Rats!

Ah,the details in this bizarre country... they make you crack up and laugh out loud on the bus. It's like when your living in all this dirt and filth you can't really appreciate the fun in it, but when you sit on the bus and think of all the crazy people and things that exist in this country, you just have to laugh.

I got a haircut today. Before I sat down I asked how much he was charging.
'10 Somoni' he said, but then added, 'but you can pay 15..' and laughed. When it all was done I gave him 15 S and wished him a happy Fitr. If he only knew that we pay 10 times the amount in Sweden. Fun thing: Before he started to cut me he said 'bismillahi rahmani rahim'...whenever people get on the bus or the marshrutka, they also say it...but I guess it is more needed in those cases, considering the way the marshrutka drivers drive.

I once said to a Tajik, who also is quite tall, 'You know, no wonder my posture is bad; in marshrutkas you stand bent over like an animal, when you wash your clothes you squat, and it kills your knees, and when you sleep, the bed is too short so you have to sleep in strange positions, thus killing your back more.'

Our kitchen is infested with rats. They even run around on the tables in search for food (no, I know, not very hygienic). The other day, one had got stuck in a plastic bag. I fetched an umbrella in the hope of clubbing (the only clubbing I've done so far in Dushanbe) it to death, but alas, it managed to dodge my blows and then it escaped. I've tried to find mouse traps on the bazaar but with no success so far. Maybe we should get a cat, but it would only get eaten alive by the big black rat who sometimes visits us.

The thing Tajiks say:

Tajik: So, how are you feeling?
Me: Well, you know...tired :-\.
T: You should get yourself a wife! HEHEHE! You won't get tired any more. :-D
M: You don't say...