August 1st, 2019


Our farewell party was tonight along with ERLP. It was loads of fun and went off mostly without a hitch. The MC for the ERLP students however spoke very fast and intense Farsi, making her difficult to understand. We performed multiple poems, three skits (at the doctor’s, at the disco club, and a short story about a bear and a lumberjack), a traditional dance, and two Tajik songs (one about a river and the other about flowers). The audience seemed to find it amusing, if a bit weird. An ERLP student stole the show with a traditional Chinese instrument accompanied by three Tajik musicians. We couldn’t hold a candle to them. We dinned on osh afterwards while chatting with our families, other students, and American Councils staff who had also attended. We also gave our teachers, resident director, and local coordinator presents. Our RD and local coordinator also gave each of us presents.
            After the meal we played a mix of Tajik and American music and danced with varying degrees of success to it. Dancing is far from my strong suit but I had fun with it, though it was very awkward with my host mother watching. Then we headed home where I packed and tried to study.

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