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Published: October 14th 2014
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Saturday October 10, 2014 – Dushanbe, Tajikistan
I finally made it to Tajikistan a few days ago. I have had a unknown wish to see this country for a while now. Unknown because I really didn’t know what attracts me to see this land other than they speak Farsi and to me this was exciting, as I have never experienced being in any country that speak Farsi outside of Iran.
I arrived in Dushanbe the capital of Tajikistan on a flight from Moscow. By the time I applied and received an entry visa at the airport all passengers and suitcases where out of the baggage area and no sign on my suitcase. A major disappointment. After going through a lot of ordeals with the baggage people, I was told to check back tomorrow to see if it would come with the next flight.
I walked out of an unknown airport and, based on my past experiences in other Eastern culture airports, I knew I will be bombarded with the hustling cab-drivelers. I had the address of a hostel I planned on going to but none of the drivers knew exactly where it was. Finally an old
man with a long beard that almost force/invited me to his private car as a taxi, promising he knew where the hotel was.
The drivers started with a fare offer of $25 for the trip. The correct fare, based on the information I had obtained from the authorities in the airport, was not supposed to be more than $5. Finally the driver agreed to take me there for $5, but it ended up that the he didn’t know where the hotel was. He stopped somewhere in a narrow side alleys asking a man for directions. The man turned out to be Persian, named Hossein Armonpour, and I was saved. The cab driver went on his way and Hossein offered for me to stay with him at his house. He was renovating his big two story house to rent it to the Red Cross. We became friends and have been out to dinners and lunches a few time in the past few days.
Next day– I went to the airport and my suitcase is not here and deemed lost. I began to think of plan B, how to continue without any clothing or other supplies. I am
planning on going to Iran and then to germany and will be away from home for the next couple of months. I wrote down what I had in the suitcase to see what I can or need to replace; my warm jackets, sweaters, socks and under garments, a few pounds of Starbucks coffee as a souvenir for my brother in Iran, plus a lot of other nick-nacks. Luckily, habitually, I had my basic and important stuff with me in my back pack. I had my passport and travel documents, money, toiletries, camera and the cloths I was wearing. But for some strange reason I was not worried. I knew I would improvise and go on. Hopelessly I went to the “Arz-e Shekayat” the complaint department at the airport and ask them to perhaps call Moscow and see if there is any hope they could locate my bag. The man called and found out that they had my suitcase and promised they would send it with the next flight arriving the next day at 3:00 AM. Hoaryyyy! I was cautiously excited.
My communication with the Tajiks were less than optimal as they spoke with mixture of Russian and Farsi and
no English at all. Somehow in my brain I could not gear into my Farsi language as the faces I saw did not match the images of the Iranians in my mind. A very strange feeling. I got used to it by the end of the day as I roamed the streets. Found a Persian restaurant and had one of the best ‘Kashk-o-Bademjon,’ eggplant garlic and fried onion dish. Met a few people and began leaning more about this amazing this culture. The population of Tajikistan is about 8 million; including the 2 million of them, mostly men, working in Moscow that come home about once a year to check on their family and the wife and children they left behind to find work in Russia. The women left behind normally become life time servants to the absent husband’s aged parents. Literally, most of the work in Tajikistan are done by women. Street cleaners, shopkeepers and field workers, are all women, but it is a strictly male dominated society. I met Hadi a Persian resturant owner with a Tajik wife and 2 children. Hadi tells me that average unskilled workers in Tajikistan, if they are lucky to live in Dushanbe,
make about 250 Somoni, or about $50 per month on a normally sunrise to late evening work shift.
Next day – I did not sleep much and left the house at 2:30 a.m. to be at the airport for the arrival of the flight from Moscow. The flight arrived at 3:20 and people with their luggage cleared the airport and no bag for me. Highly deflated and disappointed I started to leave and this time wrighting off the discovery of my suitcase, I suddenly saw a package securely wrapped in heavy plastic sitting in the corner of the room where the carrousels were. As examined it closely, it was my suitcase. They had put it in the plastic bag in Moscow to secure it from theft and other damages. Ahhhh.. a sigh of relief at last, happy to take a taxi and go to my room in the house.
Things always somehow works out well for me as I unpreparedly move around and improvise as I go. I really enjoy this aspect of my travels. I am beginning to think of how healthy it is in our Western culture to be expected to be prepared for
everything all the time. I think being prepared in advance for everything may come at the cost of perhaps loss of wittiness, an animal instinct, where our ability to examine things as we go and tap on to our ability to adapt, adjust and improvise according to the arising circumstances. To travel to strange places for me is a challenge of an exercise of efficiency and traveling economically which puts me in close touch with the real everyday people in different cultural exposure and learnings. As I learned the ropes and became more familiar with things, by the time I got my suitcase, it cost me 6 Somoni or about $1.20 for the same taxi ride demanding $25 the first night I arrived.
Tajikistan is a poor but cultured country with very hospitable and kind people. It is economically dependent on Russia and politically vulnerable to The government in Moscow. The social system is highly corrupt, perhaps even more than Iran. Hodi, my restaurant owner friend, was telling me that about 6 to 8 times a month someone from a regulatory agency, health department, city tax office, etc. etc., stops by his restaurant asking for a bribe, citing a
An Iranian grade school in Dushanbe
Mostly the Iranian embassy personnel send their children to this school. problem with the operation of his restaurant as an excuse. Yesterday, I took a taxi to a village named Vahdat about 20 kilometers outside of Dushanbe, the driver was stopped twice by the police, each time he had to pay 10 Somoni as a bribe to be let go. The fare for the taxi to take me there was 5 Somoni which is about a dollar.
Today is Tuesday October 14. I have been here for a week now and have found my way around pretty good. Met a friend named Jalal, he is Persian and we have been going around to near by towns and villages together. Jalal is a poet, artist and a cinemagrapher that owns a small bookstore with rare collection of Farsi books. Jalal, his friend Shahnaz and I went to a village called Hessar about 25 kilometers away in which we luckily saw a traditional Tajik wedding going on. See the photos. A great experience.
There are about two to three thousand Iranians living in Dushanbe which almost half of them are attending graduate schools and Ph.D. programs. The Universities here are easier to get into and the cost is moderate.
Tajikistan is exploding with rapid expansion but still on the outskirts of the town one can buy a decent house for $10,000. Beer is a $1 at a four star hotel and restaurant food is good, nutritional and very inexpensive.
A strange thing I have noticed in Tajikistan is that, practically, you can’t find anyone here wearing eyeglasses. I am going to research this and report later. My hypothesis at this point is that this partly responsible for it, as any meal one eats here, the recipe and the ingredient somehow include carrots. Low stress lifestyle may also be a part of this equation.
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Michele
non-member comment
Home at last
Hi dad, your thoughts are magnificent and illustrative. I got your text about JFK, I don't know if you got my response. Here is the basic gist: we also went through JFK, less than 48 hours apart if you can believe it. I found the multicultural environment to be intrusive and crass. The only thing that saved me from complete frustration was the courtesy given to our children. Everyone smiled and spoke to them which is a juxtaposition from general "stranger danger" mentality of the US. The trip back and forth to Italy was exhausting and I'm so glad we went at time when we could stay for an extended amount of time as it made the trip worthwhile. The kids did great considering. Italy was busy and slightly chaotic, as usual. Francesco and I really got to talk and make some life decisions, however, so that was great. We will make a Florida-move decision over the next week or so. By now we've back back a few days and have mostly recovered from Jet Lag. Luca still came in to our bedroom at 4 am stating he was hungry "Mommy, it's breakfast time!" I took him to the window and had him look out and explained that it was dark and everyone was sleeping. He was allowed to turn his light on and play quietly in his room until "real" wake up time. Miraculously he did this and our day started around 620am. Lili is really amazing and is starting to walk everywhere. She has yet to take a true independent step but can walk alongside you with one hand for several minutes without tiring! Your trip sounds and looks so beautiful, I admire your adventurous spirit and your ability to make quick ties to people around you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Perhaps the answer to the eye question may not be that everyone has 20/20 vision but that they do not get their eyes checked? In Italy I have long since noted that people do not care for their teeth in a similar fashion. They may drive a Mercedes but they've had a full set of dentures since age 30. Look forward to hearing what you find out. I have posted almost 100 pictures of our trip on Facebook. If you have trouble accessing it or would like any of those pictures sent directly to your email let me know. Love you so much, take care of yourself. Michele