Recap of our week

I have to apologize for not posting in the past week, but there has been a lot going on in this part of the world and I simply haven't had a lot of time to go out looking for interesting things to post about.

Instead, I have put several random photos together in order to show a sampling of what kinds of stuff we encounter on a day-to-day basis.  

Hope everyone has a great Halloween (if you are so inclined to celebrate that tradition).

This is Katie.  

She is a teacher at Sharon's school (teaches 5 year-old class).

As you can see, Katie is not 100% normal :)

Actually, she took all the suggestions from her class as to what she should dress as for "dress up day" (since the school celebrates traditions from multiple cultures, they don't call it Halloween).

So Dolce & Gabbana may be branching out into toilet paper!  

You never know what you're going to find when you visit the store here.

We came home from the store to find the neighbors outside lighting the yard on fire.

They were trying to get rid of the remainder of the dead weeds before winter sets in but they didn't get much burned before giving up.

It was interesting to watch the young boy (maybe 12 years old) was the one with the matches and starting the fire.  More interesting was watching the small girl (probably 3 years old) wandering around the fires, putting stuff in the flames to get it to burn better, and using a stick to flick burning material onto a fresh area of weeds in order to spread the fire.  

In the U.S. someone would have called Child Services on this family for neglect and endangerment, but here (and when I was growing up), children are seen as a little smarter and more capable than we typically give them credit for.  Its interesting to see (as my Psych instructor would point out) that in all cultures, the children try to emulate the adults and their actions.  It's just in other cultures, they are actually allowed to do so with less restriction and craziness from the parents :)

Monday we had a 70 degree (21.1C) day and we went out for a walk.

As usual, Moose drew attention and people all day wanted to stop us and pet him.

We were told that "Muslims don't like dogs", but it looks like 9/10 people are enthralled by them.

Out looking for a few local craft/artisan shops, we ended up walking for several miles (it was a nice morning).  Along the way, we saw this cool downspout on a local house.  

By the way, the Lonely Planet site states there are several shops that sell local arts/crafts but after several hours, and several miles of walking, we can definitively state that these are no longer in business.

A few houses down from the downspout, there was this great double-door on a driveway.

Tuesday was also a nice day and we went out again to enjoy the day off (Sharon's school was off all this week).  We went with a local friend to a pet store called Alligator to look for some dog food for Moose.  Stores like this one don't show up on Google or on any maps program in Dushanbe.  So, in order to find most places, you need to know someone who knows where it is.  Then they either give you really good directions, or actually take you there (which is the case 99% of the time) because there are times when a local "store" will simply be someone's house and has no signs or any other indicators of what's inside and you just have to "know" that they have what you are looking for.

Driving past the Dushanbe nuclear power plant.  This was actually never completed and there was discussion that it would be converted instead to a particle accelerator facility (not sure how easily that conversion would be). 

Tajikistan has quite a bit of power issues.  They have times when the power will be turned off in different parts of the city (rolling blackouts).  This summer, we had several times where the power would go out for an hour or two and then come back on.  Additionally, I have been told by locals that during the winter, they basically shut off power to the outer towns/villages for all but a few hours per day in order to make sure Dushanbe (the capital) has enough power.  I can only imagine that all the power concerns would have been resolved had the reactor actually been completed.  Unfortunately, after Chernobyl and then Fukishima, the decision was made to not go forward with completion due to negative sentiment for nuclear power.  

Yesterday however, we lost power at 5:15 am and it was out for 16 hours! We have heard stories of the power going out for several days during the winter months so not sure what we're going to do for heat if that happens.  Since it was cold and raining yesterday, it got fairly cold in the apartment after only a few hours.  We dressed up in warm, winter clothes and sat under blankets and watched movies on an iPad.

Moose dressed in his pajamas and a sweater in order to stay warm! 

Of course when one of his pajama legs comes off, it looks like he's walking around with an extra, floppy leg.  When this happens, we refer to him as "mutie stock" :)

Because we were without power for so long, we took some food over to Katies house to have some warmth and to cook dinner.  Katie had power, but for some reason (which has become our new normal), the lights in Katies kitchen were't working so we had to cook using a flashlight and the light on my iPhone. 

It should be a crime

It should be illegal to slaughter the English language to this magnitude.

However, it should probably also be illegal for me to enjoy this type of thing as much as I do!

A couple of weekends ago, we went out shopping for some items, and since we only had one sharp knife in the house (my pocket knives don't count because nobody else will use them to cut their steak), I decided to purchase a set of sharp kitchen knives.

Some background:

For a while before we left the US, I was wanting to purchase some ceramic knives, but I just couldn't talk myself into forking (no joke intended) out that kind of cash when we had perfectly good knives already.

We have used the Miracle Blade knives for several years now.  They aren't the most expensive or the highest-quality knives on the market by any means, however, they are pretty darn good for the cost and the specialty blades in the set are pretty awesome.

I loved using the filet knife for cutting up a fresh pineapple. The thin, flexible blade made short work of the thick outer skin on those suckers.  Additionally, the Chop & Scoop blade was flat and thin so it was great for cutting cheese, onions, and other vegetables!

Anyway,  because I am inherently cheap at heart and hate to spend money (except on electronics and software), I put off all the greatness I knew would come from having ceramic knives in my hands.

Until now!  We went to Sadbarg and found a small shop that had kitchen stuff (including a Magic Bullet - more on this later).  I waffled between two sets of knives and ultimately chose the less-expensive set because I knew that ceramic knives, for all their glory, had one shortcoming which is the blades are fundamentally brittle.  Which as anyone who knows me and how often I drop stuff like cell phones, knows that I'm gonna end up breaking at least one blade fairly soon after purchase.

After getting my new purchase home and unboxing the knives, I started to actually LOOK at the box that they were packaged in and started to get really happy.  It was a treasure trove of bad English and poor grammar.

For your enjoyment, (unless you are a high school Language Arts teacher), here are the amazingly terrible words I found on the box.

The box in question.  I've always wanted a life "more fashion". 

Let your body groove to the music...

So, when they get washed, are they going to say they were water boarded?

Here's where it gets really good...

So they cut stuff?

Please don't oppress the meat texture!

I do like the poetic sound of "cutting one's eyes are often more than tears"

Who knew that if I cut the ocean, onion juice won't stimulate my eyes?

Challenge accepted!  Where's a friggin' apple?

Guess I should have read these instructions a little closer. 

I have already cut on a glass surface, (couldn't coordinate with a cutting board), and I have washed them all in water and detergent.

Don't forget to sign up for the Twitter feed since this is where I'm going to post the results of my apple test.

Thank God, Almaty

If you didn't read the title well, you may have missed that it said "Almaty" as in Kazakhstan.  What? It's a pun - I like puns, I think they are punny... 

Sharon spent a few days in Almaty for a professional development conference for her school (see previous blog entry) and she took a few photos while she was there.

Something that you, dear reader, must realize is that in Tajikistan, there really is nothing "American" or what we would call "normal".

Yes, you can find some things that are familiar (see this blog entry) but there are no malls or fast food places here.  Not that malls and fast food is what we want to do, but when you don't have access to something like that, and more importantly don't know when you're actually going to see those things, it becomes a nice relief to go somewhere that does have them and partake in the American ritual of "shopping at the mall" and "grabbing a burger".

And for this reason, the post title is applicable.  Sharon was able to go shopping for some things that we simply cannot find in Dushanbe.  Additionally, she was able to go to some food establishments and other venues to experience some things that we are hard-pressed to find in Tajikistan.

This is what you get at the Dushanbe Airport when your flight is four hours delayed.

That's the Mega shopping mall in Almaty.  

Pretty sure the lights are up all year long & not just the holidays.

Street scene - It's definitely busier at night than Dushanbe.

Fantastic old building!

Of all things in Kazakhstan...an Irish Pub.

A couple of guys were in the corner (out of shot) playing the game console on the big TV.

Wait, is that an old 8mm projector on the shelf?

This is either an "action" shot taken while moving... 

OR an "after a few drinks" shot taken, well, after a few drinks :)

The Mad Murphy's menu.  Conveniently in Russian and English.

That looks like a good pizza right there.

And what goes better with pizza than a cold beer?

*Please drink responsibly - under 21 & over 0.00 = intoxicated*

Good old-fashioned Irish Stew - actually ended up being a Russian stew, but still.

Guess the Mad Murphy's Irish Pub doesn't look as good in Russian?

Ирландские Mad Мерфи Pub - yep, kinda loses something

THIS is just pure genius.  I think this guy also worked on the Manhattan Project.

When you sneak a phone into a concert, you have to be careful not to be seen taking photos.

Sharon (and her colleagues) got to attend a performance which included operatic singers, a choir, and an orchestral arrangement. 

The BEST part of getting out of Dushanbe?  

Finding American peanut butter (peanut butter at all for that matter),

 and bringing 16 POUNDS back in your checked bag for your husband!

In addition to peanut butter, Sharon returned with some cans of chili, taco & fajita seasoning, a pizza (she said it was from Pizza Hut, but it didn't look like any Hut pizza I've eaten before - not complaining because it's better than the pizza I've had here which is none), some cake mix, and frosting.

Guess who's gonna gain back the 10 pounds he lost since he's been here?  Yep, this guy!

If you're still not following the new Twitter feed, you're missing some interesting thoughts that I have while I'm roaming the streets.  Follow here.

Professional Development Weekend

Sharon took off to Almaty, Kazakhstan for a few days to attend a professional development conference.

While she is off in a city with such culinary delights as Hardee's and Pizza Hut, (neither of which we have in Tajikistan), I'm here eating cookies and Pringles - (to see what I had for brunch, check out the Twitter feed).  Of course, one should get a treat when having to endure three days of professional development conferences, and three days without me...

Actually, we have also ordered a few meals from a local company, Sevara's Kitchen, which makes home-cooked meals that we aren't 100% certain where they get all their ingredients.  On the menu this month are things like Chicken Pot Pie, Meatloaf with Potatoes, Szechuan Noodles with Chicken & Vegetables, etc.

Sitting alone with Moose and streaming TV (Hulu+, Netflix, and Amazon Instant), I decided to do my own form of professional development.  I installed a new piece of photo editing software (on a 30-day trial) and worked on a few photos that I have been sitting on for a couple of weeks.

In order to do what I wanted with these photos, I needed to take out quite a bit of noise (hence the new software), after I made them look more like what I actually saw instead of what the camera captured.

For the Friday post, here's a few images that I like.  Hope you like them as well.
Remember, all images are available for a nominal fee (I gots to eat, ya'know) :)

And don't forget to follow the new In Tajik I Stand Twitter feed for in-between updates on life and to find out what was for brunch!

These were all shot hand-held (no tripod).  

Thinking about doing a photo project that features various "tools of the trade" of different tradesmen I encounter on the streets here.

This shot took a few tries as timing was crucial. 

I had to not get just a blaring flash of light and/or blinded.

I think my favorite part of this image is the splatter of sparks at the bottom left corner...

Religion is the smile on a dog

That's a line from the 80's song "What I Am" by... ________________

So, what does any of that have to do with what I'm writing about today?

Not much.  However, if you knew the first name of the singer, you got the name of the Muslim holiday that occurred yesterday.  So in a round-about way, they are connected (religion, Edie Brickell, Eid-al-Adha).

Yesterday was the holiday Eid-al-Adha in the Muslim world.  Most people here simply refer to it as "Eid".  It's a pretty big deal as everything closes down and kids are out knocking on doors looking for candy.  In a few cases, the kids didn't even knock, they just opened our door and asked for candy.

You may be asking yourself "what IS Eid?".  This holiday is a celebration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his first-born son Ishmael because God had asked him to.  In the story, at the last minute, God appeared to Abraham and said "Just Kidding, LOL!" and instead they sacrificed a sheep.  

In modern times (that's now), either a sheep or a goat is typically slaughtered.  **Don't worry, they eat the meat**.  Additionally, it's a day to have large feasts and share/socialize with family and friends.  

Your intrepid bloggers were invited to a friends home to celebrate the holiday with a local family.  Being somewhat adventurous in nature, we accepted the offer, donned our Sunday finest, and trekked to the home of a local Tajik family to see what it's all about.

Since it was a day of having guests and feasting, we started our day by inviting over one of our friends (Katie) and having a large breakfast of pancakes with syrup and bacon!  Afterward, we all headed to our friend Firuza's home for traditional Tajik celebrations.

In strict traditional households, the women and men are separated and will feast and socialize separately.  In less-strict homes (as was our hosts), the men and women co-mingle so everyone feels comfortable.  

We can't thank Firuza and her parents enough for inviting us into their home and making us a part of their traditions.  And the sheep was mighty tasty!

Here's some pictures of what our day looked like (mostly what we ate).  

Bought the Aunt Jemima @ a yard sale - don't judge.  And yes, we were well aware of the irony of eating bacon on a Muslim holiday - don't judge. 

Children literally scaled the wall to get candy from us. 

Look at all this food!  We were so full of bacon already that we couldn't eat much. 

Our hostess Firuza.  Naturally we gave her grief about the socks not matching :)

Firuza's father cooking the sheep. 

After the feast. 

For dinner, Katie made us "tacos" but refused to wash the dishes. 

Remember to follow the new Twitter feed to get easy-to-digest snippets of Tajikistan!

It's an island, babe.

If you didn't bring it here, you won't find it here.

Obviously, I'm not so bad at geography that I actually thing Tajikistan is an island...of course geography was not a prerequisite for Nursing school.

Anyway, what I'm referring to is the fact that it can be difficult to find some items here in Dushanbe, but not nearly as difficult as we first thought.

Before making the move here, we were told by people who were actually living in Dushanbe that there is basically nothing American or any brand names that we would recognize or be looking for.  

For this reason, we went on a bit of a shopping bonanza in the US before we came here.  Some of the items we purchased were: shampoo, lotion, hair dye, OTC medications, prescription medications, makeup, skin, toothpaste & brushes, mouth wash, Imodium, allergy pills, deodorant... the list keeps going. 

For the most part, we brought a year's worth of all these items!!  
We purchased an extra suitcase to carry all these items!!
We left behind clothes and shoes in order to make weight on all our checked bags!!

But alas, we found that there are a LOT of regular brand-name products that we are very used to using.  
In fact, most of our preferred brands are sitting on shelves all over the city, waiting for us to run out and pluck them from their dust-collecting perch to give them a warm, loving home with us.  

For all those products we will not be purchasing locally, we apologize.  To the local economy that we will not be supporting with our purchasing dollars (Simoni), we apologize.  To the people that told us we needed to bring everything, we are kinda ticked off at you!!

So now, instead of a wardrobe that will get us through all the seasons here in Dushanbe, we can comfort ourselves in the fact that Colgate© will get us through the hard times and keep us warm.  Maybe we can fashion a lean-to from our toothbrushes?  At least I can feel good that the Maybelline© mascara won't run when it's raining outside. 

Here's some pics of what's on the store shelves:

Look familiar?  L'Oreal© section in this store looks to be equal to the U.S. 

Stuck in the middle...
Dove© sitting quietly between Sunsilk© & some blue crap & Axe. 

I think I'll go blonde, maybe red.  No?

Deodorant: My brand, Sharon's brand, probably your brand. 

And it looks like every culture has anti-cellulite cream!  

 Антицеллюлитный гель корректор translates to: anti-cellulite gel corrector

Please note that this stuff doesn't work, in any culture!

Not sure what a "pore vacuum" is, but it made me chuckle :)

Don't forget to follow the new Twitter feed for smaller, bite-sized goodness!