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!