So you’ve never heard of Tajikistan? That’s ok, I hadn’t either until Sean came home from work one day with the news that it’s capital city, Dushanbe, would eventually be our new home. I definitely misheard him and the first thing out of my mouth was:
“Wait…did you just say tzatziki sauce?!”
And so it was called until I learned how to properly say Tajikistan, which took longer than I care to admit.
It’s a beautiful little country. Approximately the same size as Wisconsin and about 93% mountainous. Nestled in the valley, the capital city of Dushanbe is home to about one million of Tajikistan’s eight million citizens and more markets than you can imagine. It borders China, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and is just a quick trip away from Nepal and India.
It’s also hot. Dushanbe for the past few weeks has been clocking in at right about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s “a dry heat” as people like to say. Personally I find that statement irrelevant since I break into a sweat like a pig at anything over 85. At least my curly hair won’t instantly go limp in the humidity, I guess?
We are excited, scared, nervous, and ready to leave. Sean’s been ready for this his whole life really. Every step he’s taken since seventh grade has been to get closer to living and working abroad. That was actually one of the first things he said as we had that always uncomfortable “are we dating? is this a thing?” conversation; “you know I want to live abroad right? Are you ok with that?” My answers were simple. Yes and yes.
So here we are. Approximately one week before we pack our remaining belongings, diplomatic passports, two cats, and a dog and move to Dushanbe, Tajikistan for two years. There are many people I’ve threatened to kidnap and pack in my suitcase for this journey – diplomats don’t have to declare anything at customs after all – but since my bag is only so big this blog will have to do.