December 17, 2011

Another restless night still mulling over how the embassy had whisked Peter and Elisabeth out of country in the middle of the night as if they were criminals. Caroline called me before leaving for Qorgunteppa to let me she had spoken to them before their flight departed and they seemed to be coping well. The cat is back in Caroline’s flat. I couldn’t sleep past 3:00am and decided to get up and organize all the materials I’d need for the morning presentation.

Bakhtyor was not present at the American Corner by 9:30am as I had pleaded with him to do so I’d have enough time to organize before any of the participants showed up. Although Caroline had left me a bag with instant coffee and tea, there were no cups or sugar to go with it. I called him and he said was around the corner and got in at quarter to ten. I went to buy the cups and spoons needed.

Two teachers were present when I returned and the number eventually reached eleven. I did the “speed dating” introductory game for them to get to know all the participants and had them complete a reading inventory that they could share with their partner. I had placed highlighters and sticky notes on each table for all participants to be able to identify the main idea and supporting details in the article we read about population explosion around the globe. We discussed the population in Tajikistan and the average number of children most women have. This led to a discussion about the role women play in controlling population growth once they are educated and are certain that fewer children mean a better education and future for them and indirectly the parents.

                        Presenting a workshop on reading comprehension at the American Corner

                                             Participants in the workshop

When we took a break, teachers were appreciative of the pastries I had purchased for they were gone in a flash and I had purchased enough for twenty teachers.

When it came to the Tajik teachers completing the true/false, synonym matches and finding the meaning of words in context, they couldn’t keep up with the two American teachers and the one Tajik teacher who speaks quite fluently and yet, needed Kristina to explain certain terms to him. I decided to cut that section short and moved on to the discussion on the usefulness of the article and their opinion on the various assertions made by the author.

Evaluations were completed and they were dismissed. Meghan wanted to know who’d presenting next week and what the topic would now that Peter was out of the picture. I told her Corrie would take his place, but I didn’t know the topic of her presentation yet.

I met Pariso at the PedInst and boarded the mini-van to go to her house where her mother was preparing plov/osh for me. When we stopped at the store to buy some sweets, I offered to pay and she felt offended reiterating that I was her guest and not obligated to provide for anything. She lives within walking distance of the U. S. Embassy and I was surprised to see her turn into the gate leading to a three story house very similar to the ones embassy employees tend to rent. The house in question is still under construction and not even painted on the outside and sits on a large plot of land with an extensive vegetable garden and several chickens roaming around freely. Her mother came to greet me wearing the head scarf, just like Pariso, and I learned she gave birth to seven children, two boys and five girls. The oldest girl is married and she has three grandchildren. I was also informed that Pariso had been married, is still married, to a guy who is currently working in Russia, but from whom she plans to divorce upon his return due to irreconcilable differences as he drinks and shoots up drugs when money is available. She has had the complete support of her parents and they have even encouraged her to seek studies abroad so she might be able to find another husband on her own.

I was given a tour of all the unfinished room, each one colder than the other, but the third floor was the best as it faces the mountains and has large windows to appreciate them. Pariso’s living room could contain my entire apartment and doesn’t even have a wall unit to heat or cool the place. They had an anemic space heater on my side of korpacha and I could recline against it without feeling any warmth radiating from it. A parade of dishes then started to appear first with sweets, nuts and fruits followed by soup, flat bread, two types of salads and finally the piece de la resistance, plov. Pariso mother even peeled and cut the fruit for me: mandarin oranges, pomegranates, pears and apples. I was then expected to partake of the sweets Pariso had purchased that afternoon, but I turned those down in favor of a homemade concoction with lots of honey over which I poured some homemade cherry preserve.

                                      Elaborate window treatment in the living room of Pariso's house

                                       Set of korpachas (cushions) waiting for guests

                                         One of the salads Pariso's mother prepared for me

I’m not used to eating several course meals and felt so guilty that my presence in the house had forced her family to spend so much money for all that food and then spent so much time cooking it. Her mother even wanted for me to take leftovers, but I refused knowing she must have had plenty of hungry kids waiting for me to leave so they could feast. By this point, the room was so cold; I could no longer feel my fingertips and just wanted to return to the warmth of my apartment. She did give me a delicate scarf and presented me with a big jar of homemade cherry preserves which I promised to share with Caroline and Corrie. It was dark by the time I left, turning down their invitation to spend the night, and Pariso and her mother, carrying a flashlight, accompanied me to find a marshrutka to get home.

I had a chance to go over the evaluation for the morning workshop and the teachers indicated that what they really wanted were activities to teach English to little kids including phonics. Unfortunately, teaching little children is not my forte and I’ll discuss the issue with Caroline and Corrie to see how we can address their needs