The following is a post by Steven Mulvain, Vice Consul.
It’s almost the end of the year, a time when the embassy starts to feel emptier as our hard-working local staff, as well as the Ambassador and the other British staff, take a well-earned break to enjoy the festive season and spend time with friends and family.
It’s been a busy year for Tajikistan. After a particularly harsh winter which lasted until the middle of March, Tajikistan hosted the successful fifth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) shortly afterwards.
It was also great to see Tajikistan at London 2012, where Mavzuna Chorieva became the first female medal winner for the country, taking bronze in the female boxing.
More recently, President Putin has made a state visit to Dushanbe, and Tajikistan has just joined the World Trade Organization – ahead of other neighbours such as Kazakhstan. Just as people in the UK can reflect on an amazing year, with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tajiks can look back on the last 12 months and see what an eventful year it has been in their own country too.
I am going to be ‘manning the fort’ at our Embassy in Dushanbe during the holiday week – a prospect which is both novel and quite daunting. One of the great things about working for an embassy is that you never really know what each day might bring, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a quiet few days in Tajikistan!
This will also be the first Christmas that I haven’t spent in the UK. Instead, my friends and I will be spending the day together with food (not all good, I’m sure, since I’m making some of it), music, old DVDs, and a crazy dog who believes he’s a person (he will probably get most of the food I’ve cooked).
But there are far worse places to be than Dushanbe during the holidays. I’ve noticed how the city has become ever more colourful and bright in recent weeks: the streets, shops, and restaurants are looking very festive, with New Year trees for sale and decorations lighting up many windows.
I know that many Tajik people will be buying small gifts for their families and preparing for parties on New Year’s Eve. I also know that many foreigners working and living in Tajikistan will be included in some of those parties – another example of the world-renowned hospitality of Tajiks.
One of my favourite things around town at the moment is the trees; here, there is a tradition of putting a ‘yolka‘ in the house and promising children that Ded Moroz will soon be coming to give out presents. We’ll be doing just that ourselves for the children of embassy staff tomorrow, which means that there is a lot of present-wrapping going on in the office at the moment!
For those of us who are staying in Dushanbe, it would be great to hear about how readers of this blog will be spending the holidays, wherever in the world you might be. You can leave a comment using the text box below.
Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year to all.