Tajikistan and the city of Dushanbe. Well. It is interesting
to say the least and it has a different vibe to it. I felt a little bit on edge
and on guard. The people are great to watch, but they look at me too, like I am
meat. I am a little tired of being stared at like meat. I even went for the
head scarf to fit in a bit more, but it didn’t help. The clothing here is a real
mix. The old men wear cloaks and caps, while old ladies or young wear velour
tunics and pants in the oddest patterns with big heavy socks and slippers in
the street. Then young men and school boys where dark skinny dress pants, shirts
and ties and suit coats or a sweater and tie. They seem to be very well dressed
and all the same. My western cloths pop right out even though it was a brown
raincoat and black pants I was wearing. I forget sometimes it is my eyes, they
are all brown and I am blue. Even though I don’t think mine are bright, they
are bright to them and the hair. I try to pull it back to hide it, but no use
the colour gives it away.
Dushanbe has some very nice buildings and tree lined streets
to walk. The food is good and reasonably priced, but accommodation is expensive
for what you get. I have a room for $70 a night and it didn’t have heat. So
being that again it is a huge hotel and there are no guests, I have two
portable radiant heaters in my room to keep me warm. The people do not make
much money at all and unemployment is very high so the accommodation costs and
rent don’t match up. I was talking with a lawyer from New York who is setting
up a project here for a year and needed an office and place to live. She said
the rents and cost of living don’t match up with the earnings. Speaking of
lawyers I was met at the airport by a guide to take me to my hotel. That was
luck too as the mayhem getting out of that airport was crazy and I have never
had to wade through people waiting outside like that before. It was a mass of
people 50 m deep waiting for one of the three flights that came in. There were
long lines at immigration but I got moved ahead and through quickly. Anyway the
guy that picked me up was a lawyer but because lawyers do not make much money
here he is also a guide and a manager of a chemical plant.
I think the good lord gave me a reality check today. I was
having a bit of a day yesterday and was not in a good mood, but I had things
put back into perspective today. I was in a café and joined an English woman at
her table for lunch and another German woman. Both women’s husbands are working
here. I got chatting with the one and she was going to volunteer at a soup
kitchen that afternoon. I asked her if she minded if I joined her and it was
set. So one hour after meeting this woman we are volunteering in a soup kitchen
together. There were five expat women today me being one of them that
volunteered in the soup kitchen run by the sisters of charity, or the group
that Mother Teresa is part of. We fed 50 people soup, bread and tea. They get a
large serving of hearty chicken, noodles, vegetables and bean soup. What they
do not eat right away they are loading into any container they have, cut in
half pop bottles, plastic bags, jars, anything. They also do the same with
their tea, filling up any bottle or jar they have. Some of them will make the
soup last for days, while another woman went around and collected the cleaned bones
from everyone. She will use them to make her own soup. It was a great day for me and nice to be able
to do a little bit to help the less fortunate and to give me a reality check
and wake up call. So I end Tajikistan on a good note.
No comments:
Post a Comment