April 18, 2012

I’ve noticed the striking difference in the way my male and female students look now that they have shed their winter clothes. While the women look like proud peacocks out strutting in their multicolor Tajik dresses and elaborate jewelry, the men, forced to shuck off their turtleneck sweaters, vests and jackets, look like scrawny chickens in their shirt sleeves and skinny ties. I really don’t know how the women can afford these dresses as some cost upwards of $100.00 depending on how much beading, embroidery or fabric it entails. I simply ask them to pose for me whenever another beautiful creation walks into my classroom.

I had another sparsely attended early morning class with only seven students in attendance. Even the class monitor, responsible for taken attendance, was absent. The few students present hadn’t done the homework assignment except for one, Zohir, who’s been attending both of the interpreter’s classes to maximize his exposure to spoken English before I’m out of here. We finished the “What do I do with it?” worksheet and started working on colors.

The teachers’ group was one boisterous crowd today. Eraj was absent along with a few more of them. I had them complete the “Give an Example” worksheet and then we did the synonym bingo one. No one got bingo as they could not come up with the words with a similar meaning except for Nazirbeck who got five right. The students acknowledged they are very weak in vocabulary and even when given an extensive list of words and their synonyms, they have no frame of reference to peg them to. The pretty student from Uzbekistan that I have photographed on several occasions begged me to bring her prints of her photos as she indicated that lectures will be over on April 25 and the students will go home to prepare for their exams.

I had my bowl of soup and walked to the American Councils to use their bathroom and say hello to Rebecca. She was in this time and we chatted for a while about the educational system in Tajikistan and the lack of information as to when things were supposed to happen. I then walked over to Caritas to read for a while before our session. Their supervisor walked in and told me how grateful they were for the lessons as they could see how beneficial they were. I told her I was also benefiting since they were able to explain things about Tajikistan I had no one else to ask.

Takhmina told me she was really busy once again and would be skipping the session. The rest of the group worked on the list of eponyms and then we went back to the previous assignment on “Dilemmas”. We only covered two topics before we embarked on a conversation regarding the imposition by the government on the use of new Tajik words to substitute for words that came from either the Persian or Russian language. Nigina had complained she was barely able to read a Tajik newspaper as she could not understand the language being used there. A lively discussion then ensued about corruption and identification documents required for a variety of purposes. I related the anecdote of our driver to Khulob who was pulled over by the police at least three times during the trip and each time he inserted a one somoni note in his passport and gave it to the police officer to allow him to continue. Khurshed said these officers can stop upwards of 1000 drivers a day in order to make ends meet since their salaries are so low.

I had no idea that Tajik people are required to obtain both a national and an international passport. In the national one, they must record their current address, blood type, date of marriage, birth of any children and any other significant data. If someone moves, they must take their passport to one office to have it recorded that they no longer live there and then to another one to have the current address registered. There is no national identification card, but the national passport must be update at 18, 25 and 45 so a current photo is available to the authorities. I showed them my embassy badge and the note in Tajik and English I could present in case of an emergency and they seemed fascinated by it. Employees at Caritas are not issued a badge by the NGO, but must obtain one from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and pay for it. I notified the group there would be no class next week due to my participation in the ETM.

I took a break from typing PowerPoint presentations and creating handouts to walk to Rudaki and the get the photos printed as we had a sultry evening that invited one to walk. Jamshed called me as I was getting there and we met in front of the photo finishing place. Since the Segafredo Café was right across the street, we walked there for an ice cream and water, but all the tables outside were occupied with foreigners having dinner and drinks and I refused to go inside where smoking is allowed. We grabbed two bottles of water and sat on two empty chairs on the terrace. Jamshed is still waiting for confirmation from the embassy as to whether he’s made the cut for the Fulbright teacher exchange program. We walked back to my place stopping along the way at the language institute where he now works, a former residence partitioned into a warren of classrooms that at least offer a TV and Internet access. He makes 1000.00 somoni a month or a little more than $250.00 including access to a tiny bedroom. I offered to give him some of my books and resources before leaving the country.