October 12, 2011

While I was reading in bed last night, I thought I heard raindrops on the roof and I ran to the bedroom window with the same excitement of a child about to experience the first snowfall of the season. There hadn’t been a drop of rain in the two weeks I had been here and indeed upon close examination of the leaves on the tree outside my window, heavy drops of rain were falling and the asphalt down below was beginning to exhale its usual smell of wet dust. I left the window open for a while to enjoy the sound of the rain hoping for a rainstorm such as those we enjoy in Florida, but instead it continue to spatter for a short while and just died down. This morning, the leaves on the trees looked shiny and sported a different shade of green as if someone had taken a great deal of trouble to scrub them really hard. The birds fluttered all around and seemed chirpier than usual. I could have stayed at my kitchen table for hours but had to get ready as Tahmina was coming for me at 9:50 to take me to the Pedagogical Institute to finalize my assignment.

We first had to stop at the Ministry of Education, where we weren’t allowed to go inside and had to wait by the steps, like beggars, until a secretary brought the required document inside a plastic sleeve. We were at the Pedagogical for about ten minutes when her cell phone went off and she indicated she was late for a meeting. I requested to stay behind so I could talk to the dean for a few minutes. After a long wait, as he had many students waiting already, I was told I could show up to observe for a couple of days so I could get a feel for the classes prior to my official starting date of October 17.

                             Dushanbe Pedagogical Institute

Trying to exit the campus, I ended up where the restrooms were and a helpful student pointed out that women’s stalls were on the left. I decided to take a look and almost turned back from the suffocating smell of stale urine. Female students have three stalls, with no doors, leading to squat toilets and only one sink. I doubt there will be soap or toilet paper available. I turned right around and left. I was heading toward a café I had read about in the Lonely Planet guidebook and which purported to cook American-style food. The three-minute walk the dean had indicated turned into more like fifteen minutes, but I was impressed with the cleanliness, airiness and overall atmosphere of the place. To begin with, they have a tantalizing array of dessert items right at the entrance and were selling their own freshly roasted coffee albeit a bit expensive for my budget.

I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, grilled, and a spicy carrot soup, which was very tasty, but not spicy at all. They had magazines from the States for customers to read and even offered free Wi-Fi. Definitely a place I want to return to while teaching at the PedInst.

                               Dessert case at the Morning Star Cafe

Met with Caroline and went to peruse the two second hand stores we had spied near the Green Market. Both places were cramped, dusty and ill-lit. I found a few items while Caroline, the pickier one of us, walked out without buying anything. There were bundles and bundles of used clothing still waiting to be set up for display. I wander how big of a market this is in Tajikistan.

The U. S. embassy had sponsored a movie night at the American Corner and we felt obligated to show up, but no one else from our group did. Someone from the embassy, and a guy in fatigues, showed up to explain what the film was about, a documentary from the History Channel about the beginning of the U. S. as a nation. The small room was crowded and we gave our seats to other visitors, went to have a bite to eat and returned to talk to them after the show was over.