October 2, 2011

Determined to get my cell phone and Internet access finalized today, Caroline and I met early in the morning in the downtown area, had coffee and took a stroll through one of the meticulously landscaped parks, albeit still pretty dusty, and sat to do some people watching while waiting for Nancy and Peter. There is a huge statue of the famous Ismoili Somoni, an early Tajik ruler, with an elaborate mosaic arch over it. Lots of Tajik families strolled around while a group of commercial photographer roamed around offering to take their photos .

Ismoili Monument in the center of Dushanbe.

When our group was complete, we proceeded to one of the stores offering both cell phone and Internet connections and where I had to provide my passport, proof of my OVIR registration and my full address, which I didn’t know. Since Peter was acting as my interpreter, they agreed to accept his in the meantime. Contrary to my expectations, I was not able to use my own cell phone because AT&T has placed a lock on it so that another SIM card would not work with it. How infuriating given the fact that I’m still paying for my contract with that company. I had no choice but to complete the transaction, including the purchase of a modem, and then search for a vendor of cell phones in the area that would be open on a Sunday. I ended up with a quirky-looking phone made in China for about $32.00. Internet service should be about $30.00 and the cell phone is on a pay-as-you-go basis where I put as much money as I want and the companies have lots of ATM-looking machines where to add funds to my line. I thought that was quite cool as it can be  done almost anywhere and anytime. Why don’t we have a similar system in the States?

I had my first tasty meal this afternoon at the F1 Café where I selected a Russian salad, a pumpkin turnover, white rice and a ratatouille to go with it. We also tried the Rohan Teahouse later on that afternoon where I felt entitled to try the local beer, Sim Sim, to parch my dry throat and dislodge some of the dust accumulated on our long stroll. It tasted quite mild and much better than the lemonade Nancy ordered and which turned out to taste like liquid bubble gum. This establishment sports some distinctive painted ceiling tiles and an open courtyard. There were very few patrons and we were able to spend several hours just chitchatting and getting to know each other better by relating our experiences teaching at different institutions and in different countries. I’m so fortunate to have met this group of individuals!

Taking a walk through the park with Nancy, Peter and Caroline.

We found a street book vendor and I was able to buy a Tajik-English dictionary for I now need to forget about learning Russian and focus on Tajik as instructed by the rector at the Pedagogical Institute. I also purchased the textbook I’ll be using with the first year English teachers whenever my paperwork is ready. Leafing through it, we all laughed at the fact that all instructions are written in Russian. Oh, well.

After Peter said goodbye, we trooped to Nancy’s hotel room where we went through a side street to reach a courtyard. A guard was reclining on what we might consider an ample daybed with carved posts and a canvas top. He made some unintelligible small talk with Nancy who by now could more or less make out what he said and went into a narrow three-story building, there were three of these in the complex and up to the second floor. Nancy had indicated that she had developed sores spots on her body from sleeping on the box spring provided as her bed and showed us how this was indeed the case. Below the comforter and sheets, there lay just a box spring with no mattress whatsoever and this at what we might consider a three-star hotel at least. How shocking! Tahmina had commented that such bedding was standard in all hotels.

As I made my way back to my apartment, I was greatly pleased to see so many Tajiks out and about enjoying the cooler night air and many outdoor restaurants.