Welcome To The Jungle

Well, make that a garden.  But it has some areas that need mowing!

There is a large botanical garden in Dushanbe and as fate would have it, we actually live just a few blocks away from there. 

We have had a couple of opportunities to stroll through the gardens and take in the many splendors that the Dushanbe Botanical Gardens have to offer.  

The gardens are a prime location for weddings to take place and on our last visit, the weather was great and there were tons of couples getting married.

Here's a few photos of that last visit:

Reflecting/lily ponds greet you inside the gates. 

View looking back toward the gates. 

There's a very large hot-house in the middle. They grow and sell plants here as well. 

Some of the plants for sale. 

Large banana plants. Weirdly, banana plants grow all over the place in Dushanbe. 

Not the typical climate I'd expect them in. 

Looks like the ivy needs some trimming back. See, I SAID it was a jungle!

Odd, giant, card-files stuffed into a little-used room at the end. 

Liked the lines and angles in this shot. 

Reminds me a little of the Eiffel Tower.

Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana...

Leaves are starting to fall. Winter must be coming soon :(

Nice lamp posts...

So THIS is why our power goes out all the time, they're wasting it during the day!

Looking over the edge to the never-opened nuclear power plant & the mountains around the city. 

Big Ferris Wheel at the amusement park. Firuza tells a really funny story about barf raining down on her while locked into a ride :)

Liked the light on this little guy. 

Brides, Grooms, Photographers, and broken dreams everywhere.

Just kidding...or am I?

Sadly, as this couple strolled through the gardens being filmed & photographed, 

they didn't even talk to each other. 

When we saw them later, she wouldn't even look up & neither looked very happy. 

Arranged marriages are still a reality in this part of the world & we figure this might be one. 

Unlike this couple who looked happy & excited!  

The ones in the foreground, not the couple behind them.  

Like I said, the gardens are a popular wedding locale. 

Limos, Bimmers, Mercedes, Oh My!  Cars waiting outside to take the newlyweds on a random drive through the city while a car with a cameraman hanging out the window follows them around. 

Just keeping it weird

Each day in Dushanbe is a new adventure. Whether it's shopping for groceries or going to a friends house for a get together, there's always something to experience.

Last night, we went to dinner at a friends house (Erin) and she made tacos with a chocolate cake for dessert.
We played a card game and had a fun time.  Mavzuna, one of the local women that was at dinner, had never eaten a taco before so it was fun to see someone having that experience for the first time.  Additionally, the taco shells came in from Kazakhstan since there isn't any here in Tajikistan.  In the US, tacos for dinner doesn't even rate on anyones radar, but here in Dushanbe, its a blog-worthy experience!

On our way home, we noticed the police had the street blocked off to traffic but we were on foot so we soldiered on.  After a couple of blocks, we arrived at the main thoroughfare (Rudaki Avenue) and saw hundreds of military personnel in the street. Naturally, Sharon and I wanted to stop and watch what was happening, but Mavzuna needed to get home as it was getting late. We asked what was going on and were told they were practicing drills for the upcoming event that the president will hold to thank his people for re-electing him for another 7 year term.  We were told they may be practicing again before the event and if so, I'll try to get some photos.

Today we had a 5.2 earthquake that was centered about 10 miles outside the city. Nothing (that we know of) was damaged, just a little rattling of dishes. I was actually walking back from the store so didn't feel any tremors, just heard some stuff rattling as I ascended the stairs in our building. I didn't realize what it was but when I walked into the front door at home, I saw Sharon and Moose taking shelter in the archway between rooms and she asked if I had felt the earthquake.  At least I know who Sharon is saving if there's a future quake!

We didn't let that shake us though and we KCCO'd with our plans to make some stuff in the kitchen. 

Our friend Katie came over and we made several items. 

As we listened to Christmas music (Sharon & Katie made that decision), we made banana-nut muffins, home made cream cheese frosting, and chili-lime flavored walnuts to snack on. 

It's an odd mix of stuff, I know, but we're still experimenting with making different things to eat. :)

Mavzuna's first bite of a taco ever!

Enjoying the tacos!  Erin, Mavzuna, Me, Sharon

Soldiers were everywhere.  

Trying to take a photo/video without the guard seeing me wasn't easy.

I just loved the guard was bored and leaning against the flag pole watching the practice.

Home made Banana Nut Muffins!  

This is the second time we made these (this time with walnuts).  

I don't think they're going to last long.

When the baking's over...clean up the mess (that's a reference to a Doors song by the way).

Cupcake molds drying after they were put to good use :)

In Bend, we used to get nuts that had different flavoring on them and thought we would try it out ourselves.

These are baking in the oven - chili lime flavor baking in.

Here they are after the oven.  We decided that walnuts have too strong a flavor to pull this off so

we're going to try this on cashews next time.

Let's talk dirty...

Things in Dushanbe are not exactly what I would expect them to be in the US.  

That's an easy statement to make since it's 1/2 way around the world from where we started.  

However, regardless of where you go and who you surround yourself with, kids are always the same. 

We stepped outside the other day to head out for something (probably grocery shopping) and noticed two of the neighbor girls playing outside.

These two girls were sitting quietly and playing together while the mothers and older sisters were working in the yard cleaning up garbage and leaves.  

*Note: the photos were taken by Sharon*

If you look closely, you will see these two girls are sitting in a mud puddle!

The muddy water has literally seeped up a couple of inches into the bottom of the pink sweater :(

Not a care in the world...

Just hope nobody drives by any time soon.

They were happy to get their picture taken.  And quite happy to be playing in the mud :)

Gives a whole new meaning to "mud butt"...

Hmm, some of these clothes look familiar!  

Later the same night, I took Moose outside and I noticed the neighbors had fresh laundry hanging out to dry.

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