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.