21 April
2:45 p.m.
We just finished a late lunch of “cutlets” (like mini-meatloaves), fried potatoes and rye bread, followed by tea, stewed cherries (yum) and pistachios. Nina’s friend just dropped by to bring some sausages from the market. He’s a lawyer in town, sick as a dog right now, and his youngest son is getting married in two days. He’s funny and overtired, and I am kind of glad I’m not in his shoes right now. He listened to Nina recount our tribulations and explained that, in some ways, I should feel reassured. “We’re sure we’re Tajiks when something is going wrong…if everything goes smoothly, we worry.”
We spent the morning at the bazaar, a giant warehouse with stalls of all manner of cloth, home goods, ready-to-wear clothes, shoes, etc. By stalls, I mean shipping containers. Hundreds of them. Each had its wares hanging along the wide walkway, with meters of fabric flowing down from hooks and hangers. There was underwear, wigs, accessories…many Chinese goods, some Turkish, some Tajik. We determined that I should say as little as possible to keep prices down. No problem. We bought enough footwear (slippers) for me to open my own shop, practically. I ran out of gas way before Nina did, but then got a second wind just as her energy failed. Of course I will get home and wish I’d bought more. Oh well.
We are home now--3:00--and I’m not sure what we’re up to for the rest of the day. Nothing new and substantial from the DC office, although I’m not sure what they can do from there. I think we’ll take a long walk this evening, but for now we’re hanging here. Nina is preparing for the cemetery tomorrow. We’ll go and clean gravestones, put flowers on the graves, and tidy the spaces important to her. I am really happy to help her. It’s frustrating to sit around.
No electricity since 9:00 a.m. The water went off shortly afterward.
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