Alan Abroad: NSLI-Y Tajikistan Summer 2019

I did not take my computer with me to Hujand so these next two days are based on the notes I wrote, plus any additions to corrections I may make. Today we went to Iskandarkul, which was this lake in the mountains. The lake was beautiful (I will post pictures), but it was the drive there that truly took my breath away. It’s difficult to express in words. When one thinks of Tajikistan the first thing that pops into one’s mind probably isn’t its scenery. But these mountains were drove through and glimpsed through other peaks were incredibly. There was also an immense geological diversity of mountains. (I also have no hesitation calling them mountains unlike with the hills near Varzob and Norek). There were mountains that looked almost Swiss with white snowcaps and green rocky sides or at least what photos of the Alps look like since I have admittedly never been. Some looked like they could be straight out of Utah with red dirt and layered sediment craved by the wind (...

We had a test today for all our morning. It was our most difficult test yet. I think most people agreed about that. I did alright. I got basically the same score I have been getting on other tests, which is kind of frustrating since it’s basically confirming that I have hit a language plateau and am not improving at the pace I hope to. Though this evening there were guests are my house, and they seemed impressed by my Tajik, since they had been told I had only been here a month (technically a month and a week now though). After the test, we had more class and got to learn the passive voice. It’s funny since just yesterday I was talking to my host family and thinking it would be nice to have the passive voice. This week as has been very verb focused, which has really expanded the complexity of ideas we can express (even with our limited vocabulary). Next we have to write an 800-word essay apparently on our time in Tajikistan for part of our final exam, which will be an exciting challe...

            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 ...

Today in class we learned past contra-factual conditions. I still don’t know how to form present contra-factual conditions (should/would) however. Latin has gotten me very caught up in conditionals. We got another poem for the test to memorize, but the test is in two days!             At lunch, another NSLI-Y Tajikistan 2018 alum joined us, he was in Dushanbe for the opening of the library. He is on a gap year and has spent it wandering the Eurasia. It was fascinating to hear about. One funny story he shared was getting college health forms filled out while in Kazakhstan and not really been able to communicate. At the hospital he went to for his height they put down 160 centimeters, even after they used a fancy measuring device. This young man is easily 6’3”.                 He also told us about a group of students from an American university doing HIV...

Monday comes again, and we head back to class. It’s only a four-day week, which is nice. On Friday we leave for our overnight trip north, but we still have a test Thursdays. We learned present if/then conditionals today, which nicely complimented the subjunctive mood, which we learned on Friday I think. I like how our ability to use verbs is really expanding, but I still kind of feel like I have hit a plateau in terms of language growth over the last week, but I still have time.             After class today, group 1 was having their internet time, so some folks in my group (and I) went to buy presents. I am pretty pleased with my purchases and even was able to haggle down the prices some. Though, I still have people to buy presents for but apparently in Hujand things are cheaper, so I can get the rest of my presents then. The bazaar we went to was called Soom or Toom or something like that. It had three floors and wit...