Arrival...

Finally arrived in Khorog, a beautiful little mountain community in the Pamir region. Apologies for the long delay in reporting. Telecommunication is a challenge in this part of the world with limited access to adaequate phone and internet-connections. So here's a quick and dirty update on our last 10 days.
We had to wait in Dushanbe for three long days to catch our flight to Khorog; this flight (in an old Russian Antolov plane) only departs when the weather on the route is clear and if there are enough passengers to fill it. Last Saturday, all conditions were met and we boarded with high expectations. Forget security announcements, safety belts or turned off cell phones. These pilots have other fish to fry !
The flight goes through amazing mountain areas, over high snow covered tops and through narrow canyons but the sights are spectacular and rewarding; we never had such cool (literally!) flight in our lives ! Excited to finally arrive in Khorog, the place where we will be staying for another eleven months.
Picked up at the airport by our new employers, who kindly showed us around to select a place to live; turned out harder than we thought after a long day; we decided on a home, which was highly recommended by an earlier volunteer and which could house three persons easily (we are with one other volunteer here).
Not entirely satisfied, we kept on looking and we have now found a nice place along the river with a little court yard where we will move to this weekend.
We spent the remainder of the weekend touring (by foot) this very photogenetic village with its amazing back drop of mountains and glaciers. The weather has been very pleasant yet so far (seventies during the days) although the nights are cold and the long johns necessary for our Southern Californian bones (there was ice on the streets yesterday morning, compare the climate with a Swiss mountain village).
On Monday, it was our first day at the office with meetings, introductions, formalities such as lunches etcetera.
Today is Thursday and we have desks, computers, new e-mail addresses and piles of files to go through and to work on. Colleagues are very pleasant and highly appreciate our efforts to share some of our skills.
Christine is not looking forward to the winter, which can start every day but which could also show up in late December so there is hope. We are in an East West facing Valley so we see the sun early in the mornings and late in the afternoon, when it sets, a big bonus.  Jelte has a beautiful office in the local park (called Central Park, no joke but a little bit smaller) so feels right at home. Pictures and more details later.