July 24th, 2019

            I went off exploring the hills in the east of Dushanbe, so I got home very close to curfew (6pm), so I had to prioritize spending time with my host family and studying over writing this daily reflection. I will add more tomorrow.            

Update: there’s not a lot to add to be honest. It was a pretty run of the mill day as far as days in Tajikistan go. I did go to Chatr for the first time, which is a café founded by the “faith-based community” as the country director from American Councils would put it. The profits however go to a women’s shelter for domestic violence survivors, who also help staff the café. They also had wifi, which was nice. The food was also typical American fare, which is a welcome break from all the massive amount of oil-laden Tajik food our families force upon us.

            I will upload photos of the eastern hills when I get a chance, since writing out an accurate description takes a while. But it was very beautiful. Goats and cows wondered the dusty paths that curved along the hills. We passed a group of kids herding goats on a steepp hillside maybe 15 feet above us. They called the two English phrases they towards us “Hello!” and “F*ck you.” The attitude towards the f-word here is very different, from what I have observed. I don’t think people know what it means. For example, one student told me that at the dinner table her two young host sisters (think 6-10) will yell “f*ck you” at each other in front of their parents. One of my host mother’s grandson’s also greeted her while wearing a shirt that just said “F*CK” in large capital letters across the front. He kept it on the whole visit, and nobody commented on it. Most shirts with writing are in English here, and most people’s English isn’t good enough to understand them, so I guess it makes sense that they wouldn’t really understand the American cultural context of the f-word.