Out and About

Today, I ventured out on my own for the first time since I arrived in Tajikistan. It was nothing exciting: I just walked up and down the street and went into a shopping center. Nevertheless, it felt like an accomplishment. I have been quite nervous about my inability to communicate in the local language so I have not been too eager to go out on my own. But it was fine. In fact, I made a purchase!

It seems like every time I travel, I forget something. The key is to make sure it's not something essential (like my passport) that I leave at home. For this trip, it was my pajamas. During my excursion to the shopping center, I saw a shop with an old lady and a young girl. They looked like they would be patient enough to deal with me so I went in.

I pointed at the item I wanted on display on a hanger in the store. The young girl brought out a calculator and punched in the price. I pointed at some other items in plastic wrap to ask if they had a new pair of pajamas that was not used for display. It took her a second, but she understood and went to get one for me. I gave her the 50 somoni (~$10USD). She placed the item in a bag and gave it to me. Success!

Next time, maybe I'll try bargaining :)

Other highlights from the trip: on two occasions, a man driving by honked at me and winked. Two small boys ran beside me shouting "Yellow, yellow" and laughing. It was pretty funny, I laughed too. I noticed that the buses had overhead wires, presumably for electric power... fancy!

I did not take any photos during my outing since I am not yet sure of what would be considered acceptable. I'll try to take some photos soon.