May 26, 2012

Another overcast day greeted me this morning. After drinking my coffee, I quickly tidied up the apartment in preparation for Mr. Boron’s visit. He called at 8:00am sharp letting me know he was waiting for me in front of the supermarket as he wasn’t familiar with the area and couldn’t find the apartment on his own. It was raining lightly when I went to get him and I was surprised to find him dressed in a white track suit and expensive Nike tennis shoes. He turned down my offer for tea and wanted to know why I hadn’t been to the PedInst for quite some time to which I related my disappointment with my post and the feeling I had that my education and experience had been wasted at this location.

Mr. Boron told me he had approached the deputy dean with the idea of having me teach the teachers instead of holding classes for the first year students as the faculty in general is quite aware of their shortcomings when it comes to spoken English and their difficulties in coping with the material in their mandated textbook. The dean had responded by saying he wanted to give the students a good foundation in English and that’s why I was assigned to that class. He commented that prior to Beth coming to the PedInst, he didn’t speak English even though he was teaching it. He had been very grateful for her help and suggestions and now felt indebted to me for the workshops I had provided and the materials I was giving him.

My stomach started growling at this point and I told him I needed to prepare something for breakfast to which he replied by inviting me to have breakfast nearby. I could only think of the F1 café as a safe place to have things that wouldn’t be fried and we headed that way through my favorite shortcut, one Mr. Born wasn’t familiar with. I ordered what could be taken as a plain omelet, a crepe decorated with squiggles of mayonnaise on top and a Kachapuri, a cheesy bread originally from Georgia, in a addition to a pot of tea. He ordered the omelet as well as the rice pudding, made here with no spices of any kind and a big dollop of butter on top, along with whole wheat bread. I shared my crepe, which just like the omelet had no flavor whatsoever. Mr. Boron indicated he was heading to the PedInst after his meal as today was a day to clean up the classrooms and perform any repairs needed to the furniture or other equipment at the institution and innocently asked if I wanted to join him. My most rotund no followed that request.

We parted ways after eating and I stopped at the pharmacy to buy the cough syrup with Guaifenesin that Ryan had recommended a few months ago to give my throat and ribs a break. Ryan called a little while later to tell me he was cooking plov and was extending an invitation for a late lunch. I was the only one present except for the usual gathering of neighborhood kids. Plov was all right, but light on seasonings, an opinion I kept to myself.

I had called Jamshed to cancel our plan outing to the Romit Valley as I could hardly breathe due to the heavy accumulation of pollen in the air and the fact that rain was forecast for the entire weekend. He promised to come by in the evening with some tablets he knew could take care of my sinusitis. I took a nap in the late afternoon and woke up groggy from the medication taken after lunch.

Jamshed came by carrying a large backpack that seemed to be packed to the gills and stated that if the trip to the Romit Valley was cancelled, he would travel to Qurgonteppa that same evening. I reiterated the fact that I didn’t feel well enough to undertake any strenuous exercise and didn’t want to go for an outing knowing it might be raining all day. Apparently, he had made an arrangement for a taxi driver to take us there for 600.00 somoni or $127.00, an outrageous sum for an outing right outside the city of Dushanbe. We talked for a while about his impending notification as to whether he has won the Fulbright scholarship he is pinning all his hopes on or not. I asked him what his plan B was in case he didn’t, but there was nothing concrete. He feels that traveling and living in the United States is the only way for him to established credentials in this country and the possibility of obtaining a better job in the future. I notified him that Tahmina’s position at the embassy had been advertised as she’s going on maternity leave for I don’t know how long and he should consider applying for it.

My eyes were closing involuntarily and he reluctantly agreed to leave not before letting me know that his accommodations at the language institute were pitiful and he didn’t know where he’d be spending the night if he wasn’t able to find a taxi. I almost got the impression that he expected me to offer him my couch to spend the night, but I didn’t fall for it since I barely know him and want to savor my privacy here for the last few days I have left.