A lot of times the powers-that-be in Tajikistan really crack me up. Tajikistan is home to the world tallest freestanding flagpole, the world's longest flag and the world's third largest aluminum factory. Somehow in the course of prioritizing projects, these three aforementioned feats won out over curbing widespread poverty, improving education, cracking down on corruption, increasing availability of basic utilities and attracting foreign investment. This past week, however, the president and his cronies really had all of us peons just rolling in the aisles. About a week ago, yet another news organization posted yet another article about how hilariously inept the Tajik government is. And just to prove how true this widely-accepted claim was, President Rahmon banned Facebook that same day. Why Facebook? Well we're all still trying to figure that out. But like I said, the president is a comedian. He acts so irrationally that there's really nothing to do but laugh at him.
^ industrial sprawl
^ happy fun times at TALCO
^big stuff
^ aluminum at 950 degrees Celsius
^ the Farsi word for 'molten' is 'mozob'
^ the TALCO symbol kind of looks like the Star Trek symbol
^ who can really say what's going on here
^ lots of grey
^ Tajik ladies
^ Amanda with some Woman Day propaganda
Apparently Facebook has been promoting a lot of un-Tajik values as of late and so access needed to be shut down. At least that was the case a week ago. The national ban was lifted today. So I guess the worldwide social networking site that is Facebook really took Rahmon's threat seriously and cleaned up its act. Either that or Rahmon is just trying keep us guessing. He is a man of mystery. A comedian and a man of mystery. Obama could learn a thing or two from this guy..
But in all seriousness, the Facebook ban was kind of a blow to my ability to keep in contact with the Western World. I'm glad my access is back. So thanks, Taj.
Anyhow, last weekend American Councils finally sent us on our first excursion of the semester. We went to the TALCO aluminum factory. Like I said, it's the third largest aluminum factory in the world. My host dad sees it as a huge source of national pride and was overjoyed that I got to see it. We toured the visitors' museum and the inside of the factory itself. My Resident Director, Jake, said it was a pretty big deal that we got to see inside the factory. The place is not open to tourists, but American Councils somehow has an in. According to Jake, less that one hundred foreigners have probably ever been inside the factory. So that's cool I guess. It was honestly pretty intimidating inside. Everything was gigantic, from the machines to the buckets. We got to see aluminum heated up to 950 degrees Celsius. As my friend Amanda said, when they were pouring the stuff into some machine, it just looked like fire and water. I also learned a lot of super useful Persian words that day. Who knew I'd ever learn how to say words like 'molten' and 'unhusked rice' and 'ingot?' At one point, someone asked our tour guide how many people get hurt in the factory every year. The guide said it was a secret. Looking back, I don't think the museum was really that awesome. Everything was grey and it was kind of dull. It was, however, my first chance to leave the city in about 6 weeks. I would've been excited for anything. On the way back to Dushanbe, we stopped at a mill and everyone bought some flaxseed oil. Jake said it's better than the normal oil Tajiks use. My host mom and host sister-in-law were pretty stoked.
Speaking of the ladies, this past Thursday was International Women's Day. Thought Tajikistan has never observed International Daylight Savings Day, International Women's Day has become a pretty big deal. It's so big, that we had off from school for the day. A few days prior, Amanda and I went to the National University to see an exhibition of some Tajik music and dancing. Some important professors gave speeches and read poems that glorified the advancement of women in Taj. I didn't really buy any of it, but it was at least something out of the ordinary. The actual day itself wasn't super exciting. I picked up some carnations and caramels for the women in my host family and that was about it. My host mom and sister-in-law slaved away making a gigantic meal for dinner. Don't tell me Tajik women aren't valued. The food was pretty good and everyone was having such a pleasant evening that by the end of the night, my host mom and dad were up doing some traditional Tajik dances with their grandkids. That part was cool. I suppose it was a nice night.
That about does it for this post. I'll end with this Tajik fun fact: In 1924, only 230 people lived in Dushanbe. Now there's about 750,000. The infrastructure can still only handle about 230 though.
Some pictures are below.
^ outside the National University
So Tajiksitan has caramel, eh? glad your FB is back.
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