October 22, 2011

Up at the crack of dawn to make it to the Ismaili Center by 6:30a.m. The temperature is definitely dropping slightly every day and I chose to wear a sweater with a camisole underneath just in case. When we approached the security personnel, Corrie, who is white, has light brown hair and green eyes, was not asked to provide ID. I had to show my embassy badge before I was allowed to proceed. The nerve! We were immediately corralled and told our function would be to collect press members at the entrance and, in groups of ten, bring them through the garage to their assigned location. It didn’t quite work out that way as most journalists were late and straggled in at different times.

We had been told there would be refreshments available and I was thinking breakfast, of course. Caroline and I sneaked to the tables only to find Danish cookies, tea and coffee, and instant at that! I can drink the Nescafe stuff as long as there is milk to make it palatable. When Ilana and Lauren went to get refreshments, they’re both white; they were shooed away by the embassy staff after being told the food was only for visitors. I felt some kind of revenge.

                   Corralling the press: Ilana, Lauren and Caroline

The program started at 9:45 with the local moderators calling on outstanding students in the area and given them some sort of present. This part of the program was entirely in Russian and I quickly got bored. I even relinquished the spot I had staked out to better see Hillary and went to sit next to my friends. I noticed about ten women sitting ahead of me all wearing a scarf tied in a completely different fashion. Need to find out if that is a regional or personal preference.  Clinton started her presentation right on cue at 10:45 and spoke for 15 minutes before handing the microphone to the audience to ask her questions.  Her responses stuck to the party line of supporting the local struggle for human rights, women’s rights, freedom of religion, the rights to exploit its national resources, the influence of Afghanistan due to the long border shared by that country and so on. At 11:30, the town hall part of her visit was over and she was moved into another room for an interview with the local press. We then escorted the public out of the auditorium, collected the press badges and, thankfully, were allowed to leave and get some lunch.

                                Hillary Clinton during the town hall

The group decided on F1 Café and we took taxis there. Even at 12:30p.m., the food was still cold and had to be placed in the microwave before being handed to us. At least plov was available and I had Russian salad on the side. The skies had turned dark and we felt a few drops of rain falling on us as we walked home. Corrie went to run some errands and I decided to stay put.

     Clinton with Tajikistan's president, Imomalii Rahmon

When she got back, we spent the evening snacking and talking about her background and mine and how dissimilar our ESL experiences had been.  Curiously enough, she had been at the 2005 International TESOL conference in Tampa which I had also attended. She plans to move out tomorrow to stay with friends as she hasn’t been able to make up her mind about a place to rent yet. It had been raining continuously and we even got to see lightning and hear thunder for the first time since I've been in the country.