Back in NYC

Hello all! I'm back in the States, NYC!! I had a lovely time in the UAE, and I look forward to posting photos and telling you stories of my visit to Dubai, Sharjah, and Fujeirah. The day before I left - the 27th of December - I went on a typical tourist "Desert Safari" - which included dune bashing (driving really fast and crazy through sand dunes and hills), sand boarding (which is going down sand hills on a snow board), and a barbeque with henna painting, camel riding, and a belly dance performance. I'm a little shy to admit I take such touristy trips, but it was fun, and I know now that when I go back to Dubai - hopefully I can take longer trips of the parts I really enjoyed. I definitely found sand boarding fun, because - it doesn't hurt when you fall --- the sand is like air...

Below there are three photos: The first I am getting henna painting on my arm...Can you believe I never noticed the little boy looking on until I got this photo from Ali? In the next photo, I am sand boarding (falling down that is) and - you see! - I have no shame to put such a humiliating photo of me on the internet -- perhaps one in ten were so uncoordinated that they fell....sand boarding is not so difficult really...but I was apparently only looking at my feet, and not straight ahead!
The third photo is our group that drove together in the desert safari - we had a wonderful time. They were German- from Frankfurt.

Hello all,
Greetings from The Springs Neighborhood of Dubai. I arrived last night after a twenty-six hour journey Dushanbe. I think no person goes from Dushanbe to Dubai in the way that I did -- and all it says is that I am a crazy traveler. On the 27th, I woke up at 2:30am to get to the airport in Dushanbe. The whole family woke up to say goodbye, and six packed into Sharaf's car to drive me at 3am. It was really sweet. They walked me up to the front door, and then Firuz handed over my bags. The flight left at 6 am, and six hours later or so, I arrived in Istanbul. I didn't check my bags all the way through because I don't trust airlines to check bags properly when you change airlines and have two stop overs, so in Istanbul I exited, got my passport stamped and picked up my luggage. I waited until 11:30 for the check in for Qatar Airways to open. When I got to the desk, the woman said, where are you flying, and I said, "Dubai" - she checked the computer and said, "Oh, you mean Abu Dhabi"- at this I was a little confused, but didn't think about it much - and was quite sleepy. I almost got charged 400 dollars because Qatar had a stricter weight policy for luggage than Turkish. In the end, the manager took pity on me and let me go, but originally the woman at the check in desk handed me back my passport and told me that I should get out of line until I pay the money.

The qatar airways flight was great - even better than Swiss. The seats were spacious, the food was great and the service was really excellent. They also had really good movies on the personal tv screens. I watched Darjeeling Limited, which was a tad silly - and I didn't really understand the point of the movie. I have never seen such friendly hostesses, even if they forgot to serve me a drink and my first seat's entertainment center was broken. I understand their five star customer satisfaction rating, and I highly recommend them.

Anyway, I had my second stop over in Doha, which was a modern looking aiport, but very crowded. At this point, I look at the departures screen and realize that there are equal numbers of flights going to both dubai and to abu dhabi. It suddenly occurred to me that in my booking I accidentally reserved a flight to abu dhabi and was actually supposed to be going to Dubai....which would be especially unfortunate because Mahdi and Reza were supposed to be waiting with the rental car in Dubai and NOT in Abu Dhabi. Even more unfortunate was the short time I had in Doha so that I couldn't get to a phone to call Reza to let him know I was going to the wrong airport. I did though find a free Samsung internet post, which gave me the chance to at least find Reza's phone number. I got on the plane, not completely sure that they wouldn't be in Abu Dhabi, but nevertheless when I arrived, I discovered that no planes were arriving from Tehran, and sure enough Reza wasn't at the airport waiting. The arrival and passport check at Abu Dhabi is a zoo. It's filled with migrant workers who need work visas. I was really happy to be American - as we don't need visas here, and I could avoid, after twenty three hours on the road that awful "visa delivery" line.
I went to a little convenience store in the airport and had a big negotiation with the information desk about what I should do - I got a phone card and they nicely let me use the info desk phone with a card, so I called Reza and told him I was in Abu Dhabi (150 kilometers from Dubai city airport). His exclamation "Oh my God" made me exclaim "Oh my God" --- but in the end, it wasn't soo bad, except for my exhaustion - I got in a taxi - unfortunately a private taxi and put up with the 75$ price --- considering the distance, it's not sooo exorbitant. The awful part was that 4 kilomters from the airport we got stuck in the worst traffic everywhere, because yesterday was the start of the religious holiday. Reza called about twenty times to the driver's phone to see how we could take so much time to get past four kilometers. I think it was 27 hours before we got to Reza's pretty house and I finally got to sleep.
Today we went to the Ibn Battuta Mall, which was modeled after every regional architecture that the traveler visited. A stunning mall --- but everywhere in Dubai is a stunning mall!! My favorite section was depictive of Tunisia, where the ceiling is painted like a starry sky and the buildings seemed like a street. Many of the stores were the same that you would find in our home malls - like Forever 21 or Claire's. Some were more unique though, with Indian styles and fashions, but everything was VERY expensive. I'm going to look for the old bazaar where I hope to find antiques.
Now we are sitting and watching a bit of TV - there's a movie called The Message- about the life of the prophet, and we are talking about the Iranian President's Hajj trip.
See you!!

PHOTOS of Interest for TODAY:

Here are Nargis and Galya, my lovely coworkers and friends. This photo was taken today at the office.

QUOTE FOR TODAY: (my apologies for its length, but I find it interesting)

LAMB: Why should we try to prevent other countries from having what we have?
BOLTON: Because not all countries are equal. And some countries are real threats, particularly countries run by governments like Kim Jong Il’s in North Korea, or the autocratic theocracy in Tehran. Their possession of nuclear weapons poses a threat to us, to our friends and neighbors, and international peace and security.
That’s why it’s important to try to prevent these governments from getting nuclear weapons in the first place, because once they have them, the calculus changes dramatically.
LAMB: But don’t we have a different attitude toward India and Pakistan and Israel when it comes to nuclear weapons, compared to what we think of Korea and Tehran?
BOLTON: Well, I think North Korea is different from Israel. And I think that the idea that nuclear weapons in the hands of - all states are fundamentally the same is just wrong.
I trust Israel with nuclear weapons the same way I trust Great Britain with nuclear weapons.

.... (and)....

LAMB: What do you think would happen if we attacked Iran?
BOLTON: I think the consequences would be negative. I think the risks are high.
But again, the alternative is not between the world as it is now versus the use of military force against Iran. It’s the use of military force against Iran versus a world where Iran has nuclear weapons. It would not look at all like Iraq. That’s not the kind of operation that would be required. I wish we weren’t at this point. I think we made a mistake in following four-plus years of European diplomacy. We should have been working much harder, much longer ago to help support the dissident elements inside Iran, which are very substantial. This regime is more fragile than people think it is. And I think that’s actually the preferred result in Iran, is regime change, where a new government - hopefully, perhaps, a democratic government - comes in and says, ”This pursuit of nuclear weapons is really not making us safer. We’re better off giving it up.” We’ve seen that circumstance in countries like South Africa during the transition from the apartheid government to a democratic South Africa. The same possibility exists in Iran.

It was on this topic that I wrote my paper for the Iranian MA degree.

(the above portion of an interview with Bolton comes from: C-Span's Q&A, available at: http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1153)

Website of Interest: (the world's smallest political quiz, and as far as I'm concerned, it's completely accurate!....)

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

In the basement of my office building is the best bakery in the world - and today was my last foreseeable Napoleon cake --- perhaps only for the basement cakes do I wish to stay in Dushanbe! The locals have no idea that the best Tajik cakes are made in the basement of all basements, surrounded by construction materials and rubbish. The first time we appeared in oven rooms asking for cake, I was terrified of what kind of product could come from the basement of this horrid building. Almost every day, I went with Nargis (see above) to find some kind of Napoleon cake or Honey cake...

Pelmeni soup

Today's Quote: "America has prospered and flourished because God has put a hedge of protection around us. This has been a special country to Him. It's been a land of His choosing. And we need as a people to turn from the way we're going and to acknowledge His sovereignty and to humbly beseech Him for protection from what may be coming from those who are our enemies and those who wish to destroy us." Pat Robertson (The Roots of Terrorism and a Strategy for Victory, avilable at: http://www.patrobertson.com/speeches/TerrorismEconomicClub.asp)

Today's Website I find interesting:
www.democracynow.org

Yesterday's lecture on human rights and terrorism went well. I really enjoyed myself, and I felt that the students got a lot out of the discussion. At the end, they had many questions, and apparently they did not want to leave the room. Unfortunately, I will have to give a similar lecture again on Saturday. Afterwards, my office will have a going away party for me. I'm really sad to be leaving. Otherwise, yesterday was funny - I had for lunch at the summer school building "pelmeni" (little ravioli-like things) soup, which was delicious. I then went to visit my friend and we went for a small dinner at a new restaurant near my house called Palma. They didn't have any of the dishes I wanted, so I just ordered Pelmeni soup again, even though I had had it for lunch. When I got home an hour or so later, I was getting ready for bed, when my host mother came to my room and said, "Aren't you going to eat any dinner?" I told her that I had already eaten. She became very sad and said that she had specifically made Pelmeni soup for me...I told her that I had already had Pelmeni soup twice -- but this didn't satisfy her. I agreed to eat 2 pelmenis. Instead, she came out with a big bowl and insisted that I eat all of it. Three times pelmeni soup in one day!! My coworkers have been laughing about this today! :)
One more working day here in Tajikistan! Too much to do before I leave.....Help!

Going to Summer school today!

Quote for the Day: "In Pakistan," he says, “I met a family that had lived in America. They’d worked as dog washers.” He tries to say the words in En-glish: “dog wah sir.” We keep eating, pondering the absurdity that, somewhere in the world, it could be a man’s job to wash a dog. “That’s what’s wrong with America,” Kubad announces. “When a dog is dirty, you think it’s a problem. When a real problem comes, you don’t know what to do.” (from: A Detainee's Story: The Man who has been to America" in Mother Jones at: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/07/guantanamo.html

Website of Interest: Informed Comment, Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion, by Juan Cole. http://www.juancole.com/

Today, I will be heading out with colleagues from the Bureau of Human Rights to attend their summer school in Varzob. I know it's not summer anymore --- but there is a continuation of their summer school in the winter months, and they still refer to it as summer school training...
I will be giving a presentation about respect for human rights in the war on terror, specifically in the U.S. I look forward particularly to the discussion we will have about behavior pattern recognition and finger printing. I also look forward to the lunch that they cook there, over an open fire. Perhaps I will take some photos.

Interesting Picture:

Here is the main tea house, Chaikhona, in Dushanbe...Called Rohat. The service is horrible, and sometimes the food inedible, but I still go about twice a month for cheap soups and Plof.

Quote for the Day: "Every week, Ty Pennington brings the American Dream to a deserving family. What a freakin' jerk." (Jon Mooallem, "Schlock and Awwww: Commericializing Altruism" at: http://www.motherjones.com/arts/feature/2007/11/schlock-and-awwww.html

Website for the Day: (with thanks to Max for bringing this to our attention:) http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

---> Less than a week left in Dushanbe. I don't want to leave!! I'm really used to the life here...

The Iranians have invited me to come for a week or so it seems (after getting the run around for the visa for months)...but Dubai is already set, so I won't be going probably.

Had a typical Tajik breakfast this morning -- "Ord-e Biryon" - "fried flour" - which is really a misnomer because they take flour, fry it an a LOT of oil, and then mix in milk...it's like a thin porridge that you can even drink. It's eaten very hot and in large quantities, sometimes mixing in pieces of bread. I used to never eat the fried flour breakfast until I went to the village last month, and learned the secret is to fry the oil, letting it burn for a long time, to get a good flavor. The house will stink to no end, but the result is at least edible.

I hope to be snap happy with my old digital camera for the rest of the week that I am here.....

Write comments everyone!!! I have no idea how many of you are reading, and don't forget to say who you are!

Interesting website for today: www.opencongress.org
Interesting quote for the day: Thomas Friedman: "9/11 has made us stupid...[and] we can't afford to keep being this stupid."

-->It's been raining for two days here in Dushanbe. I hope this makes the city a little greener. In one week, I will be leaving for Dubai -- for vacation. After that, I may be back in Iran it seems, although I was originally planning to be in the U.S. for the new year. I'm still waiting on news from Kazakhstan for the next semester.
This past weekend in Dushanbe, I only read over IREX applications, as I'm a reader for their MUSKIE fellowship program -- a fun task, reading about why Kazakh students might wish to visit the U.S. for grad school in all areas, like economics, IR, and library science.
For two days in a row, I ate steamed pumpkin dumplings -- the first day I made them with the family, on the second day, I went to Nargis' house (a great friend here), and she just happened to have made them for me as well, because she knows I like them, and she's such a sweetheart. I will attempt to make them in the U.S. when I get back, if there are any fresh squash or pumpkins available....
I've learned a bit of cooking while I've been here -- albeit Tajik village cooking...
Nargis lives near the Sakhovat Bazaar -- so, in the rain, I walked around the bazaar and eventually bought socks and a pair of flexible chinese black shoes for 8 dollars. Nargis lives in a great soviet style flat...still with the original kitchen designs and everything! Unfortunately, they are going to re-furnish and repair the whole flat by spring.

Mr. Splashy Pants!

If you want to know why I titled this blog's entry, Mr. Splashy Pants, check out the following website (courtesy of Julia): http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/great-whale-trail/gwt-vote?utm_sour
I think the voting will be going on until the 7th of Dec.

Otherwise, I'm trying to decide if I really am a horrible blogger, or if my lack of regular blogging is due to the fact that time in Dushanbe doesn't exist -- sort of a twilight zone. I had absolutely NO idea that it has been since November 19 that I last posted. I have been quite busy with work and life developments in Dushanbe.
Fred, my classmate from Grad school in Geneva has been here - she has hired me as an editor for a project (of our grad school) that will publish a book on dialogue between the government and the religious opposition. It's interesting reading, for the most part, but it's about 200 pages of work. In any case, sadly enough, Fred left for Geneva last week -- I was sad to see her go, as she's such nice company here. She had a small going away get together at the Irish pub - which oddly enough has no beer on tap, but hey, this is Dushanbe - you can't expect the world! It's enough that there's even a pub at all in this city. I had pringles and sprite when I went -- far better than Baltikas, which you can get everywhere.
This weekend I crashed what I hope will be the last wedding of my stay here. I made everyone happy too, by dancing tajik style "with my arms" -- Tajik dance is very busy with the arms twisting and hans circling. There's next to no hip movements...I have no idea how many weddings I've been to, but I have to admit that this last wedding was by far the most exhausting, because we left the house at 11 am, picked up other passengers, and arrived at the restaurant before 1pm. During most the of meal there, a little girl (maybe four years) kept getting in trouble with one of the male cousins helping with arrangements because she would keep running out onto the dance floor, where they were walking through to carry the food to the guests. He kept bringing her back and putting her on my lap...as if I were her mother and responsible for her. This brat insisted, however, on squirming off me and going back to her business -- which made me feel guilty for being unable to control her. I didn't care too much, until I realized that the monster was continually sticking a tiny safety pin in her mouth. I ran to the girl and tried to take it away...causing her to scream -- but all the other women, gave me bad looks - telling me to take it easy. Exasperated, I said, "she has a needle"....and they simply said, yes, yes...a needle... ARGH!
There's a very different idea of childhood here --- I guess it's that saying, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Anyway...after the restaurant, the family said, "Now we will go to house of the bride...OK?" I didn't know this meant that we would drive out of the city, and sit there for four hours, waiting for the bride's mother to come so that she can wash the bride's hands in oil and then flour...at which point more presented would be presented to the bride, and ONLY THEN would we eat the wedding cake. I must say, after all the many weddings I have attended, it's only NOW that I understand what happens to the wedding cake...it gets eaten by the women who sit with the bride after the wedding party. I wouldn't have been so tired from those four hours if I hadn't been forced to eat a fourth lunch/second dinner, and to sit in a mostly empty room with two women who drummed and sang the same two songs for over two hours. BUT the wedding cake was the most delicious cake I have ever tasted in my life --- the frosting was the BEST EVER!!
On another note, I have been to Korvon - the big bazaar of Dushanbe yesterday - and I learned for the first time, that I have ZERO patience for pushers. If someone, anyone, I don't care how strong or big pushes me, I WILL PUSH them back... (please, dear friends, do not push me to test this comment, haha). The first snow of Dushanbe came on Saturday morning - and apparently the whole city of Dushanbe went to the open and closed bazaars of Korvon to get winter clothing. In the shoe department, the worst crowd I have ever been in (Liz, this story is not for you) was surrounding me. We tried to rest against a shoe display to let the others through/pass us, but some horrible women and men were pushing me and my host mother and brother into the shoes. we told them to stop pushing us over, and I could sware they were pushing and punching into us on purpose. I lost my patience and nearly started a fist fight with some people, yelling at them to stop, until I decided to join the wave traveling down the aisle of shoes (moj) for my own safety - as to not get trampled. But seriously, I didn't realize I had it in me to fight back physically, and I hope I never have to deal with such a situation again...It wasn't nice to punch people...but what else can you do in such a situation ---??? If I could have ducked out I would have, but some of you may know how closed bazaars are in these countries, and how the aisles between tables are only about 2 meters wide...
Otherwise, life is not too exciting. This week is the human rights film festival of the organization I work for here. I probably won't be going to them very much, though, because of my many commitments and the films are all in Russian. Apparently, for the opening too, only the organizers showed up.
---I leave Dushanbe on the 17th and get to the U.S. after 9 days in Dubai on the 27th.
The Kazakh government is considering my case on the 5th of December for getting a work permit. Wish me luck!