SAINT PATRICK AND SOUR CREAM

Herein, a jumble of different things that, had I the time (I works for free and I earns my money!), I would flesh out into different diary entries. Or not.

--Here in the far, far east of Ireland, the High Holy Day will be celebrated in fine (foin) fashion with a BYO party at someone's house or other Saturday night. Fortunately, and obviously in anticipation of just such an event, I brought plenty of green clothes.

--The restaurants here all have really good and often exotic soups, which I want to eat to excess, except that they insist on dropping a dollop of sour cream into each bowlful. Now, I hate sour cream, call me picky, but I have no clue how to ask them not to put sour cream in the soup, in either Tajik or Russian. Although I know the Russian word for sour cream: smetana. Yes, just like the composer. I wonder if he put sour cream in his soup...

--And this Saturday, the entire known world will celebrate (in between swigs of green beer) the glorious wedding of JAMES EMMETT MOYLAN and LESLIE ERIN GALLAGHER in the Dushanbe suburb of Washington, DC. Drinks aloft, we bid ye slainte!

--A few photos of a Saturday morning (still early) in Central Park, Dushanbe:












"Discoclub
Billiard-Club
Karaoke-Bar"








Keep on truckin'!










A bit of a baptism, after our regular Saturday expat run/walk.

TRAFFIC & WEATHER, TOGETHER

Molecules of gas move in what is called Brownian motion. The movement of any given molecule is random; there is no way to predict where it will go. Nevertheless, the movement of a given quantity of gas is entirely predictable, always flowing from higher pressure to lower. This is the traffic pattern of Dushanbe. While traffic as a whole flows in predictable directions, e.g., in the suggested direction of travel, the movement of any particular vehicle is entirely random and unpredictable: it will slow to a crawl to navigate bumps; it will make U-turns without warning in heavy traffic; it will swerve to avoid potholes but not to avoid pedestrians; it will weave and jockey, travel in the oncoming lane or stop in the middle of the street for no apparent (and possibly no existing) reason. Yet, eventually, the passenger in such a vehicle will arrive at her predetermined destination.

This is the rainy season in this part of the world. It makes weather forecasting easy. For example, as I sit at my desk and look out over the rooftops, I can accurately predict the weather: if I cannot see the mountains, it is raining. If I can see the mountains, it is going to rain!

DUSHANBE PRICES

Unsurprisingly, things are relatively cheap here, and on any given day the major (?) supermarket here, Orima, does have a decent variety of goodies available. Without difficulty I was able to find fresh parsley, garlic, lettuce and tomatoes and come up with a decent salad and linguine with white clam sauce last weekend. Even a droll tuna sandwich becomes interesting: canned tuna from Spain, fresh bread from Tajikistan, mayonnaise from Moscow, tomatoes from Iran, and beer (mmmm, beer!) from Siberia, served on a plate from China followed by a cup of tea from India.

Examples of what things cost here:

1/2 liter bottle of (good!) beer - 87 cents
250cl extra-virgin olive oil from Spain - $3.20
loaf of Tajik bread - 19 cents
can of shelled mussels from Russia, 185g net - $2.77
spring water, 5-liter bottle - 87 cents
eggs - $1.75/dozen (although they're sold individually)
apricot nectar, 1 liter - $1.02
Barilla rigatoni, 500g - $1.71
non-Barilla linguine, 500g - 71 cents
"President" gruyere cheese, 140g - $1.42
Frozen pizza from Russia (it's quite good!), 260g - $1.29
Canned tuna from Spain in olive oil, 500g - $2.00
Buitoni pasta sauce, 400g - $4.13
Can of pitted black olives, 250g - 78 cents
Large stainless-steel pasta pot w/ glass lid - $11.60
75cl bottle of Moldovan cabernet (pretty good) - $4.06
1.5-liter bottle of Jack Daniels - $63.50 (no, I haven't bought any, not at that price!)
Cab ride, one mile - $1.16
Trolley fare - 12 cents
2-bedroom modern apartment, w/cable TV and all utilities incl. tax - $850/month
Memories of my family and friends - priceless!

A FEW MORE PICTURES (BORED YET?)

My apartment: TV room, or whatever. Note the piano. Sadly, it's badly out of tune.








Bathroom (Duh!). Note the blue plastic trash can. It's filled with fresh (?!) water in case, that is, whenever, the city water stops flowing.





Bedroom closets








Bedroom. Note the zebra-skin spread. And the radiator, which is rarely hot.









No Comment. OK, Comment: It means "snow" in Tajik.







My office.








View from my office window, when it's not raining.

CENTRAL PARK

His statue still stands in the park that once bore his name, this Lenin, the setting sun at his back, keeping watch with arm outretched - is he calling the people to follow him, or is he reaching out for the least bit of attention paid?

At his feet (does he see huddled masses seeking his teaching, or Lilliputians with ropes and pins?) the people run walk sit chat play laugh consider the future, children play at soccer hopscotch tag-you're-it and games long forgotten by ours, solemn men drink tea solemnly and in the deepest solemnity design the lives of women children lesser men, quiet women stand behind their folding tables offering soda cellphones kebab toys candy shashlik things from China, young mothers on park benches cradle infants, and everywhere people walk, stroll, amid the smells of tea tobacco grilling meats and too much perfume, the sounds of laughing children on the merry-go-round the tilt-a-whirl the ferris wheel a costly treat at a few cents a ride, headscarves and blue jeans, rainbow dresses and nike tee shirts, smiles and not-smiles, a secret shy glance at the passing foreigner, a weed in a rose garden, a guest but who sent the invitation?

Backlit by the sunset facing the coming dark watching the crowds collect their children coats picnics books he wonders: is it yet my time to leave?

MY DUSHANBE DIGS

A few photos of my apartment. It's in a crummy-looking building that is on the outside a monument to Soviet drabness and on the inside a fine example of Tajik artistry. I'll have some outside photos later, along with some pix of my office and the area in general, so I can bore all you good readers later.

Enclosed parlor, off living room, with south-facing view.










Living room, from entry hall









Kitchen, from entry hall










Another view of living room, from entry hall








Kitchen, from breakfast "nook"










Entry hall from doorway, looking toward bath and den. Kitchen is to the right, living room to the left.






Living room from parlor. Bedroom is toward back left.









Somewhere in the bowels of my camera are photos of the bedroom and bathroom, which randomly decided not to transfer to my laptop. I'll try again tomorrow. I didn't take closeups, being an idiot, but there is original artwork on all the living room walls, done by Tajik artists of international repute; the carpets are Uzbek, Tajik and Afghan; and slip covers are Greek silk. Now, if it only had reasonable heat!

SOME PICTURES FROM ISTANBUL AND DUSHANBE

The Blue Mosque, top, and Hagia Sofia, bottom.


While the Hagia Sofia was first a church, then a mosque, now a national museum, the Blue Mosque is still a working house of worship. Its recorded calls to prayer are quite loud and if you stay nearby they will definitely awaken you at daybreak!


A typical nighttime street scene in Sultanahmet, the old city (sorry about its being on its side, I forgot to edit it before posting, dummie that I am):











The Cisterns, a really neat place. There's an underground cafe there as well:











OK, this was a lousy job of posting pictures! The uploading process takes forever, and I'm trying to do this amidst work stuff (annoying how that gets in the way!), and even though the image above is portrait-style in my photo program, it still comes out landscape here! I'll try more tomorrow.