Another week has flown by. Can't believe I only have two weeks and a couple days left before heading home on March 7th. I am scheduled to leave here that Monday at 5:30 a.m., if the plane can get here (weather related delays are common) and take off from here. Originally my return flight included almost a day in Istanbul and routing from there through New York and Atlanta before touching down in Denver. Now I will have a direct flight from New York to Denver arriving about 10 p.m.
This week I continued with my daily massages through Wednesday night (5 total massages). I treated myself to a full body massage on Sunday. For $20 it is sure worth it. Guess you can have one of those about weekly if you want. I do feel much better. As a result, have done some nightly walking when time permitted or I felt like it.
This week has been extremely stressful, trying to get the various reports that needed to be developed accomplished by weeks end. They still need some additional information before they can be totally put to bed, but the bulk of the work has been accomplished. I worked on an Oversight Strategy for the Demonstration Plots (see number and locations by commodity below),
Crop | Number of Demonstrations | Location of Demonstration |
Apricot | 3 | Asht, Isfara and B. Ghafurov |
Lemons | 1 | Qumsangir |
Tomato - Greenhouse | 3 | Spitamen, Rudaki and Bokhtar |
Tomato – Field Grown | 3 | Isfara, Istaravshan and Vahdat |
Watermelons | 1 | Shahritus |
Onions | 3 | Zafarobod, Shahritus and Qumsangir |
and for the Voucher Program (see number and locations by commodity below).
Crop | Number of Demonstrations | Location of Demonstration |
Apricot | 3 | Asht, Isfara and B. Ghafurov |
Lemons | 1 | Qumsangir |
Tomato - Greenhouse | 3 | Spitamen, Rudaki and Bokhtar |
Tomato – Field Grown | 3 | Isfara, Istaravshan and Vahdat |
Watermelons | 1 | Shahritus |
Onions | 3 | Zafarobod, Shahritus and Qumsangir |
Both Oversight Documents are very specific, outlining what will be accomplished and who will do it. We are still trying to identify the various Value Chain Partners (Farmers, Input Suppliers and Processors/Dealers) that will be specifically tied to each activity. Time is running out, as the planting season is quickly approaching, so this has to happen soon.
In addition, this week we spent a lot of time trying to identify what Wholesalers and/or Input Suppliers will be chosen to import the various Inputs we need for our Demonstration and Voucher Programs. Since the deadline for responding to the Tender Announcement that went out last Friday was yesterday, all responses were opened at 4:30 p.m. and we decided to accept three bids for the Inputs: an Input Supplier in the North and one in the South to supply the seeds and crop protection products (pesticides, fungicides and herbicides) and one Wholesaler who will import all the N-P-K fertilizer for the project.. Once the contracts are signed, the items ordered, we will have to keep our fingers crossed that all items will arrive in a timely fashion so the project activities can be implemented on time. Now we must identify Input Dealers at the local levels to actually buy the various products from these three Businesses and to distribute the items to the farmers in their areas who have been selected to receive vouchers that cover a percentage of the package price. The vouchers will be for one hectares worth of materials. The intent is to help offset the price difference from what the traditional inputs cost verses what these new and improved items would cost.
Because of our work schedule this week, meals were mostly eaten at the same two places (the cafeteria next door for students and workers - guess they have these kinds of places throughout town) and a local restaurant that attracts a lot of families and young people. However, on Thursday, there was no power most of the day, so the staff decided to go as a group to a traditional Tajik restaurant for Oshi palov, which is a Tajik national dish. It is a wonderful preparation of rice and meat served along with salad (we would call this pickles of different types - green tomato, pickled cabbage, carrots and tomato). Oshi palov is also served during weddings and festivals here. It is basically a rice dish with onions, carrots, sometimes peppers and spices along with some chunks of beef. Then, last night, Dun who is here from ACDI VOCA's home office and I decided it was time to let our hair down. Since the week was very stressful, we decided we needed something more than our typical 20 Sonomi ($4.46) dinner - mine varies from soup and salad (mainly sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese) to a Donar Wrap (Lavash with sliced beef, French fries, and pickles) to Lamb Shashlik (BBQ Lamb with rice and Lavash). We ended up going out to a Ukrainian Restaurant that I had been to the first week I was here. We actually were about to give the cab driver good enough directions to get us there and back to our apartments - Dun moved into the same building where I stay last Monday. So, instead of 20 Sonomi, my share of the bill was 118 Sonomi ($26.34), which included a Caesar Salad, two types of Ukrainian appetizers (a meat stuffed pastry and a mushroom stuffed pastry), bread, wine and a Pork T-Bone (definitely not as good as the Lamb Shashlik I had the last time) - thought it was going to be the Pork Chop I had seen the last time - it wasn't. Will have to have pizza sometime before I leave here, but I am trying to maintain by diet - currently down 9.4 pounds since leaving Denver on January 15th and 48.8 pounds since last October's high weight, before starting the diet. It is hard dieting here, eating out most of the time, but I am glad that I am still able to lose some and/or maintain what I have lost. Was surprised to see I had lost weight from yesterday, after the meal last night and the Oshi palov the day before. Will try to be a good boy this weekend - food wise!
Not sure what is going to happen this weekend. Currently at the office, trying to get motivated to do some refining of the documents that I worked on this week and see what else is on the To Do List. It is raining pretty hard outside at the moment, since I got here this morning, so am not fired up about heading out too soon.
Well, better get to work. I haven't been anywhere lately to take pictures, but if you haven't gone to my Zenfolio site and check out the photos I have taken since I have been here you should: http://www.zenfolio.com/farmeray/p828498799
All the best, until next time! Ray
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