Tajik/Тоҷикӣ - Unit 2 & Reflection

So, it's been a while! We're well into April, and it was 70 degrees today! And, I've finalized my summer plans.

I'll be participating in the US State Department NSLI-Y program (National Security Language Initiative for Youth). Through this program, I will be studying Tajik Persian in Dushanbe, Tajikistan for six weeks this summer with about ten other American students! I'll try to update this blog with reflection on my language process and on the study abroad program.

Some random facts & observations, so far:

Tajik is a main dialect of Persian (the two other dialects are Farsi spoken in Iran, Dari spoken in Afghanistan). However, due to Soviet influence in the twentieth century, it is the only one that utilizes a modified Cyrillic script - the others use the Perso-Arabic script!!
It's Indo-European, aka a good number of similar words to Latin, Romance languages (hopefully).
It's apparently hard to travel to Tajikistan, so I have to personally travel to DC for some special visa. Wow!
Also, they recommended some shots, medical stuff as a precaution… So I went to get a typhoid shot and tuberculosis test. And apparently everyone pretty much gets upset stomach the first few weeks from adjusting to the food? Not looking forward to that. I am looking forward to see how the food tastes, though.
The dress is very conservative there, so I can't wear form-fitting clothes, or shorts, or anything with spaghetti straps or that reveals my back, thigh above the knee, or skin below collarbone. Even for my pajamas! I'm a little worried, because I get hot very easily, and it seems like the weather will be very, very hot. Oh dear. Hey, but my mom and I are excited for me to buy a new wardrobe for the trip! I can't wait to buy some flowy dresses.

Pre-Departure Language Course: Unit 2

I have to take an introductory online course in Tajik before the actual program, and I recently started Unit 1, which is learning the Tajik alphabet and sounds. It has 35 letters! I have met some challenges, of which I will note below:

The symbols for the "v" sound in English are Вв
The symbols for the English "n" are Нн
The symbols for the English long i are Ии. And in handwriting, they look like u's…
English "r" is given in symbols that look like P! Рр
English "s" is given in symbols that look like C. Сс
English "ya" is given in an inverted R. Яя
I can't roll my R's, which is how the R is always pronounced??? I'v'e always avoided rolling r's in Spanish class…
English "e" (eh) is Ээ but Tajik Ее is "ye" and Ёё is "yo"
Unfamiliar letters: Хх like X Bach (spit in throat), Ққ but crispy with an echo, and Ғғ hgeee that reminds me of a car revving up. Only I'm getting ready to absolutely butcher this letter.
Okay, the symbols for the t sound are normal when typed Тт. But in handwriting? They look like m!! Why??
L looks like a little doorway with a curl, typed Лл, but like an undotted "I" in handwriting.
"P' looks like a little doorway Пп, sorta like pi, but the lowercase one looks like an n…