Conference

I've barely settled in, but it's time to take off for a conference in a nearby country. I'll be meeting with English Language Fellows from around the region for a day, and with local teachers for another two days. For the past half a week I've been working on my presentations and getting over my laryngitis. Thankfully, both my talks and my voice seem to be in adequate shape.

Travel will be a bit interesting. No direct flights. (Political tensions.) Infrequent flights to nearby cities. (Economic realities for the airline trying to fill seats.) Road closed because of snow. (That makes sense to me, as we Californians are familiar with snow closing the Tejon Pass or with avalanches closing the Pacific Coast Highway.) But my facilitators have worked out a combination of flying and driving that should get me there in time.  --Kitty

Reading comprehension and expectations

For our first dinner at home we decided on something simple--pasta with meat sauce. We were pleased to find in the supermarket ground beef, spaghettini, sauce, and even parmesan cheese!

 I looked at the label on the jar and sounded out the letters "tomatnaya pasta." Because it came in a jar, I expected it to be for pasta, like Ragu.

But no, it was "tomato paste."  Wait! Doesn't tomato paste always come in a can? Not here.

Our spaghetti sauce was rather strong tonight. Next time we need oregano and basil too.

Culture learning part 1

Today's lessons.

1. How to turn on the water heater under the kitchen sink:

The landlady (a kindly grandmother who's managing her daughter's apartment--between her English and Kitty's Russian we communicate pretty well) showed us the switch.

2. How to operate the washing machine. Landlady Boxar was just a baffled as we are--new brand, new technology for her. We discovered that it's not automatic and won't spin until a button is pushed.

By the way--how awesome that we have a washing machine, even if it's different from what we're used to.

3. How to read handwritten numbers:

When there's a new writing system, you have to learn capital letters, lowercase letters, fancy fonts, handwriting of various types--and numbers too!

4.

At the supermarket, don't just take your produce (this is a carrot, by the way) up to the front checker. It must be weighed and labeled by the produce person (in the same way that American supermarkets do meat and deli items).

New home

We are thankful to have found a centrally-located apartment within walking distance of Kitty's university, supermarkets, and restaurants.

Here's our neighborhood. Pretty urban compared to what we're used to in Monrovia.
The apartment doesn't look like much from the outside:

...but it's been remodeled and is very nice inside. It's fully furnished with nearly everything we need.

Wanted to end this post with another photo we took on a walk this afternoon:

The snow-capped peaks remind us of recent views of the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles, but these are higher and closer.

New airport in Dushanbe

Flights from Istanbul to Dushanbe arrive at 4:30 in the morning. This is not the best time of day to be favorably impressed by anything, especially after 24 hours of international flights. The last time we arrived in Dushanbe, we walked across the tarmac and entered an old terminal. There were incomprehensible forms to fill out and visas were obtained in a dingy room from a guy at a little desk writing things out by hand. (We had some eventual trouble because of that, but that’s a story from the past.) This time, even though the time was still 4:30 am, the new terminal was operational. A jetway! Bright modern spaces! Short lines! No paper forms! Smooth passport control! All our luggage appearing quickly on a modern baggage carousel! Tajikistan, you have given us a good first impression.

At the mercy of strangers

Our long trip to Tajikistan took us on three flights from LA to Amsterdam to Istanbul to Dushanbe. Changing airlines in Istanbul meant transferring our luggage there. But how to do that in the busy Ataturk Airport while going through the usual transit route and not exiting via passport control to baggage claim? Asking official after official and going from one counter to another (including an unnecessary 30-minute wait in a passport line), we circled around again with a sense of dread and futility to a counter we’d been before, the Havas Celebi Logistics desk. But after all the previous miscommunication or misdirection or being passed on to someone else, this time a helpful guy not only ensured that our luggage was picked up from KLM and transferred to Turkish Air, but also invited us to come around behind the counter to sit down while we waited for the new tags and offered us tea. Was it because Lee had resurrected some Turkish from a 30-year old layer in his brain, because of my haggard look after all those sleepless hours, or simple because he was a kind human being? Bless him!

Anticipation

This is a photo of Dushanbe in May 2011. What will it be like in January 2017? Anticipation is helping us get through the tasks of saying our goodbyes, packing up and cleaning the house for renters, and packing our suitcases.

Light

Where we'll be - a short video by Pavel Tenyakov

Sabbatical in Tajikistan

Sabbatical - a time of "rest and refreshment" from one's regular job. In our case, as I have a sabbatical from Biola University and Lee has a sabbatical from Frontier Ventures, it's not going to be a traditional rest, but a time of being refreshed and revitalized through a change of pace. We'll be spending five months in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan - a place we visited for a few days in 2011, a place where I spent a few weeks in 2013, and a place we're looking forward to getting to know better.

We'll be in the capital, Dushanbe.

Fulbright - a U.S. State Department program to promote cultural understanding and the sharing of expertise. I received a grant to train local English language teachers.