Ibrahim's Blog

Дар блогистони Озодӣ навиштаи Салими Аюбзод — “Се гузинаи фарҳанги шаҳрдорӣ“-ро хондам ва ба ёд овардам, ки мехостам, дар ин бора тирамоҳи гузашта дар блогам бинависам.

Чи хеле, ки дар аксҳо мебинед илова ба таҳсил боз ба хазонҷамъкунӣ банд будам, хеле серкор будам ва блогам муддати тӯлонӣ хомӯш аст. Умедворам, ки битавонам дар рӯзҳои наздик онро барӯз намоям.

Дар хотир дорам, ки дар хиёбони Рудакӣ, дар назди истгоҳҳо қуттиҳои нави махсус барои зарфҳо ва қоғазҳо гузошта шуда буданд. Берун аз маркази шаҳр ба назар мерасад, ки пур аз партов аст.

Тирамоҳи гузашта дар вақти хазонрез дар Амрико дар маҳаллаи мо эълонҳо ҳамаҷо часпонида шуда буданд. Дар лавҳаи китобхонаи марказӣ низ як эълон “Bag It! – Онро халта кун!” часпонида шуд буд. Дар фасли хазонрезӣ ба ҳама сокинони маҳаллаи мо халтаҳои қоғазӣ меоранд ва ҳар кас бояд хазонро ҷамъ карда ба халта гузоштанаш лозим. Ҳавлии моро хазони тилоранг пӯшида буд ва санҷобҳо дар гирду атроф бозӣ мекарданд. Ҳамсояи ман як асбоби электрониашро гирифта ҳамаи хазонҳоро пуф кард ва ҳамроҳ ба халтаҳои қоғазӣ гузоштем.

Аз ҳамсоя пурсидам, ки чаро ин хазонҳоро мисли мо дар Тоҷикистон ғун карда намесӯзонад. Гуфт хазонсӯзонӣ қонунвайронкунӣ аст ва агар хазонро сӯзонад, аз ӯ ҷарима ситонида мешавад. Аз рӯи гуфтаҳои ҳамсоя хазонсӯзӣ як чанд сол пеш манъ шудааст. Сӯхтан аз як тараф ба табиат зарар меорад, инчунин боиси сӯхтор шуданаш мумкин аст. Баъд халтаҳои хазонро дар назди роҳ қатор кардем. Як мошини махсус омада халтаҳоро гирифта бурд. Пас аз чанд рӯз маълум шуд, ки ин хазонҳоро майда карда барои киштукор ҳамчун нируи минералӣ истифода мебаранд ва дар ҳолати лозимӣ ройгон ба мардум хазони майдаро дар халтаҳои қоғазӣ бармегардонад, то онҳо дар майдончаи назди ҳавлигии худ онро истифода баранд. Инҷо ҳама барои ҳиссагузорӣ ба паст кардани тағйири иқлим гирду атрофи хонаи худро бо чаманзор (газон) табдил медиҳанд.

Умуман ҳар ҳафта рӯзҳои душанбе мошини махсус партовҳои моро аз назди ҳавли гирифта мебарад. Барои ҳар як хонавода қуттиҳои махсус дода шудааст, ки онро мошин бо таври автоматӣ боло бардошта холӣ мекунад. Илова ба ин куттии махсус боз як қуттии кабуд ҳам ҳаст ва ба он зарфҳои нолозим одатан алоҳида гузошта мешаванд. Ҳар як зарф ё куттии алюминӣ аз Кока-Кола ва обҳои газдор 5 сент аст ва ин як навъи даромад ба корхонаҳои коркарди дубора — Recycling мебошад. Хоҳишмандон метавонанд зарфҳо ва журналу рӯзномаҳоро ба марказҳои махсус барои гирифтани кортҳо бисупоранд. Кортҳоро барои харидани ягон мавод истифода бурдан мумкин аст.

Хуб мешуд, агар дар Тоҷикистон ҳам корхонае барои коркарди такрории коғаз, зарфҳои алюмин, шиша ва пластик ташкил карда мешуд ва аз таҷрибаи давлатҳои пешрафта меомӯхтем. Ҳам фоида мешавад ва ҳам гирду атроф тозаву озода.

Рӯзи гузашта бегоҳӣ ду дарс доштам:Истифодаи Компютер дар Таълим (The Computer as an Instructional Tool) ва Пажӯҳиш ва Омор дар Маориф (Статистика) Ин бори аввал аст, ки ман ба ин ду дарс меоям. Аз сабаби иди Меҳнат рӯзи 7 сентябр Душанбе ин ду дарс нашуд ва ман мунтазири рӯзи 14 будам.

Устодон аз соати 7 бегоҳ то соати 10:00 дарс мегӯянд. Барои дарси аввал ягон китобе лозим нест, ҳамаи адабиёти тариқи Интернет ва почтаи электрони ба донишҷӯён дастрас аст. Ҳама дар дарси аввал худро шинос намуд. Дар ин дарс, ман яке аз ду хориҷиён будем. Ба ғайр аз ман, як духтари чиноӣ дар ин риштаи Фанновариҳо дар Таълим таҳсил мекунад. Дигарон бошанд, ҳама амрикоиҳо мебошанд. Омӯзгорони мактаб низ дар ин дарс иштирок мекунанд. Рӯзона дар мактабҳои оммавӣ дарс мегӯянд. Ба ман маълум шуд, ки на ҳамаи донишҷӯён аз компютер бисёр истифода мебаранд, аммо асоси компютер ва Интернетро (навиштани почтаи электронӣ, чидани ҳуруф ва чоп матнҳо ва ғайра)медонанд ва мехоҳанд, ки аз нармафзорҳои гуногуни таълимӣ истифода баранд. Баъзе донишҷӯён хоҳиши навиштани кори илмӣ оиди истифода бурдани фанновариҳои таълимиро доранд.

Дарси дуввум бошад, дар бораи ҳисобу китоби оморӣ дар таълим, умуман дар маориф аст. Чун ҳафтае як дарси Омор дорам, омӯзгор супориши хонагӣ ва қадам ба қадам истифодаи нармафзорро барои донишҷӯён тайёр кардааст. Барои ман калимот ва вожаҳои оморӣ каме душвор буд ва устод саъю кӯшиш кард, ки соддатар барои ман ин дарсро бифаҳмонад. Барои ин, ман як китоби дарсиро ҳамроҳи як нармафзоре харидорӣ намудам. Ин китоб Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and Understanding Data мебошад. Китоб бо як нармафзораш(барнома дар CD) 130 доллар аст.

Дар Точикистон ба ин нарх барномаҳои шикастаро ғайриқонуни харидан мумкин аст. Дар Амрико харидори ва ё ба фуруш гузоштани нармафзорҳои шикаста ғайриқонунист ва ҳар як барномаҳое инҷо дар мағозаҳои компютери мефуршанд, ки нархашон аз ҳазор доллари амрикои баланд аст. Барои мисол ҳамон барномаи машҳури Фотошоп барои донишҷӯён на кам аз шаш сад доллар аст. Дар Точикистон бошад, ин барномаро ғ    ғайриқонуни метавон дар мағозаҳо ба 15-20 сомони дастрас кард.

Байни амрикоиҳо ҳастанд донишҷӯёне, ки қудрати харидории ин барномаҳои компютерии хеле гаронро надорад ва дар синфхонаҳои донишгоҳ аз онҳо истифода мебаранд. Донишгоҳ бархе аз нармафзорҳоро бо маблаги хеле калон ба китобхона ва синфхонахои худ харидорӣ менамояд. Барои компютери ман аз тарафи донишгоҳ як нармафзори антивирусро ройгон доданд, ки компютреи дастиам аз ҳар гуна вирусҳо тоза бошад. Дар ин Донишгоҳ барномаи анти-вирус барои ҳамаи донишҷӯён ройгон аст. Ин намуд барнома берун аз донишгоҳ шояд на кам аз 100 доллари амрикоӣ бошад.

Дар бораи нармафзорҳо ва таҳсил ба қадри имкон бештар хоҳам навишт. Шумо метавонед саволу пешниҳодоти худро дар зер  ва ё тариқи саҳифаи тамос нависед.

Sunday July 26, 2009 – After yesterday’s sunburn at the City of Rehoboth Beach it was hard to get up late in the morning. Today Tajik students are invited to show how to cook Oshi Palov. Together with friends I went to shop (rice, meat, oil, cabbage etc) and by 10:00 we were ready to go to cook and have our Cultural Exchange with American friends.

Margaret, a woman who has kindly invited to cook and enjoy Tajik traditional meal. She came and took us to her house with her Honda car showing the way to her house and telling all about people. On our way to Margaret’s house there was a fair. Our host told that this fair is for farmers to showcase their harvests and have competition. American farmers also bring their cows and goats. It was interesting how they spend their week-ends having various activities. My two Tajik female fellows and one Azerbaijani fellow also divided our tasks on the way to Margaret’s house. I decided to peal carrots

So when we arrived to Margaret’s house, I found the place very beautiful and green, many cottages surrounded by colorful flowers. When I entered I found the cottage full of artworks and souvenirs collected from different parts of the world and many many books.

We started preparing meals first cabbage, big red Bulgarian peppers with beef. I started preparing carrots peeling them and cutting them into pieces. Malika, one of my fellows mentioned about McDonald’s fries. Yes, carrots for Oshi Palau must be peeled and cut like McDonald’s fries.

We had also other two American guests and we played table tennis – I learned how to play table tennis and we had “word” tennis game.

So after preparing Russian golubtsi , we started cooking Tajik Palav. Our traditional meal was very delicious and it reminded me how about my hometown. It is such a pleasure when one may introduce cooking by not only telling but also showing how it is cooked. Our American friends like Oshi Palav

We took lots of pictures and went out to see beautiful flowers around the cottage. I took several photos of flowers and bees. Here I posted one of the photos at Wikimedia Commons.

And lastly we had also Tajik music and showed Tajik dance. We had Shabnami Surayo and Jonibek Murodov’s song playing and demonstrated Tajik dancing

On July 9, early in the morning I got up to pack my bags and get ready for my flight to Almaty. Shukhrat and Aki Murod helped to get to Dushanbe International Airport. I had 103 somonis (around $23) in my pocket which I wanted to spend before leaving Tajikistan. Shukhrat told me I could spend this Tajik money for my overweight luggage. So after saying “Bye” to Shukhrat and Aki Murod at the airport, I went to custom office where I was asked by custom officer about my flight and my luggage, interestingly about money too! I said I have no somonis(though I had 103) but have dollars (I had $170). He looked so pleased and offered me his assistance as a porter. I said I do not need the service of carrying my bags as they are not too heavy. But the officer was continuing to carry my bag thinking he can get some of my money when my bag is overweight!  There were also some foreign passengers whom they were very careful

When we weighted my bag it was 21,5 kg and a female officer who was checking my ticket said “there is no need to pay for overweight 1,5 kg.” It was sad to see the custom officer who changed his status to porter to get some of my dollars…but could not…

I wish I could give my somonis to Aki Murod or at least Shukhrat. It was good that I passed Tajik customs without paying a penny.

At 3:30pm Almaty time I arrived in Almaty. There was a room at Aksunkar Hotel near Almaty International Airport was reserved. When I passed Kazakh custom, I was greeted by many taxi drivers. They were offering me to help with my bag, to take to Almaty Downtown, even one of them said Aksunkar is not a good hotel to stay…

Refusing to all taxi drivers’ offers I gave my bag to Luggage Storage and walked 100 meters to get to Aksunkar Hotel. It was a nice hotel with many Air Companies (Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Tajik Air etc) Offices in the ground and first floors.

My room was nice (it had a nice bed, TV with cable, air conditioner, hot water to shower). Everybody was telling Aksunkar Hotel was not a good hotel, but it is one of the good hotels. I think taxi driver was saying so hoping to take me to Almaty downtown and earn some money…

Later July 9 and early in the morning of July 10 at 3am Almaty time I took a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I arrived in Frankfurt at 7:30am and had to wait my flight to Pennsylvania, US till 1:30pm Frankfurt time. I could manage to call my wife and let my family know I arrived safely arrived in Germany. It was good to be able to call home easily. Those passengers who have laptops can enjoy free wireless Internet, and those who haven’t can still use Internet, in other words Internet-Taxis with metallic keyboard and ball mouse. (one hour of web browsing is 16 Euros!)

For lunch at Frankfurt airport I had a pie and a cola for 4,50 Euros. At last the time of my next transatlantic flight came. I sit near window and enjoyed my flight to the US listening music and news. There were lots of movies but I watched only a movie Confessions of a Shopaholic about a girl who is Shopaholic. You can see some photos from this movie at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093908/mediaindex
I see many passengers also were reading books and a man sitting by me was reading this book

At 3:30 pm Philadelphia time I landed safely and it was a very long flight. I used to see the overhead monitor which displays maps, time left and destination.

There were so many visitors to the USA. It was interesting to see people of almost all nationalities standing in line waiting to pass customs. Compared to US citizens and permanent residents, the number of visitors were bigger as there were uncountable crowd of people. At last I was called by officer who kindly asked about my documents and reasons of visit. He had welcoming look and asked why I had to cancel my first visa. Due to my Russianized name IbraGimdjon on my DS form which has also another version like in my current passport IbraGimDZHon, on July 2 I missed my flight and had to re-issue my visa on July 8 canceling the previous one. I showed my previous DS form with misspelled name of mine. I think those who have russianized names like mine with Tajik “Ҷ” russified with DJ or DZH must simplify their names avoiding Russifications!

The officer said it was good to keep a copy and welcomed me to the USA! Then I moved to and got my luggage. A representative from the University of Delaware was waiting for me holding a paper with a note “University of Delaware”. I approached and introduced myself and Mr. Ken said my name but could not say my official russified name. I told him to just call me Ibrahim or Ibrahimjon From Pennsylvania International Airport Mr. Ken drove me to Newark. The highway was full of vehicles as at the end of Friday many people go out of town to spend their week-end.  Mr. Ken said Newark is a nice place mostly populated by students and showed me English Language Institute and UDel students’ dormitories.

Mr. Ken also guided me to UDel Students’ Center where I was given a key with a small plastic device(key) to open the main door of the dormitory. I got my room key and my roommates were off to Washington DC tour. Next week I should not miss New York City tour to see the Statue of Liberty!
This week-end I need to prepare for my test on Monday and be ready for my upcoming classes
I have tried to briefly write all about my travel. If there is any question, please leave them as comments below or contact me

(I haven’t camera and computer yet. I will be writing in detail and posting photos soon) Thanks for understanding.

One of my friends agreed with me to have lunch at Turkish Cafe “Merve” in the center of Dushanbe. We walked and found lots of people there having lunch. “Merve” is known with its Turkish cuisine and they offer lots of different food starting from burgers to bigburgers, and of course, pizza. Since their burgers and bigburgers are the same size I didn’t order bigburgers, as once when we went there for lunch I ate one bigburger but just later felt very hungry

So we ordered the so called Iskender (Iskandar in Tajik, English in English)Kebab and a bottle of Coke, my friend also ordered a food with another Turkish name and tea. A waiter asked me whether large of small bottle of Coke I told him to bring larger one. Next I was wondered when he asked my friend whether to bring large or small. It was interesting if the tea which was ordered my friend could be brought in a large of small bottle. We were impressed and told him bring just tea not in the bottle

So while eating Iskander Kebab (Iskandar Kabob in Tajik) I found out this dish contains small pieces of bread, meat, two pieces of canned cucumber and slices of a fresh tomato. The plate was too hot to handle as it seemed they put a plate with Iskander into the oven directly.

I enjoyed my meal and meeting my friend face to face after a long instant messaging on the Internet. In other words I enjoyed my Saturday having lunch with a friend, and its was not like the other Saturdays when I usually went alone to eat Tajik Kurutob(in one of my posts I will surely write about this unusual Tajik meal) p

Picture by cabbiew

Click here to see the entrance to Café Merve, Dushanbe

Chiluchor Chashma ( “Forty-four spring”), the so-called place 12 km from Shaartuz district, it is known throughout Tajikistan and in neighboring Uzbekistan.

Here directly at the foot of a small hill, the middle of the desert hot, beat from the land of five large water sources, collapsing to 39 small. All sources, merging, a channel width of 12-13 meters, which inhabit a large number of fish.

According to legend, justified Ali Khalif saw dried River Romit, getting to Chiluchor Chashma, asked Allah for water. At the same time struck at the foot of a nearby hill, and where his fingers touched land, have to beat five sheer sources.

Chiluchor Chashma a pilgrimage site. The people who visit it make prayers, ritual, sacrifice, bath in the sources. It is believed that 17 water sources are healing. Each has its own name and curative purposes of:

Ashmai Muin from hair loss;
Hun Bini from bleeding from the nose;
Chashmai Moron, Hunukzadagon from bites of snakes and inflammation;
Ustuhondard from bone disease;
Tablarza from malaria;
Shifa – thermal;
Fishori Hun-of hypertension;
Sardard from headache;
Pesho from psoriasest;
Murod from depression;
Befarzand from infertility;
Gourde from kidney disease;
Dilu Jigar from heart disease and liver;
Devonaho from mental illness;
Chashmu Gush from eye diseases and ear;
Horish from scabies.

There is also a small hill in Chiluchor Chashma, which has a small mausoleum. It allegedly buried a holy-Qambar Bobo, according to a legend was old stables of Ali Khalifai. There are also the graves of four more saints whose names are unknown.

Click here to read in Russian from the source

Today early morning together with my colleagues we went to the southern part of Tajikistan to the town called Shartuz which is mostly called Shahritus. People say it is a city of salt.  Shartuz or Shahritus is a combination of two words, the first part of which Shahr means – town and the word Tuz in Uzbek language means “salt”. I wonder whether this town is really the town of salt.

It is my second time of visit to Shahrituz and I found this town is an agrarian town where mostly people are involved in growing cotton, vegetables and gardening. People are really friendly and welcoming, and it was a great chance to see some places of interest, as well as enjoy seeing hand made small carpets that they make in Shahrituz. Next time when I will visit Shahrituz I will try not to miss a place which is called Чилу Чор чашма Chilu Chor Chashma which means Forty Four Water springs which are unique and very useful for human organs to heal. People from all over the country or even beyond of it visit Chilu Chor Chashma for treatment as I was told by a men who lives there.

I have uploaded some pictures that were taken on my way to Khorugh and back. They can be seen by clicking here

We hurried to the airport in Dushanbe and bought a ticket for me. Bahor, a former colleague of mine was also traveling with me and she had already a ticket. Doniyor helped me to buy a ticket for 275 Tajik Somonis equal to 80USD from Dushanbe to Khorugh. Only 10kg of luggage for each passenger was allowed so when they weight my and Bahor’s luggage we found out 7kg luggage exceed.

When we were taken to the jet I was really surprised to see such a small jet plane. Inside it was like Soviet mini-bus but very wide windows enough to enjoy seeing what is out of plane. It was very good for taking pictures.

Here is a sample picture of Antonow AN-28.

Tomorrow I am going to fly to one of the highest places in the world Pamirs, I will go to Khorugh (Russianized name Khorog). I am very excited and first I wanted to go there by car, but due to mountain roads that takes more than one day to reach Khorugh only one way, my colleagues asked me better to go there by jet.

“Khorog is situated 2,200 m above sea level at the confluence of the Gunt with the Panj River (also being known as Amu Darya, or in antiquity the Oxus) near the border with from Afghanistan.” from Wikipedia

I wanted to see some beautiful places and landscapes of Badakhshan Mountainous region, but flying to Khorugh will not fully allow me to enjoy beautiful nature, places and high mountains about which I red only from textbooks. Badakhshan is the last region that I am going to visit and hopefully will be able to see enough places and exciting nature of this region.

On August 29 I will head back to Dushanbe and will post some pictures of landscapes from Khorugh.

See Image: A Bird’s Eye View of Khorugh