This morning, the consultant Sue and I drove with our driver and translator out to a village 2 hours from Khujand. It was a desolate drive. Pot-holed road with one section washed out by a flood last July, foggy sky and dry, grazing land for miles and miles. Only some sheep herds could be seen. Once we arrived at the village there were more signs of vegetation and life.
We spent the day at the local health clinic where Sue interviewed the health workers, young women, village development counsel and men (old men since most of the young immigrate to Russia for work). She is assessing an MC child survival program. They were the nicest people. The oldest man (81) invited us to his daughter or was it granddaughter (?)'s wedding party but unfortunately we didn't have time. This man had 6 children, 24 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren and he seemed in great health. In a culture where men do not shake hands with women, he immediately came up to Sue and me upon entering and welcomed us with a hand shake. Another woman invited us to spend the night at her house - which would have been an amazing experience.
At the end of the meetings, some of the women brought out a folded up blanket which contained treats and bread from the wedding party including some sheep meet. They also gave us a concoction of beans/tomato/onions/pepper which was very good. However, out of the three of us who ate it, both Sue and the translator got very sick in the night. So far, my stomach seems to be iron-clad...knock on wood.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Long road to Tajikistan
So I'm behind in posting. Turns out that Tajikistan is the most non-technical country I have visited. I can only access the internet at the MC offices. I'll do a bit of catch-up. On Oct. 28th I started the long trek to Tajikistan. With the 12 hour time difference, I didn't arrive until the early morning hours of Oct. 30th. Between those two time points I flew from Chicago to Detroit, to Amsterdam to Istanbul and to Dushanbe, Taj. I had to spend 6 hours in the Istanbul airport and it's not the most lay-over friendly. There are very few seats and even fewer electric outlets. I ended up camping out at a restaurant where the waiter pretty much grunted his disapproval when on my second visit, all I ordered was a coffee and water.
The overnight flight to Tajikstan had me landing at 4am. My coworker had drawn me a map and given me specific instructions on how to efficiently navigate the Dushanbe airport/visa/immigration system. It only took me an hour to do it all. If I had checked luggage, I might still be there. An MC driver picked me up and drove me through the rainy darkness to the guest house - which was the most bizarre place I've ever stayed - the bathroom and kitchen were on the first floor and the bedroom/sitting rooms were on the second floor through a series of ornate wooden doors. The water that came out of the shower alternated between clear and silty but I managed to reasonably clean up before hitting the hay.
I had been instructed to sleep as long as I liked but around 11am a persistent pounding and door bell ringing started at the main gate (all residences are walled and gated). When I finally heard my name being called, I found the office secretary telling me my flight was at 2p so I need to come to the office. A quick lunch and meeting with our country director and I was on the oldest double-prop plane I've ever seen heading to Khujand - which sounds nothing like it's spelled.
The guesthouse apartment in Khujand is very comfortable and "normal" and I'm sharing it with the consultant who is conducting the program final evaluation. We seem to make very good roommates. Dinner that night was with the ex-pat office director. The three of us managed to order dinner though ended up with various successes - mine was more oil than substance.
Finally to bed after a remarkably long day. (The photo is the guesthouse in Khujand - our kitchen window was the middle floor to the right of the stairwell windows).
The overnight flight to Tajikstan had me landing at 4am. My coworker had drawn me a map and given me specific instructions on how to efficiently navigate the Dushanbe airport/visa/immigration system. It only took me an hour to do it all. If I had checked luggage, I might still be there. An MC driver picked me up and drove me through the rainy darkness to the guest house - which was the most bizarre place I've ever stayed - the bathroom and kitchen were on the first floor and the bedroom/sitting rooms were on the second floor through a series of ornate wooden doors. The water that came out of the shower alternated between clear and silty but I managed to reasonably clean up before hitting the hay.
I had been instructed to sleep as long as I liked but around 11am a persistent pounding and door bell ringing started at the main gate (all residences are walled and gated). When I finally heard my name being called, I found the office secretary telling me my flight was at 2p so I need to come to the office. A quick lunch and meeting with our country director and I was on the oldest double-prop plane I've ever seen heading to Khujand - which sounds nothing like it's spelled.
The guesthouse apartment in Khujand is very comfortable and "normal" and I'm sharing it with the consultant who is conducting the program final evaluation. We seem to make very good roommates. Dinner that night was with the ex-pat office director. The three of us managed to order dinner though ended up with various successes - mine was more oil than substance.Finally to bed after a remarkably long day. (The photo is the guesthouse in Khujand - our kitchen window was the middle floor to the right of the stairwell windows).