8 March International Women’s Day International Women’s Day is a big holiday here. Office parties honour the women with flowers, gifts (for the ladies at AKF a gift pack of pot holder, oven glove, tea towel and apron!!!) and cakes. The men have their day too, 24 February, when the ladies take their turn to toast the men (they all received razors!). Today was warm and sunny, just a great day to be alive. Brilliant clear blue skies, a backdrop of snowy mountains and the buds on the trees beginning to burst. Folk were out on the streets with their families, heading for open air concerts outside the opera theatre and in the park. Telecom companies vied to present a rose, or carnation, to the ladies. The Dushanbe International Women’s Club holds meetings in a boarding house for female students. To mark IWD the girls joined the meeting. They treated us to entertainment – poems in Russian and English, and dancing, Kulyab, Badakhshan, Bollywood and hip hop - we treated them to home cooked goodies. It was great. The only shadow on the day - Rodney had his mobile picked from his pocket on the bus. Our mobile, AKF's chip. We'll let you know when he gets a new number and phone.