New Year's in Tajikistan

Khujand's "New Year Tree" -- Novogodnyaya yolka in Russian, phonetically.

Today is the last day of 2022.  Anna and I began this year at Niagara Falls, celebrating New Year's Eve there on our way back to Ohio from spending Christmas in New Hampshire.  Tonight we plan to ring in 2023 at a house party with fellow ex-pats.  We actually began today going to the wedding--yep, a morning wedding!--of one of Anna's university colleagues.  2022 has certainly been a journey for the two of us, so an epic final day only seems appropriate!

Most mornings are like this now.  It
gets a bit better as the day goes on.

Anna and I have now been in Tajikistan a little over four months.  After what felt like an endless summer of ceaseless sunshine, the weather shifted to a dreary, damp chill with seemingly interminable fog.  Ugh... it's not for me!  Remember the imposing, picturesque mountains outside our apartment window? I think I do too...

We did have a couple of days of snow at the beginning of December, accumulating a inch or two each time.  We're told it only snow in Khujand a few times each winter, so that might have been it.

I'm cheered though that winter here isn't the long slog it is in the northeastern US.  Temperatures rise in February and March is proper spring, although rainy.  By April the sunshine and heat should be back and I'll be wishing for winter!

Beyond the weather, other changes include me being a bit more employed now than I was when I last wrote here. I've begun teaching English part-time at Arkon, a nearby language center.  (It's the same place where Anna and I learn Russian.)  At the moment I'm only teaching one class, but I should soon pick up a second.  I have also continued--and will continue--volunteering at American Space Khujand.  I certainly remain the "trailing" spouse, however I am enjoying having some work.

Between picking up more work, watching the World Cup, and summoning the energy to get through winter, I've felt much busier this month than in ones past.  There's still been time though for diversions. For one, the cooler weather has been more conducive for mountain walks.  One day we followed what seems to an old mining road to the ruins of a work camp, or at least that's my guess at what it is.

It was even sunny this day!

We also took a great day trip to Istaravshan, a city about one hour southwest of us.  We went with Harry, a Brit and one of the foreign English teachers at Arkon, and Chris, one of the Americans working at the American Space.  Chris put together an action-packed itinerary for us, with stops at the city's bazaar, a reconstructed historical fortress, multiple mosques, and, finally, a massive bust of Lenin that overlooks an expansive reservoir.  I put up a bunch of photos on Instagram, but here's a couple from the Lenin bust. The late afternoon light and long views were pretty ideal.

In the distance is the Turkestan Range, which are the mountains south of Khujand that we can see on exceptionally clear days.

Maybe the longest staircase I've ever climbed.  This is about two-thirds the way up.

Finally, it is indeed New Year's, Novy God in Russian..  The photo caption at the beginning of the post may have thrown some of you off.  Perhaps you wondered why I didn't call it a Christmas tree.  In short, the Soviets.  In the Soviet Union's early years, the government effectively Christmas.  They soon shunted the secular cultural markers of the holiday--the tree, "Father Frost" (Santa Claus), gift giving, etc.--to New Year's.  This revamped New Year's holiday was celebrated throughout the Soviet Union and remains a major holiday in ex-Soviet countries.  We were both completely ignorant of this history and tradition before coming here.  It definitely threw me off at first to see advent calendars--they probably aren't called that now, come to think of it--and Santa figures pop up around city stores.  But now we know.  Another lesson learned in Tajikistan!

Thank you to everyone who's been reading my blog the past few months.  I hope that I've informed and entertained in some order and measure.  I'll keep it going next year.  Happy New Year!