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!

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!