After one day in the air or in the Munich and Istanbul airports, our gang of thirteen arrived finally in Dushanbe. The airport here, which serves the military and the UN missions here, schedules all civilian flights within a few hours of a few days a week. So we saw two officials processing a crowd of hundreds. From above it would have looked like a swarm being funneled into a hive, which then formed another swarm that was funneled into a line for the final security check. But by the time we got that far no was was much interested in checking anything. So we funneled out in search of water or soda or anything to stave off the approaching heat.
Our guide and the vans that drove us to our host families were most helpful. My first thought was that I was back in the ole USSR, but a less fortunate one. But, of course, one of the former names of the city was Stalinabad, renamed at some time after it was incorporated into the Soviet Union about 1924.
Branching out from the main boulevards are an amazing complex of alleys - startling quilts of asphalt, bare clay, bits of concrete and sometimes sinkholes filled with surprising detritus that archeologists may someday find very intriguing. Our drivers only lost their way a few times before delivering us all safely to our host families.
After a few hours of rest we set out in the midday heat to our lovely air conditioned American Councils Center. Program overview and the rules of the summer and then off to our first restaurant. We were escorted back to our homes by someone from our family through the confusion of alleyways here. Much to my surprise, the tighter the alleyway, the cooler the breeze as you walked through. A form of local air conditioning.
...to be continued
PS Because of very slow internet speeds, it is impossible to upload photos. They must come after the program.
