Practical Classes 2.0: At some point, everyone catches The Death

We have been to so many museums and parks and restaurants and bazaars here that they are starting to run together. Wednesday we went to Korvon, a HUGE bazaar somewhere close to the outskirts of the city. We spent 3 hours walking around and buying various things, and I'm pretty sure we only went to a small section of the bazaar. I wouldn't be surprised if we spent a whole day and only saw half of it. At any rate, I picked up a host of various pieces to bring back. And they're ALL MINE. (Just kidding, Mom and Dad; I got you something.) Our teacher again dedicated a practical class to our shopping whims, helped us find what we wanted, and encouraged us to do all of the questioning, haggling, and purchasing from the store owners. I am actually really impressed at just how much time she has spent with us and has done for our class. Example: we talked last week about getting t-shirts made with our class level, our names, and chosen numbers on them. Since then, she has: taken us to a place that prints on shirts to get a price, taken us to buy the shirts, designed the logo and our names for us, used her own computer and her own time to come up with sample prints, and is taking us to get them done and make sure we get a good price next week. Also, she's been on every excursion with us except the very first one, when we hadn't met her yet. Awesome.

Anyway, it seems this week that everyone has picked up some sort of The Death. Whether it's a stomach issue, or the flu, or just a regular cold, this week has been rough on us. Yesterday, I was the only one of the three of us in Farsi 3 who made it to class, and I had a cold! Xoshruz and Nikruz were both out with tum tum problems; thankfully they made it back today.

Speaking of being sick, yesterday was my first experience going to the pharmacy in a different country. One would assume that since I'm in Tajikistan, all of the medicine would be in Tajiki, right? Haha-hahahaha-HAHAHAHAHA...no. First of all, everything was in Russian. Secondly - and perhaps more importantly - I don't know why I thought they would have the same names for medicines here, because they don't. I could not find anything remotely close to Nyquil, so I asked for help. Now, I don't know if you've tried to explain to someone in a different language that you have a cold without knowing any of the appropriate words, but it was pretty funny to me. I told him I had a cough and that I had "eaten cold" (meaning to have a cold). He asked if I wanted cold and flu medicine, and I said yes. He asked if my stomach hurt (no), if I had a headache (no), and if I had the shivers. I didn't recognize the word for shivers, so he started convulsing and I had a hard time stopping my laughter long enough to respond (no). Then he came up with a syrup and told me: "Three times a day, after food, until it stops." He made sure I understood the AFTER food part, which I appreciated. When I got home, I found spare Dayquil pills in my suitcase. Oh well; at least it was only 36C.

We went to the Buddha museum today, which was both really informative and fun. Our tour was in Tajiki, but before we went I spoke with one of the workers, who showed me a book full of pictures of various parts of Tajikistan. We chatted for a while and I learned a bunch of new words from her, which was very nice of her. Also, today was my first interaction with the Tajiki 3 professor, who is probably a genius. I am glad we came to this school for the Dushanbe portion of the program.

Yesterday we were supposed to go to the Buddha museum, but I had my first Chess Club at ACT. Chess Club was actually a hit, even though I wasn't 100%, and I am a bit disappointed I wasn't able to hold more of them. Next week will be the last Poetry Club and the last Chess Club there. ACT is really doing some pretty neat things, including plays, concerts, and other social events. I look forward to going every time.

Tomorrow we're heading to Varzob, which is another very nice respite. Everyone who talks to us asks if we've been there, so I'm looking forward to seeing if it lives up to the hype. This time is going by so quickly! I have to get pictures up as soon as I get home.

Taa pargaa!

A City Under Construction

Dushanbe is a beautiful city. There are beautiful office buildings, museums, hotels, and cultural centers scattered throughout. It is surrounded by mountains (almost everything is here, to be fair) and sits in the only major valley in the country. There are parks everywhere, which are pretty well kept, and there are statues and monuments to be found constantly. It seems that every time I walk somewhere new, I discover another park, or statue, or both.

Also, the people here are open and extremely friendly and hospitable. Every time I meet someone new, they are excited about the fact that I am learning their language and that we are in Dushanbe. I find that people are especially curious as to how long we have studied, and how long we've been here. At any rate, people have been quick to invite us over to visit and meet their families, or to meet up to talk. Unlike back home, these invitations are not creepy, but genuine, and good opportunities to practice speaking.

However, Dushanbe can also be a bit grimey. All of the roads which we use to get around have potholes. Many of the open street drains are full of trash, and crossing the street can be like playing Frogger...with your body. Still, one of the things I've noticed is just how much of Dushanbe is under construction.

Construction is everywhere. When we visited the soon-to-be largest teahouse in the world, not one section was quite finished. Also, there seems to be constant roadwork, as well as new buildings and parks and statues cropping up everywhere. One can tell while walking around that many structures have been finished recently. Our program director, Kathleen, pointed out before we left that the monument in front of the National Library was just finished in 2009. Hopefully I can get there and get some pictures for you. (Still not sure I have a computer or internet fast enough anywhere to upload yet; I should have brought my laptop!)

I find it intriguing that there are two specific projects here in the city. One is the teahouse (which I mentioned already); the other is the world's largest flag flown from the world's largest flagpole. It is interesting to see such grand projects happening in one of the world's poorer countries, and how such projects give a sense of pride to many of the residents here. The night when we went to see the flag with our host family, we arrived late (we got there around 9:40; that section of Rudaki Park closes around 10 on Thursday nights). However, we couldn't tell we were late because it was so busy! People were taking pictures and hanging out on benches, just looking at and talking about the flag. It was a really cool experience. I look forward to seeing what other projects Dushanbe has in store for itself and for the Tajik people, and am glad I have the chance to be here now.

<ramble>

In other news, we visited a museum today, and got a tour in Tajiki of the various works therein. I find that every day I am picking up more and more Tajiki, and am spending less time translating in my head. Most of the group scooted when we got to the second floor tour (we switched guides and our new guide talked about nearly every painting), but I stayed for the language practice. I found it fascinating how much I understood. (Self-high-five!) Hopefully this carries over when I get back to school!

Speaking of stateside, I am really excited for my Pacific Northwest trip with Katie when I get back. I think I'll need a vacation from this summer's studies before getting back to StL.

Tamaam shodam.

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If you don't like talking about bowel movements, don't read this post.

Warning! Alert!

Warning! Alert!

There is no tp remaining!

Bring your own supplies!

-Nikruz

One of the more rewarding parts of this experience is the comraderie felt in the group. We have all found comfort in hanging out and doing activities together, and being in a group has partially shielded us from the homesickness and lonliness that I imagine many are feeling. I try to leave any such feelings out of my blog posts, because that's not what I want this to be about, but to be honest, it is hard to leave home for 3 months and study a different language, especially when one month is overseas. It's also exhilirating and fascinating and eye-opening, but it's definitely not easy.

Anyway, because we're all here and experiencing similar things, we tend to talk about everything that's going on with us. We talk about our host families, our interactions in the street, our workload, and good places to eat and work. Of course, one of the things we discuss most regularly is - you guessed it - poop.

Here's the thing: back home, there's no reason to talk about poop, because there aren't weird changes going on all the time. However, we're all just about now getting used to the food here, and getting back on relatively regular poop schedules. (I'll explain more in a minute.) Not only did most of us have to get used to the hole-in-the-ground system, but nearly everyone has had some sort of poop change or story since we arrived. It will probably be easiest if I write a guide-like list regarding the bowel movement situation here.

• Within the first couple days, you will probably have a solid poop. It will feel GREAT. This is because you haven't pooped in two days out of fear. This may never happen again while you are here.
• Along those lines, once you get over the fear of the squat method, you will find it is very easy to poop and handle the wipe business. Theories abound as to why this is.
• Someone in the group will discover is it easier to aim with the flat-foot method than the ball-of-the-foot method, and will gleefully share with everyone. Be that person.
• At least once, you will think there is toilet paper, when there is not. Just hope you have a waterhose in the stall when you do.
• At least once, you will think you brought toilet paper, when you did not. See above.
• Somewhere around the end of the first week, everyone has the runs. Anyone who says otherwise has eaten an entire package of immodium and should be taken to the hospital immediately.
• Around the middle/end of week two, if you're lucky, you will get back to 90% solid. Take this as a sign that the angels have blessed you and be merry.

And finally,

• No matter how many times you have pooped in a day, you can always do one more. Always.

The Family Part Two: Immediate and Extended

Today will probably be a shorter post since I haven't done much since yesterday. However I thought this would be a good time to expand on the rest of the family. Hopefully this paints a fairly accurate picture of life at home.

Shahnoza: Our host mother works incredibly hard all day, every day. She is up all night making food since it is Ramadan, and then she takes care of the three kids as well as cleans whole house everyday. She also makes time to do our laundry, to which we have resigned. I am impressed at how hard she works and how much she does in a day.

BoboJun: He is the oldest boy and relatively well-behaved. He is called "grandfather" because he is named after Sharif's dad. He helps out his mom around the house sometimes, but will also pretend not to hear his parents when he wants to put on a show. He talks a bit and plays with Nikruz a lot.

Zamirah: The middle child and a girl, Zamirah seems to be the instigator of many disputes, and likes to push boundaries to see what she can get away with. She pretends to be shy but is always listening and paying attention. She enjoys helping her mom more than BoboJun.

Mahamad: The baby of the family in every sense of the word. He rarely speaks and normally doesn't want something unless his brother or, more often, sister already has it. Most of the kids' disputes are because someone took something he was using. Cute kid though.

Bobo Bozorg: The grandfather lives outside of town but visits fairly often. He and Sharif are very religious and go to pray every night. While also funny, he has now taken to trying to convert us. I like his stories though. It is interesting to hear his take on Islam, but I am done trying to actually discuss it.

Until next time, here's to a hopefully restful and adventurous weekend!

Practical Classes in Dushanbe

Yesterday we went to the Hovlono masjid (mosque) before morning classes via chartered public bus. I thought it would be a quieter day at the masjid, but it turns out that Wednesdays are the day women are allowed in, so it was very busy. There was a courtyard, a garden, a pool with fish and a fountain, a sepulchre, and many other things. Also, there were very old trees scattered about; one of the trees was over 800 years old! It was a very interesting and serene place, and I spent a good amount of time wandering by myself. I also got a chance to talk with a couple locals and ask questions, and learned a few new words, which was fun. Afterward, we had regular class, then did work in the computer room, and went home. Our host mother told us we were late because our neighboring CLI students had returned earlier. We didn't bother to tell her the reason they went home right after class was because they were hungover. However, I am trying to think of the best way to tell them that we don't plan on returning to the house right after class. That's for children. Suggestions?

Last night I slept a lot; I think between being up late on Tuesday night and the heat yesterday I was pretty beat. This morning Nick wasn't feeling well, so I left him at home and came early to the school to use the internet, only to find it hadn't been turned on yet. I think they have a pay-as-you-go plan, but I don't know why they don't have it set up from before we arrive until well after we leave, because this touch-and-go is messing with my schedule. I wouldn't be as bothered by it if I didn't find out that they bought new computers with the money we paid to come here. Soooooo...there's that.

Today my amazingly wonderful professor Sorayo took us to the bazaar for another practical class. We went shopping for material so I can get some pants made. First, I found some material I wanted; then, we went to a seamstress, who measured me and told me how much to buy; then, we went back to the material store and bought it (80C; about $16); finally, we returned to the seamstress. I told her how I want my pockets and where, and how I wanted my cuffs, and how tight I want the pants, and everything. It was really interesting to talk about getting clothing made in Tajiki, and Sorayo was very helpful in haggling. She got the price down for me on a couple things, which was really fun to hear, and now I know exactly how to ask for a takfif!

Afterward, we went to a really expensive exercise clothing store, where we bought nothing, and we continued on to a small side street. I bought an RC (it's all over the place; if you want Coke or Pepsi you have to look hard, but RC with REAL SUGAR is everywhere!) and then we found a bookstore. I bought the first book in Farsi I could find, because it was the only book in Farsi they had. I've found here that they don't sell many books in Farsi at all. However, I will continue my search.

After the exercise store (we found a few others later in the day) we went to a carpet store where we encountered some expensive but very beautiful carpets. They were so expensive because, according to Sorayo, they were very old, and hand-made. I wish I could have taken some pictures; when I return, I will be sure to take my camera.

After lunch, we went to the Sadriddin Ayni Museum, which seemed to be located in a former house. It was really interesting and we were allowed to take a bunch of pictures of the house and the works inside. Most of it was in Tajiki, which I am able to read better now, and some of it was in Farsi. The groundskeeper asked me if I have time to come back tomorrow to read some of his work in Farsi; I think she was surprised that someone in our group wasn't speaking English and had heard of Ayni before we arrived in the country. At any rate, I would like to see some of his original works, so I got the number of the museum and said I would call before I head over. I mean, think about that. ORIGINAL WORKS. Yes, please.

That's it for now! Hopefully, I will convince my host family I'm a big boy so they stop asking me why I get home late. Example:

"Why are you so late?"
"We had work to do!"
"The other students went home earlier!"
"The other students are lame."
<group laughter>

At least we can laugh about it!

P.S. The pants will be 100C to make, which makes the total 180C. Anybody know a tailor stateside that will make pants fitted to you for $36?

Persians and Poetry

"If you want to be a poet, first you must learn 10,000 bayts."

Monday I held my first Poetry Club at the American Corner in Tajikistan in the Tajikistan National Library. (Here I offer a correction: we were in the National Library when we first learned about the American Corner, not the embassy; sorry to mislead in a previous post!) I was worried at first since I didn't know how many people would come or be interested in the group, and because there were a handful of students in the room and all seemed to be engrossed in something else. However, when the music club ended and I started setting up, a really large group gathered, which was both exciting and even more nerve-wracking. Thankfully, I had some of the other CLI students with me for support! I had everyone introduce themselves, we briefly talked about poetry in general, and then I dove into reading from various American authors. I spent a lot of the time talking myself, though my counterparts definitely chimed in, and even read some of their favorite poems. The kids for the most part seemed really interested and asked lots of questions, which made me feel it was worth starting the club.

At one point, the students asked if we knew any poetry by heart. One of the most important academic and cultural activities in Persian culture is to memorize and recite classic poetry. The history of Persian literature and the Persian language is long and interesting (it's the reason I'm in school) and you can read a bit about it here (it's not perfect but it gets the point across). One of the main reasons Persian poetry is so important to Persian cultures is that it is a cultural connection for people here to their history and their language, and the great poets are to be emulated and celebrated. Ferdowsi is said to have captured Persian at the time he wrote the Shahnameh, and Persian as a language survived the Arab conquest - albeit with many, many Arabic loanwords - through his poetry and that of his successors. Thus, people memorize and can recite hundreds upon hundreds of lines of classical poetry in Persian cultures, and feel very strongly about the importance of knowing these verses, whereas we may be required to memorize a total of ten poems in America, and not feel any great connection to it as an American poem. It's a very different way of looking at literature, and took me a while to understand. So, when the students asked us if we knew any poetry, Nikruz explained to them that we don't have the same cultural connection to our poetry as Persians do, and we don't memorize the poetry of our "great poets" as a standard cultural exercise. It was interesting to see their faces, because it is such an incredibly foreign concept to them, just as memorizing 700-1000 year old English poetry is unheard of for us. (To be fair, Modern English isn't even old enough to have 1000 year old poetry. Middle English barely passes the bar.)

The students then asked us if we knew any Persian poetry by heart. I recited a few lines of Nader Naderpour, which received great applause. I didn't even finish the poem and they were incredibly excited. Nikruz also recited some lines which again received thunderous applause. I was happy that the kids were finally noticeably enthusiastic about poetry, but it also saddened me just a bit. Part of the point of the American Corner is to share things about the US that are culturally significant, and I felt that sharing some of their own culture with the students was missing the boat. Still, we rallied, and finished the hour strongly with a couple final poems. We (the kids and CLI transfers) decided that next week we will do half Persian poetry and half American poetry, but all in English. Jill made a couple good points about that: 1) it will keep them interested and 2) at the very least it will give them a different perspective on the poetry and they'll be hearing and speaking about it in English. What no one seemed to remember to mention is that it will probably be me translating the poems we choose! Oh well; at least I get the practice. Plus, anything we do for the American Corner gets written up and sent to D.C., and we're copied on it, so I can say I held a Poetry Club in English at ACT. CV building FTW.

Tuesday was Nikruz' birthday, so after morning class the teachers surprised him with tea and cake. Then, we grabbed sharma (shwarma) from our favorite street vendor - meat only, or faqat goosht - and we surprised him with a viewing of his favorite movie, Gladiator. A few days ago he bought it for 4 Somoni (about 83 cents; the exchange rate hovers around 4.82C to $1). Turns out, he bought 12 Russell Crowe movies! After the movie, we went and found our host father's shop. It turns out he sells general store items from a storefront tucked in behind a strip bazaar, but he also has a storehouse behind it and supplies items to other stores in the area. It was cool to see him at work; he kept talking us up to people and complimenting everyone we met in his smooth-talking way. I wish you all could meet Sharif; he is way cool. (Throwback, anyone?) Anyway, after last night's dinner party - during which our teacher gave Nikruz a short sword for his birthday (it's not sharp...yet) - we headed out to a Irish pub. Nikruz was worried about the family's concern for us going to a pub, so he told them we went to a discotechque instead. At any rate, the Irish pub was interesting, but it wasn't very Irish. They had American and Scotch whisky, and only two Irish beers. Also, the waiter was Russian. Still, we enjoyed it, and we figured out how to walk home since we didn't want to take another cab.

Speaking of cabs, my group had the worst cabbie of the night! There were ten of us that took cabs to the pub, so we broke into three groups. We flagged down a guy, and asked him how much to the Iranian embassy (that's the closest landmark to the pub). He said 30 Somoni. Instead of haggling, which I should have done, I agreed and we got in. Immediately, we started having problems. First, the car died, so he pulled out a screwdriver to fix it. Then he opened his door and almost hit a passing cop car, so he dealt with them for a minute. THEN the person behind me (I was front passenger) had to get out so he could fix whatever was wrong with the car. At this point, I ask him (in Tajiki of course) if he can lower the price since by this time we probably would have been there. He agreed. We finally take off, and then he pulls over to ask a guy in Russian how to get to the embassy! At this point we're starting to get miffed. I ask him a couple questions in Tajiki, but magically he doesn't know Tajiki anymore and answers in Russian. After asking someone else, he pulls over someplace and says, "This is the Iranian embassy," in Russian. The only reason I know any of this is because Mark was in the car with us, and he speaks Russian. However, we didn't see our people so we asked him to take us to a specific street and cross-street. He pulls around and asks a third group of people where to go, by which point I'm ready to get out and not pay. He pulls to the other side of the first street where we stopped and says, "This is the embassy." I ask him multiple times, "Is this Rudaki and *insert street name here that I can't remember* or not?" He just keeps saying "This is the embassy" and switching back and forth between Russian and Tajiki. We're like, "Let's just go," so I hand him 40 Somoni. He asks if we have a 10 since he doesn't have change. We hand him a 10, but he doesn't give 20 back! I was PISSED. He claimed that because we made him drive around the block we owed him more money. I told him in VERY angry Tajiki that he shouldn't have been stopping to ask people where to go, and he shouldn't need to get out and fix his cab while we're in it! Eventually, we gave up, because he wasn't giving us the money back. However, I learned that I know how to argue in Tajiki, so something good came out of it! In the end, it was 2.50 each USD. We'll live. Plus, we got a story, and we ended up finding the pub anyway.

Next post, I'll tell you about the mosque we visited this morning, and hopefully have a couple more stories to share with you! Until next time, here's to people who don't screw you out of 20 Somoni.

Excursions: Getting around the city called Monday

Yesterday we went to the Ismaili Center in the city, which is a Center for education and prayer for Ismaili Muslims. Currently there are five in use worldwide, with a sixth being built in Canada. Of course this was one of the days where I forgot my camera, which turned out to be okay since we were not allowed pictures inside anyway. We chartered a public bus, which seems to be the preferred method of group transport here for the program, and on the way passed some really interesting buildings. More on that later!

The Ismaili Center was absolutely beautiful. It had four sides: administrative, social, religious, and educational. Before the official tour I walked around a bit. There were various miniature patterns on the walls, each one different and clearly hand-painted. We had a choice of tour in English, Russian or Tajiki; I chose Tajiki and am glad I did. Not only did I get a crash course in quick speaking - our tour guide was a teenaged girl who was dressed for a dinner date - but there was an Iranian family on vacation that asked questions about everything there. I don't think they understood the Tajiki accent very well, but they brought up a lot of interesting points, and we got an impromptu lesson in the Shia imams from them in the prayer room. Speaking of, it was absolutely gorgeous. There were very high ceilings and writing around the tops of the walls and on the wall behind a podium. I was surprised that I could read a lot of the names and words written in block script. It was a really interesting and fairly educational experience.

Afterward, we went to the soon-to-be largest teahouse in the world. The foreman took us through parts of this huge structure (again no pictures allowed) and we saw some really beautiful art inside. We went to the Paradise Palace which had lots of stone art pieces and a view of the flag from last week. It is really something already and will be even better when it is done.

After the teahouse we went to a minifair and I rode the ferris wheel. Never doing that again.

After the minifair, we went to the Hyatt to get lunch. I had a sandwich with bacon and fries and it was delicious (and not as expensive as I thought it would be)! We used the WiFi for a while and enjoyed the availability of Western toilets. Then we went to the bus stop to head home.

Here's the thing about getting around in Dushanbe:
If you are waiting for the bus, prepare to wait for a while. There are vans that run the city bus routes more often, but are more expensive and have a bunch of people piled in. Also, city buses and bus route vans will wait until they think they have enough people worth traveling for before they leave, so even if it comes - there is no schedule, mind you - you can sit at a stop for as long as the driver wants.
If you are in a car, don't bother with a seatbelt, and be prepared to pass people at any time, including while turning on red. Also, do not stop for people, but slow to a crawl for potholes.
Cross the street anytime, anywhere while walking. Don't worry, you'll make it.

Anyway, that is all for today. I will talk about the American Corner tomorrow!

(For a more descriptive post about driving in Tajikistan refer to my roommate's blog: Dushanbe Days)