(check out google photo's for more as usual)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love food - both to cook/bake it, as well as eat it :) So many (including myself) were concerned about how I was going to survive in Tajikistan. As a vegetarian I was told it would be very difficult for me... people who had been to Tajikistan laughed and told me "good luck!" They said in the summer it wouldn't be so bad, but when winter comes be prepared to starve. Well I have some good news, I will survive! I have a suspicion that these critics either 1. don't prefer to cook their own food or 2. aren't very creative in the kitchen! While the variety of fruits and vegetables may be limited in the winter, (and they may be more expensive) I've assessed the situation and I have NO worries.
When dining in a restaurant it is a challenge, I must admit. However it reminds me of the limited menu that I had in Canada when I first decided to be vegetarian - BEFORE it was trendy! There are always the few choices, maybe they aren't a real meal but it's sustenance, such as french fries... tomato and cucumber salad... I've even had them melt cheese on pasta noodles for me (they don't do spaghetti sauce, I don't quite understand why they have spaghetti then!?). So the real solution is to cook for myself. One of my co-workers who is from the states loves to cook as well and has quite a list of western dishes he's managed to find ingredients for, including my favorite... PIZZA!!! He had me (and Susan!) over for dinner wed night, and he had made pizza dough the night before so we could design our own pizza. Well we made a sauce from fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes with the juice and garlic, mushrooms, basil, salt and pepper. We simmered that while we sauteed some eggplant to use as a topping, chopped lots of fresh veggies, then grated the cheese. Well, the masterpiece was DELICIOUS... not bad at all!
Earlier this week Susan and I were invited for dinner by the owner of the restaurant/hotel she is working for (my soon-to-be landlord). He wanted to show us how they make their "national dish"... pilaf! It was quite amazing, of course when we arrived there was already a spread of fruit, nuts, salads, bread and candy. They then brought out the wine, beer, and vodka! (Just a note - don't start vodka unless you're serious about it, they don't joke around! After your first shot, about every 20 minutes your expected to do another one until you leave...) And all the while they had a fire going (we were in the courtyard of the house) to cook the pilaf on. They had all the ingredients measured out and ready on the table, just like a professional cooking show on TV. They added them one by one, and after about 2 hours...voila! Dinner is ready! But the worst part was that I had been eating that whole 2 hours, so by the time it was ready I was full... well, maybe it was strategic... they cook lamb in it :( But it was quite and experience that I will never forget.
So there it is, a detailed verdict on the food situation in Tajikistan... with a little creativity, it won't be bad at all!
When dining in a restaurant it is a challenge, I must admit. However it reminds me of the limited menu that I had in Canada when I first decided to be vegetarian - BEFORE it was trendy! There are always the few choices, maybe they aren't a real meal but it's sustenance, such as french fries... tomato and cucumber salad... I've even had them melt cheese on pasta noodles for me (they don't do spaghetti sauce, I don't quite understand why they have spaghetti then!?). So the real solution is to cook for myself. One of my co-workers who is from the states loves to cook as well and has quite a list of western dishes he's managed to find ingredients for, including my favorite... PIZZA!!! He had me (and Susan!) over for dinner wed night, and he had made pizza dough the night before so we could design our own pizza. Well we made a sauce from fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes with the juice and garlic, mushrooms, basil, salt and pepper. We simmered that while we sauteed some eggplant to use as a topping, chopped lots of fresh veggies, then grated the cheese. Well, the masterpiece was DELICIOUS... not bad at all!
Earlier this week Susan and I were invited for dinner by the owner of the restaurant/hotel she is working for (my soon-to-be landlord). He wanted to show us how they make their "national dish"... pilaf! It was quite amazing, of course when we arrived there was already a spread of fruit, nuts, salads, bread and candy. They then brought out the wine, beer, and vodka! (Just a note - don't start vodka unless you're serious about it, they don't joke around! After your first shot, about every 20 minutes your expected to do another one until you leave...) And all the while they had a fire going (we were in the courtyard of the house) to cook the pilaf on. They had all the ingredients measured out and ready on the table, just like a professional cooking show on TV. They added them one by one, and after about 2 hours...voila! Dinner is ready! But the worst part was that I had been eating that whole 2 hours, so by the time it was ready I was full... well, maybe it was strategic... they cook lamb in it :( But it was quite and experience that I will never forget.
So there it is, a detailed verdict on the food situation in Tajikistan... with a little creativity, it won't be bad at all!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
This week I finally got out to visit projects that MEDA funds. The people here are faced with many challenges when trying to start or improve a business; first of all the country is post-soviet, so entrepreneurs simply were not allowed to exist a short while ago! Therefore business skills are lacking, they have never been taught anything about finances, business plans, etc. Secondly, it is a cash based economy; could you imagine barely making ends meet and trying to save enough money to start a business with 100% cash upfront!? Another large obstacle that the people must overcome is the lack of power, gas, and running water. Every winter, for about 4 months, these utilities are turned off the majority of the time. It's on for a couple of hours in the morning and in the evening... other then that it's just up to luck! And how are the citizens supposed to have successful businesses without such basics!
Enough of my rambling... so MEDA has given out several Small Matching Grants, where the people must save up half of the fund, and MEDA donates the other half. This ensures a sense of responsibility in the clients to make a success of the project because they have personally invested. MEDA also supplies them with mentoring from agricultural specialists, lessons on business skills, how to write a business plan, etc. And the results from the projects I visited were outstanding! We saw several greenhouses that are built into the ground to insulate them and help protect them from frost in the winter. People here love eating tomatoes, they really are a staple food item, and to grow them all year round would make for excellent business. We also visited a partner NGO's project where they built latrines at a primary school to collect urine; it collects in a cistern type storage facility and drys out in a couple of years to use as high quality fertilizer.
One of my favorite parts of visiting our clients is seeing how happy they are when we arrive. They are so excited to show us what they have done, tell us all about their project, and see our reaction! Then they tell us to have a seat on the topchan, relax, and enjoy an abundant amount of food and tea! The project we visited at lunch time filled us full of fruit, veggies, nuts, bread, candy, tea... it was unbelievable! Then the next project we visited after lunch had a huge spread of desserts - cookies, dried fruit, candies, tea and coffee... I was stuffed!
Another thing to mention is the truck ride to visit the projects, the roads are quite rough and the truck was not so smooth. I thought a couple of times my head was going to hit the roof when we went over the bumps! But apparently I was the only ones that thought the drive was bumpy, the locals kinda laughed and told me to just wait... those were some of the best roads in Tajikistan! The scenery along the way was also quite the site; sometimes we saw mountains, sometimes it was desert, and sometimes it was lush vegetation near a river.
Check out google photo's for more!
Enough of my rambling... so MEDA has given out several Small Matching Grants, where the people must save up half of the fund, and MEDA donates the other half. This ensures a sense of responsibility in the clients to make a success of the project because they have personally invested. MEDA also supplies them with mentoring from agricultural specialists, lessons on business skills, how to write a business plan, etc. And the results from the projects I visited were outstanding! We saw several greenhouses that are built into the ground to insulate them and help protect them from frost in the winter. People here love eating tomatoes, they really are a staple food item, and to grow them all year round would make for excellent business. We also visited a partner NGO's project where they built latrines at a primary school to collect urine; it collects in a cistern type storage facility and drys out in a couple of years to use as high quality fertilizer.
One of my favorite parts of visiting our clients is seeing how happy they are when we arrive. They are so excited to show us what they have done, tell us all about their project, and see our reaction! Then they tell us to have a seat on the topchan, relax, and enjoy an abundant amount of food and tea! The project we visited at lunch time filled us full of fruit, veggies, nuts, bread, candy, tea... it was unbelievable! Then the next project we visited after lunch had a huge spread of desserts - cookies, dried fruit, candies, tea and coffee... I was stuffed!
Another thing to mention is the truck ride to visit the projects, the roads are quite rough and the truck was not so smooth. I thought a couple of times my head was going to hit the roof when we went over the bumps! But apparently I was the only ones that thought the drive was bumpy, the locals kinda laughed and told me to just wait... those were some of the best roads in Tajikistan! The scenery along the way was also quite the site; sometimes we saw mountains, sometimes it was desert, and sometimes it was lush vegetation near a river.
Check out google photo's for more!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
It's a small world after all!
Saturday morning I woke up and wanted to get out of my apartment to explore. I decided to check out the museum that is by my house because that is easy to do alone, and I was hoping I could get by with a little English/Russian/charades combination. I was partly hoping I'd run into another foreigner there, but seriously doubted I would. And when I walked in, there wasn't a single person there... I figured out what I had to pay, and started wandering around looking at everything. When I was nearly done I heard another women speaking English! We started talking and I said I was Canadian, she said she was too! She asked me if I was the MEDA intern, I was shocked!? Apparently she is a consultant MEDA hired to develop the business at a local restaurant/hotel/cafe/conference center, etc. So she invited me to join her and her crew for the day!
So Susan and I become best friends (that's how things work over here!). We did some more touristy sight seeing of monuments, etc. with her interpreter and an owner of the restaurant she is working for, then she invited me back to her place for lunch and to hang out for the day. She is staying at the beautiful hotel/restaurant, and the food is fabulous, and the outdoor patio is a great place to spend an afternoon! We went there and we had some excellent salads on the patio of the cafe and chatted to catch up on each other. Then we decided to get some novels that she brought, and bring her laptop back to the cafe to play music and read and enjoy the scenery.
After a while we went back to her room to catch the 6:00 news, and we were having such a great time she invited me to stay at her place for the night so we could have dinner together then watch a movie. Sounded great as we both only recently arrived and knew no one else!
The next day we went for a walk to get out and see a little of the city, then we were taken sight-seeing once again to the "Tajik Sea" and back with many interesting stops along the way! We went to a stunning meeting house for a very large farming co-op, we drove through cotton fields, and fields full of fruits, with cows grazing in the shade of apricot trees while thier owners had them on a lead (no fences). We stopped at a carpet maker/seller who also makes slippers, and wool socks.
On our way back from the lake we stopped for some freah bread, they were making it right there. It was a round oven, and they throw the dough on the side of it, it bakes, then they take it out with a poker. And it's VERY yummy!
p.s. there are more pictures in my google photo albums
So Susan and I become best friends (that's how things work over here!). We did some more touristy sight seeing of monuments, etc. with her interpreter and an owner of the restaurant she is working for, then she invited me back to her place for lunch and to hang out for the day. She is staying at the beautiful hotel/restaurant, and the food is fabulous, and the outdoor patio is a great place to spend an afternoon! We went there and we had some excellent salads on the patio of the cafe and chatted to catch up on each other. Then we decided to get some novels that she brought, and bring her laptop back to the cafe to play music and read and enjoy the scenery.
After a while we went back to her room to catch the 6:00 news, and we were having such a great time she invited me to stay at her place for the night so we could have dinner together then watch a movie. Sounded great as we both only recently arrived and knew no one else!
The next day we went for a walk to get out and see a little of the city, then we were taken sight-seeing once again to the "Tajik Sea" and back with many interesting stops along the way! We went to a stunning meeting house for a very large farming co-op, we drove through cotton fields, and fields full of fruits, with cows grazing in the shade of apricot trees while thier owners had them on a lead (no fences). We stopped at a carpet maker/seller who also makes slippers, and wool socks.
On our way back from the lake we stopped for some freah bread, they were making it right there. It was a round oven, and they throw the dough on the side of it, it bakes, then they take it out with a poker. And it's VERY yummy!
p.s. there are more pictures in my google photo albums
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