Mosque and Bazaar

On Sunday I went to the main Sunni mosque of Dushanbe. Only men are allowed to pray at the mosque, and on Friday which is the day all the men go to mosque to pray, I saw a huge horde of men leaving the mosque. There must have been one thousand men! At the time I didn't know why there were so many men swarming the streets, so it was very bizarre for me. Since only men pray at the mosque I was worried I wouldn't be allowed in at all, but my coworker who translates for me told me we could go as long as we were dressed appropriately, and off we went!

We had to put head scarves on, and my coworker wore a long-sleeved traditional dress while I wore a long skirt. We really had to struggle to get the hijabs on, mine kept falling off, and Dava my coworker kept saying she looked really ugly. Haha. Here is us finally ready to go.

There was no one in them mosque, since it was Sunday, everyone's day off. I felt like we were on a reconnaissance mission, women going where women were not allowed! We kept whispering for no good reason, just because we were nervous. The inside of the mosque was absolutely gorgeous. The mosque was made of blue tile, and immediately inside was a courtyard, which is the third picture below. The pictures I took are kind of bad and don't do it justice, since I was nervous.




We also went to the girls' school that was attached to the mosque. I would be so pissed if I was a girl at the school, because the minaret from the mosque towers over the school, taunting all the girls: you can't come here! They had a nice rose garden though, here is me in my conservative dress. I have no idea why I'm laughing like that.



Yesterday I went to a bazaar called Shoktmansur. It was enormous! They sell produce, cloth, clothes, chests, cribs, lots of random hardware, and lots of other crap I can't remember. A couple places were selling dried fruits and nuts in bulk, which I thought looked pretty. I wanted to take a picture of one of these stations, and this woman at the station was a very good business woman. She was incredibly pushy, so I bought a shit-ton of raisins from her. They are a weird bluish color, I don't know why, and they still have the stems on them. They're pretty tasty though.


Tajikistan has the best melons in the world I think. The watermelon is incredibly juicy and sweet, I think I already mentioned this. Here is a picture of a ton of melons! The guys who owned the station got really excited when I was taking their picture. They offered to pose with a watermelon for me. Then this tiny, shrunken little old lady with no teeth offered to take my picture with me posing with the watermelon, haha. I said no thank you.



Today I went to a nearby village called Hushyori. The area and drive up were unbelievably picturesque. We passed by a town called Varzob, which is a recreational area that I am very bitter that I have not been to, since I was invited by the Americans but had to do something that day. It was really nice though, the mountains are all around, with snow-capped mountains in the distance, and the Varzob River running through the mountains.


I interviewed a wife of a migrant worker today, and I was incredibly frustrated by the experience! All these people kept interrupting the interview, and she was super shy and embarrassed to talk about personal issues. These guys in a car came up and wanted to take my picture while I was doing the interview, I was so annoyed! And they didn't leave, they just sat there in the car trying to get my picture. I felt like a zoo animal. It was OK though, because they left after a little while, and when we finished the interview and turned the tape recorder off, suddenly she started telling me every personal detail of her life. It was great.

Also during the interview, some donkeys with grass on their backs passed by! I thought this looked very rural and romantic (as romantic as donkeys can be). Here is a picture.


And one last thing, President Rahmon has a million and one houses, even though Tajikistan is the poorest country of the former Soviet Union. He has a very stately one in Varzob, as seen here from the car window. It is actually much bigger and has very large grounds. When Dava pointed it out to me, I didn't quite see it and just said, "Oh." But when I got a real look at it, my jaw dropped open and I said, "OH!"

Also, who is still reading this? No one posts comments anymore. :(