The Daily Blog

Sunday April 23rd

Today was scheduled to be a low-key rest and catch up day. Time for a little shopping etc. It turned out that the expatriate community was joining in the Botanical Garden clean up. We worked with Dushanbe school # 10 and collected about 8 big bags of trash. Afterwards we joined the alums from the Flex program, maybe 6 of them and went for lunch at the Turkish restaurant. I enjoyed the Adana kebab especially.

Getting to know the Flex students and learning about their experiences was interesting too. Had they dated? Yes said one boy, no said a girl. Prom? Same answers. Did I understand football? Despite spending a year in the US, they don’t seem to understand it any more than I do. These kids are just energetic and fun to be around.

Shukhrat and his wife Nazira took us to the market outside town. It was interesting in that it is essentially an enormous Chinese bazaar. The things on sale were the very same things that I can find at the local Dollar store or in Oakland Chinatown. Searching for gifts, I was somewhat disappointed; in desperation, I bought a sampler pack of Tajik vodka as a starting point. After all vodka is a central part of most formal meals. Shukhrat and Nazira invited us to join them for dinner later.

Determined to edit some video clips that I had taken a couple of days earlier at the Earth Day celebration, in Sarband I logged only on enough to post one more journal day. I always seem to be catching up! While we were at the office, an older woman and her daughter came by with a good selection of handicrafts from Tajikistan and the former lands that used to be in Tajikistan. I bought a Gillim (felt/woven rug), and several handmade tablecloths for presents. All of them are just beautiful, such a pleasure to find compared to the Chinese bazaar stuff. It’s clear however that I will have an excess baggage problem now. It will be worth it though.

Dinner with Shukrat and Nazira was made even more enjoyable because his two younger kids were with us too. His little girl, Amina just loved to have her picture taken and then look at the image; that was before she got down to the real job of terrorizing her little brother Sanjar. He took it pretty well and gave back when he could. She’s three and he’s two. It was a very enjoyable meal with good conversation.

Feeling a need to do some journal stuff, some iMovie editing and to pack for the next week, we left at around 9. I fell asleep while editing video at about 11:00.

Saturday April 22

I had a double bed to myself! Such luxury! After a very pleasant breakfast we met up with a bunch of kids from the ILC’s English Club, squished into a Marshrutka, in this case a battered minibus with enough seats for most of us. The remaining 5 or 6 doubled up on seats, squatted down or just somehow fit inside. The door slammed and we headed up into the mountains. The dirt and rock road ended at an abandoned bridge. Two of the metal “rails” were still there, perhaps 50cm (18”) wide, and all the kids walked right on out over the 65 meter (200’) drop. Now I’m into “Challenge “ activities but only when my life is not at risk! I, along with 3 or 4 others, hiked to the bottom and climbed the bank back up. Safely on the other side we re-joined the hike.

The students set up blankets and snacks under a tree with a pleasant overlook to the reservoir that stored water for the hydro-plant. Most of the kids had pretty good English so we introduced ourselves by playing “Two truths and a lie”. During the process I learned that one of the obviously smart girls was not going to go on to college because her father would not let her. I determined to talk to her about this later. In fact all I was able to do was confirm that she really wanted to go and encourage her to keep trying. Who knows if she will go but it was worth a try.

On the way back the high-light was that we had to push the minibus back up the hill. It was a close call; the smell of transmission fluid when we got back in was striking!

A quick change of clothes and on to the ILC where, after the traditional drinks and snacks, the kids made a presentation about Earth Day. Clearly the information had been researched from the net, including such items as “You can save as much as 9 gallons of water by turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth”. Gallons! The important thing is that their hearts were in the right place.

Now it was my turn to have some fun! I led listening activities and after a hike to their gym, we played “ I like people”. Lots of running around, confusion and relaxing, even bonding. Bonding was beneficial when we played a walk-the-plank activity that demanded the girls and boys squishing past one another along a beam. They really got into it especially when I attacked the toes that were falling into the imaginary crocodile infested river. Fun. With the girls in long skirts, I did decide however, to separate boys and girls for the “Electric Fence” activity. The groups did really well. Their success gave me a chance to bring the lesson full circle and talk about listening, being leaders and going beyond your comfort zone.

We headed out into the school garden and I helped plant the Earth Day tree that they had been talking about earlier. It all went well except for the fact that the garden was so waterlogged that the muddy dirt almost went over into my shoes. Almost!

It took about two hours to get back to Dushanbe. Susie and George took turns sitting in the fold down seat in the trunk!

Back in the office I worked on my journal and an iMovie of the Earth Day activities to send to College Prep. For the CPS Day program on next week. This will be the first CPS Day and the first Junior Retreat that I will have ever missed. I’m sad to miss both great activities.

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I never seem able to keep up with my journal, in fact as I write this; I’m on the most crowded plane that I have ever been on. There is not enough room for my lap-to to fit on my lap!

We went out for dinner to a restaurant called Salsa. The Fajitas tasted great but gave me the worst case of the runs yet. Thank goodness we were back in the apartment. Showers, washing machine and the toilet. Yes!

Friday April 21

Being treated like a celebrity is just so strange! We stayed at the Takhmina Sirojova’s house in Chorbogh last night, it was very comfortable and Takhmina’s family anticipated our every need. They were wonderful hosts. After a breakfast our schedule said “Village Tour; see the life and customs of a Tajik village”. We had no idea what to expect as we walked into the center. About 150 or so school children, teachers and village elders were lined up ready to greet us. We were treated to the ceremonial platter of bread and salt to dip the bread into as roses were thrust into our arms. We walked through the village taking pictures of the people as we were being photographed for the ILC’s photography club. The walk brought us to the old mill, an ancient water powered mill still in use to mill flour. The millstone, a thick slab that I calculate to be about 250 Kg (about 550 pounds) was whizzing around steadily producing what appeared to be high quality flour. Impressive!

Another aspect of the village tour was a stop at a small school where we were given a demonstration of a village wedding. Everybody was so enthusiastic, showing us the special clothes, the beautiful jewelry and of course there was music and dancing. But the show was not over; we were next showed how to make flat bread in a tandoor. The lady who showed us how to make the bread slapped the dough inside the blazing oven with such ease that I asked if I could give it a try. Sure! Well I soon learned that it isn’t so easy, my bread started to slide down into the fire before it solidified on the hot interior. It still tasted good but I think I’ll leave the bread making to professionals!

There was more to come; we walked to the house of one the students, a grand villa where we were shown, and I tried butter making. Another one for the professionals!

We had lunch, not with the student but rather with her uncle (?). He was a wonderful old curmudgeon! He gave not so subtle hints that he would like a second wife-actually a foreign wife would be good. In fact there was a foreign woman in this room that would be a fine choice. Susie warned me to keep the window clear so she could dive through. It was all in jest, we think!

Off to the ILC, I did an activity about being a good listener and then a lap-sit activity. Well you might think that a lap-sit would be a straightforward thing but it isn’t here. It was fine, well fairly so, until we tried alternating boys and girls! It was a challenge for them but that was the goal. Back in the classroom, I told them that I knew it would be tough but I wanted them to try it anyway. I talked a bit about how challenging themselves could lead to personal growth while staying with the old was comfortable but not a growth opportunity. They agreed but with some caution. Cultural mores are strong in Tajikistan.

I did my College Prep School PowerPoint presentation, there were some questions-grading and things like that and then Moses did his presentation on Letterboxing. Letterboxing is hiding weather-protected items and then, with clues, people find them. They carve stamps and keep a log. The kids loved it. He had them out in the schoolyard running around and having fun.

Tardy as usual, but for good kid-related reasons, we headed off to Sarband. It was a fairly leisurely two-hour drive on good roads. Sarband is an older small soviet-era town. The buildings are crumbling but inside they are very nice comfortable apartments. It was another of those “how could it possibly be a better reception" type of meeting. Zebo, the ILC manager and her mom were there to meet us, they both speak English, and, to quote them, “We are so excited for your visit, we couldn’t wait. Zebo was very proud to have her best student with her, whose dream was to be a Flex student to America. The Flex-student program is takes about 40-45 11th or 12th grader students from Tajikistan and places them in US schools for a year. The Flex program is for the countries that were in the old Soviet Union. Zebo had been a Flex-Student a year earlier. She told us “It was my dream, the pictures are the only thing that remind me that I was really there!”

The Tajik tradition seems to be to serve the guests as if it was a restaurant but it was much nicer at Zebo’s house since we all ate together. There was even an Afghan friend over so that made the conversation all the richer. We discussed Afghanistan, the war and difficult issues such as Tajiks who must leave Tajikistan to get jobs in Moscow. They go there illegally, bribes are often involved, and do the menial jobs that the Russians are not prepared to do. Very much like the relationship between Mexico and the US. A bad relationship.

Thursday April 20th

Breakfast on the kat was a delightful start to the day; tea , rice, fresh fruits and just when we thought the meal was over the eggs arrived! Full again. Leaving the home-stay was a sad experience; the family were great hosts.

We packed in into our jeep and took off over the mountains to our next town: Kulob. Cruising across the mountains in a Soviet jeep going south towards Afghanistan, soaking in such a different and hospitable culture I feel so fortunate to have this experience.

Kulob school had an exceptional welcome arranged, flowers, singing, classroom visits and demonstrations; and that was just before lunch.

We had lunch with the school principal, the traditional and famous meal from this region ( a tasty combination of yoghurt, bread and onions). To my surprise, it contained no meat! Well that was made up for with the brick of meat style soup.

Off to school again, another warm welcome, dances, me dancing too, and a splendid demonstration of traditional dress. The students had lots of questions for us and us for them. Is it OK to date here” Not really. How many classes do students take? Who arranges student schedules? While the others were setting up, I did a couple of games, a lap-sit and then an exercise on listening. Alvin Moses showed a PowerPoint from his school, and George did his “Place” activity again.

We just had a tour of Kulob and are next on our way for a home stay. I'm looking forward to it.

Wednesday April 19th

Every day here is wonderful!
We headed out to Nurek, the main hydroelectric facility in the country this morning and had the insider’s tour of what was until recently an absolutely off-limits place. The Minister of Education for this province took us in his car, a Russian Lada, the registered, permitted, vehicle on the tour. We could take pictures anywhere except the old looking control center. It’s an impressive hydroelectric dam, 300 meters tall and capable of generating more electricity than the whole country needs.

Off to a restaurant for the typically enormous meal and a chance to talk to the minister of education. It’s clear that getting well-qualified teachers is one of the biggest problems. The pay is around $1/day. Many teachers have second jobs or grow their own food to make ends meet. It’s also clear that that any self-respecting lunch has to have vodka. Drinking on the job!

The best part was meeting the kids in the afternoon. They gave us a great welcome including different dances and music. As usual, they had more food for us. What a welcome! George Thornton, gave an example of technology integration in the classroom. His topic was “a sense of place”. Alvin Moses demonstrated a product that he had obtained as a donation that would let students answer multiple-choice questions all at once. A kind of radio remote control.

The next hectic segment was on-line chat with schools from all around the country. Random questions; how can I keep my students interested in geography; what did you mean by your e-journal comment that you couldn’t imagine Tajiks fighting and what do you know about our town and so on.

The scheduled opportunity for us to check email was constantly, and delightfully, interrupted by kids wanting to take pictures. They gave me an embroidered Tajik skull cap-I’m sure that some of the photographs look quite ridiculous!

On all the previous days we had stayed in our apartment in Dushanbe but tonight we had a home stay with the director of the ILC. Well, let me tell you a home-stay is a pretty interesting experience. Let’s start with dinner: we were all sitting up on the kat (the indoor raised deck that you sit on cross legged to eat), the table was already loaded with food; meats, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, dried fish and of course non. Delicious. Oh and vodka (two kinds). As my knees were starting to freeze up, and as the chay kept on coming, the soup arrived. A major component of the soup is a brick of meat. It’s a whole meal in itself. We thought that we were all done, and full, when the next course “mantu”, a sort of meat dumpling arrived. I was full to overflowing but barely able to move because my knees were locked.

The bathroom was an interesting experience too. Let me just leave that to your imagination. We slept on the floor on thick pads, sort of the way I expect nomadic herders did. It was good all except for the fact that my neck didn’t work in the morning.

Tuesday April 18th

Daniyor picked us up at 9 for the drive to Gissar, an ancient tower and fortification on the Silk Road. The breathtaking climb up the hill was worth it. The view was superb but the neat thing was the little shepard boys who had three wheeled go-carts that they were whizzing down the hill on.

Meat in the soup, meat in the samosas, meat in the meat loaf and RC cola made up lunch. By the way, RC cola, apple version, is fluorescent green, not dissimilar to anti-freeze.

The real fun was in the afternoon when I was scheduled to show a PowerPoint presentation about my school and lead some initiative games for the teachers at Gissar Internet Learning Center (ILC). We stopped at someone’s house to get the required planks and cinder blocks for the activity. This involved dismantling some crates with an old axe, loading them into our old Russian jeep and trundling off to Gissar ILC. We were greeted by a very enthusiastic drum and flute accompaniment to traditional dancing. Excellent!

Next it was my turn for the PowerPoint. Fortunately one of the other teachers had brought a projector so I felt quite at ease for the presentation in front of about 10 teachers and 35 kids. That was until we found out that the school’s generator could not put out enough power to run the projector. I made my presentation by carrying my laptop above my head and wandering around the room. Not the smooth presentation I had imagined but a definite success.

The teachers were game for the Lava River, stepping stones and planks activity that I had prepared. They took their planning time seriously and after a little confusion, succeeded in crossing the river. Of course the kids did it a bit more quickly and loved it too.

After a few questions, about what students in the US are like, what teachers are paid in the US and a whole lot of photo-taking, we left to visit with one of the student’s families. The family and indeed the Tajik people are just wonderful.

A full day of visiting, eating and cross-cultural learning.

Monday April 17th

Our apartment is simple but fine and after so many hours of travel, simply being horizontal feels wonderful. Sleep was sketchy but I’m slowly getting over the jet lag.

Daniyor, our driver from Relief International picked us up at 8AM ready for what turned out to be a very full day. We began with more intensive in-country orientation, history, economics and the sad reality that the country’s leadership is so corrupt that it’s hard to see how this beautiful little country can improve. The per capita income is somewhere between $200 and $350. The irony is that the president is very popular, when I asked about this popularity, it seems that his popularity is based on the fact that he brought the civil war (’93 to ’97) to an end. As I get to know the Tajik people, it’s hard to even imagine them fighting, never mind such a protracted war.

We ate lunch outside on the kat, a sort of raised deck that you sit, cross-legged, on cushions. I had my fill of food OK but I don’t plan to build a kat in my back yard when I get back, my knees just don’t bend that way.

The afternoon was just super, we walked to the local ILC at Dushanbe’s school number 10. Drums, cheers, applause and a wonderful re-enactment of a Tajik wedding welcomed us. The student presentation included dancing, ceremonies and authentic national dress. They were great.
After the presentation, we had a Q & A session in which the topics ranged from “Who wants to be a doctor” to student questions such as “What do you think about the situation in Iran right now?” The whole afternoon was a great affirmation of the quality of these people. Oh and of course they fed us. Two full meals in an hour is more than I’m used to!

After a little Internet work, discussion about the appropriateness of the retreat-like activities that I had planned for my presentation tomorrow and a full non-veg thali at the Indian restaurant I worked late into the night revising my lesson plans.

Sunday April 16th

We arrived just after midnight and were immediately confused. We knew that we had to get Transit visas for Kazakhstan after customs so after filling out the immigration forms lined up with everybody else only to be told we had to get the visas first. It was a simple enough thing but after thirty some hours of travel and the Cyrillic alphabet we were just a little confused. Done! We picked up our very heavy bags, the man from Central Asia Travel was there to meet us and off we went. It was almost 2AM when he dropped us off at the hotel. That was also the time that we realized that he had dropped us off at the wrong hotel. After helpful calls by the wrong hotel staff, he came back and brought us to the right hotel, the Hotel Kazzol by 3AM. We arranged for a 7AM wake up call and went to bed. Not to sleep but to bed. Jet lag does that to you.

If I had learned the Cyrillic alphabet we probably would have avoided the wrong hotel problem. I’ll work on it.
Oh and it’s true, the toilet paper is related to sandpaper. Goodnight.

The wake up call didn’t come but it didn’t matter because sleep evaded me and I got up at first light
We just had breakfast, it was great, a far better breakfast than I usually have. Oh and one other discovery, the local time provided to us by Lufthansa was wrong, in fact local time is one hour earlier than we had thought.

We got the flight to Dushanbe, it was extremely, extremely cramped but after a beautiful flight over the snow-capped mountains we are finally here in Dushanbe. Orientation was good, food excellent and a good sleep made everything even better. Goodnight!

Saturday April 15th

We pulled in at 10:30AM and have about 3 hours before we leave for Almaty in Kazakhstan. Wandering around the airport I bought a tiny camera, it’s not much bigger than a matchbox for inconspicuous picture taking. The resolution will be extremely low I’m sure but what can you expect for $30!
We’re about 24hours into the trip now and definitely jet lagged but on we go. The flight to Almaty was uneventful, except perhaps for my belated realization to just how close to Tibet we were.

Friday April 14th

After last minute goodbyes from my wife Susan we head off to the airport with 11 bags between the three of us. There’s one bag that I can hardly pick up.
Lufthansa flight 884 to Frankfurt was good, they fed and looked after us well but the fact is that it’s a long haul.

Thursday April 13th

The 9AM Southwest flight was far earlier than I was ready for but after a nap on the plane and a shuttle from LAX I met my fellow travelers to Tajikistan. I lucked out, they are easy-going nice guys; Alvin Moses works in a school near Houston and George Thornton works in a small school in Washington State just 40 miles from Canada. We went out for lunch together and I realized that they have some of the same questions that I have but I also learned that they have been in much closer communication with Tajik schools than me; and for a longer time too.

It’s time for our orientation so Tatiana from Relief International came and picked us up from our little hotel in Westwood, quite close to UCLA. We crossed Wilshire Boulevard and walked down to the RI office, it’s in a neat community, a sort of little Iran.
We met a volunteer who had been on this program last year and he filled us in on lots of details, in particular how much fun we are going to have, the ministers and officials that we will meet; just how nice the Tajiki people are; how lavish the meals we be and how lots more. It’s definitely going to push me way beyond my comfort zone. I’m really looking forward to it, perhaps except for the vodka that appears to be a staple with evening meals. Lots of toasts apparently! I learned that the bread, non, is revered, cannot be put down upside down and cannot be thrown out. If any is left over, you give it to the birds. Lots to learn!
I thought that I had a lot of stuff to bring already but RI loaded us up with more at the last minute; mouse pads, RI bags and material in Dari (?) for the program that’s starting up in Afghanistan.

Wednesday April 12th

Isn’t it amazing the way that work expands to fill the available time? I still am unsure about exactly what I will be doing in Tajikistan; I know I have to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about College Prep. School, and our community but the early ideas that I suggested for other presentations to the Tajik group were not sufficiently inclusive. I’m still struggling with the idea of teaching through a translator too. It looks as if the best kind of lesson that I can give will be related to some of the activities that we do on our Junior Retreat: communication.
As these ideas swirl in my head I still have so much to do. At the last minute I stopped off to get water purification pills but now I really have to get packing. I have a partial list of what to bring but there are still a lot of questions. How formal will I need to be? Do I need to get out the suit that I only wear for graduation or will a blazer and slacks be enough? I finally decided on the blazer. Now there’s the issue of what to pack in. When I got back from Mexico at midnight on Monday I saw that a big pile of posters and metal signs that say Internet learning Center, Schools-on-line had been dropped off at home for me to bring. How will I get everything in my backpack?
The answer is that it doesn’t all fit in. I cut up a piece of pipe to protect the posters and finally finished packing at 2 am. I hope that I didn’t forget some things but I’m sure I did. It’s 2AM that has to be that.

Tuesday April 11th

I had a wonderful moment this afternoon; I found out that I don’t leave for Tajikistan tomorrow at 9 AM but on Thursday morning at 9AM. Phew!
I got back from Mexico at midnight last night and I had been worrying how I would get everything done in time but now life seems positively relaxed! An extra 24 hours.