January 5, 2012

Woke up to copious snow falling on the ground and dressed as warmly as possible to make it to Megaphon and pay my Internet bill. It felt weird not be able to fire up my computer first thing in the morning and catch up on the news and my Facebook friends’ latest happenings. The Megaphon office was practically deserted and I was able to pay my bills, Internet and mobile phone, very quickly even when the clerk spoke no English. It was a long walk to the hotel where the conference continues today, but it seemed more efficient than riding in the trolley which stops everywhere.

Caroline had already started trying to get the participants warmed up about trying their hands at writing an article for publication. Given the low level of their writing skills, this was hard going. We had sambusas again during our coffee break and I decided to save some for lunch and avoid going out in the snow. Botir, our computer tech in the room, offered to take a look at my laptop to find out why Skype cannot be downloaded into it. Jamshev has offered to serve as my personal guide next time we go to Qurgonteppa and Matluva would love to take me shopping when the weather improves.

                        Participants, and Caroline, at the English Teacher Mentor Program conference

Caroline covered the topic of putting on a local conference after lunch and that ended the second day. I asked Matluva to accompany me across the street to the shopping center to select a proper pillow and pillowcases, something my apartment lacks and that I’ve been meaning to do for the longest time. I’ve been sleeping on the cushions found there and they’ve been hard on my neck. Although it continued to snow throughout the day, I was able to walk to the Ziloni Bazaar from there and get my two knives sharpened and also my hair cutting scissors. The young guy insisted it cost 2.00 somoni for the knives even though I knew it should have been just one per my neighbor Maryam.

Zoir came by just a few minutes after I got in and wanted to know if I’d listen to him read “The Old Man and the Sea” aloud. I couldn’t possibly subject myself to such torture as I know he doesn’t know how to pronounce half the words contained in it. He then asked me to retell the story to him so he could memorize it and then regurgitate it to his dean. I refused to be complicit in this scheme and told him the most I’d be willing to do would be to find some questions about the book to give him a chance to answer them as he read the book. I tried to convince him that if he were able to answer all the questions, he’d have a good grasp as to what the book was about and could talk confidently about the subject without having to memorize it. I printed three pages for him and asked that he completes them before returning for more assistance. His talk then turned to the invariable subject of what he could do to get himself to the United States and I rehashed the same answers as before. It’s getting a bit tiresome. I made him a cup of tea; he said his prayers and then left.

I’ve been asked by the embassy to give a talk about Washington, D. C. at the Operation Mercy NGO next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They have been graceful enough to ask me to stay for lunch after I’m finished. The talk will last an hour including a Q & A section. I hope the Internet will provide a trove of resources so I can put together a decent PowerPoint presentation.

 I haven’t heard from anyone at the PedInst, but my students told me exams should be finished by the 14. I wonder if the dean has gotten around to talking about the speaking classes for the teachers. I’m not in any hurry, so it will be up to them to holler when they need me.

My landlady hasn’t called or come by to collect this month’s rent. Temperatures are supposed to drop down to 9F tonight again and just pray the pipes won’t freeze again.