December 26, 2011

I still had the same slim trickle of water coming from the bathtub faucet as yesterday’s, so it was time for another sponge bath. Met Caroline at 8:15am in front of the Opera Ballet Theater and we then proceeded to the teachers’ training center nearby. I had passed this building countless times and had no idea what it was except that it must have been a government building based on its architecture and color. The entryway, staircase and second floor hallway were in total darkness, but Zhulejo, her former colleague at Gym #74, was already there and took us to a room that must have served as a library. She then informed us that the teachers were decorating the classroom where the training was to take place and bringing in food for a Christmas luncheon that day.

They had in fact written “Merry Christmas” in huge letters on the long blackboard and added tinsels to the posters hanging from the wall and other festive decorations to the ceiling. Caroline proceeded to conduct a brainstorming session on what they knew about Christmas and then talk about the history of the celebration. Most of the teachers seemed to be quite familiar with it and even talked about leaving presents under the tree for their children. I then gave them a pair work activity where they pretended to call Santa Claus with their list of wishes for this year. Some of the teachers struggle with the vocabulary and the two male ones needed the assistance of their colleagues, but never finished the questionnaire. The classroom in questions was just like the ones at the PedInst: small, cramped with tables and chairs and with insufficient lighting. Getting the teachers to work independently and then pair up for the conversation was chaotic and time consuming. 

                                                        Another spread for lunch

                                                   Christmas decoration

I had brought Michael Bubble’s “Let it Snow” song with a worksheet for them to find the mistakes in the lyrics, but at that point they announced a break and started to bring in tons of food into the room after rearranging the tables. Coffee and instant coffee followed and someone then produced an IPod and Tajik music was played. One of the teachers had produced a sort of “Truth or Dare” game and one of the questions was for the teacher to dance to a disco tune. She declined, but agreed to dance to the Tajik tune then playing. After a while, both Caroline and I were asked to join the dancers, which I had no trouble doing even while wearing my awkward hiking boots, but Caroline needed a lot of cajoling since she’s not really into dancing.

A woman who teaches at a private gymnasium asked me to come to her class next Thursday and offered to provide transportation. We left the gathering and went to Caroline’s new flat so she could drop off some of her belongings and I could use her toilet. We then went across the street to Volna’s to price a replacement cartridge for the printer Peter had left me. I was shocked to find out that it costs almost as much as the printer itself: 363.00 somoni or $76.00. I ended up just buying another JumpDrive since mine had been broken while at Qorgunteppa. It cost about $18.00, but it has 8GB of memory, more than enough to carry all of my important teacher training materials with me anywhere I might go.

Caroline hasn’t found anyone willing to take Peter’s cat and she can’t move into her new place with it. She only has two more days to stay at the old one. What a dilemma. I went to the bazaar and bought beef for my chili con carne and some of the carrots, beets and mushrooms already pickled that are being sold now that fresh produce is scarce. I located the little bakery on the side and bought two pieces of flatbread piping hot from the oven. I decided to walk back to the apartment instead of taking the mini-van as I have been spending too much time sitting at home these days.

I watched a documentary in the evening on the BBC about what is now called “citizen journalism”, individuals that travel to dangerous zones of combat, natural disasters or man-made calamities to report on the people affected by them. I was impressed by the courageous individuals that went to places like Egypt, Syria, Libya and Zimbabwe to bring us reports on how its residents were dealing with the tragic results of their quest for a better life.