In the land of the Tajiks!

If you had asked me four months ago to point out Tajikistan on a map, I would have had no clue where it was beyond "somewhere in Central Asia near all the other 'xxx-stan' countries." Yet, here I am! I am on a short term project with a development organization.

Tajikistan is a small, mountainous, landlocked country that is surrounded by Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Krygyzstan, Pakistan and China. I am in Dushanbe, the capital, a city of less than a million people- the population of the country is about 7.6 million. They speak Tajik (a variety of Persian) and Russian primarily so communicating with people here should be interesting :) The hotel staff and work colleagues speak English and have been very helpful with translating for me.

(Map of Tajikistan- thanks, Wikipedia)

So, what are my first impressions?

I'll start with the most obvious. I have not seen one Black person since I got here. And from the guaranteed stares I've been getting everywhere I go, I don't think they have seen one in a while either! I'm still not completely sure how this makes me feel. On the one hand, I think there is some healthy curiosity that I am happy to indulge (maybe even educate). On the other hand, I feel pretty vulnerable being conspicuously different. We'll see how I feel about this in a few days...

Next, for a developing country, they seem to be pretty efficient at getting (some) things done. There was a pretty big snowstorm the day I arrived. Due to jetlag, I was awake at 2am and I saw men on trucks working to clear the snow and by the next morning, the streets were clear.

One last thing, it feels a bit controlled e.g. I could not check in for more than 3 days in the hotel or get a phone SIM card without "registering" myself with the government. Also, I looked online to see if there were any churches and saw different websites describing how the government has laws that restrict religious groups (Muslim groups included). I have also been warned not to take pictures in public near government-looking buildings.

I am excited to be here and I look forward to learning more about this country in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for updates!