A big name visitor in Dushanbe

Russia's President Putin was scheduled to visit Dushanbe this evening. What a hoopla along Rudaki Boulevard all day long! Signs, slogans, banners, and flags went up this morning.

Officers and plainclothesmen were stationed every 20 yards.

There were expressions of friendship...

and pledges of brotherhood.

We never did see the motorcade. Maybe we missed it. Maybe he signed those agreements at the airport. I hope all the people who worked so hard for the spectacle didn't feel it was in vain. At least the officers had a beautiful day in which to stand around.

Shopping

20 years ago when I had a similar sabbatical and we spend a semester in Turkmenistan, shopping for daily needs was a challenge. Lee could spend a whole morning going from place to place just to find bread. If he could find jam in the market, it was a triumph (even if it was carrot jam). Finding pasta was a cause for celebration (even though it wasn’t made of durum wheat and had the texture of glue). We should have known that a lot of progress can happen in a region in 20 years, but we were steeling ourselves for similar trails. In fact, shopping here in Dushanbe is much, much easier.

 

First of all, there is a nice little supermarket just across the street from our apartment block with nearly everything we need. And there are other well-stocked supermarkets within walking distance or a short bus ride away where we can find more. Ground beef! Frozen chicken breasts! Oatmeal! Whole wheat bread!

But abundance brings its own challenges. Which brand of bread will taste the best? If we find one we like, will we remember it the next time?

And it’s still not like shopping in the U.S. Everything is smaller. It can be hard to find what you’re looking for in a new language. And there are new kinds of packaging:

Supermarkets across the street are nice when the weather is bad, when one is a newcomer, and when one is in a hurry, but today, with blue sky and temps in the 60s, I ventured over to Shohmansur Bazaar, more commonly known as the Green Bazaar. 

Beautiful! But just looking today.

Feeling better

Just a quick post to say that I'm feeling better. Now I know:

• After you take Tinidazole, the good bacteria are wiped out as well as the bad
• Pharmacies here also carry a probiotic called Linex Forte that one should also take
• When your gut is in a tender state, no matter how good the food smells or how wonderful it feels to have an appetite again, do not eat anything that has any butter or oil in it
• Bread and water is OK. Oatmeal and yogurt is OK. Chicken and rice is OK. We'll see tonight if pasta and tomato sauce is OK.

--Kitty

A gastrointestinal bug--ugh!

"It's not a matter of if, but when," an American in Dushanbe told us, speaking of giardia. Not us! I thought. We're scrupulous about boiling our water, only eating hot food when out, avoiding raw vegetables, and washing our hands. But he was right. It started with a slight fever and nausea and progressed to a need to stay close to the bathroom.

I was sad to have to call with regrets for not being able to attend this afternoon's meeting with the director of my host university.

Following instructions from our source, Lee went out to a pharmacy--there are usually several on every block--and got some medicine. It cost 50 cents.

Hmm....here they have inexpensive meds, but an inadequate water purification system. In the U.S. we have clean water (in most places), but high pharmacy costs...

Besides the physical distress of illness, being sick makes me depressed. Things that in the past month seemed like a wonderful adventure now feel like great burdens.

Trusting that I'll feel better tomorrow! --Kitty

23 February commemorative day

Ever since I saw cards for a February 23 event, I wondered what it was.

Turns out it's a holiday that has morphed from Red Army Day (Soviet era) to Tajik Armed Forces Day, to Men's Day (cf March 8, Women's Day).

In this culture, every day is probably men's day, but card and gift companies are always looking for a chance to sell something, right? The military aspect of the day is prominent in the many banners and signs that I've seen around the city for a week or so.

Speaking of business opportunities, the banner and sign manufacturing and hanging businesses must be booming here.

"Congratulations on the national army holiday dear compatriots"

But here are some photos to emphasize the Men's Day aspect of Feb 23--three generations of Dushanbe men:

I think this banner reads, "national army--power of the state"

I had been hoping to be out on Feb 23 to see what actually happens--a parade? But alas, I was laid low by some intestinal bug, and spend the whole day at home.

One thing that happened was that our phone company sent Lee a message, and google translate actually worked:

Tourists in winter Dushanbe

The weather has cleared up and I wanted to be out and about under a blue sky. First stop, on Tuesday afternoon--the Botanical Gardens.

 The view north (and probably the air quality in Dushanbe) is a little spoiled by the new coal-fired electric plant built by the Chinese. On the other hand, we haven't had any of the electrical outages we'd been warned about.

Even on a chilly weekday, there were some couples:

and some college students having fun:

Second stop, on Wednesday morning, Victory Park, on a hilltop in the east of the city. It's the site of a WWII memorial and the tomb of unknown soldier, as well as a restaurant with great views. Probably because of a big event planned for tomorrow (more on that later), we weren't allowed to go up to the memorial, but we got a taste of the views:

Looking south

Looking west over the city

Looking north

Here's a view of those same gorgeous mountains from a neighborhood street at the base of the hill the park is on:

(near the beer factory, if you want a landmark)

Looking forward to going back to both of these places when fruit trees and flowers are in bloom.

Birthday party

A student I'd had in the ETM program three years ago, Gulya, invited us to her home to celebrate her husband's 36th birthday.

Lee got to hang out with guys:

They include an administrator who works in St. Petersburg, Russia (who's hoping to find a local job that will let him stay home with his family), a web-designer, a translator for a Chinese construction company, and some English teachers, one at a university and one in a secondary school. (Sadly, and typically, the teachers did not have the best English of the group.)

No table or chairs--Tajiks just spread out a cloth (and make sure every inch is covered with food and drink) and put floor cushions around the perimeter. After this photo was taken, they brought in bowls of dumpling soup, and then bowls of meat stew.

Lee's greatest challenge? Sitting on the floor in a slightly cramped space for more than an hour.

After a few minutes with the men, I moved to another room. Gulya's sister-in-law was there (uncomfortable being in a room with men they didn't know), along with her father-in-law, some other young women, and Gulya's baby, their third child. The two older kids and various cousins were in and out. One of the young women had baked the cake:

Another one spent a lot of the time taking selfies. Tweens around the world!

The baby slept swaddled in her cradle:

Gulya was in and out--busy serving food, saying good-bye to guests, and taking food to neighbors. When we left she gave us a goody bag with treats from the "dastarkhan" or tablecloth.

Last (?) snow of the winter

People tell us that there's been more rain and snow than usual this winter. This storm's precipitation started Friday night in the form of rain and kept up all weekend, turning to snow Saturday afternoon. By Sunday morning our courtyard looked like this:

The city is beautiful:

But we didn't bring boots to cope with the degree of slush found in a lot of the uneven (or nonexistent) pavement here:

But the weather didn't stop these ladies, who were taking fancy cakes to a party somewhere:

Church

We've been attending the International Church of Dushanbe. They alternate weeks meeting split up in two different homes and meeting as a larger group.

Today they met in the cafeteria of a local bank building (where one of the members has his office). We appreciate the chance to worship Jesus with people from Korea, the U.K. Germany, the U.S., etc. The church is going through the book of John, with members taking turns leading a study, chapter by chapter.

Teaching Academic Writing

My first meeting with the MGU teachers interested in improving their teaching of academic writing took place at our apartment on Saturday afternoon.

We started with tea/coffee, and then did a variety of activities. Here's a group debating priorities for a writing class:

If you're interested in more of this professional part of my time here, I'm posting on facebook @tesoltrainer, Dr. Kitty Purgason

How we eat

Here are a few photos explaining how we eat our meals.

First of all, we cook (well, Lee cooks). Besides the pictured night's meal of burgers, carrots, and pan fries, we've made spaghetti with primavera sauce, mediterranean-style bread and egg strata, lentil stew, and chicken soup.

We also get take-out, from a Turkish restaurant called Merve. Lee enjoys the chance to speak Turkish.

And once a week or so we use a delivery service called Sevara's Kitchen:

Tonight's order was a spinach and cheese calzone. We've had fajitas, bulgogi, beef stroganoff, and tom kha gai. The cost is about half of eating out and just a little more than cooking ourselves--and it supports a local entrepreneur and her son.

We're thankful for all these options!

Bonus: today I baked apricot nut bread.

I'll be serving it to some teachers coming over tomorrow.
(And have made notes on my recipe to cut the apricots smaller so they don't sink to the bottom next time.)