and came to the end of our China Adventure. Pretty awesome, huh?

And of course, here are the rest of the pictures...

China 2010 JPGS

Brief Interlude

Stephanie and I returned from our jaunt to China safe and sound. It was a great trip and the full story along with pictures will be forthcoming. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings - turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie - a day early and then enjoyed a nice french toast breakfast before we headed out.

Now that we're back and December is upon us, we're finishing up the Thanksgiving leftovers and gearing up for the Christmas season. Lots to look forward to with the Christmas tree, Christmas goodies, and of course, the gingerbread house!

Work is very busy compared to last year and WikiLeaks doesn't make diplomacy any easier - but I think that for anyone reading the news that goes without saying. That's about it for now, but I'm hoping to have the China Chronicles up by the weekend.

Hogwarts Comes to Dushanbe

As we approach the holidays, things are getting pleasantly quiet at work. There's still plenty to do, but with many people taking vacations, there are fewer emergencies. The weather continues to be very pleasant and warmer than it was last year. And while the start of cooler weather does bring the burning of cowpies for fuel, the constant haze it produces has resulted in some really spectacular sunsets as shown here.

One bit of interesting news is that Stephanie discovered that our cleaning lady seems to be drinking water out of the glasses she has washed and then puts it back on the dish drain. We haven't quite figured out how to approach the situation and this is yet another situation for which my Russian instruction to date has not prepared me. For now, Stephanie is just rewashing the glassware herself.

The arrival of the first avocados in over a year sent ripples of excitement through the international community. By the time Stephanie got to the bazaar to buy our turkey, however, they had been cleaned out. Fortunately some friends of ours had us over for guacamole today so we still managed to partake. But the reaction itself was amazing. You'd have thought that aliens landed or someone had announced that solid gold potatoes were discovered growing in Rudaki Park.

But avocados and poor sanitary habits aside, the biggest event by far was the arrival of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at a local movie theater. I couldn't believe it when I heard, but a friend of mine and I went down there with his son on Saturday morning and got tickets. The theater was actually quite nice - huge really, and the seats were comfortable.

We were a bit nervous when we arrived and saw an enormous crowd of teenagers showing up at the same time. It turned out that one of the local schools came to see the 10am show as well. Given my recent experience at the opera house - with kids who couldn't stop talking for 15 seconds at a time - I was apprehensive at best but the kids were remarkably well behaved. It seems that Harry Potter casts a spell even here.

The movie itself was outstanding and with the help of my knowing the story, I was able to follow the Russian dubbing with no problem. It was just really cool that I could see the film within a day of its premier in the U.S.

Other than that, we've been getting ready for Thanksgiving, which we will celebrate on Wednesday night since we're heading to China for a few days starting on Thursday. There is now a delicious-looking pumpkin pie on the window sill courtesy of yours truly. The real trick, though, will be not eating it before Wednesday.

Holiday Road

The November Holiday Extravaganza continues here in Dushanbe. On Thursday, we celebrated Stephanie's birthday. Starting with cornmeal pancakes, eggs, and fresh bacon. We continued celebrating with lunch at the Hyatt and then it was on to sushi for dinner. To top things off, I made a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate truffle icing. I have to say, it was pretty amazing. In fact, we ate the whole thing in just three sittings.

After trudging through Friday, (Gasp! A whole day of work!), it was on to the weekend. On Saturday evening, we decided to go to a symphony at the opera house, sponsored by the German embassy. It was a very good concert and free to boot. But the bad thing about being free was that anyone could show up. In our balcony seats, we were beset by hoards of teenagers who just could not get control of themselves long enough to stop their gums from flapping. I really raised the bar for feeling like an old man by scolding them several times in Russian. It didn't work very well.

We were further disappointed when, on the way home, we discovered that the supermarket were out of shrimp. Well, they were out of the good shrimp. Some friends of ours brought some over recently and they were outstanding. But when we got to the store, only the small, pre-cooked shrimp were left so we made do with what we had at home.

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the coffee house that Stephanie discovered nearby. Unfortunately, they didn't have any coffee. But we enjoyed lunch and some green tea over a game of scrabble.

Now that I've made it through the hardship of Monday, (another whole day of work!), I am looking forward to having tomorrow off for another local holiday. After that I'll actually have to work for three days straight before the weekend, and another three days after that before Thanksgiving. Tough life.

Fortunately, the weather is holding up nicely so we are able to make the most of the time off.

What Do A Pirate and A Kangaroo Have To Do With Fried Chicken and Shwarma? You Tell Me.

November is a wonderful month to be working at the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe. The combination of local and U.S. holidays means that the first week in November was the only 5 day work week for the entire month! Of course, November has also brought rain to Dushanbe. It's a little late coming this year, but it's definitely arrived.

I particularly appreciated the new, wetter weather patterns on my way to work on Thursday. A little more than a mile from the embassy, at one of the traffic lights, my cab driver turned around and said he had decided to go a different way.

Now, this wasn't a regular cab, it was one of the numbered cabs that are supposed to follow set routes. When talking him into completing his route didn't work, I demanded half my money back (a whole somoni) before getting out of the car. Not that 25 cents means a lot to me, but it was a symbolic victory. So I took my 1 somoni, crossed the street and stood in the rain to wait for another taxi or Marshrutka. Other than that, I sailed through Friday and gladly welcomed the start of a 3-day weekend. Today was Constitution Day in Tajikistan.

On Saturday I made one of my periodic trips to the big bazaar. It's not unusual for vendors to offer samples of their goods, but I usually decline for health safety reasons. This time, however, I threw caution to the wind. I was hungry. I tried dried fruits, nuts, honey, pork sausage, horse sausage, and fresh, homemade bacon, among other things.

This market trip also turned up some other gems. One guy was selling locally grown oranges (I had no idea they even grew oranges here), and I was also able to pick up a large quantity of tofu from some of the Korean ladies. It's always nice to have something different.

On Sunday, Stephanie and I went up to the botanical garden to read since the weather is so beautiful. It seems that the garden has become the new hot spot for weddings because the area in front of the gate was packed with gaudily decorated cars. Inside, you could hardly turn around without bumping into a bride and her video-camera-toting entourage. One of the big wedding traditions here is to have someone follow you around and video tape everything, not necessarily the bride and groom. The film the wedding party's car driving through town, people standing in line to get into the park, other people taking pictures of the new couple, everything. To each their own I guess.

The only trouble with all the wedding madness was that it was hard to find a quiet place to sit. Many of the nice wooden pavilions were magnets for the wedding crowds, and sometimes we felt as if we were being followed (I think sometimes we were being followed). Eventually, we found a not-so-nice bench under an out-of-the-way tree and got some peace and quiet.

Sunday afternoon, we decided to treat ourselves and had a masseuse come by the house and give us back, neck, and head massages. I think she was a little tough for Stephanie, but it suited me fine.

We thought we'd cap the day off by going out to dinner at a Georgian restaurant and then take in the city at night. Things didn't work exactly as we'd planned. When we got to the restaurant we discovered that 3 out of every 4 items on the menu were not available, most of them the items that we wanted to try. Exasperated, we got our Hatchipuri (Georgian cheesy bread) to go and went on our way.

From there, I decided to pick up some fried chicken to go along with dinner, and that turned out to be an adventure in it's own right. Mayhem would best describe the situation in the fried chicken restaurant. Eventually I got to the counter and was able to order what I thought would be a simple request - two pieces of fried chicken. While I was waiting, I had time to ponder the significance of a pirate in a fried chicken restaurant. No idea why it was there.

Well, after about 15 minutes my order still hadn't come up and the girl who took it was suffering a barrage of requests from various parties. Eventually I got back to the counter and told her that I just wanted my money back. She apologized and came back with my order right away. I was so amazed by the apology that I forgot all about being annoyed. I took my food and wished her luck. It's always nice when manners pop up around here.

Fully stocked with dinner, Stephanie and I made our way along the main street. I had planned to take pictures of the city at night, but most of the things I wanted to photograph weren't lit up. It seemed Dushanbe was determined that our night out would not be what we had hoped. Nonetheless, I got some photos of the colorful lights and fountains at Rudaki park.

These "Light Trees" are very popular around here in spite of, or perhaps because of, their tackiness.

The presidential palace was one of the few landmarks actually well lit. Go figure.

I also got some nice night views of the downtown area with all of its light-decorated buildings.

And I would have been remiss not to capture the Shwarma Kangaroo next to one of the night clubs. No idea what a kangaroo has to do with shwarma either.

We got home, had our dinner and a nice relaxing evening.

Today I meant to go running in the morning but realized that I left my iPod in the gym at the embassy. Hoping to retrieve it, we went to the embassy, but the iPod was gone. Fortunately, I made a couple of phone calls and it turned out that someone was honest enough to turn it in and I'll be able to get it tomorrow. Again, people can always surprise you.

One other neat thing is that I got a shout-out in an article on America.gov, a website that talks about things the U.S. government is doing in regards to foreign policy. This one is about improving sustainability. There are some neat things that various agencies at the embassy are doing in Tajikistan. Some of the projects I'm doing at the embassy are showcased toward the end of the article. You can read it here.

And so, the long weekend is coming to a close. But we'll honor our nation's veterans (and Stephanie's birthday) on Thursday.

Scary Stuff

Happy Halloween! Well, a day late anyway. Hard to believe we're looking at November and that the holiday season has officially begun. November is a wonderful month because, between local and U.S. holidays, this is the only 5 day work week during the whole month!

One scary thing this week was the news leak that a nun from my alma mater (Iona College) was fired for embezzling $800,000 over the course of 10 years. What's really scary is that I knew Sister Susie pretty well, or thought I did. Even more scary is that the school didn't report the crime, but only fired her and another employee who was involved. A lot of the alumni are quite upset, but the school is remaining tight lipped, only saying that they got "most of the money back". Even if they got all of the money back, I think she should be prosecuted. It's a big deal and it seems that the school doesn't take it seriously. I'd call that a big problem for a school that relies almost entirely on tuition and alumni donations.

Apparently, in the rest of the world, it's also daylight savings time, but not here. No, Tajikistan marches to it's own drummer. I have to say, it is kind of interesting to watch the days get shorter and shorter - the sun comes up later each day and goes down later each day - rather than the odd jump to a brighter morning that comes with daylight savings time. And now we're 10 hours ahead of EST instead of 9. This also requires an adjustment to the TV schedule.

Halloween was fun. Just like last year, the "door decorating" contest gets everyone excited and into the Halloween spirit. My office had quite a display this year, but we were outdone by another office that had a whole extra room to decorate. Many of us questioned whether awarding the prize for the "door decorating" contest to an office that didn't put anything on their door was really in keeping with the contest, but the point is we had fun decorating (mostly).

It was also fun to see the kids get all dressed up, although one of the local staff dressed their kids up in a white robe with a pointy hat. Very KKKish, but we don't think it was intentional. It's always interesting to see the power of cultural knowledge, or lack thereof.

On Saturday, Stephanie and I enjoyed the beautiful fall weather as we did some shopping in the afternoon and Stephanie made a delicious chili. Saturday evening we got all gussied up (well I did) and went to the grown-up Halloween party. It was fun to see the different costumes, but we didn't stay out too long. I went for a Goth look, and it was well received - maybe too well received. Quite a few people told me that the look really "worked" for me. I'll let you be the judge.

Sunday was another gorgeous day so Stephanie and I headed out for the afternoon. We spent a few hours at a nice coffee house that Stephanie found, snacking, drinking coffee, and reading our books. Just as we were wrapping up, a friend called and invited us out for shashlik. It was a place we hadn't been to and quite tasty. All in all, a good weekend.

Alas, the week returned all too soon and here we go again. But with all the holidays coming up it doesn't seem too bad. And of course, while I'm enjoying the leftover Halloween treats, there was one more "trick". Stephanie and I just got our absentee ballots today, even though we requested them months ago. We'll vote, of course, but I also intend to get in touch with our local election relatives back in New York about this. You would think they'd send overseas ballots out earlier.

And now for my little soapbox piece - whoever you support, just make sure you vote.