I wish I had kept a formal record of people’s reactions upon my telling them that I’ll be studying
abroad for a semester in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
I’ve gotten all kinds of reactions ranging from one of my classmates who told me with 100%
seriousness: “Wow I’m jealous, I’ve always wanted to spend time in Central Asia!” to a
middle-aged woman in a Manhattan bagel shop who told me to be careful because Tajikistan is
“right in the middle of the hot spot.” To all my concerned relatives out there reading this:
Tajikistan is not in the middle of the hot spot, in any sense. Climate wise, it is fairly temperate,
politics wise it is quite stable, and safety wise, as a foreigner / study abroad student, I
statistically am safer in Dushanbe than I would be in Barcelona, London, or Paris.
Hot spots aside, the typical conversation usually goes something like this:
Friend / Family Member: Oh you’re studying abroad? That’s awesome! Where are you headed
to?
Me: Tajikistan
Once I say Tajikistan, I usually get a surprised “oh” (or in the case of those who know me a bit
better, a sarcastic “of course”) followed by “Where even is that anyways?” and “What do they
speak there?”
If you find yourself unable to locate Tajikistan on a map, or picture what the people there look
like or what language they speak, don’t worry: not too long ago, I was in the same boat, right
next to you.
So you may be wondering: how did I get from not knowing a single thing about Tajikistan to
choosing to spend a semester there?
I’ll be honest: The languages. When I chose to study abroad in Tajikistan, I probably didn’t know
much more about it than you know right now... What I did know however, was that in Tajikistan,
both Russian and Persian are spoken, and I happen to be studying both of those languages,
which means Tajikistan will be the perfect place for me to keep up with my Russian as well as to
work on my Persian. There is, however, a small linguistic hurdle in that Tajik, the dialect of
Persian spoken in Tajikistan is pretty significantly different than Farsi, the Iranian dialect I’ve
studied for the past two years. I’ve heard that Farsi and Tajik are about as different from each
other as Spanish and Italian, which means pretty similar but far from 100% mutually intelligible,
especially at first... But for a linguistics nerd, that’s all part of the fun, right?
Since deciding to study abroad in Tajikistan, I have done some research and learned more
about the country, but when it comes down to it, I’m still an American undergraduate who has
never been to the area before. In other words: I have a LOT to learn.
And I invite you to follow my experiences on this blog and learn along with me.
See you later / до втсечи / تا بعد
-Lindsay / Линдси / لینزی
About the blog title: If you’re wondering about the title of my blog, it is likely that you don’t
speak Persian. Let me explain: In Persian, Dushanbe literally means “two-day” which also
happens to be the way to say “Monday.” As a lovely and very punny coincidence, I also happen
to be traveling to Dushanbe this coming Monday. So when I say “Dushanbe miram Dushanbe”
I’m doing a play on words: On Monday I’m going to Monday.”
A view of Dushanbe, my home for the next few months
Flag of Tajikistan, in case you were wondering
Don't know what this is but I will soon!
