December 10, 2011

I woke up at 5:00am full of anticipation as I was finally to travel outside of Dushanbe to see another part of the country. Peter and the driver, Malik, were waiting in front of the Children’s Puppet Theater and we left immediately. Malik hardly spoke even though Tahmina said he spoke English fluently, so I made it a point of asking him about several landmarks we encountered along the way. The morning was foggy and cold, but as we ascended the mountains, the fog burned and we were presented with a spectacular view of snow-capped mountain ridges on both the right and the left side. We did noe encounter any other sizeable city, but mostly agricultural communities and flocks of sheep being driven around by shepherds. Malik didn’t know his way around and had to stop at least three times to ask for directions until Peter called the American Corner coordinator directly and had him speak to the driver.

The American Corner is located on the second floor of a shabby building with an outside staircase of uneven steps. The bathroom is located on the side of the first floor, a ceramic squat toilet with no toilet paper or sink, but at least it had a hose positioned directly over the opening constantly discharging water so that the stench as not so bad. We got to Qorgunteppa a few minutes before 10:00am when the first presentation should have started. There were only two teachers present and the coordinator, Tojiddin, explained the school district was conducting a Special Olympics that morning and teachers needed to be present with their students. They were on their way he reassured us. I asked Peter to go first and presented on the topic of “Perceptual Styles”. Only two teachers, both females, offered to come to the board and demonstrate how they would create a lesson plan that would incorporate all or most of the perceptual styles discussed.

                          Teacher training workshop in Qorgunteppa, Tajikistan

We broke for lunch and several women indicated they had family obligations and couldn’t come back with the afternoon session with me. I went ahead and gave them the booklet I had prepared for them to take. Tojiddin took us to a restaurant nearby where I found out I could only order soup, salad and shish kebabs. There was no menu and they didn’t even have plov. I was really disappointed and ended up eating a bowl of soup and a salad consisting mostly of pickled vegetables as the growing seasoning is waning. The restaurant didn’t even have flat bread and served some cold rolls. A most disappointing meal. Tojiddin kept apologizing and then wanted to pay for our meals to make up for it, but we refused knowing how little money teachers make here.

It was during the lunch break that Peter informed me that the fare quoted for the driver was $160.00 and 160 somoni as I had written for a receipt. A day’s worth of work for this driver was going to net him 768.00 somoni, or what someone earns in a month here for a well-paid position. I told Peter I wasn’t paying that kind of money and that I had only brought enough money for my 80.00 somoni contribution. Peter indicated Tahmina, at the embassy, had made the contact and told him his usual fee was $200.00 a day. Since Peter didn’t know any better and had no way of arranging for a driver on his own, he had agreed to the deal. I told I hadn’t and didn’t feel bound by it. Tojiddin said it was possible to hire a driver and car for a full week for what Malik was charging us for a day. He offered to call Tahmina, who contrary to her habit of not answering our calls, picked up immediately and tried to cajole him into convincing us we had a contract with Malik and we couldn’t back out of it. I told Peter and Tojiddin that I’d present the driver with my 80.00 somoni and he could take it or leave it. I was willing to go back in a shared taxi or bus as long as Peter accompany me.

We got back to the American Corner late and only three women and one man were waiting for the afternoon session. I had prepared to have a big turnout and had prepared a couple of games to get started, but in view of the sparse audience had to reassess how to get started. Peter came in to tell me he had called our driver and he’d go down and negotiate with him while I got started. I must have been distracted by the ongoing drama and fumbled with my paperwork trying to decide how best to present to an audience with only one woman who was fairly fluent. The “Famous Pair” activity was downsized and with Tojiddin’s help, they were able to make the matches and thus get into pairs. A short introduction followed and then I showed several games to get even the lowest level students to speak in class. Peter kept coming in and out distracting me so I’d lose my focus. When it got close to 3:00, students started to show up for what was to follow, a session for them to interact with two American teachers. I decided to wrap up the session and gave away the handouts.

Peter then informed me that he had paid the driver 200.00 somonis and told him to get lost. We’d have to find our way back to Dushanbe. Peter thanked me for standing my ground and refusing to be fleeced by some unscrupulous guy acting with the connivance of Tahmina. Tojiddin accompanied us in a taxi to the point in the city where we could board a shared taxi to Dushanbe and we only paid 25.00 somoni each. The car was a bit rundown, the tires looked somewhat bold and we had to squeeze three passengers in the back seat, but we made it to the city in under two hours despite numerous stops to pick and drop off passengers. We did observe an accident where an SUV had crossed the center lane, struck the railing on the opposite side and plunged down a ravine. We could see the wheels of the overturned vehicle, but couldn’t tell if there had been any fatalities. There no police or ambulance vehicles in the area and just a whole bunch of onlookers.

Peter told during the ride back that he had submitted his letter of resignation Friday night after a sudden visit from his supervisor and the notification that his classes would be monitored all of the following week. He was told later on that a student had filed a complaint against him and the observations were needed in order to defend him against the charges. Peter feels the embassy people are out to get him and have never been exactly supportive of his work. I pleaded with him to reconsider for the sake of his students. He has the rest of the weekend to make it final.

Caroline came over after I got home and we discussed the driver’s fiasco, Peter’s resignation and Elisabeth’s presentation that morning at the American Corner in Dushanbe. We had some flat bread and cheese and she stayed the night.