Good by and thanks for all the plov
on Tom Hutchison (Tajikistan), 24/Nov/2011 17:34, 34 days ago
Tomorrow is my last working day at the poly clinic. The major event will be the handing out of course completion certificates at a cafe in town. This week the course evaluations have been positive and people want more. Who knows what could be arranged in the future. The cafe is my link to plates of the national quick meal. The Big mac of Tajikistan is Shashlik. Lamb meat or mince fresh char coaled on a spit with onions herbs bread and green tea. However the fish and chips is plov. (pronounced ploff)Which comes as a mound of oily rice and carrot shavings spiced and topped with fried meat. Most cafes can dish this faster than any macdonalds. But it is also served to visiting guests at home. This is a picture of Dilafruz bringing us a plate of Plov when Elaine and i visited her house in Konibodom. I know now that no matter home many sweets and biscuits are on the guest table when i arrive: And no matter how tempted i am to guzzle the soup: Always leave room for a huge plate of Plov which follows.Anyway back to the cafe tomorrow. I promised to bring cake. There will be pictures and kind things said.This country is rich in kindness. In cafes and buses now i realize people are beginning to recognize me and make conversation or speak a few words of English before i even knew they knew I was not a Russian.Today was national flag day. It poured all day and still classes for students marched down to the government buildings to wave red and green flags and sing. traffic was grid locked because the main bridge was closed.This evening i have been out for a meal with two other VSO volunteers, Mike and Jonathan who are both placed at the Free Economic Zone. Jon is flying to Dushanbe tomorrow for in-country training part 2. Mike is going back to the UK via Moscow because of a family bereavement. On Monday i am flying to Dushanbe to link with my flight home on Thursday. So we sank a glass of Moldovan CognacRock on boys