Dushanbe, winter

It rained all night last night and I woke up to a rainy snow. I woke up at 3:18 a.m. hearing men's voices and then dozed off. At 4:41 a.m. I heard a beeping and then my TV came on. I hadn't had it on in two days but there was BBC discussing the war in Afghanistan!! All done with sleeping so got up. We had to meet our driver at 6:30 a.m. to go see the Tajik distribution system which is seriously broken.

Again, the distributors are hand inserting section on the floors of a stone building which has NO heat.

It almost seems criminal that these old ladies, known as "Babushkas" are on the floor working so hard and for so little. It is the system, but was sad, nonetheless. I found lots of folks to talk with although our translator did not arrive on time. So, much to see and much to learn but no way to communicate.

Last night we ate at a Uighur restaurant. The Uighur people are Muslim Chinese who are being exterminated by the Chinese government. Best food I have ever eaten. The dishes had pomengranites for decoration and flavor. Had a bean salad that is the best ever. Tonight was dinner in a Georgian restaurant...that would be Georgia, part of the former Soviet Union. Again, great food. Tomorrow's lunch will be Ukranian.

Met with interesting people today...a company called Boom that distributes sim cards and cell phones and thinks they would be a good monopoly distribution company for all of the newspapers. Bright, interesting people...not very understanding of newspapers and their timeliness but that could change.

Photos coming...impossible to upload in the evening. At 5 a.m. this morning, the speed was super and I could manage quite a bit of work quite quickly. Overload in the evening, apparently. More coming. Oh, cold all day. Wore jeans and boots to the distribution center and had my scarf and gloves on even while in the Nigoh Ad Director's office sitting next to a space heater. This wet cold weather permeates everything.

Missing Christmas and the season...cold or not, this isn't Christmas.