It's called fashion, look it up.

The other day, we decided to go out to Korvon (pronounced Core-Von) Market which is the largest shopping area in Dushanbe.  

As opposed to the green market(s), Korvon has basically everything you could want or need (as long as it isn't from the US). 

I took a few pictures inside to show some of what Korvon has to offer.  Mostly, I was intrigued by some of the clothes that the locals wear and it can all be found at Korvon.

Korvon is at least covered instead of outdoors.  There's a nice drain in the center of the walkway (not pictured here).  

Yes ladies, THIS is a shoe store in Tajikistan!  

Not the smallest one I saw this day but also not the largest either.

Skinny jeans galore.  We have noticed this is a style that has been popular in Europe for several years (this is a hipster paradise right here y'all)

Seriously, if the jeans are too skinny to even hook onto the mannequin then you should rethink your target demographic. 

It's an interesting country.  One stall over from skinny jeans and push-up bras is a stall selling head scarves because there are enough traditional Muslim women who still wear this style (from what we've been told the women typically wear the head dress because their husbands want them to)

STOP!  It's Hammer Time!!  (Click on the photo for a treat)

This just might turn you into a vegetarian.  It's funny to talk to the Embassy people about the meat stalls and how "unsanitary" this is but I watched a cow being butchered in the heat and sun of Dominican Republic and nobody thought they were going to die if they ate that meat.

Sometimes it's difficult to tell the Chinese knock-off products from the real ones but I think this one is not an official Apple product, not 100% sure, but I have a feeling that I can't get AppleCare to cover this.

Looking for pure comfort while you sleep?  

Don't like being poked in the eye from those down-filled pillows?  

Here's the solution - Ferret-stuffed pillows!

This one's a little distorted because it's a panorama of the inside of the shared taxi vans.  These are designed to seat up to 9 passengers but this one had 10 at the time.

If you want to see a short video of a taxi with the "money taker" hanging out of the open door while we're driving, click this link:  https://www.box.com/s/mgjtv51vddt6b5kqc07v

This had 11 people at the time of the video (had 12 max at one point).  This is pretty common for the shared taxi's to load as many people as possible since they are making the trip with or without passengers.

If you are still reading and want to know what the post title is in reference to then you can check out this video:  http://goo.gl/wEhkzs  - wait until about 2:54 into the video for the golden moment!

It tastes like chicken...

"I don't care what you say, I'm not putting that in my mouth!"  -  Yes, that's what she said ;)

Over the last 18 or so years that we have been traveling to other countries, I've always found it interesting to see what flavors that other countries find palatable.
I know that soft drinks (like Coke) are formulated differently for different regions of the world as well.  Each country/region finds different things taste good to them and find other regions are just weird (well, at least I find them weird).

As I go to the store and look around for something familiar, my eyes almost jump out of my head when I see Lay's potato chips on the shelf...that is until I start to read the flavors.

Here's some of the popular flavors I have found in Dushanbe.  I know that a couple of these might seem ordinary to people who live in countries other than the US, but for me, this is just kind of wrong.

Yep, that's ketchup flavor right there. 

Sorry for the blurry pic, but when I saw crab flavor, I just couldn't hold still long enough to get a good pic. 

Here we have white mushroom flavor. I don't like mushrooms so I'm gonna pass on this one. 

This one I actually did try before I translated it - no, red caviar did not work well as a potato chip flavor :(

Bacon... well, this one might be worth a try :)

Microwave popcorn - that's a beer on the front. 

Honey flavor. Ok, I can get past honey flavor, but maybe just not as microwave popcorn. 

Although this one says "original salt" on the edge, the front translated to condensed milk flavor. I'm losing faith in humanity. 

Thank goodness a Snickers is still just a Snickers!

Lost in Translation

I have to say that although I love Bill Murray (BFM! - KCCO), I did not like the movie Lost in Translation.

Living in a country where English is definitely not the first language can have some interesting moments.

I find that things don't always translate well and have found myself scratching my head a few times over some things I have seen.  I know there's websites out there that are devoted to this very issue, but hey, I have to write about something right?

Here are just a few of the things that have brightened my day while I'm trying to teach myself how to read Russian.

Here's a pic of my watch (it's a Pebble watch so I can change the watch face).   Bill Murray telling me the time :)

On the menu at a Chinese restaurant - I think maybe it was translated from Chinese to Russian to English...

Control knob on an oven. Not quite sure why these settings look like radiation symbols, maybe it's for Chicken Kiev?  (that's a reference to Chernobyl for the kids out there). 

Indian restaurant menu (no, we don't eat out that often).  Maybe supposed to be "TID-BITS"??

For the love of all that is holy, please tell me what "pulses" are!  I'm very disturbed by this one :)

Ingredients on a bottle of water - no wonder I was still thirsty after drinking this!

One day while trying to teach myself to read Russian, I was looking at my bus pass and read that it was good for both the auto bus and the trolley bus.  So, I decided to enter just the word bus into my handy English/Russian translator app...this is what it gave me for suggestions after typing in BUS (I have since learned that the Russian word should be "autobus".

1.) good to know that every culture has fun...
2.) again, every culture has a little fun...
3.) what exactly is a "psychedelicatessen"????
Maybe after visiting #2 and getting the munchies you feel like you're at #3?

This Little Piggie Went To Market...

One of the terms that (U.S.) people tend to use a lot here in Tajikistan is "culture shock".

While there are a LOT of things that are considerably different here vs. the U.S., I don't think that we will experience actual culture shock while living here.  Partly due to our attitude about what we expected to experience while living here, partly due to the fact that we have traveled fairly extensively over the past 20 years.

One of the things that is taking some getting used to is shopping.  Shopping is a little different in Dushanbe because they still use the old-style bazaar for most of their goods.
Of course there's the individual shop that has clothes, electronics, etc., however, for most of the shopping, they still rely on the tried-and-true bazaar.


Here are some pictures of the largest bazaar in the city (the Green Market).

Bread anyone?

Non-food items. Can't wait to see what this is like during the winter. 

There's actually very little variety of produce available.

When it's 93F (33.8C) outside & you have the same stuff as 50 other vendors, you might as well get a nap in. 

Sliced carrots. There's actually a few stalls that only sell sliced carrots...

This is a very large place. 

I only know this is some form of dairy product. I can't bring myself to get closer because of the look (it's pretty gelatinous) and you can smell it from about 8 feet away. 

Tajik brooms. One thing I can't grasp is the fact that all the brooms I've seen are 3' tall. Everyone has to bend over to use a broom - bad ergonomics. 

Beans, seeds, & nuts. There are a few stalls with spices, but there only seems to be about 6-8 varieties of spices, nothing like most people envision at an outdoor bazaar. 

Vegetables are fresh. It was nice to learn how to say "half kilogram" in Russian so we didn't have to buy as much. 

Dushanbe is becoming more Westernized and new places are opening all the time that are modeled after other countries, (a couple of weeks ago a new grocery store opened and I went in and wandered around because it was so much like a U.S. grocery store), but it also took me looking at 13 different electronics shops to find a wireless Microsoft mouse!

Leftovers

No, I'm not talking about what's in the fridge currently...I'm talking about leftovers from the Soviet era and what the Russians left after the breakup of the Soviet Union.  

As I walk around Dushanbe, I am constantly wondering about what it was like during the Soviet years and I have the opportunity to see some of that former time for myself.

I am constantly looking for reminders of that bygone era and hope to capture some of it before technology and progress removes it forever.

  

Still in use today. 

Still being used. 

Elevator @ a hospital - hope you're well enough to climb the stairs. 

Soviet-era apartment buildings.

There are fountains all over the city. Some, like this one, are not turned on and I can only imagine what the city looked like when everything was flowing all the time. 

Wide sidewalks everywhere. 

And of course, the young are still helping the old. 

You can say what you like for progress and a changing world, but every day I see a young person giving a helping hand to someone older. Sometimes it's as small as giving up a seat on the bus, other times it's carrying groceries for someone they don't know. 

No Post :(

Sorry for no blog post yesterday.  I was extremely sick and couldn't make it out of the house to get any photos.

So, here's a picture of what my stomach felt like for your entertainment until the next post goes up....

This photo was taken a couple of summers ago in Priveville, OR.

Inside

If you are tuning in to this blog each day, you may have discovered that I am not posting on weekends.

I chose to do this for two reasons: 

     1.) I need a day or two off to get things like shopping done (yes, I'll post shopping soon).

     2.) I'm sure you all need a couple of days off from seeing Tajikistan!

After seeing the outside of the apartment building, here's some pics of the inside.

We are in approx. 500sf which is quite a bit smaller than our old house in Bend which was almost 2,700sf!

Not to worry though, it seems to be enough room for us at this point.

Two things we really like are the fact that it's basically an open floor plan and that there is a TON of light.  Those really make a difference in attitude and mindset when you're adjusting to a place that's so different from what you're used to.

Looking at the kitchen (sorry, I didn't clean yet today).  You'll notice a large water bottle on the right side.  Our tap water is definitely not potable and it turns an interesting shade of muddy after it rains so we have to purchase water to drink and cook with.  However, there's a sink, a full size fridge, a (pimp) glass table with leopard-print seats, and a tiny stove.  Currently, there is no gas to the building so our 3-gas burners don't work leaving us to cook on just 1 electric burner. 

From the kitchen...the living room is definitely beige, but it was furnished so we aren't complaining.  The large flatscreen TV was also here when we arrived!  Since we have internet, I was able to make our Roku think we're in the US so we can stream Netflix and Amazon.  We converted the far end into our clothes dryer (see below).

The front door/entry.  Tajik custom is to remove shoes when entering someone's house.  As you can see, there's lots of shoes at the door.

Looking into the bedroom from the doorway.  We had the landlord install the A/C unit because it was 100+ when we first arrived and it was too miserable to sleep in the heat.

Looking back out of the bedroom.  There's a lot of wardrobe space for clothes.  We're keeping our suitcases handy just in case we have to evacuate or anything :)

The washing machine is in the bathroom (on the right).  It holds about 3 pairs of pants and that's all so it doesn't really take up too much space.

Smallest. Bathtub. Ever.

We don't have an electric dryer for clothes but we do have this great drying rack and we bought a fan!  This was our first load of laundry when we arrived (after we had the washing machine translated from Russian).