One Month Is Not Enough!

It hit me yesterday that this is by far the most foreign of the countries I've visited, and one month is not enough time to absorb and experience it all. I'll have to pack in as much as possible in my last week. I've taken about two and half weeks to settle in. I've functioned, but haven't felt functional. Let me illustrate. I found the National Museum last week after wandering a bit by following two women who looked like tourists into a school supply market, where luckily I saw postcards, which I had been wanting to buy. One of the postcards happened to be a picture of the National Museum, which I recognized was the building right next door. I had been confused because it said "Ministry of Culture," not "National Museum." After buying my postcards by holding up fingers to get the price, I got to the museum.

I went to a market with Ella this morning and realized how little I've seen. It's fun going places with her because she understands the culture, but also recognizes the oddities. A few funny moments from the market:

I wanted to try on a shirt (before I understood where that would have to happen). It was a berry pink number that had one very short sleeve and one elbow-length kimono style sleeve with sequins on the edge of the long sleeve and along the hem (it was cuter than it sounds). Ella suggested it would be perfect for a 35 year old woman who is without an arm and that, my friends, made me want to try it on. The owner of the store said to Ella (I could tell by her body language) that it would be too tight in the chest while at the same time another guy in the store sucked in air and clicked his tongue at the thought of me squeezing into it. For the record, it didn't look too small, but we left.

Ella was looking for some clothes. She wanted to try on a purple shirt she saw, and the sales girl lifted a sheet. This was the dressing room. We'd gone into another store where one woman had just dropped her trousers to try on another pair of pants. This is the part of Tajikistan that is incongruent and fascinating. Tajik culture is very conservative, but there's still the Soviet influence, which is much more free and open. So, there in the market are women wearing traditional Tajik dresses and their hair tied up in scarves shopping with other women who don't mind standing around in their panties. There are Iranian-style head coverings for sale near bikinis and platform stillettos.

These two sides do seem to join hands in their appreciation for all things sparkly however. Fabrics, purses, shoes, and hair accessories are covered or embellished with sequins, rhinestones or sparkly thread. It was difficult to find a hair clip that wasn't covered in rhinestones. I did find one that was conservatively bedazzled, so I figured why not celebrate the sparkle, a little.