Yeah - No McDonalds

Hi All,

Well arrived in Khujand (pronunced whojand). Woz v. nervous the plane looked 'well worn' but had delightful wallpaper on the inside which distracted me no end. Have to say stunning scenary on the way up here incredible mountains + lakes - hope to get to see more of the country over the next few months.

The apt is great as is 'jeff' got treated to a lovely indonsian meal on arrival - hope to pick up some tips for my return who knew you could do so much with nuts!! Khujand is a lovely city the people are just so friendly and helpful and love to talk to you. On the bus earlier in week (well when I say bus its a hiace van with seats and v. uncomfortable if standing) only costs 20cents - and pretty much stops anywhere. Anyways this lady got talking to us and invited us to her house!!

Kjujand has one massive main street with about 8 lanes of traffic and one main line through it.............crossing is challenging so say the least there are pedestrian crossings but just not sure if drivers actually pay any attention to them. So generally I tag next to someone in the vague hope that if there is an accident they will get hit first.

But its really really great to be somewhere without any real western influence - there aren't too many places in the world with no - McD's Coke, Starbucks etc................its very charming and  hopefully stays that way!!

I've attached this picture its a day centre I visited - the clothes here are beautiful am hoping to get some made up - they are much cooler than my dunne store 100% cotton!!

 This is the VSO hse in Dunshanbe - my home for 1st week. Dunno if you can make out the tap chan (outdoor bed) in right corner - omg the best invention ever!!

 This is a view of mountains surrounding dunshanbe difficult to see but some of the higher ranges still had loads of snow on them.

Bet my new boss seems lovely as do all her colleagues it's going to be very challenging few months but looking forward to it!!

Best go no water this am - so have to go back to basics!!
Will update this more regularly now that 'online'...............yeah.

So from me to you have a great w/end. I'm meeting some expats tonight for dinner and another volunteer Sun for brunch. Tomorrow is 'hand wash' day assuming water back - my priority over w/end is to find a cleaner/laundromat - have no intention of hand washing my clothes for six months. This is what I refer to as an 'acceptable luxury'

Take Care, Laineyxxx

ps cheers for ManU - apologies to non man u fans!!