My first task in Dushanbe

 When I and a few other Americans with the same program walked about four blocks to exchange money and get dinner, my first day in Dushanbe I was overcome by how familiar Tajikistan looked. It reminded me a lot of certain parts of Barcelona and even parts of Germany.

We went into a tiny little grocery store on the way to the restaurant to exchange our U.S. dollars for Somoni, when I say tiny, I mean about the size of a modest walk-in closet. A boy around 12 years old was running the whole shop. It was the funniest thing, he was acting like he was the man who owned the store. He was very polite and he did the calculations for $100 to 480 Somoni in his head without hesitation. 

A friend later told me that he patronized that little store a lot when he was here last year and that one day while he was in there, a big drunk Russian came in and ordered him to do something and the boy stood up from his little stool behind his cash register and pointed at him and yelled at him to get out. The kid is a boss.

Here is the boy who runs the store just about every day with his friend.

арус

When I first came to my host family I thought that my host brother’s new bride was just a Tajik diva. She wears much more makeup than any of the other women I've encountered here, she always wears hats with feathers on them,even while cleaning the courtyard, and she changes her clothes about four times a day. Also everything she wears has heaps of rhinestones and sparkles on it, she is always bedazzled.

The two other American girls I'm staying with and I especially thought she was just very hip when on the third day she decided to bombard my roommate and me after we just showered, to give us both makeovers…. Needless to say we didn’t receive looks we wanted to keep. 

 However, we have since learned that for the first 40 days after a girl is married here in Tajikistan,she has to  do her best to look hot at all times. She has to have her hair braided in many little braids and above all else a she is not to be seen outside of her new home. 

A few nights ago the women of our household decided to take the three of us out for a walk after dinner and get us ice cream at the little corner store down the road. We weren’t in on the fact that what we were doing, bringing the bride out, was so scandalous. Little by little I became aware of it as when men walked past us she would turn away and then eventually, when we were waiting outside of the well-lit corner store, she began hiding her face completely, from every man and every woman.

 Quickly the goal of our walk switched from seeing the neighborhood at night to avoiding all passing people, especially groups of men and even boys.

This is a picture of us from the walk.

Out on the streets of Dushanbe

Dushanbe is a beautiful place, I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to travel here and experience the people and the languages(Tajik, Farsi, Russian) here in Tajikistan.
One of the first things I noticed about this city is how many people are outside at all times whether at 5 in the morning or at 11 at night. The streets are a happening place. Men and women of all ages, even little babies being carried around by their almost equally tiny siblings are always to be seen walking and generally hanging out throughout the streets of Duhanbe.
There is an extreme sense of community, everyone knows everyone and everyone greets everyone.
There are especially many little girls around, I don't know if this is because there is little else to do between chores over summer vacation or if they are actually currently doing chores, visiting aunts and uncles and picking things up from the little corner stores.
Whether they are smiling with me or at me, they're smiles are contagious.

Three things about Dushanbe

I've been here in Dushanbe, Tajikistan for two weeks now. Naturally I have come to a few conclusions about the city they call Monday.
1- For a city full of people speaking a language that doesn't have a word for trash, Dushanbe has a lot of trash. Everywhere.
2-The toilet paper most commonly found in Tajiki "bathrooms" is equivalent to what we use for party streamers is the U.S. but it doesn't come in fun colors. Needless to say, my butt was not happy with me before I went to the bazaar and bought bright green, apple scented, western toilet paper.
3- Walking down the street is quite dangerous for two reasons. Firstly because of the traffic and secondly because of the smells. The cars don't seem to follow any strict set of rules, but surprisingly I've only witnessed one car accident since I've been here. Dodging cars while walking on the sidewalks is normal here. The smells are another story however, because you can't dodge the myriad of smells on the street, no matter how hard you try.