Dinner in Khujand........

So as I have written about the many wonderful opportunities I have had to eat with locals in their home and experience the ‘real Tajikistan’.

But this picture below is typical of how a traditional Tajik table is laid out for dinner.  The only problem I have is that after a while (well to be honest 5 minutes) I’m shifting around trying to get comfortable. It’s a culture thing I’m just not used to sitting at ground level eating food. But I’ve posted these pictures enjoy!!

So this this is the table laid out………………

This is golupsi – yummy stuffed peppers with rice and mincemeat but they use a very particular spice which is unique to Central Asia – Zera. It takes a bit of getting used to but I actually like it.

Another Tajik speciality Mantu – Dumplings stuffed with rice and mincemeat. So folks are you getting the theme here? Rice and meat here is to us like spuds and bacon. To the left is Shambosa a pastry filled with meat and onion. The amount of meat used indicates the relative wealth of the household.

Living with Jeff:

Ah lads he is great. We are like the proverbial married couple – checking in for when your home and who is cooking. We have a system whoever cooks doesn’t clean.  Honestly he is a fantastic cook and well frankly I just love Indonesian food. He suffers from high cholesterol which doesn’t surprise me – the food has loads of oil, sugar and salt. Oh mental point = I must take a test when back home.

So we decided to take up the carpets and mop the floors. Unfortunately the local shops didn’t have a mop – so I asked the locals what they use. They use a wooden T – shaped instrument with a rag. So Jeff volunteered to do the honours – I opted out due to my bad back. (See picture below).

Anyways next day I spent over an hour hunting but finally found a shop where I could buy a mop. I mean seriously hand mopping floors in this day and age – I don’t think so. Of course carrying the mop home caused great consternation with the locals. Again I am  talking about a mop here folks not some space age tool. They were so curious – even more so when I explained that Jeff had already cleaned the floors. In the neck of the woods blokes just do not clean – it is strictly a woman’s job.

We even have a toilet system all I will say is thank god for the warning sounds of toilet freshener. To be fair out flat is so small – two bedrooms, one kitchen and that’s pretty much it. But were lucky we get on great and he is a star!!

Wedding Season

Yep now that Ramadan is over the wedding season is in full swing. Every day I go to the park and most times there is at least 3 or 4 couples there getting pictures taken.. Looking at them I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The girl in her $500 hired dress (like something from my big fat Gypsy Wedding). As for the groom in his shiny hired suit well he always looks like he’d love to run. Unfortunately you can’t actually see the girl’s face as she avoids eye contact as a sign of respect. Now I am no expert in body language but trust me the girls are generally acting very nervous. For both of them this is probably maybe the 2^nd time they have seen each other, particularly with an arranged marriage.

No honeymoons here folks you spend the night and well the rest of your life in your in-laws house.

The other night I was out with two Tajik friends and they were explaining to me what was going on at the next table.

There was a young couple, their Mothers and a ‘facilitator type person’. At this stage the wedding had been approved my both families and there were there to meet. After a while the ladies walked away and the young couple had about 5 minutes together. They exchanged phone numbers (only at this stage can they do this). And usually the guy asks the girl does she have another boyfriend and will she love him. The answer regardless of circumstances is always NO and YES!!.

However have to say the vast majority of people I know here are happily married. Maybe there is something to arranged marriages???

Rat Season:

Oh god it is rat season here. The first few times I saw the little bastards on the street I screamed and was jumping around. Particularly when you notice there are oh about 4 (I was screaming so much I lost count) literally a few yards from your feet.

Now getting as used to it as I ever be. E.g. this morning I saw one on the street right beside a stall. Well while I don’t scream anymore, I do a sort of a yelp and shudder – whilst trying to maintain my composure. Because as far as the locals are concerned it is no big deal!!

 Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

PS: Well I have never really understood why locals stare so much at foreigners – I mean it’s now like we are Aliens. So I saw two tourists the other day and I just found myself staring at them. It’s the first time I’ve seen tourists here. And then I had a ‘eureka’ moment it dawned on me I was staring because well frankly they just looked odd and different. So now I finally understand the whole staring business.

A bit embarrassed to say I actually followed them for a bit – was curious to know where they hell they were from. Not sure but think Germany!!

Independence Day

Independence Day:

Yes last week Tajikistan celebrated 20 years of independence from Russia. My god it was such a big deal everyone was talking about it and best of all 3 days holiday.

Parade:

All the locals were talking about this so with great curiosity I strolled into town to check it out. So well first impressions were that it was very Russian like – which was somewhat ironic given the nature of the celebration. Also there wasn’t as many people actually watching the parade as I expected (reasons for this became apparent later).

As a foreigner I managed to get right up to the front opposite the viewing stand.

So picture the scene a very very hot day and hundreds and hundreds of soldiers marching. We had loud booming pre – recorded music and hundreds of local people walking in front of the viewing stand. (This was why there were so few watching most of the town were walking in the parade).

But to be fair there were some diversions:

1) We had balloons in the national colours

2) What I thought were doves initially then fake birds as they didn’t seem to fly very well. But well when one literally fell from the sky close to me I realised they were horrible pigeons. The poor things must have been suffering heat exhaustion stuck in cages all morning.

3) Every so often there was the excitement of a float. For example a truck with a teacher, two desks, pupils and two cardboard computers

4)  Occasionally groups would stop in front of the viewing stand and sing a song in praise of the President

5) Numerous huge pictures of the President all in the same pose mind you

So yep so the theme was all about the President. It was one huge love fest about him and well frankly incredibly boring. So I sneaked off after 1 hour – the parade lasted 3 hours. From one college alone 1,000 students marched. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Concert:

That night there was a big concert in the local stadium with 25,000 people. So there was no actual system for getting in but as usual as a foreigner I was allowed up the front and managed to make it in.

I was meeting friends but had lost them. My friends found me and when I asked how they managed that – they told me they had asked the Police did they see a foreign girl!! I guess been the only foreigner at the concert was a good thing.

So again we had loud booming pre-recorded music and the whole thing was another fawning homage to the President. Another theme here folks – it’s all about the President here. Actually what struck me was when all the Government people took their seats was that they were all men and hugely overweight compared to locals. (read into that what you may)!!

But it was great fun – a really colourful spectacle of dance and music from the Sughd regions. Of course I couldn’t sit down and stood up to dance (love the music here) much to the amusement of the crowd around me and the numerous police in front of me. I couldn’t understand why no one was dancing. Eventually a few people towards the end started dancing. I’m afraid I have no pictures just videos and internet not good enough to upload one.

Lenin Statue:

So I had heard about this Lenin statue which was removed from a prime location before I arrived. It is the largest in Central Asia. So off I went Saturday to try and find it. Had to laugh folks – the poor fella is now located well in what I would call wasteland. Had to laugh a pretty miserable place for it – but guess Tajikistan is trying to remove the more obvious reminders of its Russian history. It is just unfortunate that the more subtle ones are still alive + kicking.

School/College time again:

Yep the kids are all back in school. So, on a daily basis Khujand look like its hosting a convention for waiters/waitresses. All the school girls wear black skirts with a white shirt and a massive white fluffy bow. The boys well from a distance it looks like there are wearing leather trousers but it’s a throwback to the early ‘80/s folk’s just shiny trousers with white shirt and tie.

Its gas the college kids look nothing like home. The guy’s wears black trousers and white shirt + tie. The girls all dress very formally, black skirt and white shirt…………yes another theme here they luv their black/white.

Labour has my vote.

The US sponsor an ‘American Corner’’ here in Khujand.  It is for the students to give them an understand of American culture via books dvd’s etc.

So………I emailed Eamonn Gilmore asking would the Irish government be interested in providing books. My point was that while Ireland has no direct relationship with this country, Tajikistan has very powerful allies – China, Russia and America all of whom we have national relationships with.

So fair play they agreed to donate 50 books. It’s a fantastic collection of books – popular, contemporary, poetry, history, and culture. I am so proud to think that in this little part of the world there will now exist an ‘Irish Corner’ and Tajik students will learn about Irish culture.

Tennis:

I am playing tennis here now on courts about a 15 min walk from the flat. It’s great really enjoying it – I haven’t played in so long and struggling with fitness. But have to laugh here have absolutely no sense of tennis ‘etiquette’ here. They stroll around on court, use their mobiles and have wonderful loud conversations.

Earlier today I actually had to say sssh to someone – she was wrecking my head. Then the guy I was playing with kept on saying ‘good’ whenever I hit the damn ball. So very politely asked him to stop!! The locals are like camels – playing on Sunday I drank 2.5 litres of water – the guy I was playing with didn’t touch a drop!!

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

PS: I copped this ages ago but forgot to mention but I appear to be the only person in Khujand who actually dries their underwear outside. Fortunately I am at the back so only a few of my neighbours are exposed to my high quality d/s underwear ha ha!!

PPS: Have a new translator – driving me nuts. Not sure how long he will last but am desperate so may just be stuck with him – bad BO and all!!

School/College is out:

Yep the kids are all back in school. So, on a daily basis Khujand look like its hosting a convention for waiters/waitresses. All the school girls wear black skirts with a white shirt and a massive white fluffy bow. The boys well from a distance it looks like there are wearing leather trousers but it’s a throwback to the early ‘80/s folk’s just shiny trousers with white shirt and tie.

Its gas the college kids look nothing like home. The guy’s wears black trousers and white shirt + tie. The girls all dress very formally, black skirt and white shirt…………yes another theme here they luv their black/white.

Labour has my vote.

The US sponsor an ‘American Corner’’ here in Khujand.  It is for the students to give them an understand of American culture via books dvd’s etc.

So………I emailed Eamonn Gilmore asking would the Irish government be interested in providing books. My point was that while Ireland has no direct relationship with this country, Tajikistan has very powerful allies – China, Russia and America all of whom we have national relationships with.

So fair play they agreed to donate 50 books. It’s a fantastic collection of books – popular, contemporary, poetry, history, and culture. I am so proud to think that in this little part of the world there will now exist an ‘Irish Corner’ and Tajik students will learn about Irish culture.

Tennis:

I am playing tennis here now on courts about a 15 min walk from the flat. It’s great really enjoying it – I haven’t played in so long and struggling with fitness. But have to laugh here have absolutely no sense of tennis ‘etiquette’ here. They stroll around on court, use their mobiles and have wonderful loud conversations.

Earlier today I actually had to say sssh to someone – she was wrecking my head. Then the guy I was playing with kept on saying ‘good’ whenever I hit the damn ball. So very politely asked him to stop!! The locals are like camels – playing on Sunday I drank 2.5 litres of water – the guy I was playing with didn’t touch a drop!!

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

PS: I copped this ages ago but forgot to mention but I appear to be the only person in Khujand who actually dries their underwear outside. Fortunately I am at the back so only a few of my neighbours are exposed to my high quality d/s underwear ha ha!!

PPS: Have a new translator – driving me nuts. Not sure how long he will last but am desperate so may just be stuck with him – bad BO and all!!

Rain and a little new life!!!

Raining:

So finally it rained here last Friday night. I woke up Saturday, to cold and dampness with wet clothes on the line. Ah reminded me of home - it was only 18 degrees and I was freezing!!! Out came the socks and long tops. But it is just a blip back to normal weather again now. In fact the weather here is supposed to be lovely and warm right up until late October.

But it was funny experiencing rain again – was a bit perturbed. No sure what do with myself – until I copped myself on and went for a walk in the drizzle. In all fairness have grown up with constant rain – 3 months of sun can’t change that!!

Language:

Well my ‘Tajik’ is improving. Yesterday there was a conversation here at work and at the end of it I burst out laughing. Actually understood the gist of it – just picked up a few words but enough to get the joke. They guys were amazed – guess they are now worried about how much I actually understand? When they are on a roll (and they speak very fast here) I generally understand nothing!!

Russian – Most of my work is actually in Russian. At this stage I can recognise the key words as I am looking at them daily. Can’t actually say them but can read them. It’s funny I work at times using the Russian version of Microsoft. Its gas years of working in computers have meant I can navigate based on instinct and not necessarily knowing what the words mean.

Sporting Life in Khujand:

So the evenings are cooling down and I can now actually contemplate playing tennis. So off I went down to the sports arena here. I met the couple that run the place and they told me I can play anytime I want free of charge. Got myself a cheap racquet and tennis balls and off I go to play!! And heard the nice new pool will actually open mid- September. It has Jacuzzi x 3 and spa treatment area - the works. There are specific ‘woman only days’ and mixed days to cater to all.

However Khujand is a surprisingly modern city – with reasonably relaxed attitudes. They have a different approach to other places I have visited. There is a real sense of small entrepreneurship and the people are keen to move on from their history. My friend was telling me that I would not recognised Khujand as it has changed so much in 3 years. From, simple things like increased traffic, to more restaurants and shops.

Rounders: The kids were fascinated with the tennis racquet, so I decided to teach them how to play rounders. Oh dear difficult enough with no language barrier but very hard when there is. There were about 25 kids, different ages and god, fights and tantrums. I spent most of my time roaring Nay (no) at them. But you know they picked it up pretty quick. I hope to buy some toys for them when I’m leaving - some footballs and outdoor stuff for them to use next summer.

Football in Khujand:

Went to my first soccer game here Khujand V Dushanbe. Now Dushanbe’s captain is the President’s son so they have oh a ‘slight advantage’. But standard of football pretty crap to be honest maybe division 4/5. And it did feel odd been in a stadium with approx. 1,000 blokes and 4 woman. Not the most comfortable of evenings but an experience none the less!!!

Movies:

So I watched the ‘Hurt Locker’ the other night. Wow what a great film can see why it won the Oscar – a very realistic portrayal. I think the entire Republican party in the US should watch it!! I had a German friend over and insisted we watched the ‘Commitments’ as he had never seen it. Oh lads was crying laughing – haven’t seen it in so long – bloody brilliant!!!

Ramadan:

I have felt so sorry for my boss who was doing Ramadan. Some days she looked in rag order like she was going to collapse. The other day she gave in and had some water and food. God what a transformation she was like a new person. I get the reasons behind Ramadan – but perhaps not if you’re making yourself ill. I told her not to worry between her Muhammad and my God we had all bases covered.

So she gets some salad for lunch and we all tucked in. So was eating all happy cos I noticed mushrooms in the salad (very difficult to get mushrooms here). When decided I should just check they were in fact mushrooms. Omg q major laughing – my mushrooms was in fact cow tongue. Oh I said a quick prayer to God thanking him for his timely intervention.

National Holiday:

Well Ramadan was over Tuesday/Wednesday so it was a ‘national holiday’ here on the Wednesday. Happy days no work!!  It is a really big celebration here after 40 days of Ramadan. Families and extended families get together and eat ‘osh’. Our neighbours dropped in Osh for myself and Jeff which is very nice. But I can really only stomach Osh maybe once every two weeks. What puts me off it is that they make it will a huge amount of well basically lard – and plonk some on top for you to eat. So another neighbour last night dropped in Osh – oh I couldn’t look at it – had the auld classic peanut butter sambo.

This is my neighbour making osh – in the typical Tajik cookware. So deep within the rice there are huge chunks of meat and lard. Of course the problem we had was how to throw out the leftover Osh. We are the only foreigners in this area and they have folks that go through the bins. And well it is just not done to throw out bread and Osh. So it was with military planning that I put the leftover Osh and bread in a bag. Put that in another bag and brought it into town to dump.

The best till last:

So I have got to know my neighbours really well. And last Sunday Naziba had a beautiful baby girl,   Muslima. Of course right up until she went into hospital she was cooking, cleaning and doing all the laundry (hand washing) all while heavily pregnant. She is back home and well this is her life now and taking care of a new baby. As is custom here she and Muslima cannot leave the house for 40 days. This is an old tradition to protect the baby and give the Mother time to recuperate. God love her she is dying to go out as the weather is nice now but stuck indoors for another 30 days. After 40 days her Mother will host a party for family and relatives to welcome Baby Muslima.

Baby Muslima Helena:

So we were chatting and she told me the baby’s name would be Muslima Helena. So it took me a few seconds to realise the middle name is after me. Everyone here calls me by the French pronunciation – Helena. Oh wow was so touched it is such a lovely honour.  I know I will probably never see these lovely folks again. And would I love to be a fly on the wall when they explain to Muslima how she came about having such a non – Tajik second name!!

As you can see in this picture the baby is wrapped up very tightly. They do this for one month I’ve been told to prevent the baby scratching themselves and generally moving around. After one month the baby sleeps in a special cradle with a hole. The baby arms and leg are tied and a little tube is attached to them so they can basically pee via the hole.

This is the norm here and surrounding countries and the woman will tell you that is it is a good practice. The thinking is that the baby will not move as much and demand attention so to give their Mother time to cook, clean and do laundry. Also with limited electricity and water it reduces washing baby clothes. Nappies are expensive here you see people buying 2 or three. And then they are recycled and hung out to dry. I do struggle sometimes to understand some of the local customs and practices here – but have to say I think this is unusual to say the least. But as I keep saying to myself who am I a blow in for six months to judge customs that has been carried on here for hundreds of years!

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

PS: In Dushanbe they just opened the world’s largest flagpole (Guinness record book) at a cost of over $3million. Go figure???

PPS: Am trying to find out where I can go to watch the Ireland v Russia game. KO 4pm here so good timing and I will try to round up some honorary ‘Irish’ friends to watch with me!!