It was snowing in Dushanbe today. The first snow of this winter, a local told me. Yes, it's already in winter. It's been so cold lately.
I had a big trouble today. I lost my passport!
It happened in a tram. My passport was in the pocket on my chest. Zipped, I believed. But shortly after I got off the tram, I noticed the pocket was open and my passport was gone. I looked for it everywhere on my body, and in my backpack. Nowhere. I looked back the way I came. Nowhere... The shock numbed me gradually. A pure nightmare.
Was it stolen? I thought about the possibilty of pickpocket in the tram. It was crowded. A man offered me a seat. As I sat down, another man in front of me dropped a coin. He held my knee and tried to move it, as if it was under my shoe. I had to point out another place to him. Was it the time? The man who offered me the seat, the man who dropped his coin, and the man who was next to me in the seat, all got off at the next stop. Was it a coincidence? But I couldn't fully deny the possibility that my pocket was actually not closed and my passport fell off by mistake.
I went back all the way to the hotel but couldn't find it. I should ask to the lost and found of the tram company next. But how? I went to Japanese Embassy to get the information about it. They were really helpful. The consul, Mr.Harada, sent stuffs to the company at once. After waiting for about an hour, they found my passport!
It was a woman who actually found my passport in the tram. She left her phone number to a worker at the last stop, and that was reported to the stuffs. They came back to the embassy with the woman. She told us that she found the passport on the open floor, near where I sat down, two hours after I got off. There was no reason to doubt her story. I paid her 100$ for appreciation, as she had demanded to the stuffs. They said that's acceptable amount.
I should believe that was an act of goodwill, and be grateful for my luck. What if it hadn't been found? I would have had to wait for 4 weeks till a new passport was reissued in Japan and delivered here, while postal situation was unreliable. I would have needed a special permission from the Foreign Minstry to let me stay without a passport in that while. Could it have been possible? Would people of the hotel have let me stay? Rearranging all the visas, which took so much time and money, must have been a big trouble. "Go back to Japan. It's the easiest." Somebody must have said that eventually, with paying 1500$ for the flight, the cheapset.
I was on the edge of a clif, nearly falling off, and was not aware of that.
I really have to be more careful. Really.
PS.
It wasn't only my visa which was expired after a month. Also my foreigner's registration. The consul pointed it out. They helped me get it the quickest way. I cannot appreciate them enough.
12 Nov 2008, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
