Here I am in Dushanbe!

The flight over was surprisingly smooth.  No major delays, no middle seats, and crying babies on only half the flights.  Overall, it was a smashing success!  Since my arrival in Dushanbe about a week ago, I’ve been able to reunite with old friends as well as make some new ones.  I’ve met a lot of interesting people with CLS, both Americans and Tajiks, and I look forward to getting to know them better.

After acceptance to the CLS program, we all had to fill out housing forms.  Several months ago, if you recall, I was staying with a host family of seventeen or so.  I had decided that that was a few too many people for my comfort, so I elected to be placed somewhere different.  Now I’m living with a family of eight.  In a fun twist, I’ve also learned that several people moved out of my former family’s home.  Now there are five people in the house, including their host daughter.

Although I was placed with my new host family randomly, we’ve discovered that I know two of their previous students—which shouldn’t be too surprising, since they’ve informed me that I am their twentieth.  Odds are I’ve met a few.  The first clue was when the mother and daughter-in-law were telling me about the angelic host daughter who spent time with the kids and helped in the kitchen, as well as a myriad of other wonderful things.  Ah, I thought to myself.  I bet I know who that was.

“Was she here last fall?”

“Yes!”

“Was her name Grace?”

“Yes!”

Called it!

The second clue was when the youngest gleefully clapped my face between her hands and sang, “Jessica, Jessica, Jessica!”  Her mother tried correcting her the first couple days (I never put up much of a fight), but she seems to have accepted defeat.  Add Jessica to the list of names I answer to.

Other than spending time with the host family, I spent this first week making friends, attending a Tajik party, trekking out to Korvon (the large bazaar on the outer edge of the city), visiting the tailor to get more Tajik clothes made (stay tuned for more on that!), having dinner with my previous host family, and going to class every now and then.  So far, so good!

(Note:  I wrote this a week ago.  It’s been two weeks now.)