January 29, 2012

Both Caroline and Aziz called to say they would be stopping by this morning; Caroline to bring along another suitcase and Aziz to finish the resume I has started for him. I went over the evaluations for the workshop on Saturday to find out what else these teachers would like to see us present. There complaints about the size of the room, inability to see what was written at the front and the time of the day workshops are being presented. On the positive side, they all claimed to have loved the presentation and want to see more games in the future.

Caroline lugged her heaviest suitcase all the way from her current apartment to my house despite the ice and snow on the streets. I can’t imagine attempting such a feat when I can barely walk as it is. She claimed it had not being hard when I asked why she didn’t just take a taxi. Aziz came by with his certificates so I could add that information and I printed a copy of the resume for him. When he asked me to also email a copy to his uncle, Caroline intervened and said he should do it himself, using my laptop, and he relented. As he was leaving, Caroline told him to bring me a “really” nice gift next time he visited for as payment for the work I had done for him. This made me feel very uncomfortable as he had brought me a box of biscuits the day before and I had taken them to the workshop for the attendees to enjoy.

I finally made the rice with corn for which I had purchased a large can of corn many weeks ago. Along with the beef chunks already cooked last week, and to which I added potatoes and carrots, I served shredded beets marinated in relatively spicy vinaigrette. I have to say that lunch was delicious and Caroline asked me how I had managed to make such a meal with the ingredients found here. Caroline had packed the pair of boots that Elisabeth had left behind to see if per chance Ruth could wear them now that snow is being forecast for Monday again. We proceeded to the Opera Ballet Theater to meet with Ruth and a new couple of Fulbrighters scheduled to be posted in Khujand. I almost fell on the ice when navigating one of the narrow alleyways behind the apartment building and Caroline had to come to my rescue.

As we approached the theater, Caroline changed her mind about joining us and gave me the boots to give to Ruth. I saw a couple outside the theater, he older with a long beard and cap and she stout and matronly, but I didn’t approach them as to me they looked Russian and not American. When I saw Ruth coming up the steps, they also moved in her direction and then I learned he was David and she was Nancy. He’s the Fulbrighter whereas she’s just the accompanying spouse. David paid for all of us, 10.00 somoni each, and then I learned I was in for an opera and not a ballet as I had initially thought. We sat through a performance; I believe all of it in Persian, about a philosopher, doctor and write who lived a long time ago. The music was pleasant, the costumes all right, but I was surprised to see that they included at least three dancing numbers. There was no heating in the almost empty theater and I noticed that David had his gloves. Ruth pulled the hood of her coat over her head and I draped the shawl over my knees to stay somewhat warm. There was a short intermission and then the show was over in under two hours. And none too soon before we had icicles forming on us. When we walked outside, the brilliant sunshine of the midday had disappeared and dense clouds had moved in presaging the coming snow.

I proposed we repair to a nearby coffee shop only to find it allowed smoking and offered hookah pipes. We sat indoors and had overpriced coffee drinks while Ruth tried on her boots and found that they fit perfectly. I learned that David is originally from Texas, but has been living in Ohio for the last 26 years, where he’s an ESL professor, and still doesn’t like the cold weather. Nancy is from Ohio and teaches writing and journalism. She’s taken a sabbatical to accompany her husband here, but will be teaching online, I believe. They have been in Dushanbe for two and a half week and no one at the embassy bothered to let the ELFs know so we could provide some sort of orientation for them. Nancy was flabbergasted when I told her the chicken she’s been eating everyday comes from the mountain of frozen carcasses sent from the U. S. and which she’s witnessed at the public market. She’s true Mid-Western and doesn’t like anything spicy and thus is satisfied with the bland Tajik food served everywhere. David, a true Texan, prefers the spicy food that’d make one sweat and clear your sinuses. A man after my own heart in spite of his dourness and apparent lack of a sense of humor.

Leaving the coffee shop, I directed them to the Paikar supermarket so Nancy could buy some peanut butter as they have been surviving on cheese sandwiches when not eating out. I don’t know how two college professors have been able to survive in the States without using any technology these days, but they claimed this was their first cell phone and they don’t have access to the Internet yet.