A Visit to the Market

Today I got a chance to see where the Kyrgyz do some of their shopping as we went to the market place. A few things I was surprised to see...  The US Army gear... our tax dollars hard at work, being resold by Kyrgyz merchants. Hearing Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Jay-Z in various stalls. Our pop music is everywhere! And the number of Kyrgyz men who upon seeing me with my camera would say the only English they knew, "I LOVE YOU!" Oh dear. They should be prepared to be heartbroken if all it takes is a tourist to attract their attention! 

In my touristy-ness I also broke gender norms by purchasing a hat that is traditionally worn by me, for myself. It was much cooler than what I think of the women's scarves and headpieces so yeah- doing what I do and buying what I liked = gender bending out here. Also bought a canvas backpack for about $7 which I can use when I'm not carrying my computer as my other backpack is electronics central. Together the hat, a postcard and a backpack cost about $9. Very cheap. 

One lady upon seeing me with my camera became very animated and I thought she was angry at me for taking a photo of her stall - and I prepared myself for the worst (being asked to delete the photo) but as Aigul translated, it turns out she was excited that I was taking an interest and she wanted to know where I was from and what I was doing in Bishkek. Then she asked that I take a proper photo of her, which I did. And I quite like it I must say - but I'm not going to post it now as the internet is on the company MacBook and the photos are on my Acer which currently has a dead battery and needs to be charged. But look forward to future posts with photos from the bustling market place.